Charlotte's Brand New Radio Station

[hschutte]

I noticed the latest ratings for 106.1 are still low. Will the oldies format help do you think in the long term? Sometimes they do play a decent song I can listen to. However, lots of times they seem to sound like 95.7.

[Mike Sheridan]

I haven't seen them do anything to promote the format change so I doubt the masses even know they have gone Oldies.  They probably should have made the switch back when Magic 96.1 changed and people were looking for a station to listen to.  I know a few who went to satellite.

Back when the Daltons owned Majic 96.1 is was promoted very well.

[Traditional]

I personally would like to know which ratings you are referring to. Most radio stations are not a hit in the ratings immediately following a change in the format. Furthermore, the ratings I am looking at have not been updated due to the fact that Charlotte has not been rated since Fall of 07 by arbitron.

There is no question about it, the songs being played on 106.1 are oldies, and although I am not in Charlotte every week, I can tell a big difference between what is being played on 106.1 vs 95.7. I think the ratings will go up for the new Oldies 106.1 the next time Charlotte is rated. Even if they don't go up a hell of alot the next time charlotte is rated, over the long term, I think an improvement will be seen.

If people would stop bashing the format, and just give it a chance, as well as be happy the oldies are back in Charlotte, then the ratings would really go up...

Traditional

[yugoidar]

Hey, trad!  Good ears, there is a difference between 106.1 and 95.7's music.  Now, about the ratings -- the last quarterly report that was released was the Fall of '07, but there are trends (cleverly named Arbitrends) that are released each month. 

Any ratings comment relative to the impact of 106.1's switch to Oldies over the past couple of months is, more than likely, based on the monthlies. 

The data from each of the 3 monthlies (Jan-Feb-March) is used to generate the ratings for the Winter '08 quarterly ratings.  April-May-June will comprise the Spring '08 quarterly ratings and so on.  Got it?

Now, your point about the change of format being reflected in the ratings is valid.  There is usually a lag of a few months before the true impact of a format change is reflected in the ratings.

Yugoidar

[Traditional]

Yes yugoidar I got it! Thank you for kindly correcting my error when it comes to watching the ratings. My whole point is this. I have seen so much of: I am not sure the Oldies are going to make it on 106.1, I miss the Adult Standards, etc. I am just an individual that likes Oldies, hates seeing the format trash talked, or lowly rated by word of mouth or posts by other individuals on here. What I have been trying to do with this topic is make replies promoting WOLS, making good points about the station itself, and encouraging others to do the same thing. Now I know everyone here has the right to freedom of speech, and you certainly exercised that right yugoidar in your previous post by going out of your way to explain to me all of the little details of how a station in a particular market is rated. I am not interested in getting into a huge argument with you or anyone else on here.  It would be nice if Oldies 106.1 would increase in the ratings, and I still think it will, but I guess we will just see what happens. I personally see no reason for me to comment any further on this topic, so I wish you all fun time talking about WOLS.

Traditional

[yugoidar]

No argument here, Traditional.  Sorry, I was just trying to help.  (It must have been the "Got it?")

I, too, am an Oldies fan and hated to see the demise of what I thought was, at one time (when owned by the Daltons), one of the best Oldies stations in the country.

Unfortunately, stations that use syndicated programming whether it be talk (O'Reilly, Hannity, Miller, et al) or music (Country, Oldies, Standards, etc.) as a rule don't fare well in the ratings of a given market. 

With that historical perspective in mind, it's unlikely that WOLS will fare much better in the ratings than it's predecessor, WNMX.  That being said, I would love to be proven wrong.

[LaidBackJack]

Yugo- if what you're saying is true, then WBT should be poorly rated during the noon-3p timeslot, Majik 94.1 should do poorly after 6 pm with Mike Harvey (well, not such a good example as they consistently score low ratings), and since virtually all of the Clear Channel programming is "syndicated" (meaning voicetracked locally or streamed in from other markets, and not live), they should all suck too. Obviously, I don't agree with your blanket statement. Even some years ago, Drake-Chenault formatted stations did very well.....

[yugoidar]

Hey Jack, you missed the qualifier "as a rule".  The examples I cited were, you'll notice, of the "satellite" syndicated variety.  There are far more examples of satellite syndicated programs that fail to garner an appreciable audience in a given market than there are success stories.

If you can cite specific examples of successful syndicated programming and stations besides the aforementioned and alluded to Rush Limbaugh, I'm open to hear them.  Probably, the most successful syndicated show after Limbaugh is "Delilah".

In my mind, a CC jock who does a customized voicetracking session for an individual station or three is hardly syndicated.

Regarding, Drake-Chenault -- are you speaking of the stations Bill Drake consulted which were each staffed with live and local personalities (no syndication, except formatics and philosophy) or the automated reels of popular music that stations subscribed to?

While many of the stations he consulted were successful, I'm not sure the automated music service resulted in any stations that were great successes from a ratings standpoint.

I stand by my previous statement regarding the potential success of WOLS.  Time will tell.

Thanks, Jack.

[Mike Sheridan]

I hope what I said didn't come off as bashing.  Some 12+ numbers came out the other day and I didn't see much of an upward trend. 

On the plus side I think the WOLS owners will give the format time to gain audience.  I stand by my statement that they need to promote it more.  I don't think the absence of local DJ's matters much.  I doubt most listeners can tell the difference or that they even care sorry to say.

[LaidBackJack]

Yugo...you're quite welcome. No, I didn't miss the qualifier...however I heard loud and clear your summary dismissal of syndicated programming as being loser material. For the record..."custom voice tracking" isn't in the same league as live either. It serves the very same purpose as syndication- an effort to cut operating costs while maintaining an acceptable level of service to the public. I should also remind you that even tho the talent on those "syndicated" services isn't in the local control room, he or she is at least LIVE......and usually answers the phone....something that "custom voice tracking" can't do. Bash syndication if you wish, but has it's place, and works very well for it's intended purpose.

Most operators that use syndicated services are aware that they probably won't be a top 5 station, but who says you have to be top rated to be successful?