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Would this work in Buffalo?

Would playing 4 songs, one from each decade, then 4 more from each decade work in Buffalo? It sounds like an interesting idea to me...but who would go ahead with the idea? Jack? Star?
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50's-60's-70's-80's? Don't think so.

60's-70's-80's-90's? Possibly. Sounds like what WHTT is doing. Jury's still out.

70's-80's-90's-Current? Yes. Star's doing this, so it seems, although the station's ratings are off the last two books. This is the underpinning of WBUF-Jack's format.

Incidentally, or maybe not so incidentally, reputable sources say Jack is doing very well, which will come as a surprise to many who post here (including me). Jeff Silver is laughing all the way to the bank. Would it surprise anybody if each of the competing clusters one day had a "Jack in the box" station of their own? Cheap, easy to run, no overhead and picking off fringe listeners from the competition so the other two or three stations in the cluster can move up or maintain their audiences.

Outside of morning drive, it seems the average listener really doesn't care about personalities, just as long as he/she can get his/her fix of Zep, Keith Urban, the Beatles, Nickelback or Tool. Shut up and play the hits. Sad, but true.

-9-
 
Nein!

Let me make two points...

First, the era is far less important than the sound. Strictly programming on era would put "Good Times, Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin next to "You Light Up My Life" by Debbie Boone. Two memorable songs, but highly unlikely to appeal to the same audience. Adding songs because they come from a particular era is as silly as eliminating songs because they don't come from an era. To my ears, WHTT has been adding songs because they fit their "sound" musically, no matter what the era. That's why you hear Michael McDonald from his Motown tribute - recorded in this millennium - as well as Motown originals from the 60s and 70s.

Secondly, I'd much rather listen to WHTT, which has a bunch of good and entertaining jocks on most of the time, than Jack or WJYE. Jack has nobody, and WJYE has nobody interesting. According to my sources, WHTT has done very well in attracting a younger audience, and has been beating WJYE 25-54 and 35-64. WJYE still wins in women demos, but not by the huge margins of the past.

Is the music important. Definitely. Is the value added by good and entertaining jocks a difference-maker? I believe so. In fact, I think that future of local radio depends on stations differentiating their presentation from iPod fodder, sattelite, and syndicated content. The "magic" of radio has always been in the one-to-one relationship between the jock and the listener. Jocks who understand that and know how to entertain beat the competition every time.
 
Vote with your ears....

From someone who has seen the book from the 12th floor...

Yes, Jack is doing pretty well in key demos, illustrating the point that jocks, while enhancing the on-air product and creating that listener relationship, do not automatically lead to better ratings. The WJYE dominance SirRox speaks of is indeed not as pronounced.

If i recall, BUF went to Jack because rumblings in the market suggested that WHTT would adopt the format first. Frankly, they already did and do a MUCH better job that Jack. I absolutley cant' stand the Music generally classified as "oldies" (50's, early 60's). Motown is all good, the rock I frankly don't care for. So to hear some 80s peppered in w/some Boz Scaggs, Chicago, even 'moondance' and BTO is terrific. It's where the classic rock songs go to die.

As time passes, and the library of recorded music increases, this challange will likely come up. It will also come up as the latest portable music players come into affordable technology. I see each radio cluster having a 'misfit' station that 'plays what they want'
 
Something In The Ear

x13thfloorrand said:
As time passes, and the library of recorded music increases, this challange will likely come up. It will also come up as the latest portable music players come into affordable technology. I see each radio cluster having a 'misfit' station1 that 'plays what they want'
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1Bro, you have just coined one tasty phrase. Major props!

Some very good points in this thread, from Rox to x13 to 9. Star may be hurting, but it's a better radio station than Mr. Arbitron might indicate. There's nothing on WJYE that makes me want to listen more than ten minutes... 'course, I'm out of the demo. WHTT is really doing some amazing things, evolving from playing lots of music that was 40 to 50 years old not so long ago to playing stuff from the 70s, 80s and 90s these days. Hell, throw in the last five years because I heard Sheryl Crowe on the box a few days ago.

Amazing.

Buffalo now has three AC stations and with Christmas around the corner, it's going to be interesting to hear who's going All-Christmas first and what WHTT's rotations will be like if they DON'T go All Christmas. This is going to be one interesting Fall book.

Wonder if next year this time, Buffalo will have two COUNTRY stations? Most people say WYRK is invincible, but I'm beginning to think it can be damaged by a station that plugs in a "Wolf" or "Cat" format (please, no "Froggy's") that gets in the face of WYRK and plays a ton of hits with good positioning and an attitude. It happened in Dallas and it could happen here. BTW, WNUC was NOT a good example of "a ton of hits with good positioning and an attitude" radio station. And it wasn't the WNUC signal, it was the programming and lack of promotion that was just plain lame.

Can you imagine a competitor "bringing it" against WYRK... Regent would have a major sh!t.
 
Re: Something In The Ear

Wonder if next year this time, Buffalo will have two COUNTRY stations? Most people say WYRK is invincible, but I'm beginning to think it can be damaged by a station that plugs in a "Wolf" or "Cat" format (please, no "Froggy's") that gets in the face of WYRK and plays a ton of hits with good positioning and an attitude. It happened in Dallas and it could happen here. BTW, WNUC was NOT a good example of "a ton of hits with good positioning and an attitude" radio station. And it wasn't the WNUC signal, it was the programming and lack of promotion that was just plain lame.

Can you imagine a competitor "bringing it" against WYRK... Regent would have a major sh!t.
Click to expand...

Don't worry. Regent is the one company I would have counted on for *a* froggy country. They wouldn't dare mess with WYRK by turning that into *a* froggy country station.

If Wild 101 ever decides to go country, I wish them all the best, but I somehow doubt they'll go with froggy.

In mentioning Wolf or Kat, don't forget to include "WildKat" Country. There's a few of those kicking around too.
 
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