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WXBQ dominates again

amfmxm said:
But speaking of WIVK, the smartest thing Citadel could do in the Tri Cities would be to flip WQUT to a simulcast of WIVK. Expenses on 'QUT go to zero overnight and a tired undersold format disappears in favor of one of America's most dominant Country stations. 107.7 already pulls a share or two in Johnson City, so there's a base to work with. Adjacent markets in East Tennessee make it easy to promote and sell.

A no brainer.
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At first thought, your idea sounded plausible, and actually quite good. But after considering contemplating for a few minutes, I decided that it may be a massive failure. One of the reasons people listen to 'XBQ is because of the local ties and involvement. The emphasis on local news, traffic, sports. Importing an outside, but well-programmed source like WIVK would pick up some listeners and die hard UT fans, but even with local cut-ins it would be hard to remain hyper-focused on the Tri-Cities. Not saying it wasn't a bad idea, it just may need to be refined. WIVK does show up with a point or less on most of the Arbitron surveys in the market.
 
Elch- I disagree with the idea that WXBQ stays on top because of the local ties and involvement.

The weather is from Al Archer, which historically has been so far off people have written to the editor to complain about hiring a weatherman from Florida.

Sports? Bristol has no sports department.

Traffic? Yes, this is Charlie Stuchell's domain, but the traffic here is nothing like it is on the 405 and frankly, every Citadel newscast seems to lead with some sort of minor fender bender. I honestly don't believe there's that much need for traffic reports around here.

Regardless, I mentioned how I would have rather seen "The Peak" change to country and I feel it would be a more successful format than the 104.9 KOS format they have changed to, which seems to be "HOT AC."

Again, I can't figure out why they would go this route. Was the problem really that the songs of yesterday and today they were playing simply weren't hard enough?

And now that they've done that, we've got people here speaking of how WQUT should go country.

I simply don't see why trading in the only classic rocker in town (unless you're believing MM's "logic," who would tell us WIMZ is in the market) that gets, even at its nadir, a 6.5 would be the way to go instead of WKOS, which in its current format will likely peak at a rating in the 3's IF THAT!

Okay, sure- I would buy that WQUT has a bigger signal. All the compliments given to the WXBQ staff could just as easily be given to the WQUT staff. WQUT has the Vols contract- which would be an interesting wild card.

But a WKOS switch to country would have provided two strong stations with the chance at WQUT being No. 1 again by bringing WXBQ down to only one strong station trying to bring WXBQ down.

Also, as a fan of classic rock- I don't want to see the format go away. I understand, and even brought up myself, the notion the format is dying. Playing songs from the 1970s will tend to do that.

But there IS life left in the format. Every college football game on ESPN last year had bumper music leading into the commercials from AC/DC's newest album- which I believe peaked at No. 1. "Rock of Love" with Bret Michaels had a multi-generational audience and was mainstream enough to be parodied on Saturday Night Live (which might indicate that a few more Poison songs might be in order in classic rock formats). Kiss, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, et all are still relevant. Def Leppard is on a major tour.

If you were to scrap WQUT to country, what you might do is do nothing but make Holston as the leading radio group in the market by default. WTFM could conceivably become No. 1 with WQUT and WXBQ fighting it out, and the MANY rock fans would have nothing left to listen to than The Hog.
 
Go WXBQ! Any station that still allows smoking in the building is #1 in my book.
 
allngoodtime316 said:
Of all the HV stations why not flip 959 to country.
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Put WGOC on there!

For reasons that defy explanation, this is the only Tri-Cities station I can pick up in my motel room during the day. I pick up WKTP at night. I used to pick up the old WGOC, but I haven't picked up WXSM and I dont know why.

On the other hand, Asheville's rock stations could learn a lesson from The Hog.
 
I'm coming into this discussion a bit late, but I wanted to throw in my two-cents.

The bottom line is that WXBQ is a GREAT country station and deserves the numbers it gets. I am convinced that no one can touch Bill Hagy when it comes to programming country. Some may say I'm prejudiced because I used to work there, but there are a lot of radio stations and Program Directors I've worked for of which I would not be so highly complimentary.

WXBQ blows away WXTU, our country station in Philadelphia by a mile, for instance. And, in this instance, you are talking about a station in the #102 market wooping a station in the #8 market.

If WXBQ has remained #1 by a wide margin for almost 60 books, there's a good reason for it. That reason is Bill Hagy. I'm just thankful that WXBQ has finally begun streaming so I can hear it in Philly.
 
