Country In NYC?

[TheBigA]

I just think it'd be an expensive format for NYC to get the star power to make a splash and get attention and the return might not be there to level they want.

Star power in terms of artists?  Most of the big ones already play NYC.  Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and others have sold out Madison Square Garden.  They reegularly play the Today Show concert series, Good Morning America, and Letterman.  Plus the label pays for bringing the stars to NY, not the station.

Star power in terms of on-air talent is another story.  I think it would take a special staff to attract an audience in NYC.  Most of the former country DJs in the NY market have either retired or are a bit long in the tooth.  Start out a new format with a staff of unknowns, and no one will listen.  Stealing a well-known talent from another station is a possibility.  Jim Kerr, Dan Taylor, and Ray Rossi are still around.

The country demo is very sellable.  Adult format, slightly more female, and would make a great alternative to all the bland and boring AC stations targeting the same demo.  But it would take a very different approach to make it work.  Most folks don't have the imagination and the determination.  The one guy who COULD have done it, Dan Halyburton, left town a couple years ago.

[neo11]

I just think it'd be an expensive format for NYC to get the star power to make a splash and get attention and the return might not be there to level they want.

Star power in terms of artists?  Most of the big ones already play NYC.  Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and others have sold out Madison Square Garden.  They reegularly play the Today Show concert series, Good Morning America, and Letterman.  Plus the label pays for bringing the stars to NY, not the station.

It's not hard to sell out MSG for all sorts of concerts in NYC.  Even Brazilian, Greek, etc. concerts have sold out Madison Square Garden in the recent past.  Filling 20,000 seats in a metropolitan area of 18.5 million means absolutely nothing as far as the potential of success for a radio station of that format.

As for playing the Today Show, Letterman, etc., those may be based in NY, but the broadcast is intended for a NATIONAL audience. 

[Justin Case]

Star power in terms of artists?  Most of the big ones already play NYC.  Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and others have sold out Madison Square Garden.  They reegularly play the Today Show concert series, Good Morning America, and Letterman.  Plus the label pays for bringing the stars to NY, not the station.

Have you ever been to any of those things?  Concerts at Madison Square Garden draw far more people than those of us in the City... they come from Upstate, Long Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, obviously Jersey and even tourists... and speaking of tourists, they are who usual fill the concert series shows at the morning programs.  Actual NY'ers are working at 9am not jumping up and down in Bryant Park or on the Street at Rock Center.

[BACKnUSSR]

Country has NEVER been a major success in NYC.
Country has NEVER been a major success in NYC.

Not WHN, Not WKHK, Not WYNY (when it was a NYC signal), Not WYNY (when it was a suburban signal)

So how come no one is taking their very valuable radio station and filling the void??
Because.........

Country has NEVER been a major success in NYC.

[cspotrun]

Country has NEVER been a major success in NYC.
Country has NEVER been a major success in NYC.

Not WHN, Not WKHK, Not WYNY (when it was a NYC signal), Not WYNY (when it was a suburban signal)

So how come no one is taking their very valuable radio station and filling the void??
Because.........

Country has NEVER been a major success in NYC.

this is probably ONLY important to those in the RECORING business in Nashville, that there be a NYC Country station. and you are correct.

[briancraig]

BackNUSSR, your statement about country in NYC is simply not true.

WHN was a big success in the mid and late 1970s.  I'm looking right now at a front page article from Billboard's August 31, 1974 issue titled "Country Booming In N.Y."  It mentions that WHN is now the 6th most listened to radio station in NYC.

March 26, 1979 article in New York magazine about the success of WKTU also mentions WHN and their 3.8 rating which is better than WXLO and twice is good as WNEW-FM.

July 4, 1976 article in the New York Times about the success of WHN and how "its 1.5 million listeners are eagerly sought by local and national advertisers”

According to ads in Broadcasting Magazine, several times WHN was #2 in adults 25-49.

So to say that: "Country has NEVER been a major success in NYC. Not WHN..."  is a lie.

[neo11]

Country indeed has seen success in NYC in the past.  However, one has to look at how far back in the past the format enjoyed that success.  One also has to look at the numbers of more recent attempts to go country in NYC and the suburbs.  And while it's been 20+ years since country has really done well in the market, more recent attempts have failed, even in the supposedly "country-friendly" suburbs.

The fact that Lite, Fresh and PLJ might play a few selected crossover hits also means nothing...they're called "crossover" hits for a reason!

[TheBigA]

Success is a relative term.  Today, the #1 station in NY attracts a small percentage of the population.  And you have several stations in NY that attract 2% of the population.  Is a 2 share the measure of success?  If so, then WYNY was a success.  At one point, WYNY did better than a 2 share.  That's better than what K-Rock gets NOW.  That would be a HUGE improvement for WRXP.  One could make the case (and Allan Sniffen often does) that Rock has NEVER been successful in NYC.  Yet, because it attracts certain demos, there are now multiple rock stations in NYC. 

The question isn't ratings success, but financial success.  I believe the real reason there is no country station in NYC is because it would be tough to make money with it.  In Chicago, CBS owns US-99, which is typically a Top 10 station and is one of the highest cuming stations in the country.  But it isn't one of the top revenue producers, and there are stations with lower ratings that bring in more money.  CBS owns country stations in several other major markets, and they have the same problem at those stations, even though a few of them are among the highest rated in town.  THAT is the real issue.

[Justin Case]

Ummm but K-Rock isn't rock anymore... at least not on it's analog signal...

[TheBigA]

Ummm but K-Rock isn't rock anymore... at least not on it's analog signal...

That's not my point.  WYNY got better ratings than post-Stern K-Rock.