WHLK's Success

[CleveFan]

I've been listening to 106.5 The Lake this past weekend - they're doing "A We Play Anything A to Z" weekend - and I have never been as hooked to the station as I was when they first went on the air. They seem to be doing a pretty good job so far.

In fact, the station really seems to be successful (check out the overall ratings on Radio-Info) right now. I haven't seen them do that well since the late 80's and early 90's as WLTF. (They did well around 1998 as WMVX, but dropped off big time afterwards dispite some signs of life on and off between 2001 and 2010 with the all-Christmas format.) Surprising, considering that the station has no personalities and plays a lot of familiar tunes. They seem to have a formula and it's working. I guess I can give the PD and OM each a pat on the back.

I have a funny feeling when WDOK goes all-Christmas around Thanksgiving, guess where the listeners who don't want that format are going - The Lake, given that they won't go seasonal themselves.

 

[Capulet]

The Lake's debut and subsequent sustain of audience is amazing.

It is a remarkable contrast to the gawd awful AAA Elyria embarassment that was supposed to be, and sold as great, simply because it was local. ( Head scratch again! ).

Just goes to show, some people know how to put a station on the air, while others are clueless.

The architects of this Lake station did a great job. While I don't listen now ( I did when they signed on ) the thing I liked best was the recorded jokes they played between the records.
The next thing I liked was they really sold the concept that the station was for the listeners, not the programmers. ( " We're making a station that we like" is was what tanked WNWV's change to AAA ).

 

[unpwn]

It's a Jack FM station under a softer, more local name.
And IMO, an A-Z weekend on a station that "plays anything" should last more than one weekend. Just saying.

 

[Capulet]

And IMO, an A-Z weekend on a station that "plays anything" should last more than one weekend. Just saying.

I agree. That whole "A-Z" gimmick on a station that " plays anything " does not work. Good point.
Thats probabaly the only mistake I ever heard of over there!

 

[vjm]

The Lake's debut and subsequent sustain of audience is amazing.

It is a remarkable contrast to the gawd awful AAA Elyria embarassment that was supposed to be, and sold as great, simply because it was local. ( Head scratch again! ).

Just goes to show, some people know how to put a station on the air, while others are clueless.

The architects of this Lake station did a great job. While I don't listen now ( I did when they signed on ) the thing I liked best was the recorded jokes they played between the records.
The next thing I liked was they really sold the concept that the station was for the listeners, not the programmers. ( " We're making a station that we like" is was what tanked WNWV's change to AAA ).

V 107.3's problem is that they were trying to make kind of a hybrid NCX/MJI format work by going against the stations they were designed after.

Why listen to a copycat when you have the real thing.

Wouldn't suprise me in the least if within the next year, ELB sells off WNWV and concentrates on WEOL and the Sandusky cluster.

 

[VODood]

@vjm... IF ELB sells WNWV they'll sell WEOL as well. No way it can hold it's own. IF ELB sells they'll sell all five stations. WLKR-AM Norwalk is a daytimer. I'd give that one away for a write off.

 

[1sttimecaller]

V 107.3's problem is that they were trying to make kind of a hybrid NCX/MJI format work by going against the stations they were designed after.

No, 107.3's problems are:
1) Being programmed by a PD with NO successful track record programming a station. err...no track record, period.
2) Being consulted by a PD who hasn't had a successful programming stint in nearly 15 years. (bring it on VoDood, defend G-man like you always do)
3) Music scheduled by someone who was last a music director when index cards were standard in the control room.
4) They sound like a poorly programmed station in 1983.
5) Live tracks. (Hey you know what worked at WMMS in 1978? Let's do it again!)
6) Their name. If you are attempting to reach an audience of intelligent, affluent listeners who have become bored with radio and grown tired of the cliches, great job picking out the name V107.3. That doesn’t sound like corporate radio at all.

 

[Rusty Muck]

V 107.3's problem is that they were trying to make kind of a hybrid NCX/MJI format work by going against the stations they were designed after.

