Two Portland FM stations, 102.9 WBLM and 107.5 WFNK, are battling each other using commercial-free hours, in addition to very similar-sounding playlists.
WBLM, the Blimp, has been in the Portland market since it's progressive rock, hippie days in the 70s. A few years ago it had been "Classic Rock that Really Rocks." But about three or four years ago, WFNK, Frank-FM, came to the market and quickly went to #1 with it's playlist of mostly Classic Rock hits that were less hard-edged than The Blimp. America and Cat Stevens could be heard in Frank's playlist. Till Frank's arrival, WBLM usually was #2 in Portland, behind country WPOR.
Now it sounds like WBLM is a bit more hit-oriented and not as hard-edged as in the past... moving to a sound closer to Frank-FM. Currently both stations are tied at #4. And both stations are using commercial-free hours as a selling point.
Frank-FM has a frequently-seen TV commercial, stressing that its workday starts commercial-free for three hours, 9 A.M. till Noon. I haven't seen any WBLM commercials on TV, but on its airwaves, The Blimp tells us they have a workday starting commercial-free for two hours at 8:30 A.M. (That's a half-hour sooner than Frank.) And the end of the workday is also commercial-free for two hours, I think starting at 4 P.M.
I'm not sure I understand that logic. You want a commercial free start to the workday if you're targeting office listening. That way the radio gets set to your station at the start and likely stays there all day, even after you resume playing commercials. But how does a commercial-free END build listenership? In the middle of a busy workday, will you say, I should SWITCH stations because WBLM is commercial-free starting at 4pm? Actually, I've never heard of rock stations doing commercial-free workday hours because they usually aren't as office-friendly as AC or Smooth Jazz. Would you want your dentist or attorney to have a rock station playing in the waiting room or office, especially if you're not a rock fan?
Some more irony... WBLM many years ago was at 107.5 and moved to 102.9. Today Frank takes up The Blimp's old dial position. Both stations have Class C, 100,000 watt signals that really blanket Southern Maine and a chunk of New Hampshire. And both stations rely on a core of classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, Boston and The Stones from the 70s and 80s, with a few 60s thrown in.
How can these stations afford to go commercial-free for three or four hours a day? Are sales down anyway so they're using a slack time to their advantage? It doesn't sound to me as if the other hours of the day have an increased commercial load. How can they afford to miss so many commercials?
Gregg
[email protected]
WBLM, the Blimp, has been in the Portland market since it's progressive rock, hippie days in the 70s. A few years ago it had been "Classic Rock that Really Rocks." But about three or four years ago, WFNK, Frank-FM, came to the market and quickly went to #1 with it's playlist of mostly Classic Rock hits that were less hard-edged than The Blimp. America and Cat Stevens could be heard in Frank's playlist. Till Frank's arrival, WBLM usually was #2 in Portland, behind country WPOR.
Now it sounds like WBLM is a bit more hit-oriented and not as hard-edged as in the past... moving to a sound closer to Frank-FM. Currently both stations are tied at #4. And both stations are using commercial-free hours as a selling point.
Frank-FM has a frequently-seen TV commercial, stressing that its workday starts commercial-free for three hours, 9 A.M. till Noon. I haven't seen any WBLM commercials on TV, but on its airwaves, The Blimp tells us they have a workday starting commercial-free for two hours at 8:30 A.M. (That's a half-hour sooner than Frank.) And the end of the workday is also commercial-free for two hours, I think starting at 4 P.M.
I'm not sure I understand that logic. You want a commercial free start to the workday if you're targeting office listening. That way the radio gets set to your station at the start and likely stays there all day, even after you resume playing commercials. But how does a commercial-free END build listenership? In the middle of a busy workday, will you say, I should SWITCH stations because WBLM is commercial-free starting at 4pm? Actually, I've never heard of rock stations doing commercial-free workday hours because they usually aren't as office-friendly as AC or Smooth Jazz. Would you want your dentist or attorney to have a rock station playing in the waiting room or office, especially if you're not a rock fan?
Some more irony... WBLM many years ago was at 107.5 and moved to 102.9. Today Frank takes up The Blimp's old dial position. Both stations have Class C, 100,000 watt signals that really blanket Southern Maine and a chunk of New Hampshire. And both stations rely on a core of classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, Boston and The Stones from the 70s and 80s, with a few 60s thrown in.
How can these stations afford to go commercial-free for three or four hours a day? Are sales down anyway so they're using a slack time to their advantage? It doesn't sound to me as if the other hours of the day have an increased commercial load. How can they afford to miss so many commercials?
Gregg
[email protected]
