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WHY DON'T WINNING STATIONS GET THE LOVE?

H

HardCore

I'm reminded of something by a recent thread regarding WHP.

Here's a station that has been #1 12+ in Harrisburg for virtually every single rating book in recent memory.

Nary a word here.

You've got BOB 94.9 and The River as consistent #2 and #3 performers, sometimes juxtaposed in those positions.

You'd think nobody had ever heard of those stations.

How is it that the three most popular radio stations in Harrisburg are so consistently ignored in discussions on this message board? Does it have anything to do with the fact that all three stations are owned by Clear Channel?

Instead we get discussions about The Rose. Gary Sutton. The "Where Does Jack Malloy Work Today?" saga. WXPN. Kelly West.

What do they all have in common?

No.
Numbers.
Whatsoever.

I'm reminded of how two years ago, WHYL went talk and this board literally exploded with speculation of how WHP's days were numbered. David was going to slay Goliath, and the Harrisburg talk radio scene would be forever changed. Two books later, WHYL was back to music.

Here is the harsh truth.

WTPA will never beat the River.
RED 102.3 will never, ever beat BOB.
And for years now, nobody has proved capable of unseating WHP as the #1 station in town.

You guys appear to only want to talk about the losers in this game. Want to pull for an underdog? Fine. Everybody loves an underdog. But avoiding talking about the winners is only propagating an incomplete discussion of Harrisburg radio.
 
OK, so you live in Harrisburg and think all the discussion on the Central PA board should center on Harrisburg, is that it? The stations you call "losers" are winners in their respective markets, Lancaster and York. WXPN has a considerable following and will soon have a full-market signal. People talk about change. WHP is a consistent player that hasn't changed anything in years. They have the only radio news department worth a damn in the entire region. They have one of the best morning personalities anywhere. What else is there to say about them? Ditto the River, which hasn't changed one iota since it debuted. They don't need to. As for BOB, it doesn't seem there are many Country fans here, as nobody ever talks about WGTY, York's #1 station.

If you have something to say about WHP or the River or BOB, please do so, but don't get snarky about other people talking about the stations that are important to them. By the way, WHP, the River and BOB are only winners in Harrisburg. In the other two cities that make up South Central PA, people couldn't care less about them.
 
john,

your observation is interesting...if you read the lehigh valley page a 250 watt daytimer wgpa am bethlehem gets more posts than the major hitters. they are an obscure block programming style station that focuses on polka music. the boards a strange what people like to blog about.
 
Holy crap! I was blown away by this post.

Let me put it this way. You're driving along a highway lined with billboards. Each billboard you see is perfectly painted with creative pictures and messages. Suddenly, you come upon a billboard with a huge hole in the middle of it. Immediately, you slow down and stare, wondering, "What happened to that billboard?"

This is about human nature. People don't normally have discussions about things that are taken for granted. For the same reason, TV news anchors don't normally lead off with stories about good news.

As John Summers said, if you want to discuss the winning stations in Harrisburg, do it. Just don't flame us if we have nothing to say about it.
 
TODDMAYOR said:
...if you read the lehigh valley page a 250 watt daytimer wgpa am bethlehem gets more posts than the major hitters. they are an obscure block programming style station that focuses on polka music.
Click to expand...

Well that's crazy no matter how you look at it! :D Seriously, though, that little daytimer must be doing something that sparks interest. Maybe it's the "you never know what they might do next" factor. Or maybe a lot of people just like polkas. WGPA pulled at 1.3 in the Winter book. The full-time AM signals aren't doing much better. Too bad we don't have one of those "owner's personal jukebox" stations around here. They're always a musical treat!
 
it is funny how that works

i remember when stern left and every one declared the death of The X..I think the number that was given was an approximately 70 percent attrition rate that would destroy them

post stern their numbers have gone UP as a whole!! did the loudmouth that prematurely played TAPS ever jump on and admit their error? of course not!!
 
I think you may be on to something here boys...
Lets put polka's on 106.7!

Bring on the Yankovic's..The Sturr's and Keilbasa Kings!

Doc
 
HARDCORE.......take note where this thread has gone already. :D
 
Dr. Rock said:
I think you may be on to something here boys...
Lets put polka's on 106.7!

Bring on the Yankovic's..The Sturr's and Keilbasa Kings!
Click to expand...

You'll never believe this Doc, but I had that very idea in the 70s. It would have totally revolutionized the polka format. Our station personalities, known as the Fun Lovin' Five Fat Dutchmen, would play carefully selected and researched album tracks from New Wave Polka bands. It was to be called "Punk Polka" and would be supported by auditorium test/hogmaw suppers at which lederhosen would be offered as a participation incentive. I sold my idea to Burkhart/Abrams, which promptly shelved it so as not to compete with their new format, Album-Oriented Stringband.

And I could have been a millionaire today.
 
I really wish they had not stonewalled your "would have revolutionized the polka format" idea, John.
I've been saying that corporate polka radio has become sooo predictable for years. ;D
 
This string is rather enjoyable. Thanks to "all" for stirring the pot a bit!
 
