WNCI - Florentino - Feel Free to advise!

[lovejamminoldies]

With Sean Cage starting nights and MD (and Imaging Director as well??) on June 7, should we expect anything different from WNCI?

KISS 107 FM, Des Moines, is where he's departing from. Will he bring anything special to WNCI? Will Florentino let him have some fun with the music and be a little more risky CHR-wise when it comes to the music. Not afraid to play some of the new CHR that may be a little rhythmic-sounding, but that's the format! WNCI never really played How Low and isn't playing My Chick Bad. I understand the heritage, but when WCKX was rhythmic, they weren't #1 for a reason. Not to bash Florentino, great guy and DEFINITELY better sounding than before, but will WNCI sound HOT? I think WNCI sounding like they do on Sat nites with Gonzo... not afraid to play the rhythmic hits but yet stick to what they know. Florentino, please do advise!

 

[wilson1000]

I will say that I'm impressed we're going to see someone in the studio at night. Not some VT'd talking head at night. Remember the Michael Jackson fiasco? Wow! Nuff said. Thank you, Tony for not VT'ing a top 50 market at night.

 

[lovejamminoldies]

Very true. But it has to be more about just playing music and taking some calls... I hope Cage opens the cage to Columbus radio.

 

[wilson1000]

The Rage in the Cage..hahaha

 

[Florentino]

The Rage in the Cage..hahaha

Classic. I might steal that name as a way for Sean to introduce new music that we're not playing in regular rotation.

 

[wilson1000]

Steal away, bro!

 

[dawg4life]

I have to admit that WNCI sounds a little bit better since Florentino took over. However, I hate the Brew now and 106.7 sounds boring, stale, and predictive. Other posters have mentioned a Gen X format that I hope you guys at Clear Channel would seriously consider flipping one of your non-performing stations to. I believe there's a serious gap of an audience that you're under-serving. I just turned 36 today, I still hate Columbus radio and that sucks.

 

[lovejamminoldies]

WNCI does sound a lot better since Florentino took over. I think when Sean gets creative behind MusicGen, it'll get even better!

 

[dplantz]

WNCI is definitely sounding more rhythmic these days. I'm not really into over-autotuned, club-ready pop, but that seems to be where they're heading... until the Top 40 winds shift again.

...and 106.7 sounds boring, stale, and predictive.

Well, they did chop off almost half their playlist. Look at their sister alternative in Philly, almost double the total songs.
http://www.radio1045.com/iplaylist/playlist.html - 625 songs
http://www.radio1067.com/iplaylist/playlist.html - 348 songs

But if they're taking format requests, I like WXRY out of Columbia. It's a AAA that leans Modern Rock/AC. It would definitely differentiate. Lighter than the Blitz, poppier than 101, but not cross into NCI territory either. http://www.yes.com/#WXRY?chart Of course, demo-wise, it's probably not strong enough compared to an alt/active hybrid.

Gen X radio would have to not compete at all with WNCI for them to take a crack at it. I suppose if 107.9 became a ratings-threat, they could do a modified Gen X to keep Mix away from 97.9.

 

[alans613]

I wouldn't even mind a Classic Alternative station, kinda like what The Sound was when it was on 94.9 in Cincy. The 90s-loving audience right now isn't just being underserved, but totally unserved!

 

[lovejamminoldies]

WNCI sounds good. Imaging and jingles are great and the music is better. I'd like to hear more rap in the songs and I definitely like the upbeat sound of CHR these days. Florentino is taking many more risks. Mix 1079 needs to step their game up!

 

[jakej]

I wouldn't even mind a Classic Alternative station, kinda like what The Sound was when it was on 94.9 in Cincy. The 90s-loving audience right now isn't just being underserved, but totally unserved!

If you're going Classic Alternative, why not focus on the '80s and late '70s instead -- the golden age of that genre? Then seamlessly blend in '60s and early '70s oldies with it, and you've got a show like mine. "Yesterday's Top Secrets" will have one more week with T. Rex and X as its featured artists, then starting on the 17th and beginning a four-week run in the "Secrets" spotlight it'll be the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Gibson Brothers, the latter of which was a Columbus band that you may have read about in last week's Other Paper, which they also graced the cover of. The Gibsons will be reuniting and performing for the first time in twenty years at the Parking Lot Blowout on July 10. All WNCI listeners are hereby cordially invited.
http://theotherpaper.com/articles/2010/05/27/cover_story/doc4bfe8b0c4c0a9797156517.txt

 

[TheMusicMan]

There's a reason why WNCI has been one of Top 40s true powerhouses for decades and shows no sign of letting up. They sound excellent and will no doubt improve even more with local presence at night.

And yes, great imaging and jingles.

 

[lovejamminoldies]

There's a reason why WNCI has been one of Top 40s true powerhouses for decades and shows no sign of letting up. They sound excellent and will no doubt improve even more with local presence at night.

And yes, great imaging and jingles.