No, 107.3's problems are:
1) Being programmed by a PD with NO successful track record programming a station. err...no track record, period.
2) Being consulted by a PD who hasn't had a successful programming stint in nearly 15 years. (bring it on VoDood, defend G-man like you always do)
3) Music scheduled by someone who was last a music director when index cards were standard in the control room.
4) They sound like a poorly programmed station in 1983.
5) Live tracks. (Hey you know what worked at WMMS in 1978? Let's do it again!)
6) Their name. If you are attempting to reach an audience of intelligent, affluent listeners who have become bored with radio and grown tired of the cliches, great job picking out the name V107.3. That doesn’t sound like corporate radio at all.

GMan left V107.3 behind way back in August 2010 (only it wasn't known until fairly recently... even I didn't know it). Aside from Ravenna, he has no connection whatsoever to the station.

Even HE has seen the writing on the wall.

 

[Rusty Muck]

@vjm... IF ELB sells WNWV they'll sell WEOL as well. No way it can hold it's own. IF ELB sells they'll sell all five stations. WLKR-AM Norwalk is a daytimer. I'd give that one away for a write off.

WEOL couldn't hold its' own back in the mid-90s. Revenue from The Wave, and from the sports play-by-play contracts, kept the station afloat far longer that it should have been. When the revenue from the Wave dried up in early 2008... that when WEOL emasculated itself.

If you listen to WEOL today, most of the local ad breaks have either "make-goods" for Fox Sports Radio, filler like "Progene Daily Complex" or Golf World ads, or Ad Council PSAs. Very few advertisers are buying outside of the sports PBP.

I don't envy the Hudnutt's position. In addition to the station group, the Elyria Chronicle has to compete with the Lorain Journal for readership in an economically depressed region, and The Medina Gazette operates almost completely from the Chronicle's offices.

The whole company is in a terrible position.

 

[Capulet]

V 107.3's problem is that they were trying to make kind of a hybrid NCX/MJI format work by going against the stations they were designed after.

No, 107.3's problems are:
1) Being programmed by a PD with NO successful track record programming a station. err...no track record, period.
2) Being consulted by a PD who hasn't had a successful programming stint in nearly 15 years. (bring it on VoDood, defend G-man like you always do)
3) Music scheduled by someone who was last a music director when index cards were standard in the control room.
4) They sound like a poorly programmed station in 1983.
5) Live tracks. (Hey you know what worked at WMMS in 1978? Let's do it again!)
6) Their name. If you are attempting to reach an audience of intelligent, affluent listeners who have become bored with radio and grown tired of the cliches, great job picking out the name V107.3. That doesn’t sound like corporate radio at all.

+1..... on the money ...#5 is a LOL!

 

[1sttimecaller]

Excatly what is untrue?
Rocco has never been a programmer before.
Gorman launched the station and made all the press clippings about it. His signature is all over it.
Brad was out of radio for years and never did much after WMMS. Madison?
Even KBCO pulled back on their live cuts when PPM showed it wasn't a hot button for listeners.
Was Mix, Kiss, Coast, Z, The Frog, The Bull, The Cat, The Moose, Q, Majic, Lite, Power, Hot, Jammin, nice, cd, the Wolf all taken? V-107.3. Really?!?!

Talk about originality. The 1st post made by someone defending the station claiming to be different and pattern itself after the old mms is made my Jeff F. Haven't we all forgotten about Jeff and Flash by now? (not a slam, but it's been almost 20 years since they signed off)

Run a search on WKYC for their radio week profiles and watch the WNWV piece. Rocco said their ratings had been improving and growing every month since they launched. The 6+ on radio-info say otherwise. Even a baboon could read those numbers.

 

[Jeff F]

...so the answer to radio's problems is falling back on old Scorpions, Eddie Money and Pink...hope not...the real answer is already out there...it's in my car and on my computer...local tv will follow...

