WECK delivered Christmas music online on what they called BIG WECK 2, with promises of additional programming after the holidays. I noticed that BIG WECK 2 doesn't seem to be anywhere on their website or online and that bigweck2.com seems to be down.
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BIG WECK 2?
- Thread starter SirRoxalot
- Start date
Indeed, it does appear that WECK management has given up on Big WECK 2. I was an occasional listener. Some of the liners, read by current WECK staffers, evoked memories of QFM97 and album rock radio days of the mid ‘70s. The playlist was deep. For instance, I remember hearing the Moody Blue’s “Question,” which I hadn’t heard on the radio in years. I did listen to Big WECK 2 a few times a week in January. But, for whatever reason, I lost interest and hadn’t logged on the stream in recent weeks. I guess I wasn’t alone. There must not have been enough listeners to sustain the stream. It appears that JP was putting time and energy into curating the playlist. Given the other demands he has, perhaps Big WECK 2 was no longer worth the effort.
I remember listening to the Christmas stream when Big WECK 2 was first launched. I laughed at some of the hype. Big WECK 2 was described as “history making,“ doing something “never heard before” in Buffalo radio. Ahem! Tom Schuh’s Internet-only “Cool 101” has been around for a couple of years now. WBFO’s “The Bridge,“ though technically an HD station, probably gets most of its listeners through its stream. So, WECK streaming music as the main station’s “cool little brother” was hardly “history making.” And less than a half-year from its launch, it’s now gone.
I remember listening to the Christmas stream when Big WECK 2 was first launched. I laughed at some of the hype. Big WECK 2 was described as “history making,“ doing something “never heard before” in Buffalo radio. Ahem! Tom Schuh’s Internet-only “Cool 101” has been around for a couple of years now. WBFO’s “The Bridge,“ though technically an HD station, probably gets most of its listeners through its stream. So, WECK streaming music as the main station’s “cool little brother” was hardly “history making.” And less than a half-year from its launch, it’s now gone.
Horrors! Hyperbole from a Buffalo Radio station? No!? Say it ain't so! Next you'll tell me that Bill Yuhnke isn't a Radio Maestro? Or JP isn't the world's foremost Beatles expert or has the longest running Beatles show in the history of the Milky Way galaxy?
It's too early in the day. How will I go on? Please, Lord, make it stop.....
Maybe they discovered that only 4 people were streaming it. If Buddy pulled the plug, you can assume it generated no revenue. Have they ever considered simply adding a few of those "unique" album tracks to the normal playlist? An Oldies Station that sells local direct advertising has nothing to lose. The Demos will be 55 plus either way...
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From the occasional listening that I've done, WECK has dabbled in B-sides and deep cuts ... could this, compounded by All Christmas on New 96.1, be what led to WECK's ratings slide the last three months? Older demos can be a fickle lot. They'll tell you they like variety, but they really want to hear the Oldies 327 song safe list: Fleetwood Mac "Dreams," rather than "Hypnotized." Robert Palmer, "Addicted to Love," rather than "Can We Still Be Friends." Huey Lewis, "If This Is It," rather than "Walking On a Thin Line." Those secondary songs are cool for Tom Schuh's stream or Sirius/XM The Bridge, not so much for Oldies. 97 Rock is a better outlet for B-sides and deep cuts.
Very possible.
To listeners, "variety" does not mean "lots of songs". It means "only the songs I like2".
There's no formula an Oldies Station can use to attract significant numbers of 25--54 listeners. Older listeners are probably no more fickle than anyone else. They just tune out when a song THEY don't like comes on. If the premise of WECK 2 was to offer more variety because people are tired of the same Oldies, then what was the point? Whether it's 60's Pop hits or 60's and 70's Album Cuts, the demos are still well over 55...
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Remember, this forum is made up of both radio people and radio listeners and followers. "Oldies" inside the industry means mostly 60's, maybe some later 50's and earlier 70's. "Classic Hits" is a tad of later 70's (plus a couple of earlier stragglers), mostly 80's with increasing amounts of 90's.