One cannot have the personality of Bill Hagy and believe he is the reason for any success whatsoever.

You're comparing stations in PHILADELPHIA to WXBQ? Shall we also compare the bluegrass one can hear on WETS and WGOC to what can be heard in NYC?

SHEESH!

All together now- it's the only country station in the market. This is East Tennessee. It's like having the only store in Alaska that sells heaters- you can't help but do well.
 
Pratte4Life said:
One cannot have the personality of Bill Hagy and believe he is the reason for any success whatsoever.

You're comparing stations in PHILADELPHIA to WXBQ? Shall we also compare the bluegrass one can hear on WETS and WGOC to what can be heard in NYC?
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I don't usually take the time to post on message boards . . . but this one pushed the appropriate button.

In nearly 20 years, I found that if you did your job, you didn't run into problems with Bill Hagy. I have no proof of who the statement author is, but if it is who I think it is, I'm not surprised.

Like him, or not, the track record of Mr. Hagy's achievements is clear. I didn't always agree with him, but I knew where I stood.

In my current job, I've traveled from coast-to-coast, and have dealt with MANY different stations. WXBQ sounds as good, if not better, than any other country station I've encountered. They should be allowed to enjoy their success without the personal attacks.

And as the Sam Seaborn character in The West Wing said . . . when I do something, I sign my name.

What about you, Pratte?

Steve Blevins
Charlotte, NC
 
During my time with Bill Hagy, I found him to epitomize what we call in corporate America as the four F's. FAIR, FIRM, FRANK, AND FRIENDLY. As Steve said in his post, we always knew where we stood with Bill. I attribute a lot of my professional growth to his direction.
 
I can honestly say I found him to be cold and he didn't know what was going on at his own station.

Fair- No.

Firm- Yeah.

Frank- No. He never talked.

Friendly- Surely you jest!

But, hey, the liners on his station sound okay. He, therefore, must be a saint.
 
Pratte4Life said:
But, hey, the liners on his station sound okay. He, therefore, must be a saint.
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What the hell are you smoking? You don't get some of the best country ratings in the U.S. by running liners. Give the man his due credit. It sounds like you have a personal beef. If you were man enough, you'd take it up personally instead of trying to assassinate his character publicly.
 
Oh, now my manhood is being assaulted!

All because I think WXBQ does well because of a lack of competition.

Take it up personally? What am I supposed to do? Challenge the man to a duel?

I don't think I'll go quite that far.

The thread started with a poster with far more enthusiasm than substance stating how we have to all bow down to WXBQ.

I disagreed. Received a lot of support.

Today, some WXBQ loyalists came on to disagree with me by primarily challenging not the substance of my points, but my character.

As if anyone with constructive criticism based on experience is somehow doing something wrong.
 
Havn't you guys thought where the big Rabbitt is? In the arse of the south I say. Think about it. East Tennessee, Sw Virginia and Western NC. You have Knoxville on one side, nothing above and Asheville-Charlotte on the other. You mention Nascar, beer and country music and you have lazy government-supported uneducated dirt farmer rednecks for listeners. What do you expect? The south is COUNTRY. If you sit down and study other markets across the country, theres a , need I say " permanent trend" going on. The word dominate shouldn't even be used when it's expected to happen. Sorry, I dont know why its a suprise to anyone. Oh, Wxbq jocks would'nt make it in NYC or LA. They can't speak three syllable words. The words "aint" and y'all don't work in major market radio. woof! By the way, have you noticed TFM never has played a Michael Jackson song since his death? Theres a few of his that would fit their pathetic "soft rock" image. Such as "PYT", "Human Nature" and "Never Can Say Goodbye". Oh well, George Devault needs to go home and they still need a program director.
 
I never said to bow down to WXBQ. I said those who love to pounce on the Rabbit should give some love to them for 59 number one books. Pratte has NO CLUE, so to continue to argue with him is a waste of time. He was most likely fired by Hagy, and has a MAJOR chip about it. The stupid rant by kd is proof that the Rabbit's success continues to irk those who can't compete with it. And to slam the XBQ jocks is classless, much like the poster himself.
 
Pratte4Life said:
MM wishes to defend Wal-Mart, er, Big Oil, no, wait, WXBQ with semantics.

I'll just stick to intelligence and experience, kay babe? ;)
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No problem Sunshine...when you're able to pick up either , please free to use 'em to post in the future...kay babe? ;)....trust me, you're not too good at masking hyberbole as intelligence.
 