John-Summers said:
By the way, WHP, the River and BOB are only winners in Harrisburg. In the other two cities that make up South Central PA, people couldn't care less about them.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't necessarily go that far...using WHP as an example, they do a quite respectable number in Lancaster...going 12+ they are the top rated AM.

And in York, their hometown news/talker WSBA is only marginally rated higher than the out of market stick. While we can speculate that's because much of northern York county is more "Harrisburg" than "York."

If all three were one DMA, who would be #1? Maybe that's the bigger question here.
 
The answer, by the numbers, is:
WHP
WQXA
WRVV

Depending on the book. Usually WHP or WQXA.
 
HardCore said:
I'm reminded of something by a recent thread regarding WHP.

Here's a station that has been #1 12+ in Harrisburg for virtually every single rating book in recent memory.

Nary a word here.

You've got BOB 94.9 and The River as consistent #2 and #3 performers, sometimes juxtaposed in those positions.
Click to expand...

Hey, how 'bout that 580/WHP? They are really sumpin', aren't they? Scraping out #1 numbers with only one of the best AM signals on the East Coast--it comes in through my toaster--and an 80-year heritage. Haven't seen the Harrisburg book in awhile, but I'm gonna guess their share in Adults 55+ is in the stratosphere. I'd bet $5 that it's in the 40-to-50 range. Can anyone confirm or deny?

And, hey--how 'bout that there 94.9 "Jethro"... or "Cletus"... or whatever they call it? "Bob," yeah. Used to be down in the middle of the pack til their only full-power Country competition up & died. But since then, they've really torn up the pea patch, haven't they? That's a sign of greatness...

Don't forget about River! It's truly the Only Radio Station That Everyone At Work Can Agree On. Please play "Don't Stop" one more time. Please. We never get enough Fleetwood Mac--that little blonde is so hot! What is she--about 90, now?

Lot to be said for having big signals in a market where everyone else has small signals.

There you go, buddy. Fuel for the fire!
 
jackandcoke said:
Hey, how 'bout that 580/WHP? They are really sumpin', aren't they? Scraping out #1 numbers with only one of the best AM signals on the East Coast--it comes in through my toaster--and an 80-year heritage. Haven't seen the Harrisburg book in awhile, but I'm gonna guess their share in Adults 55+ is in the stratosphere. I'd bet $5 that it's in the 40-to-50 range. Can anyone confirm or deny?

And, hey--how 'bout that there 94.9 "Jethro"... or "Cletus"... or whatever they call it? "Bob," yeah. Used to be down in the middle of the pack til their only full-power Country competition up & died. But since then, they've really torn up the pea patch, haven't they? That's a sign of greatness...

Don't forget about River! It's truly the Only Radio Station That Everyone At Work Can Agree On. Please play "Don't Stop" one more time. Please. We never get enough Fleetwood Mac--that little blonde is so hot! What is she--about 90, now?

Lot to be said for having big signals in a market where everyone else has small signals.

There you go, buddy. Fuel for the fire!
Click to expand...

SARCASM now in HD ;D
 
EnoughJohnMayer said:
SARCASM now in HD ;D
Click to expand...

And well-targeted sarcasm, at that!

Who gives a GD that WHP racks up huge 12+ numbers (anything with a "+" after it, actually)? Last time I checked, WHP wasn't #1 in any demo that counted. Men 35-64? Whoopee!

Beyond that, they've been trading on radical right-wing extremism all these years, and that's become a bit of an albatross, what with the Oil War not quite working out the way Exxon planned and Bush's approval rating in single digits.

Screaming about liberals has gotten kind of old. What do they do for Act II? News?
 
Couple of things about WHP:
When the Dames took over WHP it had one of the worst books in its history with the "old" company with a 5.6 share. True! The Dames took it to between and 7 and 8-share consistently. Under CC's current regime that climbed through the 8s and 9s to a 10 share fairly often. The station does own the 55+ demos, but the growth has come on the young end. The old folks never went away, but WHP is now either number four or three 25-54, consistantly beating many of the FMs in the market. Now you can bitch about right-wing programming and all that jazz, but you cannot take the numbers... and improvment away from WHP. Oh you can, but it is simple BS. There is no question that its 80-year history helps, but Commonwealth proved with its 5-share that you can ruin a historic set of call letters if the programming sucks. The current lineup is the best that the station has had in its modern history and that is why they win. Pretty simple stuff. The numbers do not lie. Emotion is fine.. but numbers are reality. Sign a liberal station on here and you'll enjoy a 1-share at best. What radio programmers are supposed to do is identify an audience and serve it well. WHP has done that!
 
I dunno. When 70 percent of a station's programming is network fare--17 hours out of 24--it's hard to give credit to anybody other than the guy who invented the electic plug.

I suppose that recognizing which network shows will work in a given market is a "talent," but it would probably rank alongside "Watching American Idol" on the Totem Pole of Talents. Most of us can pick out popular shows and turn the receiver on. These guys get paid to do this?

Most of the time it's on the air, WHP is nothing more than a 5-KW repeater. It's just hard to get excited about a station that just plugs in and walks away.
 
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