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WISX to Flip Again?
- Thread starter atthestars
- Start date
I will say this: If they want to actually hold onto listeners once B101 flips, they'd better put some more work into this playlist. Just playing Christmas songs (Ray Conniff? Percy Faith? Eydie Gorme?) doesn't work when you're trying to go up against a behemoth who has spent years refining a library that clearly strikes a chord with the enormous annual (live &) local audience. Honestly, what they're doing so far is a disappointment. Classic iHeart though.
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.
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.
That's the good thing for iHeart about flipping this time of year. They can tread down 2 paths. IF B101 takes the bait, they can either stay christmas or immediately flip to the new format and try to draw any non-Christmas minded listeners. If B101 doesn't take the bait... keep the Christmas format going and see how many listeners you CAN pull over.
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.
101 and 106, of course, had no overlap. One would think the idea of stunting with Christmas prior to launching an AC station is to get people to become aware of you and hopefully stick around after Christmas. (Whereas, the point an existing AC flipping to Christmas every year is to make money.) Philadelphians obviously love WBEB's Christmas library. iHeart throwing on a library that clearly involved no thought might get them some listeners for now but when B101 flips, those listeners are going to change to 101.1 and not look back.
If 1061 The Breeze is successful enough to be here next year and iHeart insists on using this same unfocused approach to Christmas, they'll lose very badly to WBEB year after year after year.
And that's in part why this feels flat. If iHeart hadn't, or perhaps hasn't, made a decision about what's next or if what's next was entirely incompatible with holiday music, I'd say sure, let's go with this as the stunt it feels like. But if you're thinking you're going to somehow find some random listeners who pop back up to 106 and discover the place is a-jingle-bell-rockin', I'd be teasing what comes after. Fine, introduce the name and full imaging with the real format, but try to do something to plant a seed for whoever you're lucky enough to reach.
No personality, bad imaging. It's hard to even take it seriously. B101's gonna absolutely clean the floor with them in the Holiday book.
Clearly no research went into this. Everyone knows that regardless of what format you're launching, you come out of the gate with a tight playlist of favorites and slowly open things up over time. But they just flipped it over to big unfocused mess. A lot (and I mean a LOT) of these songs may test well somewhere (I can't imagine where) but I'm sure Philly isn't one of those places. I was really excited about this but I've already turned them off.
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?"
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?"
I wouldn't automatically discount your (or my) thoughts on this because we're out of the demo. We've been at this for a long time. We're not only looking at this stuff from the standpoint of our own wishlists. We can look at this stuff personally as well as from the business angle. And regardless of our age or gender, what's happening over at 106.1 ain't good for business!
No execution here at all. And a shitty library to boot. And if the most clever thing is the callback to "Real," that's a bomb. Why even call back to something you're trying to wash out?
Honestly, if they stay Christmas after B flips to it, they are crazy. If they're going some form of AC, capitalize on the people who hate Christmas music. Yeah Christmas gets ratings but no one is going to come close to beating B's presentation. Instead, as soon as B flips, flip 106.1 to soft AC and get all those listeners (and there are a lot) who hate Christmas music.
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).
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.
Could be smart...if it's so bad now that Entercom is like we got no reason to jump the gun, keeps the regular format on 101.1, and then after 5p 106-1 kills it with the xmas favorites...
I don't know that there is much really that Iheart can do here...this would be smart for sure but b101.1 can hit the xmas button whenever they want.
I agree it's where promotion can/should come in. But are they ready to roll? I can't think of the last radio station commercial I saw. They could get channel 6 to update the news bumpers promoting the weather updates on iHeart stations. It's something. And yes, there can be some word of mouth (or word of social, as the case may be). Maybe there are a boatload of breezy spots ready. More power to them if there are.
Meaningless footnote: Entercom went ahead and launched a whacked out Christmas stunt of their own in Detroit tonight, turning off the Amp, so to speak.
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 got decent ratings in the holiday season.
It's probably iHeart's Premium Choice service.
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