Loyalist? Guilty as charged. Loyalty runs both ways.

I departed WXBQ 5 1/2 years ago. When I was diagnosed with End Stage Liver and End Stage Renal Disease in 2006, the clock began ticking. And through the process, when I was waiting on a transplant, many of my former colleagues kept in touch to express their concern. And chief among them was Bill Hagy. If he was the center of evil in the western world, as some posters here seem to believe, he would not have done that.

As I said before, we didn't always agree. And nobody knows that better than Bill Hagy. But when the chips were down, he stood by me. He had no corporate responsibility to do so, since I was no longer a WXBQ employee. When I worked for him, I knew where I stood. I still know where I stand today.

This board used to be entertaining and informative. Now, some (but not all) posters are rolling it down the path of cheap shots and personal vendettas, a road that eventually leads to irrelevance.

Neither WXBQ nor Bill Hagy are perfect entities, or individuals. But, stand by them? You betcha. And as Ric Flair used to say . . . "To be the man, you've got to beat the man." And for the last 59 books, nobody has.
 
One additional . . . and hopefully final . . . comment.

Intelligence and experience. I think I have my share of each, and my three decade track record would seem to indicate such.

Along the route, I haven't needed to take shots while hidden behind a user name. That just cheapens the value of your premise. It is a fact that during the 59 book run, there has been little effective competition, either in format, or from other formats. Is that WXBQ's problem? No. Any good operator takes advantage of any break or positive set of circumstances they encounter. Using a hidden identity while taking shots at one of the persons who contributed to the success does nothing to advance your viewpoint, or alter what the track history clearly shows.

I said it before . . . I say it again. Unlike some people, When I do something, I sign my name.

Steve Blevins
Charlotte, NC
 
Uh, Steve, if you did any sort of research you'd know who I am. It's pretty much a given everyone on the board knows.

Now, that said, I did work for WXBQ, and Hagy, while you were there and afterwards. And unlike you, I never knew where I stood. How do you know where you stand when a guy never talks?

That being said- I remember inquiring about you. And what I was met with- BY THE ENTIRE STAFF- was indifference. As if people you weren't a man, or the talented broadcaster you are (and I mean that), but a spare part.

After numerous inquiries someone- not Hagy- told me not that you had End Stage Liver or Renal Cancer, but a stroke.

I immediately asked if you were okay- if you were recovering- where I could reach you.

Again, indifference. Nobody knew. It was if Steve Blevins had never been a part of Bristol Broadcasting.

I did call an old number I had of you after you'd departed to Florida. It was no longer valid.

I apologize for not tracking you down myself further to give you my best wishes for recovery. Perhaps if I had at the time, I would have known the Hagy you speak of.
 
Well, I didn't expect to open a can of worms here, in which personalities on all sides seem to have been brought into question.

Whether one likes Bill Hagy or not, whether his personality is to one's liking or not (personally I think the world of Bill), one cannot deride the results he has gotten on WXBQ. I've been in radio long enough to have worked with Program Directors of every temperment in markets from New York City on down, and let me tell you, it's not the PD's temperment that creates a radio station. It's his ability to do all the right things to create and HOLD an audience. This goes all the way from music, to hiring the right on-air personalities, to promotions, to imaging, and on and on. I've worked with program directors who were total schmucks, and yet they produced a radio station that sounded great. I've also worked with great guys whom you just can't help but like, but who couldn't program a car radio, let alone a radio station.

To those who use the excuse that WXBQ is the only country station in the market, that is just not true. One only has to look at the ratings to see that there are other FMs that cover - if not all - at least larger portions of the market (i.e. WIVK, WMEV, and WXLZ immediately come to mind). If you combine the 12+ numbers of those three stations, they come to about 1/4 of WXBQ. Adding AM's (WCOG, etc) who run country does not increase that total by much.

In so far as comparing Philly and Bristol, I am comparing station (WXBQ) to station (WXTU), not market to market, or audience sizxe to audience size. If market size were an influence, one would expect WXTU to have the resources to blow away WXBQ. I am talking strictly about the "sound" of the station, and but despite the difference in market size, WXBQ still sounds better.

NOTE TO Steve Blevins: Steve. I am sorry to hear of your illness. I wish I had known sooner, but I admit that I am a little out of the loop up here. I pray God's blessings on you and that His healing power and grace will restore you to full health.
 
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