WFNX: Another sad performance

[ciao99]

So the Fall P1 ratings are out. Things only get worse for WFNX.

We can't quote ratings here, but here's the damage: WFNX is down 30% from last year. That's major audience erosion folks. Of course the WFNX corporate heads will respond with the customary list of advertisers they've attracted. Thing is, those advertisers bought time on WFNX based on numbers from a previous performance period. Pretty hard to explain to them how 30% of your audience has since jumped ship.

Looking at the Radio and Records summary, the station peaked in the Winter book. Since then the loss is even more striking: down 46%. Since that peak the programming geniouses have changed the station, and not for the better.

So much for the addition of the juvenile and ridiculous Lovelines. So much for tweaking the playlist to sound more like WBOS, Magic 106.7 and WAAF all at the same time. So much for the Sandbox morning show with its lame jokes and ancient David Bowie songs.

A year ago WFNX listeners had strong feelings about the signal: reception improved in some areas and decreased in others. A year later, who cares? The signal is a non-issue. You had listeners who liked the product enough to tolerate the lackluster signal. This year WFNX has a better signal and lackluster programming. The station is fast becoming irrelevant and not worth listening to.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

WFNX is a cross-promotional tool with their extremely popular weekly entertainment paper The Phoenix, which (especially now that it's free) still empties out of most every streetcorner newsbox all over town. As long as they use one media to cross-promote the other, and maybe get some advertisers in both the paper and on the radio station for a few bucks more as a package, WFNX serves its purpose. The format appears to be more geared toward the target audience for their paper than for trying to compete for ratings against the major rock stations in the market.

 

[ciao99]

WFNX is a cross-promotional tool with their extremely popular weekly entertainment paper The Phoenix, which (especially now that it's free) still empties out of most every streetcorner newsbox all over town. As long as they use one media to cross-promote the other, and maybe get some advertisers in both the paper and on the radio station for a few bucks more as a package, WFNX serves its purpose. The format appears to be more geared toward the target audience for their paper than for trying to compete for ratings against the major rock stations in the market.

I think you have a point about WFNX being a cross promotional too to use along with the paper. I would say, however, that the target audience of the Pheonix have much more varied tastes than what you hear on WFNX radio. In fact most of them are probably tuning out WFNX for their iPods in 2007, as we can see from the major audience erosion in the ratings.

 

[rapking]

I dont listen to WFNX , but The Phoenix ( Its Free and Hot Sex Spots, in New England ), I pick it up, every week .

 

[MoLarryMoLarry]

For a station no one on this board cares about, supports, or has anything positive to say about, it sure gets a lot of attention from people who have never worked there, nor understand why it exists, in spite of its ratings.

Please, for crying out loud, check back on the history of these "chats" and you will see that all you are ALL doing is repeating the same posts that have been argued and dissected over the past five years on radio-info.com.

IT IS A TIRED SUBJECT.

 

[rapking]

For a station no one on this board cares about, supports, or has anything positive to say about, it sure gets a lot of attention from people who have never worked there, nor understand why it exists, in spite of its ratings.

Please, for crying out loud, check back on the history of these "chats" and you will see that all you are ALL doing is repeating the same posts that have been argued and dissected over the past five years on radio-info.com.

IT IS A TIRED SUBJECT.

Almost All post on this board is a repeat . Dont like it , Dont read it . Boston need a Urban A/C ! Imus ! WRKO ! WJMN is No 1 by default ! Awful two signals for WAAF ! Pirate Radio ! D&C ! Racist Talk ! Awful Mike and WFNX !

 

[Finn]

For a station no one on this board cares about, supports, or has anything positive to say about, it sure gets a lot of attention from people who have never worked there, nor understand why it exists, in spite of its ratings.

Please, for crying out loud, check back on the history of these "chats" and you will see that all you are ALL doing is repeating the same posts that have been argued and dissected over the past five years on radio-info.com.

IT IS A TIRED SUBJECT.

Almost All post on this board is a repeat . Dont like it , Dont read it . Boston need a Urban A/C ! Imus ! WRKO ! WJMN is No 1 by default ! Awful two signals for WAAF ! Pirate Radio ! D&C ! Racist Talk ! Awful Mike and WFNX !

;D ;D ;D

 

[chrish]

If this sounds cruel so be it....this is another of those occassions when I might
have more success discussing WFNX with a brick than going over it again and again for
a couple of writers who post on this board.

