WNED Signs Agreement to Acquire WBFO

[Element9]

The programming that WBFO is airing in place of the Saturday and Sunday afternoon Blues shows isn't going to draw listeners under 65 or pledges from Blues listeners now that the shows are buried on Saturday and Sunday nights. Lose-lose programming decision by the Suits at 17.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

The programming that WBFO is airing in place of the Saturday and Sunday afternoon Blues shows isn't going to draw listeners under 65 or pledges from Blues listeners now that the shows are buried on Saturday and Sunday nights. Lose-lose programming decision by the Suits at 17.

Indeed, the move of the Blues from weekend afternoons to evenings was a controversial one. But keep this in mind. From the start, the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association intended to brand WBFO as the region's NPR News station. WBFO is no longer the hybrid of news and music that it was under UB's ownership. So, it's no surprise that an NPR News station programs public radio news and talk shows. Go to any city and check out their NPR News station and you'll find a similar format on weekends -- talk programs during the day and specialty music at night. Yes, the evening Blues will probably not attract the listener support that it did on weekend afternoons. But making the change was a conscious decision of management as part of its goal to create a consistent sound for WBFO over the course of the full week. If you're NPR News, listeners should expect to hear that when they tune in during prime listening hours. I give credit to management for listening to Blues fans by finding a place for the music. As I said before, I'm sure Jim Santella is providing the soundtrack for dozens of house parties across Western New York on any given Saturday night. And if Anita West's Facebook page is any indication, her most ardent fans have followed her to evenings.

I would argue with your contention, Niner, that the weekend programming is geared to listeners 65 and older. You may have a point with The People's Pharmacy and the Zorba Pastor health show. But such programs as Day 6, Marketplace Money, On the Media and The Splendid Table have definite appeal to a 25-54 news listener. There is nothing old about their topics and presentation. You need only see the sold-out Nickel City Chef presentations in Buffalo and the popularity of food-related websites to realize that a show like The Splendid Table will resonate with local "foodies" of all ages. Plus, A Prairie Home Companion, at 12noon Sundays, is a proven audience generator for public stations across the country and could generate as much in listener support as the Blues did.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Sorry, Phil, but the Saturday afternoon talk content is unlistenable to my ears. And, the idea that "talk programs during the day and specialty music at night" is the way of the world in other cities doesn't make it right for a station that literally crushed that type of programming by putting Blues on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. How about programming for your audience instead of programming according to NPR template? I'll bet you dinner at the steakhouse of your choice that the numbers on Saturday afternoon in particular - numbers not affected by Da Bills - will deteriorate markedly within two books.

It may have been a conscious decision, but it was a bad one. Lifestyles are different on weekends than they are during the week. By your logic - and according to the ratings - they should be running Car Talk and Wait-Wait M-S from 10AM to Noon.

WNED's approach smacks of heavy-handed elitism to me. WNED AM's numbers on the weekends weren't even as good as their weekday numbers. So what do they do? Replace VERY successful programming on WBFO with programs that couldn't get arrested on WNED-AM. It ain't the band. It's the content.

If Blues survives on Saturday and Sunday nights, it's because Jim Santella, and later Anita West, developed a strong core audience that followed them DESPITE what WNED has done. I can say this for sure - my donation to WNYPB will be exactly HALF ofc what I contributed to WBFO for the last several years, and that strictly because the Blues programming has been moved to a time when I can't listen much.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

I could be wrong, Phil, but the quality of the programming that's now on WBFO is not in dispute. Arguably, the weekend news programming now on WBFO and AM 970 could present a strong challenge to WBEN.

Yet, Rox makes valid points about how the programming decisions appear (to many listeners and members of WBFO) to have been made. Moreover, his comments point to how programming changes appeal to Buffalo listeners. Many of us recall reading about or witnessing the WPHD to WYSL-FM format shift in the 70s; WBUF to WFXZ to WBUF to WSJZ to WLCE to WBUF; and 97 Rock (WGRQ, WGR-FM, WRLT, WGR-FM, WGRF) format shift (and return) in the 80s, or the WNYS CHR to WHTT Classic Hits to Oldies to Greatest Hits to Mix to Classic Hits sojourn. Bonus points if you have swag for any or all of those changes.

As a listener, there appears to be (not extremely) different news and programming cultures at WBFO and WNED-AM. These cultures are now being melded, re-shaped and reconciled. Clearly, WBFO is being positioned by WNYPBA as a news station. Yet, the new WBFO/AM 970 logo (on my email) notes "NPR and More." Nice touch.

Radio people who've been through format changes in any format know that format changes and jock re-shuffling can be demanding. Listeners get rattled. Most of us know that despite all the ruckus, life goes on. If you want to take home a check, fall in line and do the job as it's expected to be done. Management rarely re-thinks programming decisions (aka, acknowledging mistakes.) There are exceptions, however. Witness 97 Rock's return to the air in the late 80s and WHTT's return to Classic Hits.

Many here are closely watching to see how the WBFO/AM 970 weekend programming changes play out. Attention will be paid to membership drives and ratings. Buffalo is a small market. Most of us know the players and decision makers, the movers, shakers, undertakers and profit makers. Friends steeped in NPR decision making tell me it's about the membership pledges, not the ratings.

So how much time will the decision makers at WNYPBA give the changes to take effect? And if the pledges slump, as SirRox has suggested, will the decision makers at WNYPBA revert to Blues in the afternoon? It's unlikely that anything will happen until at least a year. As such, all parties are best advised to take a deep breath, give it 100% and let the performers, listeners, members and ratings chart the course. Then hope for the best.

As a colleague of many format changes and I have often said, "It's their ball field, they just let you play on it." Considering what MLB owners have done over the years, make of that what you will.