WJJL to become WEBR

[tbolt909]

I'm in that age group, and what WEBR plays is about 70% unfamiliar and about 100% unlikable. I had pretty similar taste to all my friends in Junior High and High School, and, although I also acquired a taste for jazz and r&b from my part time radio job, I never listened to old-line MOR. And nobody in my peer group did, either.

One has to be pre-Baby Boomer to like that music as a steady diet. That means they were mostly pre-WW II babies and pretty old now.



As I said, talk listeners don't pick arbitrarily between music and talk. It depends on the mood. Nobody, except a few religious format listeners, exclusively cumes only one station. The average person has a variety of stations they like, and they pick the one appropriate for the way they feel at the moment. In fact, Iheart has made quite a success in several markets with a "wall of women" as they find that they can capture female listeners in different moods with several formats... CHR, Hot AC, AC, etc., without them ever leaving a company station.

Not sure where you got the 70 percent unfamiliar and 100 percent unlikeable numbers. Some people may say that about CHR formats. It depends on who you ask.

Some 70 year olds may find Oldies Pop "too old" for their tastes. It depends on the individual...

 

[Rusty Bridges]

Page 8, post #77

I read that paean to the music. (I was also perturbed by his dismissal of the owner's paean to traditional values.) I was born on the fifth day of the Baby Boomer generation. And I did not recognize many of the names cited in the music eulogy. And those that I did recognize were representative of music I neither like nor enjoy and which I identify as that of my parents, not my generation. Growing up just to the SW of Buffalo, I did not know anyone in my age group who liked that music. While Buddy is appealing to 45-65 listeners primarily, this station is obviously targeting folks well over 70. Anyone know how old the reporter is?

P. 12, post #119

It's certainly possible that some 70 year old WECK listener may sample WEBR (if they ever find out about it). Time will tell if the ratings are impacted or not.

I'm in that age group, and what WEBR plays is about 70% unfamiliar and about 100% unlikable. I had pretty similar taste to all my friends in Junior High and High School, and, although I also acquired a taste for jazz and r&b from my part time radio job, I never listened to old-line MOR. And nobody in my peer group did, either. One has to be pre-Baby Boomer to like that music as a steady diet. That means they were mostly pre-WW II babies and pretty old now.

When Entercom was running Oldies on KB, they had some personalities from "Yesteryear". WBEN didn't need competition within the building, so it went away. KB now affects no one in any way. It's just there...

As I said, talk listeners don't pick arbitrarily between music and talk. It depends on the mood. Nobody, except a few religious format listeners, exclusively cumes only one station. The average person has a variety of stations they like, and they pick the one appropriate for the way they feel at the moment. In fact, Iheart has made quite a success in several markets with a "wall of women" as they find that they can capture female listeners in different moods with several formats... CHR, Hot AC, AC, etc., without them ever leaving a company station.

This being 2020:

(1) Listeners ages 45-50 were born in 75-70, using their 13th birthday, they most likely came of music awareness around 1983-88

(2) Listeners ages 50-55 were born in 70-65, using their 13th birthday, they most likely came of music awareness around 1978-83

For the same reasons that you, David, don't identify with the pre-baby boom music format of WEBR, it's likely the demographics referred to in (1) and (2) don't, in great numbers, listen to an Oldies format that is positioned as the hits of the 60s and 70s.

A counter argument might be, Oldies is based on rock & roll, as such there's a difference between Standards and Oldies.

Feasible to the extent that listeners in the 45-55 demo were affected by their parents' tastes in music that was similar in structure to the hits of the late 70s and 80s, and perhaps the early 90s.

The counter to that premise is Classic Rock, Adult Hits and Classic Hits formats more likely represent the "transitional" interests and tastes of listeners ages 45-54 and 45-50.

As such, it's more likely that the 45-64 demographic referenced in post #77 would more accurately be 55-64, a subset of the 45-64 demographic. From what has been published, the strength of the Oldies format is 55+ with a very large segment falling in the 65+ demographic.

_________

This post is intended as a discussion of formats and demographics.

 

[four4rock]

... "wall of women" ...