For the others....sorry for going through this again. WFNX closes its fiscal year at the end of this month with revenues for the year up 25% over last year with the 2007 Boston market revenues down 4% over 2006.

Once again for the braindead....12+ numbers are totally irrelevant, we sell on 18 -44
more specifically 25-34 and 25-44. Our sales manager Jordi Chapdelaine and his staff along with national sales manager Joe Charves who calls on agencies nationwide know
how to turn these numbers into buys.



Over the past year since program guru Keith Dakin took over as PD there has been strong and steady growth in these prized numbers. Keith along with MD Paul Driscoll both display such a strong gut feel for the alternative product I am reminded of my many years working with Sunny Joe White whose gut feel of music across the board from Big Band to Punk was astounding.

It might surprise people that while there is some cross promotion and ad buys that
include the Phoenix and WFNX there are a lot fewer than people perceive. WFNX
like all divisions of Phoenix Media must stand on its own.

If I were allowed post the meaningful Arbitron numbers I would, the real story continues to be that the WFNX - WAAF - WBCN demos can't be called by Arbitorn, most of these demos do not have land line telephones, only cell phones. I'm sure many of the bloggers on these boards fall in to this category.

If you call WFNX GM Gary Kurtz I'm sure he would be happy to give you real numbers but the "WANNA BE - KNOW NOTHINGS" would never have the balls let alone the integrity to do so.

THOSE THAT CAN... DO......THOSE THAT CAN'T CRITICIZE AND COMPLAIN

 

[BRNout]

Well, aside from the "racist talk" angle, yes Rapking is right.

There are an awful lot of underperforming rock-based stations in the market, yet only WJMN approaches anything rhythmic. And, as RhyCHR's go, it is not great from the standpoint of playlist. If WJMN were in a competitive market such as Philly or Washington, I'd bet the ranch that it would not do well. But, it's in the enviable position of standing alone in a market chock full of rockers, classic rockers and ACs. With Kiss guarding its flank.

Oddly enough, Boston has a pretty good heritage as a market where rhythmic (or soul) music historically got decent play. WRKO and WMEX used to have a soul acts comprise a healthy percentage of their playlists. Kiss 108 (in the early days) was a rhythmic-based station that was very popular. And, lets not forget the decades-long run of WILD.

But, thanks to a combination of a relatively limited number of commercial frequency allocations, few rimshots, and a local ownership structure that involves entities that just don't do rhythmic (Entercom, Greater Media and Nassau owning a large percentage in the region), Boston has become a rock and talk market. Toss in some Nickelback for the ladies and THAT's what most stations here call variety!

The loser here is the audience, who has a rather limited list of choices in the market - musically. And, it's getting worse...not better.

 

[ciao99]

If this sounds cruel so be it....this is another of those occassions when I might
have more success discussing WFNX with a brick than going over it again and again for
a couple of writers who post on this board.

For the others....sorry for going through this again. WFNX closes its fiscal year at the end of this month with revenues for the year up 25% over last year with the 2007 Boston market revenues down 4% over 2006.

Once again for the braindead....12+ numbers are totally irrelevant, we sell on 18 -44
more specifically 25-34 and 25-44. Our sales manager Jordi Chapdelaine and his staff along with national sales manager Joe Charves who calls on agencies nationwide know
how to turn these numbers into buys.



Over the past year since program guru Keith Dakin took over as PD there has been strong and steady growth in these prized numbers. Keith along with MD Paul Driscoll both display such a strong gut feel for the alternative product I am reminded of my many years working with Sunny Joe White whose gut feel of music across the board from Big Band to Punk was astounding.

It might surprise people that while there is some cross promotion and ad buys that
include the Phoenix and WFNX there are a lot fewer than people perceive. WFNX
like all divisions of Phoenix Media must stand on its own.

If I were allowed post the meaningful Arbitron numbers I would, the real story continues to be that the WFNX - WAAF - WBCN demos can't be called by Arbitorn, most of these demos do not have land line telephones, only cell phones. I'm sure many of the bloggers on these boards fall in to this category.

If you call WFNX GM Gary Kurtz I'm sure he would be happy to give you real numbers but the "WANNA BE - KNOW NOTHINGS" would never have the balls let alone the integrity to do so.

THOSE THAT CAN... DO......THOSE THAT CAN'T CRITICIZE AND COMPLAIN

Up 25% over last year? Big deal. You're starting from a smaller number. Basic math tells you that it doesn't take much to increase your minimal numbers 25%.

