WMMS

[Rusty Muck]

A larger question is being missed here..does WMMS want to be a rock station or a talk station aimed at 18-34 males? You can't do two formats at the same time..having full blown talk shows sandwhiched between voiced tracked middays and evenings is not going to make a dent in the market..

I see it as an unannounced concession by station management on the active rock format. By having 13 hours of talk a day, not to mention the flagship rights to Browns football, all the remaining hours are non-consequential in the ratings books (to be fair, mid-days matter, but come nowhere near mornings or afternoons). Of course, Maxwell/Ben's show became a talk show outright in 2006 to go up against O&A, and Rover/Shane's show always had been all-talk almost from the start, so this is not a new strategy at all. But the rock format is now just an afterthought, which, to me, is a shame.

Of course, CBS Radio failed on a massive scale with FM "hot talk" with the Free FM disaster. I doubt an all-hot talk WMMS would fare well well at all. Please prove me wrong, but there really aren't that many successful "hot talk" stations out there nowadays to begin with, nor where there ever, expect for stations that carried Stern.

If WMMS went all-talk, to be successful, it would have to be in a conventional news/talk format. Or all-sports. And it would be very tricky to make either one work with Rover's show.

 

[Speaker of Truth]

CBS blew up their Boston Rock Station a year ago and flipped it all sports, but they had deals in place for the NFL and NBA franchises..

What you could do in this case is move the Indians and Browns and Cavaliers to WMMS, make it a sports talk outlet, using talent already in place on WTAM, while making WTAM all talk..you could leave the Indians or Cavaliers on WTAM when there are conflicts in the schedule..which is being done now..and has been for several years..

If you study the Boston situation, you'll find they left their rock morning show in place as they made the transistion..you could include sports elements on Rover, while leaving much of the current content--for what its worth--in place..

 

[Rusty Muck]

CBS blew up their Boston Rock Station a year ago and flipped it all sports, but they had deals in place for the NFL and NBA franchises..

What you could do in this case is move the Indians and Browns and Cavaliers to WMMS, make it a sports talk outlet, using talent already in place on WTAM, while making WTAM all talk..you could leave the Indians or Cavaliers on WTAM when there are conflicts in the schedule..which is being done now..and has been for several years..

If you study the Boston situation, you'll find they left their rock morning show in place as they made the transistion..you could include sports elements on Rover, while leaving much of the current content--for what its worth--in place..

I am reminded that WOIO/19 has had Rover as one of their pregame commentators in the past (I forget if he still is). When his Memphis affiliate flipped to sports/talk with ESPN Radio, because ESPN has* the must-carry for Mike & Mike, Rover was canceled... even as the Entercom/Memphis cluster wanted to keep Rover on-board, but couldn't.

WMMS as all-sports, or a guy talk/sports hybird, would make tremendous sense. Although the Indians games will probably be forever ingrained on AM, and on WTAM, the Cavaliers will be a probable ratings drain for the short-term (however long that will be) and could be moved to FM. It also give CC/Cleveland the ability to bid on the OSU contract whenever the current one with WKNR expires - as they would finally have an station to run the games on.

Either way, it makes a lot of sense. Which is why it will never ever ever happen. While WMMS has managed to strip themselves of all of their history and past identity over the past 15 years or so, there seems to be the perpetual mentality that WMMS has to play rock music in some way, regardless of the programmers or management that is brought in to 6200 Oaktree. With all of their rock jocks voice-tracked, and some of them of the Premium Choice variety... it's not worth it to try to keep. This weakness clearly has shown in the ratings outside of Rover, Maxwell in the past and Cox in the present.


*Supposedly, ESPN either eased up or dropped the "Mike & Mike" must-carry rule. I cannot confirm it.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

There are WAY too many questions to be answered before WTAM would shuttle sports to WMMS, and turn it into a sports talker.

Who?

I've heard rumors (rumors ONLY) that Oak Tree has made a run at Rizzo. I don't put much stock in those rumors, so I haven't put them up on the blog.

What would you put in place on WTAM if sports content moved to WMMS? Would Triv stay at 1100, move to 100.7 or simulcast? Would Bob Frantz stay in place without sports conflicts on 1100, or...perhaps the most important question...are the sports contracts just too important for 1100's success to take off the AM side?

It's not nearly as cut and dried as it would appear, and I can't imagine a world where a Hannity would air on 1100, even if Triv moved to 100.7.

Remember, WTAM has very little success in "political talk" save for Rush and to a lesser extent, Beck. Triv avoids politics unless he's tweaking the Mayor of Cleveland or talking about casinos. Save for whatever Frantz does, there's little history in "issues talk" in 1100's recent history, and even Frantz is pressed into double duty with Extra Innings and Browns pre-game/post-game stuff.

Also remember, everyone (including yours truly) ticketed - so to speak - 1170 as a sports talk companion to 1100 when CC filed to move it up here in 2004. It didn't happen for any number of reasons. If CC wanted it, they'd have found a way to create such a station...new 1170 or no.

 

[SteelRocker]

Oh how funny it is to read how Alan Cox isn't very popular out in Cleveland. When he was on 105.9 The X in Pittsburgh, all he talked about was Chicago. He really had an ego bigger than Chicago and thought he was the afternoon version of Howard Stern (who was on in the a.m. on The X at the time). He did the 4:20 pause for the cause, talked trash about anything not related to liberalism, and it was a refreshing change when he went back to Chicago. I can also tell you he never had a good thing to say about Cleveland when he was in Pittsburgh either. When we'd go on the Ohio Turnpike, I'd always listen to 100.7, and was really disappointed when it was announced they were picking up Mr. Ego Alan.

 

[Ron Lee]

Oh how funny it is to read how Alan Cox isn't very popular out in Cleveland. When he was on 105.9 The X in Pittsburgh, all he talked about was Chicago. He really had an ego bigger than Chicago and thought he was the afternoon version of Howard Stern (who was on in the a.m. on The X at the time). He did the 4:20 pause for the cause, talked trash about anything not related to liberalism, and it was a refreshing change when he went back to Chicago. I can also tell you he never had a good thing to say about Cleveland when he was in Pittsburgh either. When we'd go on the Ohio Turnpike, I'd always listen to 100.7, and was really disappointed when it was announced they were picking up Mr. Ego Alan.

I think he is a little more popular than a few "Maxwell loyalists" will have you believe. He still refers to his Chicago days quite a bit, doesnt pause at 4:20 but will openly admit that he is a weed smoker. To me, he doesnt come off as a Howard wannabe, but he does come off a bit smug and overly-liberal at times. From what you describe, his show in Pittsburgh wasnt very fun. The show he does here is pretty fun. Its silly and it sounds like he is having fun on the air, not overly serious. At least, he comes off that way to many of us...

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

Remember, WTAM has very little success in "political talk" save for Rush and to a lesser extent, Beck. Triv avoids politics unless he's tweaking the Mayor of Cleveland or talking about casinos.

You need to get a new hearing aid. All Triv talks about is politics. Or rather, all he and his listeners do is bash Obama and liberals. So does everyone else on the station - even the traffic guy gets in his snide remarks.

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

You need to get a new hearing aid. All Triv talks about is politics. Or rather, all he and his listeners do is bash Obama and liberals.

Triv doesn't do "political talk". He makes political comments, but only as part of his personality.

Triv doesn't walk in each day and parrot talking points. He just makes random observations, sometimes political, sometimes sports, sometimes not related to either.

It is not a "political talk show" like Rush, Hannity or Beck. It's a cranky, undereducated guy saying stuff.