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More FM is B101 again?!

R

richt1014

I went onto Facebook right after midnight and notice that WBEB’s Facebook page has a B101 profile photo and cover photo. I went on their website and the website says “B101 More Continuous Christmas Music” but they are not playing Christmas music yet on their main channel.
 
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Well now, that was surprising. Dong it overnight? Heck, the Facebook page didn’t even update its name as of ealy morning. Or their RDS. Or the promotional images on the website. Very hasty.

Entercom seems spooked.

And the logo....meh, that seems uninspired at best.

I guess Morey the Monkey shall be retired quickly.
 
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It feels like all is right again, for now. I wasn't a fan of getting rid of the name that was synonymous with Philly, and rolled off your tongue with ease.

The Philly radio wars have intensified...awaiting 106.1's move now.
 
Super strange! Maybe they think this will give them a little word of mouth just at a time when 106.1 is potentially about to get a lot of word of mouth. Pretty suspicious timing!
 
Miguelito said:
Super strange! Maybe they think this will give them a little word of mouth just at a time when 106.1 is potentially about to get a lot of word of mouth. Pretty suspicious timing!
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Off the top of my head, I might have coombined the return of the old moniker with the holiday music launch as a two-fer. But, if they have reason to believe a breeze is about to be blowing through imminently, i guess better to get it done if that’s the decision.

Without some digital (or more) efforts, I don’t see 106 getting gigantic word of mouth, but they do have the outdoor advertising division as a corporate sibling. Leverage that, and good social targeting, and they can get the ball rolling.
 
I guess I wasn't imagining things when I sampled their Christmas HD2 and heard "B101" mentioned in the TOH ID. It was alongside a radio.com mention too, so it wasn't just an old ID cued up.

I think this is a good move, and I never really saw the logic behind the name change in the first place. Unlike "EZ" which had a specific connotation, "B101" is a name that could be applied to just about any format, and it certainly rolls off the tongue well as others have said. I don't think the name change did anything to change the perception of the station, and probably never caught on with the general public who may have still thought of the station as B101.
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Off the top of my head, I might have coombined the return of the old moniker with the holiday music launch as a two-fer. But, if they have reason to believe a breeze is about to be blowing through imminently, i guess better to get it done if that’s the decision.

Without some digital (or more) efforts, I don’t see 106 getting gigantic word of mouth, but they do have the outdoor advertising division as a corporate sibling. Leverage that, and good social targeting, and they can get the ball rolling.
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If 106.1 is really switching to Soft AC, I don't understand why they're waiting to do a Christmas stunt. Why not start it on November 1? WBEB surely would not have followed suit until tomorrow at the earliest and Christmas music on 106.1 would have been a very powerful word-of-mouth tool.
 
Miguelito said:
If 106.1 is really switching to Soft AC, I don't understand why they're waiting to do a Christmas stunt. Why not start it on November 1? WBEB surely would not have followed suit until tomorrow at the earliest and Christmas music on 106.1 would have been a very powerful word-of-mouth tool.
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It’s one reason I am marginally skeptical about what will really happen, though I’m by no means sold either way. That they forced a fairly significant investment (or sped it up?) from a station that has historically (and I say that fully aware that the game has changed) not made big reactionary moves is impressive.

It’s feeling like watching a proverbial game of chicken, and WBEB jumped first. So when does the next shoe drop?
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
It’s one reason I am marginally skeptical about what will really happen, though I’m by no means sold either way. That they forced a fairly significant investment (or sped it up?) from a station that has historically (and I say that fully aware that the game has changed) not made big reactionary moves is impressive.

It’s feeling like watching a proverbial game of chicken, and WBEB jumped first. So when does the next shoe drop?
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I was wondering if iHeart would react by flipping 106.1 today instead of tomorrow. But the reality is that 101.1 changed their name and created a very lame logo. And that isn't really a very big deal. Hardly enough to suck the air out of a cross-town format change.
 
Oh true. I meant more that they’re now going to have to spend time and some cash (not breaking Entercom’s bank, but it’s not nothing either) rebranding everything. Vans, promotional equipment, et al. And with a new logo, it’s not like the old stuff sitting in a closet is usable long term. If this was planned anyway, ok, you speed up the process. But if it’s fully reactionary, that’s something a bit different.

I’d expect Entercom to say it was long planned, and hey, maybe it was. But flipping the switch under cover of darkness says some part of this was rushed for a reason.

Yeah, they get a head start on social media and what not, and then we see what happens with 106. Of course, our nerdy interest doesn’t reflect actual word of mouth buzz. :cool:
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Well now, that was surprising. Dong it overnight? Heck, the Facebook page didn’t even update its name as of ealy morning. Or their RDS. Or the promotional images on the website. Very hasty.

