If B101 waits a week, they'll lose some listeners to 106.1. Some of the Real 106.1 audience actually likes Christmas music
Beyond all that, this whole thing....just feels off somehow. I have nothing but a gut feeling, but something feels like this is more designed as a way to test Entercom's reaction (or lack thereof). I fully acknowledge I could be off and this could be the, er, real deal, at least through Christmas.
But how much overlap did 106 and 101 have....out-of-demo board posters notwithstanding? I'm not saying it's negligible, but right now, there's likely few if any 101 core listeners who know squat about what's happening on 106. And 101 has legacy at its back. Waiting a week seems unlikely, as it would be less than a week when they would normally make the jump anyway. Right now, I'd not place much money on there being some long lasting damage.
Beyond all that, this whole thing....just feels off somehow. I have nothing but a gut feeling, but something feels like this is more designed as a way to test Entercom's reaction (or lack thereof). I fully acknowledge I could be off and this could be the, er, real deal, at least through Christmas.
Nothing to lose...well, not literally, but so to speak. But...is this the real way they plan to keep going if B101 doesn't blink right away? The word that comes to my mind is....boring. It's just blah. Perhaps more blah than the new B 101 logo. Good heavens, Holly on XM has more "personality" than what they've put forth so far. I get it...three hours in and all that, but I'd have gone all in on making it sound competitive to B 101 on the engagement front.
I was driving shortly after the change, and by the time I got home (and it wasn't that far), I was completely put off by the entire thing. Now, I know I'm not the target audience, but still....it just feels like a big old mess. At least for now. This feels like something you'd do for a short stunt in July when it was intended to be like five hours long.
I get the whole "real" callback they have going, but that just feels like it falls flat in the execution. And I get they have some spots on rotation and not everything can be instantly perfect, but hearing spots invoking the just-axed morning shot feels shoddy.
I remember back to when Barsky was part of the stunt turning the Point into Wild...er, Wired. Wasn't it something incredibly bizarre including the bit of him locking himself in the studio?That was better. Heck, the Mix to Real stunt was interesting. This was a big old..."that's it?"
As I think it was David noted, are those who "hate" Christmas the actual audience the station sells? Sure, my wife is firmly in the camp of no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving and fits in the demo, but how many of there are there, really, in the general audience? I suppose it's smart to say she's one of a kind, but flattery aside, I suspect she is an exception.
Now, let's say B 101 gets its jingle on in about 18 minutes. How is she going to know 106 became "softer than 101" rock? I'll leave out for a minute that she also would vomit and banish the station forever at the first hint of Celine Dion. The reality is she isn't going to know jack about 106, even if she wanted to hear a steady diet of Michael Bolton and Richard Marx. A tree falling in a forrest in Alaska has more chance of being heard by her than "the Breeze" (or whatever it is).
That's where promotion comes in. As soon as you flip to soft AC, get the TV ads rolling and the social media rolling.
IHeart already has a Christmas formula that worked in Philadelphia for four years. Just load the exact same Christmas songs from Sunny 104.5 in the exact same order on 106.1. The library has to be sitting on a hard drive covered in dust somewhere in Bala Cynwyd.
They got decent ratings in the holiday season.
They're playing the same songs in the same order that are being played on iHeart stations in LA, Chicago, Dallas, and Phoenix.
Likely the hard drive is not in Bala Cynwyd.