Why is FM News failing?

[davideduardo]

Starting a new station on FM: iffy.

The one major market example is KROI-FM in Houston. They just launched a few weeks ago. Their only commercial competitor is KTRH-AM, which is a news/talk combo. They've been drifting more to conservative talk, alienating hard news fans. And they've been doing it on the cheap, firing popular local staffers. KROI hired some of the established Houston talent, so they're starting with known names. We'll see what happens.

Another example of a startup is WPGB in Pittsburgh. They had the advantage of a stodgy KDKA and the fact that, KDKA lost baseball to them. They managed to beat KDKA quite soundly in 25-54. On the other hand, Clear's attempt in the Twin Cities did not do so well. In New Orleans, they did well but never beat WWL, and pushed Entercom to putting WWL on an FM simulcast, too.

 

[ansky212]

Even if they flip from news to sports, or news to AC, unless they have some kind of unique style that differentiates them from what already exists, they will be in trouble.

They should have flipped to a format with a gaping hole like Country. That's about as unique as you can get with the current state of NY radio. They most certainly would have pulled in better ratings than they have now.

 

[WNTIRadio]

And country is a cheaper format to execute. Only 1 jock on per daypart, maybe a couple of people in the morning. No reporters, dual anchors etc. to contend with.

I know the thinking is always "but country is a hard sell to the agencies!" Well, which would you rather sell to the agencies? A .5 with a cume of 600,000, meaning that in any key demo you only have a slice of that total so it's really low, or a 2.5-3.0 and lots of listeners in the 18-34 and 25-54 demos. Country does pull in younger numbers now, it isn't your father's country format. It's pop music with a twang.

I know I'd rather be selling a 2.5-3.0 playing country music than a .5 doing the same news that 2 other stations in the market have been dominating for 35+ years.

 

[XCountry285]

A sports talk format would have been better than this. This was poorly executed. It sounds like garbage.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Again, why would we need a THIRD sports talk station?? There's 2 in NYC already. One has been an established player for 27 years, the other has been on the air for at least 6 or 7 now, probably more as time gets blurred in my mind.

Merlin needs to magically try a different format to corner the market. Being the third news station isn't going to get them anywhere. Whether it's on FM or AM doesn't matter.

Look for ESPN to make a play for 94.7, then you'll get your sports on FM wish. And I'll bet if they do buy it, there will be programming enhancements to really go after WFAN.

 

[TheBigA]

A sports talk format would have been better than this. This was poorly executed. It sounds like garbage.

But keep in mind the same people would run the sports talk format or the country format. They failed at this. What makes you think they will do better with a different format? The format isn't the problem.

 

[ansky212]

But keep in mind the same people would run the sports talk format or the country format. They failed at this. What makes you think they will do better with a different format? The format isn't the problem.

I'm pretty sure format is the problem. It is much easier to screw up a news format than a music format.

 

[kevinsealy]

There's ONLY one reason why WEMP is failing; there's an over saturation of News stations. Both 1010 WINS & WCBS 880 have been established news stations for two generations.









Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

 

[recto101]

A sports talk format would have been better than this. This was poorly executed. It sounds like garbage.

Heck in San Francisco we have FM Sports talk 95.7 FM and it flopped because incidentally Cumulus owned KNBR 680/1050 does Sports better in SFO. However Cumulus has a Merlin Wannabe KGO-AM 810 and it flopped. Mainly because KCBS has an Iron hand on AM-and FM in sfo. KQED-FM, KCBS 740/106.9 and KOIT-FM (AC in SFO) always have the top 3 spots in the Arbitron Books.

 

[blackgold]

I suggest that Merlin Media drop FM news 24/7 and keep information blocks in the morning and afternoon drive time. It can program alternative music the rest of the day with 5 minute news blocks on the hour and half hour during the rest of the day and night, as well as on weekends.

 

[davideduardo]

However Cumulus has a Merlin Wannabe KGO-AM 810 and it flopped. Mainly because KCBS has an Iron hand on AM-and FM in sfo. KQED-FM, KCBS 740/106.9 and KOIT-FM (AC in SFO) always have the top 3 spots in the Arbitron Books.