LOL LOL. That's something.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Your pal David E. disagrees with you. He says Oldies and News Talk are not competitors for listeners. If WEBR is no threat at all, why do you need their "destruction"?

In spite of the recent uptick for WECK's ratings, you still haven't delivered on your 5 share guarantee. You only complain when the ratings drop blaming the methodology.
Not much Radio listening happens after sundown anyway. It's not 1975 anymore...

Listen to me, the facts. In the June survey WBEN AND WECK were the 2nd preferred to each other. I have the freaking ratings. My theory, and I know this to be true, is both formats are adult friendly, but sometimes people get sick of news and want a reprieve. Sometimes WECK listeners get sick of music and want to hear some talk. It helps that both stations are on the same AM band.

There has not been a “ recent uptick” in WECK ratings. We have pretty much hovered in the 3 shares with the exception of some bad winter months. Last year we had a 3.7. 12p. This year i am guessing a 4 share by Oct based on the trends I am seeing and our additional translator . I am not a soothsayer. Who knows. That’s what I am seeing now. Also, it important to know that WECK is now a top 5 35 to 64. Top 4 45 to 64. In a million person Erie county market, I will take it!

WECK is an Erie County station. When you take Niagara county out of the mix, Weck is top 8 Erie county. With Niagara it’s a top 10.

I do not “ need” wjjl destruction. I could care less. They will zoom to a 0.4 That’s it. They will be out of business in no time. But if they aren’t, I don’t care. I care about WECK.

I have already found out they have had very unpleasant meetings in the past few days. You will be seeing people dropping from there very quickly. Then you can apply Bolt. They need someone to clean the fridge.

 

[CTListener]

LOL LOL. That's something.

It's real. Women underindex for alternative, active rock, classic rock, hip-hop, sports and news/right-wing talk, but are heavy consumers of AC, CHR and country. That's where the ad dollars are, and that's why iHeart tries to grab as many female ears as possible.

 

[davideduardo]

Your pal David E. disagrees with you. He says Oldies and News Talk are not competitors for listeners. If WEBR is no threat at all, why do you need their "destruction"?

I did not say the two formats are not competitors; every station is in some way a competitor. But they are mood driven choices, so when you want to hear talk you don't want to hear music... and the reverse.

In spite of the recent uptick for WECK's ratings, you still haven't delivered on your 5 share guarantee. You only complain when the ratings drop blaming the methodology.
Not much Radio listening happens after sundown anyway. It's not 1975 anymore...

Actually, evening listening holds up well in 18+... the main issue is that advertisers do not want much besides 6 AM to 7 PM. Radio is, in many ways, considered the nearest thing to point-of-purchase.

 

[davideduardo]

LOL LOL. That's something.

It's a standard term of the trade, though.

 

[davideduardo]

Not sure where you got the 70 percent unfamiliar and 100 percent unlikeable numbers. Some people may say that about CHR formats. It depends on who you ask.

Some 70 year olds may find Oldies Pop "too old" for their tastes. It depends on the individual...

I was speaking of my own experience and taste, quite clearly. And in general, I was referring to my peer group within a stone's throw up Lake Erie.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

WECK is now a top 5 35 to 64. Top 4 45 to 64.

What's the spread? The difference in shares between #1 and #5, Persons 35-64; #1 and #4 Persons 45-64 can be one share or seven shares. There have been books where #1 had a 12 share and #4 had half that, and OTOH books where the Top 5 were separated by two shares or less. Persons 25-54, there's six shares between #1 and #5, more than 10 shares between #1 and #14.

I do not “ need” wjjl destruction. I could care less. They will zoom to a 0.4 That’s it. They will be out of business in no time. But if they aren’t, I don’t care. I care about WECK. I have already found out they have had very unpleasant meetings in the past few days. You will be seeing people dropping from there very quickly. Then you can apply Bolt. They need someone to clean the fridge.

Nasty much?

BTW, it's "I couldn't care less." Meaning there's so little care, no amount of care remains.

 

[Buddy Shula]

What's the spread? The difference in shares between #1 and #5, Persons 35-64; #1 and #4 Persons 45-64 can be one share or seven shares. There have been books where #1 had a 12 share and #4 had half that, and OTOH books where the Top 5 were separated by two shares or less. Persons 25-54, there's six shares between #1 and #5, more than 10 shares between #1 and #14.


