WRRM

[carolinaradio]

I see where WRRM in Cincinnati has gone to a softer AC sound but still playing currents and remaining a little more modern (unlike stations such as WDUV). Sounds pretty nice! Christopher Cross, Manilow, Ambrosia, Seals and Crofts, James Ingram, Jeffrey Osbourne, Whitney, Celine....interesting seeing an AC turn DOWN the tempo!
Too bad this can't be a more nationwide trend. I like their new sound.

http://www.warm98.com/Whatwasthatsong/tabid/446/Default.aspx

 

[Seltzer]

My guess is Jan Jeffries must be paying attention to what is going on in Miami with a Softer flanker by Cox coming on to try to take on WLYF. This move may have been to discourage any other station in Cincy from going "lighter" than WRRM.

And it also signals that the station will be concentrating on a 40 plus female audience.

 

[carolinaradio]

WRRM is the only prominent AC that Cumulus owns, to my knowledge, but it will be interesting to see if they do this with more of their AC's that are in smaller markets. They have made a lot of their classic hits, AAA's, and CHR's sound similar.

This station is rolling out some of the long-lost slow 90s ballads that were huge but are now just a memory (for good reason in a lot of cases) on AC radio. Seeing that WRRM is a heritage AC in Cincinnati, I wonder what kind of impact this will have on the numbers, if any. They sounded like B101, WLIT, etc until very recently.

 

[Seltzer]

This will be interesting to watch. Every market should have a station that takes the "softest spot on the dial" position. If this proves successful, you can bet they'll do this approach on some of their other AC stations.

 

[grey_dan]

I haven't listened yet to WRRM since the tweaks, but it's very interesting to see them go this route. Especially when they're really the only AC in the market and no commercial FM is really doing anything softer.

They very well may be monitoring the situation in Miami. Also, Cincy is a pretty hot market for Classic Hits formats right now. WGRR (WRRM's Classic Hits sister) does consistently well in the ratings. Eighties-based Adult Hits WREW is very competitive. WMOJ recently relaunched as Classic Rhythmic/R&B (they're using the "Jammin' Oldies" tag, though to me what they're doing seems a little mellower than that). WRRM may be trying to grab an underserved share of the Classic Hits audience with the ballads those stations aren't playing. (It should be noted that in addition to the mellow stuff, it looks like WRRM may have also brought back some more middle-of-the-road classic tracks that are pretty much Classic Hits staples at this point.)

My guess? Cumulus is probably trying to set up WRRM as a flanker for WGRR. But they'd better be careful. Going too soft could drive 35-44s over to WREW, SuperHot AC WKRQ, or even Christian AC WAKW (which is coming off an excellent December book as an all-Christmas and has added a noticeable amount of "positive mainstream" material lately).

 

[Seltzer]

I haven't listened yet to WRRM since the tweaks, but it's very interesting to see them go this route. Especially when they're really the only AC in the market and no commercial FM is really doing anything softer.

They very well may be monitoring the situation in Miami. Also, Cincy is a pretty hot market for Classic Hits formats right now. WGRR (WRRM's Classic Hits sister) does consistently well in the ratings. Eighties-based Adult Hits WREW is very competitive. WMOJ recently relaunched as Classic Rhythmic/R&B (they're using the "Jammin' Oldies" tag, though to me what they're doing seems a little mellower than that). WRRM may be trying to grab an underserved share of the Classic Hits audience with the ballads those stations aren't playing. (It should be noted that in addition to the mellow stuff, it looks like WRRM may have also brought back some more middle-of-the-road classic tracks that are pretty much Classic Hits staples at this point.)

My guess? Cumulus is probably trying to set up WRRM as a flanker for WGRR. But they'd better be careful. Going too soft could drive 35-44s over to WREW, SuperHot AC WKRQ, or even Christian AC WAKW (which is coming off an excellent December book as an all-Christmas and has added a noticeable amount of "positive mainstream" material lately).

Good point on the flanker idea. THey are certainly going against the grain of what A/C's stations are doing today.

 

[grey_dan]

Good point on the flanker idea.

Thanks.

THey are certainly going against the grain of what A/C's stations are doing today.

No kidding. And it kind of surprises me. WRRM has done pretty well for itself as a heritage AC, it's on a good signal, and it's even been the top-ranked FM in the Arbs on occasion. But it seems like Cumulus has, to some degree, given it the 2nd-tier treatment.

(FWIW, the "2nd-tier" comment wasn't a criticism of WRRM's tweaked sound, just a comment on Cumulus' treatment of WRRM as a business. )

 

[carolinaradio]

I am very surprised by this also. Sure, WGRR does well, but is it worth perhaps risking WRRM to protect it?

I wonder if AC's that are in markets where Cox has a presence will start getting scared. They obviously are committed to soft AC seeing that they have kept WDUV and have now launched another soft AC in Miami. Notable stations are CC's WMJJ in Birmingham (which has gone towards Classic Hits since Christmas), CC'S WMGF in Orlando, Renda's WEJZ in Jacksonville, and CC's WLQT in Dayton. We'll have to see how 93.1 in Miami and WRRM do, but I could see this trend becoming more popular, in some markets.

 

[vchimpanzee]

This is a positive trend at least for background music in businesses. I'd never listen to even an Easy 93.1 (the one in Miami) on a regular basis (much less WRRM), but it would be great to have that as background music in a business. Surely there will finally be backlash against what ACs have been doing over the years.

 

[imhomerjay]

Surely there will finally be backlash against what ACs have been doing over the years.

Surely. Or more likely not.