You can name call if you want. Kind of unprofessional if you ask me. In the context of this forum we have 12+ numbers at our disposal, that's what we will discuss. You still fail to address the point that you've lost 30% of your listeners from a year ago. So you sell on 18 -44, 25-34, and 25-44. You've been selling on the strength of previous ratings periods. Try recreating that sales performance in those demos once the advertisers see how your audience has jumped ship.

And don't make me laugh :"Keith along with MD Paul Driscoll both display such a strong gut feel for the alternative product I am reminded of my many years working with Sunny Joe White whose gut feel of music across the board from Big Band to Punk was astounding."

So is "Salisbury Hill" one of those astounding cuts? I can hear that on Magic 106.7.

 

[Neanderpaul]

Far be it from me to attempt to dissect WFNX ratings-wise.

But, wouldn't good 18-34 et al numbers be reflected in the 12+ overall? If even a small portion? And isn't going from a 2 share to a 2.3 an increase of 25% rounded up?

When I was there, WFNX ranked well behind both WAAF & WBCN. Given the 12+ numbers it's difficult to imagine that the station is cuming many 25-54s. But again...I don't see the breakouts.

Now then...I DO have access to Mediabase, and I gotta tell ya...If these are what FNX believes are "alternative" tracks;

Bowie - China Girl, Space Oddity, & Ziggy Stardust.
Divinyls - I Touch Myself
Eurythmics - Would I Lie To You
Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You
INXS - New Sensation
Ziggy Marley - Tomorrow People
Seven Mary Three - Cumbersome
Stone Temple Pilots - Creep
Tears For Fears - Sowing The Seeds Of Love
Wallflowers - 6th Ave Heartache
Toni Basil - Mickey
Queen/Bowie - Under Pressure


You get the picture. MOST of these titles used to be played on WHTT. There's NOTHING "Alternative" about Gin Blossoms, or Seven Mary Three. They're the Styx of their time. Corporate, safe, pop. And the others...Well, you don't need me to tell you. And the fact that they're rolling "Desire" and "Where The Streets Have No Name" by U2 over proven Boston-centric tracks like "The Refugee" and "Out Of Control" simply illustrate that they're employing someone's music test/perceptual rather than going by the alleged "gut." Nothing revolutionary behind playing "Drive" by the Cars. Nothing at all.

I understand that they're trying to appeal to "upper demos" but...No offense to either programming people there, they appear to be too young to know the true heritage of WFNX. Those of us that grew up listening to that station to hear The Jam, and The Specials, and Erasure, and something from the Cult not called "She Sells Sanctuary", listened so that we wouldn't have to hear the same boring-corporate-singles-from-Alternative-bands-that-crossed-over. Where's the Damned? Where's "One Of Our Submarines Is Missing?" Or Gary Numan? Robyn Hitchcock? Bruce Cockburn? Billy Bragg? There are plenty of real Alternative artists that serve the format, heritage, AND appeal to the over 35s. Plus, they're more compatible with the Shins than friggin' Queen! Queen on an Alternative station dilutes the product, and ticks off the P1s. Especially with a limited signal.

Strictly from a programming overview, WFNX is "too eclectic" for the cume. They might sample, but the TSL is probably non-existent due to their playlist being so haphazard. And they appear to be alienating their core by playing Bowie tracks featuring SRV. Ashes to Ashes maybe...but China Girl? Doesn't make sense to me.

Just my opinion on a boring Thanksgiving night.

 

[boondocksaint037]

They have all that stuff loaded and ready to play...but only during Leftover Lunch. Which is their most popular hour. Yet they almost never play any of that stuff outside the hour.

And what is with the severe lack of support for Boston bands? Fluff pop-punk Red Jumpsuit Apparatus gets played to hell while bands like Bang Camaro (which Boston and Guitar Hero II players couldn't get enough of) get one spin during the overnight.

 

[ciao99]

They have all that stuff loaded and ready to play...but only during Leftover Lunch. Which is their most popular hour. Yet they almost never play any of that stuff outside the hour.

And what is with the severe lack of support for Boston bands? Fluff pop-punk Red Jumpsuit Apparatus gets played to hell while bands like Bang Camaro (which Boston and Guitar Hero II players couldn't get enough of) get one spin during the overnight.

That's another good point. Outside of Leftover Lunch, the playlist is very predictable and bland. Heavy on Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, and Beastie Boys.

