• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Entercom buys WBEB

DOB said:
Maybe Entercom can use that amazing research WBEB does and use it on 96.5 to give Philly a competitive chr. I know Philly has not always been big on chr in the way that many other markets are but with WIOQ 7th 18-34 there just might be a way to dethrone them. Ride out the weak music cycle, build cume and familiarity, and enjoy the fruits when the hits get strong again.
Click to expand...

What is "amazing" about WBEB's research is that they do it often, and deeper, than most stations and they know how to interpret it. They use one of the well-known research firms in the industry.

WBEB bills so well because they also research ad effectiveness and actually work with clients to create effective spots. That builds loyalty and results in a higher share of budgets.

CHRs have different research requirements than ACs do.
 
DavidEduardo said:
WBEB bills so well because they also research ad effectiveness and actually work with clients to create effective spots. That builds loyalty and results in a higher share of budgets.
Click to expand...

From what I read, that is more likely the aspect of the station that Entercom hopes to emulate at their company.
 
AMRocks said:
I'm sorry, but 101.1 has a heritage in Philly. That's one of the main reasons why it does so well. If Entercom decided to leave WBEB alone, "look under the hood" and put the same format on, for example, WNEW in New York, it would NEVER do as well. There's no heritage there.
Click to expand...

I view the term "heritage" about the way I view the word "synergy".

If you put two bad radio stations in a cluster, there is no synergy.

If a long-established radio station's music, promotion, imaging and the like have declined, there is no heritage. Heritage is only of value if today's programming is as good as... or better than... yesterday's programming.

WBEB has constantly adjusted its presentation and music and even its name. It has adjusted to the needs of the younger people entering its target demographic, recognizing at every step that there will be older listeners who will not like the changes. And they have accepted the risk of change because they are skilled broadcasters who know how to interpret research and statistics to make a station listeners will enjoy.
 
DavidEduardo said:


I view the term "heritage" about the way I view the word "synergy".

If you put two bad radio stations in a cluster, there is no synergy.

If a long-established radio station's music, promotion, imaging and the like have declined, there is no heritage. Heritage is only of value if today's programming is as good as... or better than... yesterday's programming.

WBEB has constantly adjusted its presentation and music and even its name. It has adjusted to the needs of the younger people entering its target demographic, recognizing at every step that there will be older listeners who will not like the changes. And they have accepted the risk of change because they are skilled broadcasters who know how to interpret research and statistics to make a station listeners will enjoy.
Click to expand...

Calls may have changed, the station name may have changed, the format may have changed. But that station has always been very well known in Philly. (The dial position has not changed.) I remember when they promoted that they were the only station "that didn't start with a 'W'. We start with an 'E". Easy 101." The station evolved. And people remember it and stick with it. That's heritage.
 
AMRocks said:
The station evolved. And people remember it and stick with it. That's heritage.
Click to expand...

People will only "stick with it" if the product is perceived to be better than any other offering in the format area. Today.

You are only as good as your next song. Play a bad set of songs, and listeners tune out and may stay away for a while. Do it often, they learn not to come back.

"Heritage" can be a negative if younger listeners, those that station needs to replace those who age out of the target demo, view that "heritage" as simply meaning "old". That is one of the reasons WDVR/WEAZ/WBEB has changed call letters and name over the years: to disassociate the station from its past.
 
DavidEduardo said:


What is "amazing" about WBEB's research is that they do it often, and deeper, than most stations and they know how to interpret it. They use one of the well-known research firms in the industry.

WBEB bills so well because they also research ad effectiveness and actually work with clients to create effective spots. That builds loyalty and results in a higher share of budgets.

CHRs have different research requirements than ACs do.
Click to expand...


Exactly, it is knowing how to interpret that data and putting it to work that would be a benefit to any format. It goes without saying that chr is different. The demos are younger and you need to take educated guesses on hits before research is viable because often times you are introducing new music to your audience. In a sense, a well researched chr on 96.5 could add further benefit to 101.1 as they will have more viable data to know what is coming down the road. Even with what they do now though, a big part of chr is recurrents and even gold. Doing regular and deeper research would be of great value to a chr to know when a song is burnt and needs to rest, along with knowing which songs from the past couple of years have staying power.
 
I’m hard pressed to believe the legacy of Eazy 101 influences today’s listening by the target audience. At best, they may remember B 101. My 80 year old parents on the other hand....they remember Eazy. 😀

My wife grew up with WPST. Still around, albeit at 94.5, so it has a heritage. But she long since moved on. To the extent it attracts new listeners it does so on its merits today.
 
TheBigA said:
In fact, they've already announced that they've begun work on a broadcast center downtown near the river.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...hilly-waterfront-hq-bala-cynwyd-20180314.html

Yes, they're relocating inside the city, rather than taking the cheap route in Bala. This is a Philly based company and they want to have a headquarters that shows pride in their home town.
Click to expand...

