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WVLT - What Happened ?

Just a note to Fred Flintstone, Jim Williams and some others. I've retired after 58 years of major market radio,( Boston). No offense to you or anybody else but.......You have to refresh your radio 101. I hear WVLT strong in AC and also stong in South Philly. That makes it a AC market as well as Philly. I hear advertisers from Upper Darby, Egg Harbour, Atlantic City etc. When I started this post. I thought I could get some feedback on why a station that was doing so well would change the pa
laylist and dayparts. Some of you gave some good answers. Some of you did not. A station that hits 4 states as WVLT does is certainly not a " Cumberland County" station. Any station that shows in the book, even a fraction, is doing very, very well. Maybe not as well as KYW but still well. The music changed to a mess and the ratings fell into oblivian. I was amazed thqt Management would do such a Boo Boo. That all ! As far as a few of you.....better do some homework before you write. It starts to show !
 
First of all, happy retirement!

Second, I'll take back the Cumberland County centric bit.  It is a little broader than Cumberland County, but not as much as you say, Geekboy.  In terms of geography, yes you're right, but realistically in terms of listenership, I disagree. I think the sponsorship and the whole 4 state range business is taken a little too seriously.  They made the book in Wilmington.  Good for them.  Fact of the matter is that they're barely a little league player in Wilmington.  They're even less of a player in their own state let alone Philadelphia.  So they're not a Philadelphia or AC station.  If you were to go down the streets of either Philadelphia or Atlantic City and ask 100 people if they listened to Cruisin' 92.1, maybe 1 of them would know. Many stations bleed into many markets, but that doesn't truly mean they're truly multiple market stations.  WABC can be heard in Philly...they even make the bottom of the Philly book from time to time (with like a .1 or .2 rating).  Does that make WABC a Philly station?
 
JimWilliams said:
They made the book in Wilmington. Good for them.
Click to expand...

I believe Salem County is part of the Wilmington metro, which puts WVLT 12 feet outside of the market. The sad part is, they never appeared in the Wilmington book until now. (granted, Elmer probably isn't a diary hot-spot)
 
A York station has started showing up in the Wilmington book, too (probably Cecil County diaries).

Their get an OK signal into much of the Wilmington market. Problem is: Nobody knows they are there. With some good promotion (which, of course, costs money) they could be a presence in Wilmington. With some effort, they could get some clients.

The flea-bite Newark station now using the WAMS calls is not real competition.

Instead of trying to be a Philly station, they should try to be a Wilmington station.

Geekboy: With all due respect, outside the radio geek community, most people don't pay much attention to bleed-ins and rim-shots. Just because a station can be received, doesn't mean people listen to it.

Which reminds me of the exchange between Steve Allen and a women in the studio audience when he did a late-night local show on KNX:

Do they get this show in Pasadena.
They can receive it, but they don't get it.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to Radio & Records, in the Spring, '06 Arbitron, they were dead last in the Wilmington book with a 0.4, behind Oldies WSOX (FM), and did not show up in either Philadelphia, where the lowest rated station was Sports WPEN, or in Atlantic City, where there were 7 lowest rated stations at 0.4. No agency is going to make a buy with those numbers. Ever wonder why you don't hear ads for McDonald's or Coke on the station? The numbers don't lie. They are purely a Cumberland County station, and should embrace their hometown roots and not extend too far out of the borders. Just my $.02.
 
Those spots you heard are from the network. I have not heard anything other than local spots in the morning, not counting the adjacencies after the network news minute.
 
books , markets , etcetera .... all of you on here know more than i . technologically speaking , too , all of you on here know more than i , too . but , remember , the average listener , in the philly area , the average listener in the southern jersey shore area as well , are clueless about wvlt 92.1 .... they (the average radio listener) are clueless , unlike all of us , whom truly care about every single station in , even , our "fringe" area ...
 
c.s.p. said:
books , markets , etcetera .... all of you on here know more than i . technologically speaking , too , all of you on here know more than i , too . but , remember , the average listener , in the philly area , the average listener in the southern jersey shore area as well , are clueless about wvlt 92.1 .... they (the average radio listener) are clueless , unlike all of us , whom truly care about every single station in , even , our "fringe" area ...
Click to expand...

Listeners - real people - not only are not familiar with the bleed ins and rim shots that they can hear in their area, they are not familiar with most of the stations actually in their area. They are only familiar with the few stations to which they actually listen; the others don't exist. This is why stations need promotion and new formats need heavy-duty promotion. Some people in radio seem to think if-we-do-it-they-will-listen (sort of like if-you-build-it-they-will-come). When people who think that way are in management positions, you can find those stations conveniently listed at the bottom of the Arbitron tables. I had a boss once who didn't believe in promotion or advertising; "WE are an advertising medium; we can advertise and promote ourselves." It's nice to have a choir to preach to but that don't fill the pews.

It was easier back in the day of analog tuners with dials or slide rules. People had to tune past stations and might accidentally hear something to make them stop. People had to tune slowly because markings were not accurate and again something else might catch their ear - or they could end up on a nearby station by mistake. It was easier for stations to get sampled. Not any more with digital tuners. I know: there's the scan button - the radio geek's best friend but real people seldom use them unless they are driving cross-country and are away from their presets.

