WRR

[Chuck]

Inside Radio reports that the City of Dallas is looking for a new GM for WRR. Does anyone have any additional details?

 

[nuffsaid]

I read that also but have no clue as to what is going on. Does this station have a snow balls chance in hell of every making it in The Big D? Seems to me they have been on the outside looking in for a long time.

 

[charles123]

I read that also but have no clue as to what is going on. Does this station have a snow balls chance in hell of every making it in The Big D? Seems to me they have been on the outside looking in for a long time.

Time for a change, but those tightwads at the City Council won't do nothing.

 

[radioaircheck]

I don't really care for Classical Music,but I thought that they did not do too bad in the ratings.

 

[nuffsaid]

There ratings are not worth discussing and are hardly in the top 20. They had a GM at one time, has he moved on or been ask to move on?

 

[salemjedi54]

The only reason the City of Dallas holds on to WRR is because the "Friends" of WRR have deemed it necessary. There are some very powerful folk on the Dallas Citizens Council who make sure that the city does nothing to WRR.

 

[copydesk2]

The only reason the City of Dallas holds on to WRR is because the "Friends" of WRR have deemed it necessary. There are some very powerful folk on the Dallas Citizens Council who make sure that the city does nothing to WRR.

And rightly so. WRR is a niche station.

 

[justagirl]

Hear hear, copy. Dallas needs to have one classical music station, and WRR has always fulfilled that need in an exemplary fashion. WRR focuses on the arts in the metro and provides a platform for the less known goings on in that sector. A city the size of Dallas would be woefully underserved without a station like WRR that doesn't necessarily cowtow to ratings success. And if an advertiser wants to reach an audience with a buttload of disposable cash, it'd be hard to beat WRR.

I know someone who is throwing down for the position; the requirements are very stringent and I wish him/her the best - it'll be a daunting challenge to raise the profits from the 2.8 million the station made in ad revenue last year, and if anyone can do it, this person can.

 

[Chuck]

There ratings are not worth discussing and are hardly in the top 20.

Ratings aren't everything. When I owned a business in Dallas, I advertised on WRR. Guess what, it worked! It delivered exactly the kind of customer I was looking for. I doubt very seriously that spending the same money on a top 5 station would have worked out as well. It just depends on what you are selling, and who you are selling it to.

 

[DToTheJ]

I read that also but have no clue as to what is going on...

"From what they said, I didn't see anything." - Former Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips

 

[Mediafrog+]

The only reason the City of Dallas holds on to WRR is because the "Friends" of WRR have deemed it necessary. There are some very powerful folk on the Dallas Citizens Council who make sure that the city does nothing to WRR.

Demographic change within the City of Dallas proper will eventually force the council's hand. WRR's core audience is increasingly fleeing further out into the suburbs. The game will be over when Dallas citizens start making noise about why "their" station is programmed for people who don't live there.

And, regardless of where they live, the Classical audience has already aged out of desirable advertiser demographics. Once the station starts showing a loss, there will be intense pressure to unload it.

 

[copydesk2]

There will always be a core audience for classical music, just as there is for jazz. The pressure on the city council isn't from the advertisers; it's from the local broadcasters who want the frequency.

 

[Mediafrog+]

There will always be a core audience for classical music, just as there is for jazz. The pressure on the city council isn't from the advertisers; it's from the local broadcasters who want the frequency.

However the core classical audience is aging and shrinking. Classical has pretty much lost its viability as a commercial FM format. Look at how many big markets have seen commercial classcial disappear from FM in recent years: NYC, LA, Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, Houston, Washington D.C., St. Louis, to name a few...and most recently San Francisco. If those cities can't support the format, what makes DFW different?

WRR is owned by the citizens of the City of Dallas, and the demographics that make up those citizens is rapidly changing. The classical audience has left for the suburbs. I think at some point Dallas citizens are going to ask why "their" station is programming for the suburbs instead of the audience in the city proper. And the question will be asked: "Why is the City of Dallas in the business of running a radio station?" And another question: "If the City of Dallas is going to continue to own a radio station, shouldn't it adopt a format that will bring in more money?"

