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WLKK PD Rivers Out
- Thread starter TheBigA
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Wall Street.
The Lake had nothing in common with 97 Rock except sharing some artists. Totally different formats. The Lake was sacrificed for the failed WBEN Simulcast first. After they had to give up, they launched the Alternative format. Field likes the idea that Alternative means hip young demographics. It sounds good to investors. The Edge didn't crush much of anything. They only have a 3 share doing the same format.
It's not likely that Country would do much on 107.7. Those rural counties have more livestock than people. Sounds like Entercom will plug in a NYC morning show for now. It appears that there's nothing left to try on this signal...
I think the suits at Entercom were right when they said it would be a #2 country station. And it wouldn't be close.
WNUC was a pretty distant 2nd when WYRK was owned by CBS.'
If Entercom put country on 107.7, it would just carry the mid-day show from NYC and evenings from Detroit. So what?
Entercom picked a helluva niche.
Of this, I’m most aware. Did you know there are more cows in Wyoming county than there are people?
Again, aware. Family friends have a cottage at Silver Lake. I know the lay of the land.
When 107.7 was WNSA, doing sports, airing the Buffalo Sabres games, it put up decent shares, albeit running in mono. The station went to pieces when the Rigas family lost their hockey team and Adelphia cable empire, of which the station was a part.
When 107.7 was The Bear, doing AOR after 97 Rock went AC in ’85, the station put up a 5+ share… at least for a book or two, until it was demolished when WHTT went Classic Hits on a full Class B on 104.1.
As the Lake, 107.7 notched a high share in the 3 range, competing with 97 Rock.
Alt wasn’t the greatest niche for this signal, the Lake was. But David Field was smitten by Alt. I'm not here to argue for the return of the Lake. That ship has sailed.
I’ve seen the contours and driven the streets from Rochester to Buffalo. I know where this station gets in and where it doesn't. I've talked to two chiefs who've done regular, continuous field intensity measurements.
Most revealing, I sat in an office with an agency rep in Rochester listening to 107.7 on a basic radio when it was the Lake. The station “comes in” in Rochester. Does it have the penetration of WBEE or WCMF. No. But in a brick and glass office park on the southeast side of Rochester with nothing more than a 24 inch whip antenna, the signal was there. In stereo. It probably would have been even thicker if the radio was in mono.
It’s my guess (nothing more) that a few Entercom decision-makers in Rochester sat in their offices and came to the conclusion that the 107.7 signal came in “just a little too well for them to roll with country.”
Again, I'll mention that indoor listening is done 95% in the 65 dbu contour and 80% in the 70 dbu. That was true when even the top markets had diaries where we could break out at home and at work from in-car. Today, people will put up even less with a poor signal as there are so many alternatives to OTA radio.
People can "get" lots more stations than they will listen to because there is little tolerance for bad signals.
The reason 1077 did not go country was not WBEE. I know that for sure.
No argument there. It can be applied to translators, too.
You worked for the company, so no doubt you'd know.
Surprised nobody bit on this. You’ve heard of urban myths? This one’s a popular Buffalo joke. Humans still outnumber Elsie and her friends there.
Your referring to the ratings. I am referring to the revenue
Its not about the ratings at 1077. Its about the revenue. As I said, when I was at 1077 as Country, I made a ton of money, because advertisers liked the choice they now had. It's not like you can't get 1077 in Buffalo at all. You can get it in most places in metro Buffalo, well. The station is not a ratings drivin signal, but with three pockets of revenue, Buffalo, Batavia, and Rochester...it can absolutely make money and get advertisers.
Its not really important now anyway because ETM will just syndicate it, homogenize everything and help radio continue with it's downward spiral.
That was also a different era. You could be right that Country could make some money. AAA would also be a niche format that could make money. It still would require planning, expertise, and effort. That's too much to ask of Entercom. They spent a lot to buy this signal, but now it is virtually worthless...
It depends. Their ownership is strategic. The strategy is the same as their ownership of KB. People say KB is a waste of a great signal. But it has its purpose.
It's in the Wikipedia article, so it must be true, right?
Well summarized. Especially the last sentence.
What purpose? KB generates no revenue. It is just used to air excess sports programming that WGR can't run. Nobody is listening to it.
Nobody is lining up to buy KB or 107.7. The threat of competition from other Radio operators is over. The competition is from entertainment options that didn't exist 20 years ago...
It exists to "clear" that programming in Buffalo. For whatever reason, that's all that matters to the ad agency weasels who specialize in convincing empty suits in Corporate America that getting their sales pitches on a station -- ANY station, even one that nobody actually listens to -- in any significant market is of paramount value. These bizarre beings are totally different life forms than you and me, or at least their brains were wired with the logic component missing.
You are wrong. I am trying to buy 1077, and if I got it, we would crush it. ETM, nor any other corporate cluster will sell individual stations anytime soon. One reason and one only. It will spook stockholders! That is the only reason.
The only purpose ETM has these stations is so nobody else will get them. Very sad.
Not true. Entercom sold heritage Rock station WAAF to EMF this year. Stations are still being sold and swapped by the Corporate groups. Savvy investors know that the stock is pretty worthless right now.
It's pretty obvious that the Entercom merge with CBS (and the Pandemic) have put them in desperation mode. Keep making them offers. Maybe they will take your money one day. The 107.7 signal is one of their least relevant assets...
I think 'Bolt meant "buying advertising time" on 1520 or 107.7
Concur. Coincidentally, this is one of the reasons I believe Entercom won't sell the station, a contention I made several weeks ago in a previous thread. A former Buffalo cluster manager is of the opinion that Entercom's Buffalo cluster retains more value as a whole (four AM, three FM) despite what some may think about the 107.7 signal or its value.
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Actually, the estimates are that it bills about $50 k a month. That covers costs and more. It is combined with other cluster stations and is as useful as a high on the dial AM can be today.
But there are options for both, not all with the traditional radio business model.
That is not how it works... on so many levels.
Ad agencies (except for small shops and small clients) don't go over the details of ad buys with clients. Clients use agencies because they do not want to have a "house agency" as subcontracting allows them to change providers if they become unhappy with the results.
Agencies go over the overall strategies, but the individual buys and media mix decisions are pretty much internal matters based on client approved budgets and goals
When mass stations buys are made, the pricing is based on delivery. Stations that get very low ratings are compensated via very low rates. Agencies make big group buys so that there is one order, one invoice. They can't buy hundreds of stations directly any more... there are just too many stations and audience is too fragmented. So they get some 0.2 share stations and some 5 share stations and a lot in between. Overall, they pay a determined delivery rate based on the total, not each individual piece.
In some cases, groups or clusters toss in a low rated station to make the buy reach the desired Cost Per Point (CPP) that the agency or buying service has for the market.
Most ad agency people are pretty decent. I was GSM in a market that had over 100 local agencies, and can only think of a couple of folks I did not like, whether in the media department, AE's, management or creatives. They were not any true weasels amongst them.
And most business executives that have to power to assign millions of dollars in ad budgets are not empty suits, either. They tend to be marketing pros with both specialized University degrees and loads of experience. They are not always fun to deal with because they are defending their interests, not mine. But I seldom found a business person at that level that was stupid or incompetent. Some were a bit full of themselves, others were, to my chagrin, biased against radio, but most were smart, perceptive and willing to hear ideas that might benefit them.
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