C'mon John, I'm sure you're a nice guy...don't be so angry.....sorry I wasn't here for that "golden age" of Cleveland radio...maybe I missed something, maybe not...but it seems every medium and large city had a rock station that meant something to listeners at that time and had influence introducing new bands...in the end, they were just radio stations...nothing more...

 

[Jeff F]

and its spelled "exactly"...

 

[vjm]

@vjm... IF ELB sells WNWV they'll sell WEOL as well. No way it can hold it's own. IF ELB sells they'll sell all five stations. WLKR-AM Norwalk is a daytimer. I'd give that one away for a write off.

We talked about it on another thread, but somebody threw out the scenario where GKB bought the whole ELB portfolio outright.

OK...

107.3 becomes WKNR-FM

930 becomes ESPN Lorain

WLKR-AM becomes Fox Sports Sandusky

WLKR-FM becomes ESPN Sandusky

and WKFM becomes...a b@$+@rd child country station in a sports media company?

 

[Rusty Muck]

Excatly what is untrue?
Rocco has never been a programmer before.
Gorman launched the station and made all the press clippings about it. His signature is all over it.
Brad was out of radio for years and never did much after WMMS. Madison?
Even KBCO pulled back on their live cuts when PPM showed it wasn't a hot button for listeners.
Was Mix, Kiss, Coast, Z, The Frog, The Bull, The Cat, The Moose, Q, Majic, Lite, Power, Hot, Jammin, nice, cd, the Wolf all taken? V-107.3. Really?!?!

Talk about originality. The 1st post made by someone defending the station claiming to be different and pattern itself after the old mms is made my Jeff F. Haven't we all forgotten about Jeff and Flash by now? (not a slam, but it's been almost 20 years since they signed off)

Run a search on WKYC for their radio week profiles and watch the WNWV piece. Rocco said their ratings had been improving and growing every month since they launched. The 6+ on radio-info say otherwise. Even a baboon could read those numbers.

Actually Rocco was the PD for 107.9 The End during it's twilight months (the role was assumed by Dan Binder, Rocco then became the CE exclusively). Still doesn't say much, though.

The 6+ demos mean nothing but a beauty contest. BUT in all the meaningful demos, the stats clearly can't be good.

 

[Rusty Muck]

@vjm... IF ELB sells WNWV they'll sell WEOL as well. No way it can hold it's own. IF ELB sells they'll sell all five stations. WLKR-AM Norwalk is a daytimer. I'd give that one away for a write off.

We talked about it on another thread, but somebody threw out the scenario where GKB bought the whole ELB portfolio outright.

OK...

107.3 becomes WKNR-FM

930 becomes ESPN Lorain

WLKR-AM becomes Fox Sports Sandusky

WLKR-FM becomes ESPN Sandusky

and WKFM becomes...a b@$+@rd child country station in a sports media company?

Not as far-fetched as you think. GKB has a country station (WXRO/95.3 Beaver Dam), a classic rock station (WWHG/105.9 Madison), and a full service AM (WBEV/1430 Beaver Dam) in their portfolio outside of their six ESPN and two ESPN Deportes affiliates.

If GKB actually got the money to purchase ELB, 107.3 becomes WKNR-FM, while the rest of the stations remain in place. There's no need to oversaturate the market with ESPN programming - especially if 850 assumed the all-ESPN "KNR2" role and 1540 became ESPN Deportes.

 

[vjm]

@vjm... IF ELB sells WNWV they'll sell WEOL as well. No way it can hold it's own. IF ELB sells they'll sell all five stations. WLKR-AM Norwalk is a daytimer. I'd give that one away for a write off.

We talked about it on another thread, but somebody threw out the scenario where GKB bought the whole ELB portfolio outright.

OK...

107.3 becomes WKNR-FM

930 becomes ESPN Lorain

WLKR-AM becomes Fox Sports Sandusky

WLKR-FM becomes ESPN Sandusky

and WKFM becomes...a b@$+@rd child country station in a sports media company?