I think this is the reason why WNCI hasn't seen any CHR competition. I guess when Power had its rhythmic stint for a while, it beat NCI in some demos and sounded good doing it, however they let down their Urban listeners and now Power is back to their roots. Mix 97.1 sounded great and was leaning even more Adult CHR before they flipped it. I never thought Mix 1079 sounded as good, and they still don't. They don't take many risks, and they still have a softer playlist, it's a copycat Saga Hot AC. Not a lot of local music programming from what I understand.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

There's a reason why WNCI has been one of Top 40s true powerhouses for decades and shows no sign of letting up. They sound excellent and will no doubt improve even more with local presence at night.

And yes, great imaging and jingles.

In Columbus you ALWAYS have to add in the qualifier that a station doesn't necessarily have to be as good to do well here as elsewhere, due to the shortage of viable signals (plus the fact that some are owned by inept mom-n-pops).  WNCI may indeed be a very well programmed and promoted station with a lot of brand equity, but there's no way of knowing for sure if they would be such a continual powerhouse were Columbus a more normal (more competitive) radio environment.

In particular, people from outside the market aren't attuned to these factors.  They don't realize the signal and ownership landscape here are unique, in a bad way.  As I've said, the fact that only a single company has more than one true full-market signal should be a dead giveaway.  Even much smaller markets have at least TWO big-signal clusters.

 

[alans613]

There's a reason why WNCI has been one of Top 40s true powerhouses for decades and shows no sign of letting up. They sound excellent and will no doubt improve even more with local presence at night.

And yes, great imaging and jingles.

In Columbus you ALWAYS have to add in the qualifier that a station doesn't necessarily have to be as good to do well here as elsewhere, due to the shortage of viable signals (plus the fact that some are owned by inept mom-n-pops). WNCI may indeed be a very well programmed and promoted station with a lot of brand equity, but there's no way of knowing for sure if they would be such a continual powerhouse were Columbus a more normal (more competitive) radio environment.

In particular, people from outside the market aren't attuned to these factors. They don't realize the signal and ownership landscape here are unique, in a bad way. As I've said, the fact that only a single company has more than one true full-market signal should be a dead giveaway. Even much smaller markets have at least TWO big-signal clusters.

Dayton is one of those markets Nu...we have 40,000 watt WGTZ and 50,000 watt WDHT(Both owned by Mainline), 50,000 watt WHKO and WHIO-FM(Both owned by Cox), and 50,000 watt WLQT and 20,000 watt WMMX(Both owned by CC)...and Dayton is only a TOP 60 market. Unbelievable.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

There's a reason why WNCI has been one of Top 40s true powerhouses for decades and shows no sign of letting up. They sound excellent and will no doubt improve even more with local presence at night.

And yes, great imaging and jingles.

In Columbus you ALWAYS have to add in the qualifier that a station doesn't necessarily have to be as good to do well here as elsewhere, due to the shortage of viable signals (plus the fact that some are owned by inept mom-n-pops). WNCI may indeed be a very well programmed and promoted station with a lot of brand equity, but there's no way of knowing for sure if they would be such a continual powerhouse were Columbus a more normal (more competitive) radio environment.

In particular, people from outside the market aren't attuned to these factors. They don't realize the signal and ownership landscape here are unique, in a bad way. As I've said, the fact that only a single company has more than one true full-market signal should be a dead giveaway. Even much smaller markets have at least TWO big-signal clusters.

Dayton is one of those markets Nu...we have 40,000 watt WGTZ and 50,000 watt WDHT(Both owned by Mainline), 50,000 watt WHKO and WHIO-FM(Both owned by Cox), and 50,000 watt WLQT and 20,000 watt WMMX(Both owned by CC)...and Dayton is only a TOP 60 market. Unbelievable.

Perfect, close-to-home example, Alan. Thanks.

 

[alans613]

There's a reason why WNCI has been one of Top 40s true powerhouses for decades and shows no sign of letting up. They sound excellent and will no doubt improve even more with local presence at night.

And yes, great imaging and jingles.

In Columbus you ALWAYS have to add in the qualifier that a station doesn't necessarily have to be as good to do well here as elsewhere, due to the shortage of viable signals (plus the fact that some are owned by inept mom-n-pops). WNCI may indeed be a very well programmed and promoted station with a lot of brand equity, but there's no way of knowing for sure if they would be such a continual powerhouse were Columbus a more normal (more competitive) radio environment.

In particular, people from outside the market aren't attuned to these factors. They don't realize the signal and ownership landscape here are unique, in a bad way. As I've said, the fact that only a single company has more than one true full-market signal should be a dead giveaway. Even much smaller markets have at least TWO big-signal clusters.

Dayton is one of those markets Nu...we have 40,000 watt WGTZ and 50,000 watt WDHT(Both owned by Mainline), 50,000 watt WHKO and WHIO-FM(Both owned by Cox), and 50,000 watt WLQT and 20,000 watt WMMX(Both owned by CC)...and Dayton is only a TOP 60 market. Unbelievable.

Perfect, close-to-home example, Alan. Thanks.

You're welcome! ;D

 

[lovejamminoldies]

I'm still waiting for something big to happen to Columbus or Dayton radio... maybe both. I have a feeling a format flip is coming soon.

 

[V.Riley]

Format flips are like earthquakes. You know if you haven't had one in a while, then you are overdue to have one. You're not sure where its going to hit, and you don't know when it will happen, but you just know it's going to.