How can you say that a format shift that has only been in place a few weeks is a "flop?"

Any spoken word format, even in PPM, needs a considerable amount of time for such a judgment to be made.

 

[nd2023]

There's ONLY one reason why WEMP is failing; there's an over saturation of News stations. Both 1010 WINS & WCBS 880 have been established news stations for two generations.









Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

Same thing in Chicago. Their FM News is failing because they're going up against WGN and WBBM-FM.

 

[recto101]

Look at WNEW-FM the CBS O&O in Washington DC they have used the WINS Model in their Newscasts.

 

[casual observer]

A common thread on these boards is that Merlin and their new formats "need time" to grow. This is also echoed by those who work at Merlin. OK, assume that's true. What seems missing is the understanding that your product needs to be different and better than entrenched franchises if you're going to make a competitive dent. Merlin management misses this by a mile. Yes, their on-air product is better than what they launched with but it still has a long way to go before they begin to scare CBS. Their website and social media products, highly touted as key competitive differentiators, are ordinary at best. Add the fact that Merlin currently has no on-site GM or PD in New York or Chicago and you begin to think maybe they should consider investing in some native leadership vs. relying on top-down trickle directives.

 

[nd2023]

I'm sure 6 months from now WNEW in DC will get better ratings than FM News 101.9 or 101.1. That's despite WNEW having a worse signal than WTOP, which has been on FM for years. It's CBS, they have the all-news format down to a science and have reporters all over the country. Merlin just has New York and Chicago and soon Philly. As the capital of the US, DC is a hotbed for news, and I could see two all news stations on FM working over there.

 

[njradionj]

Maybe people just prefer news with teletype sounds in the background, news stations that break for Yankee games, stations that distort in the outer suburbs

 

[WNTIRadio]

Maybe people just prefer news with teletype sounds in the background, news stations that break for Yankee games, stations that distort in the outer suburbs Shocked

I live in the outer 'burbs. 101.9's signal is barely listenable 55 miles from NYC, while 880 is okay 95% of the time. 1010 has always been a non-issue since I'm due west of the city.

People prefer listening to news from trustworthy and authoritative voices that deliver the news with great rhythm. There's no rhythm at 101.9 right now.

And HOW ON EARTH does the afternoon traffic guy keep getting cut off saying "... on FM News One Oh One Point Ni---". C'mon, those are mistakes that don't happen at a college station I contracted for.

Memo to FM News: Get your act together... and fast. Time to stop sounding like the 3rd rate news station and either own it or do something else.

"FM News, the NY Islanders of radio"

 

[Kent]

And HOW ON EARTH does the afternoon traffic guy keep getting cut off saying "... on FM News One Oh One Point Ni---". C'mon, those are mistakes that don't happen at a college station I contracted for.

Since you said you can barely get 101.9, I have to ask if you're listening to WEMP off-air or online? If you're listening online, it could be because the producer is starting an agency spot that has to be covered right as the traffic guy's at the end of his outcue. If that happens, you'll get exactly that. It's pretty common on voicetracked stations, too.

 

[wadio]

And HOW ON EARTH does the afternoon traffic guy keep getting cut off saying "... on FM News One Oh One Point Ni---".

That's inexcusable ... on air, on the Internet, wherever.

I'm afraid the "YouTube" generation has placed expectations of quality at an all-time low. Standards? What standards!

It's ironic because today's technology makes the achievement of excellence far easier than ever before. But no one cares anymore.

 

[Kent]

That's inexcusable ... on air, on the Internet, wherever.

It's actually normal to fire the first spot in a break as you're saying the last syllable in your break. The spot normally starts a split second after you fire it, or at least it did in AudioVault and Wireready. By hitting the "Start" button (or whatever hot key you have enabled for that spot) as you're wrapping up, you're keeping the VU meters moving and, thus, avoiding any dead air. However, it causes problems for internet streaming because it silences the air signal immediately and covers it with a replacement spot. Some systems may enable you to just cover the spot, but I haven't seen one.