I think the "Friends of WRR" aren't as important as you think. Most of them probably live outside the Dallas city limits (that means Highland Park and University Park as well.)

And if the audience for Classical is small, then the audience for Mainstream Jazz is microscopic, as the failure of KJZY two decades ago will attest..

 

[w9wi]

However the core classical audience is aging and shrinking. Classical has pretty much lost its viability as a commercial FM format. Look at how many big markets have seen commercial classcial disappear from FM in recent years: NYC, LA, Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, Houston, Washington D.C., St. Louis, to name a few...and most recently San Francisco. If those cities can't support the format, what makes DFW different?

Were these other classical operations unprofitable, or was it just that some other format would provide a greater return on investment?

The difference in DFW is that in the end, WRR only needs to break even. Commercial stations like WQXR, KFAC, WFMR, etc. all need to maximize their financial return.

WRR is owned by the citizens of the City of Dallas, and the demographics that make up those citizens is rapidly changing. The classical audience has left for the suburbs. I think at some point Dallas citizens are going to ask why "their" station is programming for the suburbs instead of the audience in the city proper. And the question will be asked: "Why is the City of Dallas in the business of running a radio station?" And another question: "If the City of Dallas is going to continue to own a radio station, shouldn't it adopt a format that will bring in more money?"

Is it possible WRR provides value to the citizens of the city not necessarily so much in providing programming directly interesting to those citizens, but in maintaining an image for outsiders, an image of a sophisticated city that supports the arts? A city that a company in, say, Boston might consider moving its headquarters to, knowing that their executives won't be exiled to a cultural wasteland?

(the above is a question, not a statement...)

 

[jd]

(the above is a question, not a statement...)

Actually it's a very good observation. WRR is, to many of the movers and shakers, an integral part of the image the city wants to project. If anyone thinks that Dallas still believes it has something to prove, you're right. As a Dallas-area native I can assure you it's been that way for a long time, and I'd also surmise that WRR isn't going away anytime soon.

 

[Lazy J]

Cities build libraries, not book stores.
Cities build museums, not movie theaters.
Cities build parks, not theme parks.
WRR runs a classical format, not because it's most profitable, but because it enriches the lives of the people in the city and gives the city a cultural outlet that would otherwise go unfilled in a profit driven environment.

 

[salemjedi54]

There will always be a core audience for classical music, just as there is for jazz. The pressure on the city council isn't from the advertisers; it's from the local broadcasters who want the frequency.

I think the "Friends of WRR" aren't as important as you think. Most of them probably live outside the Dallas city limits (that means Highland Park and University Park as well.)

Yeah they are that important. Otherwise the City would have took the Susquehanna/Service deal about 10-12 years ago. That would have put about 60-80 million bucks into Dallas' pockets. It would make sense for one of the non-comms to take over that format, with the backing of the "Friends" to make sure that classical music remains relevant in this market, but that has never happened. I wonder why?

 

[TheRover]

Time for a change, but those tightwads at the City Council won't do nothing.

Like putting artist/song information on their HD broadcast.

Especially for Classical music, that I might not already know, it would make prefect sense to have that info on the HD channel. What a Value Add ! ! But my requests for that have fallen on Deaf ears, at that well insulated operation!

WRR could expand their listener-ship by playing more soundtrack music. From musicals, and from other fine films..... but something more than just the "Star Wars" fare.

 

[Ai4i]

Look at how many big markets have seen commercial classcial disappear from FM in recent years: NYC, LA, Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, Houston, Washington D.C., St. Louis, to name a few...and most recently San Francisco.

You know your radio markets, froggy.
We know about just under half of those you listed, but we are confused ???
What is wrong with a classical station going to a listener supported base?
The signal coverage was reduced in some markets, increased in some, and remained static in others.
As for the sponsors, enhanced underwritting seems to be getting more and more enhanced every year.
As a listener, we would rather be told about a product or service than what we should go and do.
We like what KING did: same frequency, same signal, listener supported.

 

[sidchase]

As a former sales person at WRR I have 1 suggestion, that would boost there numbers a litte. That is use some processing. It is full 100k station but it has pops and hisses even with a goof car radio ( yes I know the arguments on the integrity of the music.