I think it was Neanderpaul who said FNX was going heavy on the "upper" demos. Which explains the bizarre obsession with David Bowie. But how does the heavy rotation of the Beastie Boys and Lovelines lend itself to upper demos? That to me screams fratboys and teens. Which is why I said FNX seems to be going after WBOS, WAAF and Magic 106.7 all at the same time.

 

[ajf9]

As long as Steven Minditch owns WFNX it will always be an also ran station. Unlike at the paper Minditch never figured out how to get really talented people to work for sub standard wages.

There are some very good people at FNX like Henry Santoro, Jim Ryan and I never miss the Left Over Lunch but as a previos poster said they aren't really concerned with arbitron numbers over there in Lynn.

However, the Phoenix is no longer the cash cow it once was. They never managed to try and run the Improper Bostonian out of town, The Dig is a factor and their classified ads especially help wanted has taken a big hit.

The Phoenix's other company TPI that ran voice personal services for most of all of the alternative weeklies is also not doing anything near what they once did thanks to the internet.

 

[ajf9]

There is no question that FNX has a creative sales staff and if I was a beer company or ski resort I would buy the station. The question is how much is there cost per point. With such low numbers FNX can be a very cheep or I am sure what the FNX sales staff calls an efficient way to reach a younger Boston audience who hopefully have some money to spend.

 

[Brooklyndon]

But how does the heavy rotation of the Beastie Boys and Lovelines lend itself to upper demos? That to me screams fratboys and teens.

As a 24 year old male financier who falls square into WFNX target, I can say that Beastie Boys is probably one of my top 5 all time American bands, and I listen to pauls Boutique on weakly basis to this day. And pretty much everyone I work with on the desk my age will say the same thing.

 

[argytunes]

I've often wondered who came up with the idea that pop, rock, alternative and contemporary music has to be targeted toward a specific age demo? Are the days of enjoying several forms of music totally over?

Granted...if any radio station sees itself only as A CASH COW...then a target audience is probably what they want? But aren't all radio stations supposed to serve the public in some way? Or is this another FCC rule that has gotten tossed out....along with the fairness doctrine? ???

I'm not suggesting that ANY radio station sweep from JS BACH to THE BEASTIE BOYS in a music segment....but isn't there room for a little more than one the designated listeners are receiving? ???

argytunes

 

[Neanderpaul]

Well, it appears as if the "we target everybody" concept is what drives "variety" stations.

Unfortunately, those that decide the formats are usually out of touch with what the actual audience enjoys. I once worked at two different stations whose program directors told me that Kid Rock's "Devil Without A Cause" CD would "never work." I guess the 11+ million who bought that weren't "Rock" listeners.

We in radio, don't listen like listeners anymore. It's impossible. And then programmers will screen the samples to the point of filtering out real people in favor of what they want to achieve with the project so that they don't waste corporate money. That way the programmer can skew the sample to reflect what they promised corporate what they said it would.

Listeners are more tolerable to different styles than radio believes, but within a certain style. One doesn't order pizza at McDonalds. Going from free form jazz into hip hop might work. But taking hip hop to an oldies track, or "hair metal" to "electronica" is probably a stretch.

Formatting works. It's picking the right songs that seems to be the issue. Just like ratings, there are flaws. Those that manipulate the system to the best of their abilities will always have work.

Thus...breakout data that although 12+ shows your station to be garbage, M 25-34 who listen on Wednesday data looks awesome and we can sell that...

More ramblings while I prepare to engage in holiday shopping warfare!

 

[CapeRadio]

Looking at the 12+ numbers is like predicting the weather with the farmer's alminac. The truth about sales is that a good ad targets someone. There is no point to selling beer to 12 year olds or a deal on high heals at macy's to guys.

A station like FNX that has strong numbers males 18-32 and 25-44 is very desirable to advertisers. A good sales staff can sell that. And they make good money.

And you guys should be proud that you still have a station like FNX. Well programmed, locally owned, a history with the city of boston, they have something to say... Those stations just dont exist anymore. I cant think of a major market independantly owned station other than fnx.

I just don't see what the problem is. You dont have to like it, but respect it for what it is.

 

[chitchatjf]

RapKing is right. Boston NEEDS Urban AC.

JMN plays generally ONLY hip hop and WXKS (Calling it Kiss offends the heritage of the sunny Joe White days IMHO) is too heavy on Justin Timberlake.

I STILL say 104.1 (KEEP THE BCN call letters though AND the Patriots!)