Well, there you go. Surely there will be some employees who will be grumbling about that change, whenever it occurs. Some upper-level types will get raises to offset the city wage tax, lower-level types and new hires, not so much. So right away, there's a reason to leave WBEB and seek employment elsewhere.

Then they'll have openings in those jobs where people bail. Do they fill them with new hires? Or do they look down the hall at another station and decide that Joe down there can handle TWO stations - or THREE stations in his position. Rinse and repeat, and pretty soon WEAZ is just another cog in the Entercom-Philly wheel.

And what about that research department or person who is absolute gold, holding off all comers over what? twenty, thirty years? Entercom would be wise to use that knowledge to build up another frequency, say 96.5. And hey, they've got pretty good research going on at WOGL too - let's combine all three of those stations' research centers into one giant department! Now the golden guys and gals at OGL and BEB are doing more work trying to build up 96.5 - and guess what, that's the job that the folks at corporate have their eyes on. They want to see growth - and soon! So the pressure goes on the big research department to get that 96.5 station's ratings up. At that point, they can barely concentrate on the stations that got them there. It becomes second nature to guide BEB and OGL while they spend most of their time figuring out how to work 96.5, and at that point we have a weakness developing.

All speculation of course, but it happens in similar ways many times over as stations have gotten swallowed up into a corporate giant.
 
There are also potential advantages to working for a larger organization. Like many situations in work and life, there are theoretical upsides and downsides. It depends on the particular circumstances.
 
HGN2001 said:
And what about that research department or person who is absolute gold, holding off all comers over what? twenty, thirty years? Entercom would be wise to use that knowledge to build up another frequency, say 96.5. And hey, they've got pretty good research going on at WOGL too - let's combine all three of those stations' research centers into one giant department!
Click to expand...

Radio Stations don't really have "research departments". The consumer research needed for programming are contracted to specialized research companies who have the skills to recruit respondents, prepare questionnaires and do the bulk of analysis. The sales department may have a "research director" who helps sellers put together proposals using ratings and market data, but the heavy lifting is generally farmed out.

A few companies have (or had) in-house research departments serving large groups of stations, but local operations and individual stations can't sustain a whole department for listener research (and ad testing is a form of listener research, too).
 
Miguelito said:
They own 235 stations spread over almost 50 markets! That's pretty big.
Click to expand...

Read my second sentence. They have owned CBS radio for six months, and haven't blown up KYW or WOGL, have they?

The people in Boston wish they still owned WRKO instead of iHeart. Not all companies operate the same way.
 
My example was hypothetical. It could be ANY department, music, traffic, business, HR, etc. The point is that once everyone's happily ensconced in their new digs, consolidation will begin to occur, and some employees will be called upon for duties at more than one station.

And I didn't mean that it will happen overnight or in six months or a year. It could take five year. The point is that changes will occur that might not have had Jerry Lee retained ownership.
 
Last edited:
TheBigA said:
Read my second sentence. They have owned CBS radio for six months, and haven't blown up KYW or WOGL, have they?

The people in Boston wish they still owned WRKO instead of iHeart. Not all companies operate the same way.
Click to expand...

Six months?! And who the eff said anything about blowing up KYW or OGL? Or any station for that matter? We get it: You like Entercom. They're alright with me too, pal.
 
Last edited:
HGN2001 said:
My example was hypothetical. It could be ANY department, music, traffic, business, HR, etc. The point is that once everyone's happily ensconced in their new digs, consolidation will begin to occur, and some employees will be called upon for duties at more than one station.

And I didn't mean that it will happen overnight or in six months or a year. It could take five year. The point is that changes will occur that might not have had Jerry Lee retained ownership.
Click to expand...

Of course consolidation is going to occur. And of course going from an independent to being owned by one of the megas who has hundreds of other stations is going to change things eventually. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. This thread is kinda going around in circles and folks seem to be getting a little snarky. WBEB and Entercom certainly seem to be polarizing topics around here! Like I said, if one of these companies was gonna buy me, I'd wish it was Entercom. Anyway, all we can do is wait and see. And speculate! haha. Whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen!
 
Miguelito said:
They own 235 stations spread over almost 50 markets! That's pretty big.
Click to expand...

There are nearly 15,000 AM and FM stations in the country. There are 4,850 stations in the MSAs of the top 100 markets alonge.

So, using larger markets as a base, Entercom owns about 5% of the Top 100 market stations. They own less than 2% of the total stations in the US.
 
HGN2001 said:
It could take five year. The point is that changes will occur that might not have had Jerry Lee retained ownership.
Click to expand...

And changes wouldn’t have occurred under independent ownership? Not everything that happens from here out can be said to have been nigh impossible had they not been sold.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom