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WBT continues to fall in the ratings

C

Call Me Sherlock

Frequent Participant
Another down rating this month for WBT as they sink to the lowest point ever. One has to wonder how long before changes start to occur there. Obviously, what's being done now isn't working. I'm sure that Peter Smythe, the big man at the Greater Media home office has greater expectations of the "Great Colossus of the South".
 
What do you suggest?

This appears to be a part of a national trend where audiences are deserting AM talk stations, regardless of the content.
 
Regarding the latest ratings is it me or is it weird that 3 of the clear channel stations took a big leap?
 
radiolives said:
Regarding the latest ratings is it me or is it weird that 3 of the clear channel stations took a big leap?
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Yes, several interesting things. 102.9 the Lake had a nice gain, proving the Lite conversion one year later was indeed a good move. And they are beating out 104.7 and 107.9 the Link with AC listeners. And 99.7 the Fox did good with the rock format. So overall Clear Channel had nice gains, especially where 96.9 the Kat was on top with the country format and #1 overall. But one notable exception, as Channel 96.1 has now lost its lead over Kiss 95.1 in the CHR category. 95.1 has finally regained its lead after the loss of Ace and TJ. Although the actual audio quality is still much better on 96.1, and they don't speed up the music. But Greater Media has declined with both WBT and 107.9, so they may need to make some changes somewhere. Although overall, I do like 107.9. And I still miss Pam Stone.
 
Might be time to flip 107.9, would what Greater Media did in Boston work in Charlotte by going Rhythmic? I don't see sports happening. Might Greater Media want a piece of the country pie, 3 country stations.
 
I'm sure they still make lots of money on the "Bob & Shari" syndication and possibly "Matt & Ramona". Rythmic? I don't see that.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
I'm sure they still make lots of money on the "Bob & Shari" syndication and possibly "Matt & Ramona". Rythmic? I don't see that.
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Yes they still have those popular personality based programs, which are nationally syndicated. So I don't see them flipping. Perhaps just tweak the music playlist. Because obviously 102.9 is now doing well since they dropped their lite format, and that has impacted 107.9. But my bedroom radio in the house is set to 107.9, as I like the music and the personalities. And I can switch to the HD-2 channel for WBT for news and talk. Good HD reception in Greenville, SC with rabbit ears since they boosted the digital power. But I do listen to 102.9 as well as they do have good variety music selection. And my attic antenna on my other receiver gets their HD signal also.
 
But back to WBT. They are still a strong source for news, weather, and traffic. And the Carolina Panthers. And I will listen to Keith Larson and John Hancock. But rarely Rush Limbaugh. So I am not sure what they really need to do. But they recently dropped CBS News and Accu-Weather in favor of ABC and the Weather Channel. Not sure if that had an impact. But maybe they should try to get Al Gardner back. I think that was a big loss.
 
radiolives said:
Might be time to flip 107.9, would what Greater Media did in Boston work in Charlotte by going Rhythmic? I don't see sports happening. Might Greater Media want a piece of the country pie, 3 country stations.
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Don't even suggest it unless it's a classic-leaning format.

107.9 FM has two problems. One is the "We play anything" station called 102.9 the Link. That's what I thought I heard one day. I didn't hear the 102.9 part but you get the idea. A name change is in order. The other problem is that K-104.7 is almost the same. I did hear "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac on 104.7 but with that mix that just sounds weird.
 
You are correct that Lake and Link sound similar in pronunciation. But 107.9 was The Link before 102.9 became The Lake.
 
tylerSC said:
You are correct that Lake and Link sound similar in pronunciation. But 107.9 was The Link before 102.9 became The Lake.
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Someone needs to change, but I was thinking the name "Link" doesn't serve the purpose it once did. And if the station needs to change it needs a new name.
 
As for "The Link" with ppm does it matter what they call it? A long time ago I heard most people identify a station by dial position, 102.9, 107.9, etc.

As for WBT they are a great source of news and information.

Outside of the newscasts I observed you have either someone reading the internet to you or someone talking about fanny packs and how cool the talk host is. Not very interesting to me.

A good talk show would be an exchange of ideas or information you couldn't get somewhere else. There should be more guests either in studio or on the phone, instead of one guy just rattling on. The internet should be talking about something that was on WBT and not the other way around.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
As for "The Link" with ppm does it matter what they call it? A long time ago I heard most people identify a station by dial position, 102.9, 107.9, etc.

As for WBT they are a great source of news and information.

Outside of the newscasts I observed you have either someone reading the internet to you or someone talking about fanny packs and how cool the talk host is. Not very interesting to me.

A good talk show would be an exchange of ideas or information you couldn't get somewhere else. There should be more guests either in studio or on the phone, instead of one guy just rattling on. The internet should be talking about something that was on WBT and not the other way around.
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I liked Neal Boortz from WSB as a talk show host. He was informed and engaging and always had a point of discussion. Didn't just ramble on and on about random topics. But he has retired.
 
The problem with a syndicated show is if something happens on a local level you want to hear about it. Last weekend there was an earthquake in Napa, CA. People turn on the radio and expect to hear someone shaking right along with them. It's the same with power outages, storms and all that. When a station is on auto pilot and not talking about what's going on, people learn to go elsewhere for information. That's what's so good about local radio, there is the ability to respond to a situation immediately.

It seems like talk shows would benefit from producers. I'm not talking about board operators but people who's job it is to work with the host to line up topics, guests, do research, and feed the host information. I think that would result in a much better approach.
 
Mike Sheridan said:
Last weekend there was an earthquake in Napa, CA. People turn on the radio and expect to hear someone shaking right along with them. It's the same with power outages, storms and all that.
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The Napa earthquake happened at 3 AM Sunday morning.

However, Tom Taylor reports that KCBS was live at that hour, and KPIX-TV actually ran audio from that radio station on the TV channel while they attempted to get their staff on the air.
 
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How much does the 99.3 translator add to WBT's audience? I heard at the time that the reason for buying it was that 1110's nighttime directional signal doesn't go very far west of Charlotte and it's hard to pick up in portions of York and Gaston Counties. But during the daytime, is there anyone who can pick up 99.3 but not 1110?
 
Unregistered said:
How much does the 99.3 translator add to WBT's audience? I heard at the time that the reason for buying it was that 1110's nighttime directional signal doesn't go very far west of Charlotte and it's hard to pick up in portions of York and Gaston Counties. But during the daytime, is there anyone who can pick up 99.3 but not 1110?
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It's highly unlikely but I suppose with power line interference or something, the FM signal in some places might be preferable. 50,000 watts non-directional is as strong as it gets for the 1110 frequency.

It's all a matter of who wants to listen to AM.
 
Unregistered said:
How much does the 99.3 translator add to WBT's audience? I heard at the time that the reason for buying it was that 1110's nighttime directional signal doesn't go very far west of Charlotte and it's hard to pick up in portions of York and Gaston Counties. But during the daytime, is there anyone who can pick up 99.3 but not 1110?
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In York, Gaston, Cleveland and Cherokee counties I would think the clear FM signal would be preferable to the static AM signal. And at my location in Greenville, SC, I listen to WBT on 99.3 or 107.9 HD-2, as I do not get a clear signal on 1110, and nothing after dark. And speaking of 99.3, they recently made some technical adjustments that improved their analog signal and increased the power of the HD. So they now have a better signal west of Charlotte.
 
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