Timewarp said:
Let's suppose this is true. Maybe. Maybe not. Did the sales team fail to sell? Or, are the
advertisers failing to pay?
Plenty of English speaking stations have this problem too. Sell to an ad agency today.
Start their spot today. Bill them in 30 days. Then you will wait 120 to 180 days for a check.
That's right. They keep your money as long as they can so they can play with it.
Meanwhile, in 30 days the power company will pull your plug and the employees will quit.
This is another reason why small stations do the community events, so they can get local
money and pay the bills, now.
Ok... let's go with that and stretch your thoughts a little deeper.
WHY did he sales team fail to sell? Uh, oh, lets see, maybe incompetent leadership. You certainly cant blame Agency money when 80% of the dollars made by these two stations was local dollars. While Barnette was there the sales team excelled.
Most you guys on here are history buffs.... Let's take it to logical conclusions:
At the time the axe fell over at Continental, WEDJ and WSYW as a combo had ratings equal to or exceeding current WEDJ stand alone numbers. Barnette was replaced by Dodge and Isenhart was simply pushed out, replaced by Dodges girl and Sulpeveda. Dodge moves Regional Mex format to WEDJ fulltime, which kills WSYW.... no it SLAUGHTERS WSYW, a station with a decent day time signal that was making good money. The kind of money some FM's around here wish they were making in 24 hours much less compared to a sun up to sun down station. WEDJ lost most, if not all of its Bi-Lingual listener appeal, along with the majority of the Higher Educated Dollar listener out opening bank accounts and buying new cars, furniture, etc etc, and as a result lost its marketability as a viable product. Of course the Dodge aproach of billboards etc might have picked the curious listener that gained a few numbers in the books but where the rubber meets the road, in SALES, it didn’t translate. Numbers don’t always equal dollars. Especially in niche radio. No play on words, it wont translate either.
These are niche stations that had been tweaked to max earning potential over several years, that delicate hard won balance was destroyed and I doubt can ever be recovered. Certainly not by anyone presently working there. It was a matter of time anyway.... One of these days a big stick will finally see that WEDJ & WSYW was making "real" money and will hire Barnette or Isenhart or both, if they are still around and capitalize on this growing format segment and bank the profits. Heck even Oasis might get his hands on another signal and do it. Lord knows he is aware of how money is made in those formats and it sure isnt by the numbers game unless you are in LA, NY, TX or FL.
Oh and some of you are wondering why the axe fell in the first place.... I think good ol' Uncle Marv was sold a bill of goods by a competitor in the market (a settlement to a law suit eliminating the only real threats to said competitor) and because of Jeffrey Warshaw whom is to this day still trying to get these stations for his own. Say what you want, say what you will, but the reality is under the direction of Barnette WEDJ and WSYW was wildly profitable, under Dodge.... well so far wildly in debt and a miserable failure.
I have more scoops and poops on this and other stations but you guys seem to be well informed about CC, Cumulus, and Oasis, yet stuff on WKLU has been quiet as of late... Maybe the slide down the ratings at WKLU is starting to come to light over there and the poop will start flying again over that way.