And, in a smaller market like Buffalo, there is enough local direct for a talented seller and manager like Buddy to achieve good billing levels.
Views are shifting on the value of demos older than 54. They may be more resistant to advertising, but they also have more disposable wealth to work with. You may find this chart from US News and World Report helpful.
What is not shifting is the view by people over 50 about commercials. They hate them. They will pay money to avoid them. That's bad for broadcast radio because it's the only revenue stream they have. As it is, the commercial load they have now hasn't kept up with inflation. So it doesn't matter what radio does if the audience wants music for free.
That's an impressive upper demo stash o' cash, especially as it compares to what younger demos posses. Yet, one wonders how much of that stash is actually liquid, as the chart states "Average Net Worth." In a huge percentage of seniors much of the net worth is tied up in home values, not producing investments. .
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Most people of all ages hate commercials. Before the Internet, Radio's attitude was "Screw you listener, here's another 9 minute stop set". Now, the competition is fierce as unlimited options are available.
Sirius XM isn't free. People have to subscribe to get the content. Commercial Radio cannot continue to try to operate on a 1994 business model. The experts here have told us constantly that the over 55 demos don't respond to advertising, so that's why very few stations offer programming they might support...
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And those net worth figures are averages. Take out the top 5% and the numbers drop significantly among any group over 35.
There is a huge percentage getting Social Security alone. And many of those with higher net worth have home equity which makes no income and little beyond Social Security .
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Which is why the percentage of subscribers is relatively low: just over thirty million out of two hundred forty million US vehicles.
The “experts” here have done no research on the buying habits of consumers. It is among the national brands and services that research is done to find out the profitable demographics for each product or service.
I'm thinking Big WECK 2 will be back up and running once again as an Online Christmas thing the day after Veteran's day.
WECK uses the name "Oldies" on the air. That's not an inside the industry description. Other Oldies stations dropped that moniker and became Classic Hits. The reason is fairly obvious. There should be even more opportunity for Local Direct sales in larger markets. It's been decided that's it not worth the effort.
Depending on who you ask, some people might consider Nirvana and Pearl Jam to be "New Modern" music. Others will say that's Oldies stuff my Dad listened to. Time rolls on...
Oldies certainly is an inside the industry description and is distinctly different from Classic Hits. The music and era are absolutely distinct, and WECK is very definitely and Oldies station.
Perhaps income by age is a better indicator than net worth. Here's a much more detailed breakdown by age. If you look at the 50th percentile, income doesn't really drop off much until after the age of 75. Certainly, spending patterns differ. Retirees are a lot more likely to be downsizing and spending money on travel and leisure than working people. Here are the numbers:
Source: What Percentile is My Income? Income Percentile by Age (2023) - Fatfire Woman
Perhaps income by age is a better indicator than net worth. Here's a much more detailed breakdown by age. If you look at the 50th percentile, income doesn't really drop off much until after the age of 75. Certainly, spending patterns differ. Retirees are a lot more likely to be downsizing and spending money on travel and leisure than working people. Here are the numbers:
Source: What Percentile is My Income? Income Percentile by Age (2023) - Fatfire Woman
Keep in mind that advertisers know all this. It's why they target this audience with TV advertising. They know some retired people have money. The challenge is how to get it. Oldies radio is typically not the best way.
Considering the fragmentation in TV watching and the switch to video on demand systems that remove the timeliness aspect of viewing, oldies radio may not be such a bad way to target upper demos. Research has shown that they're more likely to listen to OTA radio than most other audio sources, and that audio is more effective as an advertising medium.
Once again, let me point out that advertisers use a lot of radio. All I said is they don't feel Oldies radio is the best way. When they want to hit older demos, they use talk radio. Why? Because the audience is listening to the words. The products they sell require a lot of information. That's why they prefer to buy long-form infomercials. But actually older people spend more time watching TV than listening to the radio. The advertisers are the ones who make this decision. They have access to the research.