If WVLT ever wanted to be a Philly station or a Wilmington station that would mean spending money on billboards, buses, vans, events, street teams and all the rest. Promotion is not easy. It's expensive. It doesn't always work or pay-off. Better to stay in Cumberland County where "everybody knows your name."
 
This is hilarious . WVLT is a nothing station with no one knowing who they are or listening........exceot for the fact that the concerts and events they put on are PACKED with people from all over the Delaware Valley . My Ex wife just went to a 350 person WVLT event that sold out in one week with the only advertisment coming from WVLT . 60% wer Philly people. Corkey's Birthday bash last April sold out in 2 weeks with the only advertisment coming from WVLT. We couldn't get tickets. I went to Atlantic City last month and I saw signs and banners all over the Sands and Trump Marina pushing Cruisin' 92.1 . The New Woodbine Saturday Night Dance is a WVLT Event. We radio veterans are cracking up over you guys NON-knowledge of radio. This is so much fun . Thank You for the entertainment. ;D
 
Let's do the math:

A 350 person event.
60% were "Philly people" (Not sure how that figure was arrived at or how you define "Philly," but for the sake argument here...)
Means 210 people from "Philly."
Population of the Philly MSA is 4.4 Million. (Philadelphia City/County is 1.28 Million)
210 out of 4.4 Million is a bit under-whelming.

Nobody says they don't have a cult following outside their immediate area. Buy they are not a factor or a presence in the three nearby rated metro markets.
 
GeekBoy said:
This is hilarious . WVLT is a nothing station with no one knowing who they are or listening........exceot for the fact that the concerts and events they put on are PACKED with people from all over the Delaware Valley . My Ex wife just went to a 350 person WVLT event that sold out in one week with the only advertisment coming from WVLT . 60% wer Philly people. Corkey's Birthday bash last April sold out in 2 weeks with the only advertisment coming from WVLT. We couldn't get tickets. I went to Atlantic City last month and I saw signs and banners all over the Sands and Trump Marina pushing Cruisin' 92.1 . The New Woodbine Saturday Night Dance is a WVLT Event. We radio veterans are cracking up over you guys NON-knowledge of radio. This is so much fun . Thank You for the entertainment. ;D
Click to expand...

Who is the promotions and marketing director at WVLT? Is WVLT itself (promotions, PD, sales, etc.) putting on these shows or are the brokered hosts doing their own concerts and just hanging up roll banner? I would hope that the station is doing these shows and not the hosts themselves - the station should be making a huge chunk of change from them if they are all selling out like you say they are.

350 people attending a show is great, but there are almost 150,000 people living in Cumberland County alone.

Did you get a picture of the WVLT banner in the Sands? Soon to be a collectors item!
 
Check out the Woodbine's website and calendar. The host of the "Saturday Night Dance Party" is Mikey V., of Out on the Town Newspaper, featuring music from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and "Today's Music." Not quite a full blown Oldies presentation that an "Oldies" station would promote. The "event" is broadcast on WVLT from 11 PM to 1 AM, so does that automatically qualify it as a WVLT "event?" Is Mikey V. a WVLT personality? Funny...the photo promoting the Dance Party on the Woodbine's site doesn't even have the WVLT logo attached to it.
And who hosts the shows that broadcast from the Trump Marina and the soon-to-be-gone Sands where 92.1 banners are flying? Blavat. Enough said.
 
What has happened to 92.1 is simple,better music programming.The morning & mid-morning DJ's are from geator-gold-radio & has ties to the Philly & soul programming from that station.To say they are true fans of the music is an understatement.Walt Lundy has done a fine job of giving the listener more variety in the form of the 50's-60's oldies than Corky Warren did.The ratings that they received were from programmer Bill Marshall who was dumped by the station.The bottom line is making money for ownership & they don't put it back into the station.As long as this station makes money for the owner,the station will continue.As for Sally Starr,she was asked to retire by the station effective Sept.The retirement Dinner was their way to ease her out.The station allowed Corky Warren to handle the Retirement Dinner details,and to this date she was not received the procedes from this.What's up Corky?Mr.Warren was dumped as music director earlier in the year & [EDIT]

[EDIT-libelous statement]
 
phew ... check out those "edits" ... it's a good thing most of us read it before the "editting" occured.... ;D
 
skipboy said:
What has happened to 92.1 is simple,better music programming.The morning & mid-morning DJ's are from geator-gold-radio & has ties to the Philly & soul programming from that station.To say they are true fans of the music is an understatement.Walt Lundy has done a fine job of giving the listener more variety in the form of the 50's-60's oldies than Corky Warren did.The ratings that they received were from programmer Bill Marshall who was dumped by the station.The bottom line is making money for ownership & they don't put it back into the station.As long as this station makes money for the owner,the station will continue.As for Sally Starr,she was asked to retire by the station effective Sept.The retirement Dinner was their way to ease her out.The station allowed Corky Warren to handle the Retirement Dinner details,and to this date she was not received the procedes from this.What's up Corky?Mr.Warren was dumped as music director earlier in the year & [EDIT]
Click to expand...

Alright Alex, I'll take "Things People Don't Give a Rats Ass About" for $600.

And the answer is - This thread and this station.
 
HA HA HA HA HA...
What gets me is exactly what is going on. As long as the money comes in, no one cares about quality.
If the station was an actual commodity, it would have been out of business a long time ago.
 
WOW ! I used to listen to you Saturday nights a little but Skipper, you should get some medical help ! Take your pills and settle down ! :'(
 
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