Nasty much?

BTW, it's "I couldn't care less." Meaning there's so little care, no amount of care remains.

We are not far in shares from the other 3. It’s all a horse race. Wben is far above. And it should be. I love wben and always will. I sold it and was on the air there for 20 years. Entercom is a great company.

You say I’m nasty?. Have you looked at some of the statements made about me on this board? Statements that are not true? I am gonna stand up fir myself always

 

[Rusty Bridges]

Dave Gillen is said to be the new Program Director of WEBR. He has a good background on air and in sales. WEBR is a dumpster fire, but maybe he can put it out and turn it into a garden of roses.

 

[davideduardo]

Dave Gillen is said to be the new Program Director of WEBR. He has a good background on air and in sales. WEBR is a dumpster fire, but maybe he can put it out and turn it into a garden of roses.

But it still has a world-class bad signal.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

But it still has a world-class bad signal.

True. But when Phillips owned the station at least it could be heard. It was strong in the suburbs around Genesee and Transit, could be heard daytime as far east as Batavia, and to the southwest in Dunkirk. Strange.

 

[Buddy Shula]

If it’s a hobby they should keep doing what they are doing. If they want something relevant it should be total Niagara Falls talk. That’s it.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

If it’s a hobby they should keep doing what they are doing. If they want something relevant it should be total Niagara Falls talk. That’s it.

Seriously, how long would a Niagara Falls talk format work, if at all? The talk block now sounds like the same eight people calling in day after day. Imagine 12 hours of the same. Even if the station incorporated Niagara County and the Tonawandas, it would probably sound the same but droning on all day. Tough format, especially competing with WBEN and (to an equally large extent) WGR.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Seriously, how long would a Niagara Falls talk format work, if at all? The talk block now sounds like the same eight people calling in day after day. Imagine 12 hours of the same. Even if the station incorporated Niagara County and the Tonawandas, it would probably sound the same but droning on all day. Tough format, especially competing with WBEN and (to an equally large extent) WGR.

We are not taking about a news talk station like wben. We are talking about a teapot in Niagara Falls. The station should hire 3 decent talk people, and talk about anything Niagara Falls. Take calls, have guests. Local NF advertisers would like it. It’s the only choice. I was going to buy JJL but quickly passed when I saw the sinkhole it was. The only thing I considered doing with it was local talk. It is the best option they have. That kind of small station should be total local focused. Nothing more.

 

[b-turner]

It's been a few years but I recall a local talk AM in Alton, Illinois in the St. Louis Market. They did local talk most of the day, going with nationally syndicated talk about 3 in the afternoon. The local talk, 6am to 3pm featured local news, interviews, calls and a few commercials, about 6 units an hour. It was no cash cow but I got the feeling it was doing okay. And, no, they didn't get a bunch of calls, but the talent had enough guests and ability to keep things moving at a nice pace.

 

[DN14224]

We are not taking about a news talk station like wben. We are talking about a teapot in Niagara Falls. The station should hire 3 decent talk people, and talk about anything Niagara Falls. Take calls, have guests. Local NF advertisers would like it. It’s the only choice. I was going to buy JJL but quickly passed when I saw the sinkhole it was. The only thing I considered doing with it was local talk. It is the best option they have. That kind of small station should be total local focused. Nothing more.

But what about if they follow your lead and take the translator route? Are there even any frequencies available?

 

[CTListener]

But what about if they follow your lead and take the translator route? Are there even any frequencies available?

Has the next application window even been scheduled yet?

 

[Buddy Shula]

There will be no open translator window again. The FCC already said that, and there are none for sale. Even if there was one for sale, it would cost about 200k for decent population coverage. But is a moot point as there are none for sale. There are no frequencies available that would not interfere with another co channel. And even if there were, the programming is terrible. No one would listen anyway. Weck has three translators the combined cover about a million population. Our am since it is in Buffalo covers a million population. Webr covers Niagara Falls and a lot of southern Ontario. It is not a Buffalo player at all. Check out Fccdata.org