Entercom seems spooked.

And the logo....meh, that seems uninspired at best.
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Judging by some of the air talent's Twitter... it looks like the change from More FM to B101.1 aligned with B101.1 moving from their own building on City Ave into the shared space with 96.5 and 98.1. So there may have been SOME intention to do this and launch it last night.. but outside of that... it did seem hasty. RDS now shows B101.1 Philly... but the website needs to clean up mentions of More FM.

And the logo? Yeah... Kinda lame.
 
They added B101 legal ID's and imaging to the the HD2 but they also left a bunch of the More FM imaging. It's having an identity crisis right now. haha. When/if it returns to all '80s, it'll self-correct since the imaging on the HD2 never changed from B101!

Some Debbie Downer thoughts: I really hope they don't bring back that big, goofy, bumble bee mascot. It was cross-eyed and just wasn't cute (you know, cute like the Honey Nut Cheerios bee). Also: I hope they have more than just this one B101 jingle I've been hearing all morning because it's about as good as their new logo.
 
Looks like they moved to 555 a couple of days ago indeed. But still, a midnight (or close enough) debut seems weird to me for this type of branding change. In today’s pictures, it looks like someone printed the logo off the office printer and taped it to the door and window. Now that’s how you do smart branding. Lol

Random question: it’s been a while, but didn’t they keep the B branding on the 80s format HD 2 over the years, seemingly as a hedge against anyone sneaking in and grabbing it?

Maybe they can keep the new monkey and say he “Beee a Monkey.” Ok, that’s not serious, but it is kind of funny they invested in the big show of retiring Buzzbee and bringing on the monkey, but so it goes.
 
I'm sure they will clean up the website and remove the "More" references. Entercom has a template for all stations and B/More isn't on it yet. Once they are, I'm sure all will be good.
 
They didn't still own the rights to "B" so I wonder if they got word of a rumor that 106.1 might go by B-106-1. It's early but they seem to have softened the sound up just a bit too. They were really a hot ac as More-fm and if a battle is coming they should certainly take a little step back from all the top 40 stuff. Obviously it's a balancing act as 98.1 needs to be the 80s station but also 101.1 can't abandon 80s music from their mix if iheart is going to put on a slightly lighter and more gold focused ac station.

The reality is that nearly everyone still called the station B-101. More fm never stuck and while it doesn't matter with ppm, perception is a part of loyalty and this bringing back the B will provide some modest goodwill with their p1s.

Iheart really needs to get the music on the new 106-1 slightly newer than 98 and older than 101.1 obviously but the real trick will be the tempo. It needs to be softer but not too soft. Easy 93-1 is #1 18-34 in Miami with a perfect mix for South Florida, one will really need to be fine tuned for Philly with 106-1. Also, they need to promote the hell out of it and be patient. You can subtlety adjust things as you go but drastic changes will end up in defeat.

As for going Xmas, remember 97.5? They were #2 in the market with a 6.1! BUT, next book they were down in the 2s with the real format. IS it really worth it just to swat at the bee?
 
AbrahamJSimpson said:
Random question: it’s been a while, but didn’t they keep the B branding on the 80s format HD 2 over the years, seemingly as a hedge against anyone sneaking in and grabbing it?
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The HD2 started off as "More FM- More 80s!" and then they slid that branding over to the main channel. The HD2 I believe was "Most FM" (seriously) for a while, and then just "The 80s channel" for a while, before bringing back the B101 imaging for a couple of years. That way no one theoretically could have launched an AC station and called it "B" (Much like how Entercom and iHeart have both laid claim to "Alt" on HD2s)
 
Hypothetically, being at a 6 then a 2 is marginally better than being at a 2 all along. But it’s a moral victory at best. You need to monetize it, and that’s going to take commitment to the cause. I have to think Entercom will vigorously defend the investment they made.

Technically, Now tried to out fresh the B, so that seems different than what we’re allegedly, maybe, potentially speculating about. Not that Sunny lit the world on fire, but it was cheap.
 
atthestars said:
The HD2 started off as "More FM- More 80s!" and then they slid that branding over to the main channel. The HD2 I believe was "Most FM" (seriously) for a while, and then just "The 80s channel" for a while, before bringing back the B101 imaging for a couple of years. That way no one theoretically could have launched an AC station and called it "B" (Much like how Entercom and iHeart have both laid claim to "Alt" on HD2s)
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So I didn’t totally imagine that happening, even if my timing was off. Score one for the faulty memory.
 
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