Petition started to bring back Real 106.1

These days you can start a petition for anything. Someone actually started a petition to bring back Real 106.1. Some idiot even suggested to call the FCC to complain
https://www.change.org/p/wisx-give-us-thereal-106-1-back-throwback-hip-hop

I think it would be a lot more effective to organize a march from Center City to Bala Cynwyd. A "Real caravan" of sorts. That would get media attention if hundreds of people are dedicated enough to protest for a format change.

It's funny...I often read comments on this board that listeners aren't passionate about their local radio stations, especially the big corporate ones run by iHeart. Here we have a situation where a group of people are so motivated as to start a petition. So obviously there still are people out there listening to FM stations. But you're right, the FCC isn't going to respond to a petition and force this station to return to its previous format.

They have a better shot of convincing Boom 103.9 to tweak their playlist or someone starting a spotify playlist. Yes, Real 106.1 was one of the very few channels from iHeart I did enjoy, but there's hundreds of other channels on your phone you can listen to.

nkd said:

These days you can start a petition for anything. Someone actually started a petition to bring back Real 106.1. Some idiot even suggested to call the FCC to complain
https://www.change.org/p/wisx-give-us-thereal-106-1-back-throwback-hip-hop

I think it would be a lot more effective to organize a march from Center City to Bala Cynwyd. A "Real caravan" of sorts. That would get media attention if hundreds of people are dedicated enough to protest for a format change.

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The same thing happened with they killed Smooth Jazz on 106.1. Fans get very invested in their favorite stations (I used to as well). And even though we radio geeks miss a lot of the business nuances, the typical listener has even less understanding of it. They don't know that radio companies can do almost anything they want with the stations they own (they own them, after all)...and they clearly don't know that the FCC can't force anyone to maintain a Throwbacks format. LOL.

This petition is not going to be enforced. Mainly because Iheart has some bigger issues to deal with.

RadioPatrol said:

This petition is not going to be enforced. Mainly because Iheart has some bigger issues to deal with.

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Or because there is zero legal grounds to “enforce” that any more than there is for “enforcing” that the local pizza joint bring back a flavor I happened to like.

I get the passion the fans have, but realistically people should recognize petitions are generally meaningless, and usually harmless, ways to spout off in anger.

AbrahamJSimpson said:

Or because there is zero legal grounds to “enforce” that any more than there is for “enforcing” that the local pizza joint bring back a flavor I happened to like.

I get the passion the fans have, but realistically people should recognize petitions are generally meaningless, and usually harmless, ways to spout off in anger.

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And look at the avatars of the people who are signing. They're all so young-ish looking. They don't realize that in making this change, iHeart was pointedly telling them specifically to kindly get lost.

AbrahamJSimpson said:

Or because there is zero legal grounds to “enforce” that any more than there is for “enforcing” that the local pizza joint bring back a flavor I happened to like.

I get the passion the fans have, but realistically people should recognize petitions are generally meaningless, and usually harmless, ways to spout off in anger.

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Maybe they think that because the old format appealed largely to a minority audience and the new format doesn't that, somehow, the federal government will step in on grounds of discrimination. But barring legal action and the intervention of an extreme activist judge -- whose ruling would never stand up on appeal -- that's not the way the system works in this case.

A petition such as this has no legal standing, so activist or not, that won’t get them to a courtroom. And I’d wager there isn’t a lawyer stupid enough to even try bringing a case to a judge in the first place. There’s frivolous, and there’s patently absurd.

CTListener said:

Maybe they think that because the old format appealed largely to a minority audience and the new format doesn't that, somehow, the federal government will step in on grounds of discrimination. But barring legal action and the intervention of an extreme activist judge -- whose ruling would never stand up on appeal -- that's not the way the system works in this case.

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To get this in a courtroom wouldn't require an activist judge; it would require a stupid judge and a bunch of stupid lawyers.

I could see another company paying attention if it gets half a million signatures. Real 106.1 did pretty decent

nkd said:

Real 106.1 did pretty decent

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In terms of what?

I think it was Chio himself who noted the station pretty much failed to deliver ratings or revenue in a satisfactory way. Now, does that mean another ownership group wouldn’t “take notice” if there was some crazy high number of signatures? Not at all—but there’s a long jump between taking notice and taking action. And as they say, money talks. Real didn’t deliver the money, and that’s going to factor far more heavily in any decisions a company makes.

AbrahamJSimpson said:

I think it was Chio himself who noted the station pretty much failed to deliver ratings or revenue in a satisfactory way. Now, does that mean another ownership group wouldn’t “take notice” if there was some crazy high number of signatures? Not at all—but there’s a long jump between taking notice and taking action. And as they say, money talks. Real didn’t deliver the money, and that’s going to factor far more heavily in any decisions a company makes.

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The only company in town who I can see having interest in trying the format is Urban One. And didn't they already try it?

AbrahamJSimpson said:

I think it was Chio himself who noted the station pretty much failed to deliver ratings or revenue in a satisfactory way. Now, does that mean another ownership group wouldn’t “take notice” if there was some crazy high number of signatures? Not at all—but there’s a long jump between taking notice and taking action. And as they say, money talks. Real didn’t deliver the money, and that’s going to factor far more heavily in any decisions a company makes.

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I thought we were past the days of urban formats underperforming with advertisers, especially with hip-hop having crossed over to suburbia. So, is this still a problem?

I’m always leery of trying to divine bigger trends from cases that can have unique variables.

AbrahamJSimpson said:

I’m always leery of trying to divine bigger trends from cases that can have unique variables.

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haha. This is awesome.

CTListener said:

I thought we were past the days of urban formats underperforming with advertisers, especially with hip-hop having crossed over to suburbia. So, is this still a problem?

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Well, I think we are past that point. I think we've been past it for a really long time. It's been demonstrated that there are plenty of advertisers who pay to specifically reach the Urban listening audience. But how many ways do you think you can slice a single pie? There were until just days ago six explicitly urban-skewing stations in this single market: WDAS-FM, Power 99, WRNB, WPHI, WPPZ, and Real 106.1. Advertisers were already spending on DAS and Power 99. They probably made strategic decisions whether to also go for a cheaper buy on one (or all!) of the Urban One stations. If I were an advertiser, maybe I'd think about buying a spot that new Throwback station..."but gee, but by the time I got to it, my money was already spent. Maybe next time!"

IHeart would have tried a package deal to sell ads on 98.9, 105.3, and throw in 106.1 too.