Not as far-fetched as you think. GKB has a country station (WXRO/95.3 Beaver Dam), a classic rock station (WWHG/105.9 Madison), and a full service AM (WBEV/1430 Beaver Dam) in their portfolio outside of their six ESPN and two ESPN Deportes affiliates.

If GKB actually got the money to purchase ELB, 107.3 becomes WKNR-FM, while the rest of the stations remain in place. There's no need to oversaturate the market with ESPN programming - especially if 850 assumed the all-ESPN "KNR2" role and 1540 became ESPN Deportes.

930 would be a better option for ESPN DePortes, because the Hispanic population is more on the West side of town, and WEOL is a full day operation.

1540 would be better off as a "WKNR-FM" simulcaster or a full FSR affiliate.

GKB may well leave the ELB Sandusky FMs alone (because they're doing well), but they'd probably turn WLKR AM 1510 into ESPN Sandusky, because oldies doesn't fit their M.O.

 

[zrl]

GKB buying the ELB portfolio makes some sense, but Craig has stated they don't have the ability to buy a Cleveland market FM, let alone a whole portfolio of less desirable radio properties that will come along with it.

IMO- its just as likely that Salem will buy out the ELB portfolio (as in not at all likely).

My best guess as to how Salem would program ELB would be:

107.3 becomes another simulcast of brokered bible-thumper WHKW 1220.
WEOL becomes Spanish language brokered bible-thumping.
The Norwalk AM becomes a simulcast of the Hugh Hewitt network & Cleveland WHK. (Conservatalk).
Norwalk FMs become FISH & brokered bible thumping (which goes on which signal doesn't really matter, does it?)

What fun that would be!

 

[vjm]

GKB buying the ELB portfolio makes some sense, but Craig has stated they don't have the ability to buy a Cleveland market FM, let alone a whole portfolio of less desirable radio properties that will come along with it.

IMO- its just as likely that Salem will buy out the ELB portfolio (as in not at all likely).

My best guess as to how Salem would program ELB would be:

107.3 becomes another simulcast of brokered bible-thumper WHKW 1220.
WEOL becomes Spanish language brokered bible-thumping.
The Norwalk AM becomes a simulcast of the Hugh Hewitt network & Cleveland WHK. (Conservatalk).
Norwalk FMs become FISH & brokered bible thumping (which goes on which signal doesn't really matter, does it?)

What fun that would be!

If ELB is willing to sell at a price that Poppa Mel and Daddy Goldhammer like, they'd pop on it. (ELB may be at the point where they might wanna get out while the getting is semi-sorta good).

Salem is in sell-sell-sell (tm Jim Cramer) mode.

 

[almaniac27]

GKB buying the ELB portfolio makes some sense, but Craig has stated they don't have the ability to buy a Cleveland market FM, let alone a whole portfolio of less desirable radio properties that will come along with it.

IMO- its just as likely that Salem will buy out the ELB portfolio (as in not at all likely).

My best guess as to how Salem would program ELB would be:

107.3 becomes another simulcast of brokered bible-thumper WHKW 1220.
WEOL becomes Spanish language brokered bible-thumping.
The Norwalk AM becomes a simulcast of the Hugh Hewitt network & Cleveland WHK. (Conservatalk).
Norwalk FMs become FISH & brokered bible thumping (which goes on which signal doesn't really matter, does it?)

What fun that would be!

If ELB is willing to sell at a price that Poppa Mel and Daddy Goldhammer like, they'd pop on it. (ELB may be at the point where they might wanna get out while the getting is semi-sorta good).

Salem is in sell-sell-sell (tm Jim Cramer) mode.

If Salem wants to sell, maybe we can get sports talk back on 1220 again. I can see that making much more sense, with 95.5 carrying ESPN and local programming, 1220 being all ESPN, and 1420 being FSR.