Re: Citadel gets The Point (finally?)

[Norm Rosen <inorm99@earthlink.net>]

Let's hope that corporate down to management, sales, and on air staff will see
the value in a musical format that actually has the listener in mind

Dan Billings wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chuck Igo" <Chuckigo@worldnet.att.net>
> To: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 8:12 AM
> Subject: Citadel gets The Point (finally?)
>
> > After a couple of aimless years, the station formerly known as 98.9 WCLZ
> is
> > once again known as WCLZ.  Seems that the WCLZ calls were given up by JJ
> > Jeffrey's 95.5 and scooped up by Citadel.
> > full story at:
> > http://www.portland.com/news/local/011030radio.shtml
>
> The station is, so far, only using the call letters during legal IDs.
>
> >   now, as Dan and a few others who worked at WCLZ when it was truly a
> > pleasure to listen can attest, the station currently has a ways to go to
> > reach that "just right" classy niche it filled before
>
> The current format is more mainstream and includes less new music than the
> old WCLZ, but I like what they are doing.  It is pleasant to listen to and
> they play a lot of stuff not heard in the market since the old WCLZ
> disappeared.  The current format is a major improvement over what they have
> done for the last two years.  I don't see how Lori Vornis fits with the
> current format.  It will be interesting to see what they do when her
> contract expires.
>
> The key to the station's success is developing a sales team that can sell
> the quality of the upscale audience of the station.  The old WCLZ stayed on
> the air for so long because they had a loyal stable of upscale advertisers
> that the station worked for.  I'm not sure that kind of niche marketing fits
> with the sales strategies of most of the large corporate operators.
>
> > the, well,
> > Out-of-towners came in to show the Mainers how to do radio.  that seems to
> > be the Number One thing cast aside in favor of Corporate formulaic radio:
> > Know Your Market.
>
> Now I know it is popular on this list to blame the big corporations for
> everything wrong with radio, but Fuller/Jeffrey, and their management team
> that had been in the market for years, are the people responsible for
> ruining the old WCLZ.  When Fuller/Jeffrey took over WCLZ, they watered down
> the format to such an extent that they had driven off most of the old WCLZ
> listeners before the station became "The Point."  Fuller/Jeffrey killed WCLZ
> and it is Citadel that is bringing a version of the format back to the
> market.
>
> -- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine
>     Afternoons, WCLZ, 1988-1990
>     Part-timer, 1993-1996