Posted by Bob Tarsio on September 15, 2009 at 20:55:11:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: WLTW! posted by Allan Sniffen on September 13, 2009 at 10:32:40:
Allan:
Your comment about those radios being tuned to 106.7 for years reminds me of a story. I hope I haven't shared this one here already so if I have forgive me. nearly 30 years ago when I worked at WHUD they were the ubiquitous presence in stores, doctors offices, dentist's offices, etc. In fact my dentist always had the station on. Well, one day I go there for an appointment and he's got WRFM on in place of WHUD. This shows you how many years ago this was! Who remembers WRFM? Well, being a radio guy I had to ask him why he changed it. He kind of shrugged and said, well you guys went off the air the other day and I tuned around to find a station with similar kinds of music. Believe it or not this guy is still my dentist and it wasn't until very recently that he retuned his radio to 100.7. How about 20+ years without retuning his radio! The moral of this story for a chief engineer which I was in those days, NEVER let your station go off the air. People will tune away and never come back. Those of us who work in the business or many on this board who follow radio as a hobby see this very differently than the average radio listener. Most people don't give it a second thought and will go elsewhere to get their radio fix. If they find something new they like even better than what they were listening to they may never come back!
Your point about a brand having power and staying power is well put though. I was there when WLTW was born and I never would have believed the staying power this format and this station has had. I know this is heresy on this board but they have exceeded WABC in its heyday in terms of longevity. WABC had about a 20 year run as a top 40 Rock'N Roll station. Lite FM will be completing 26 years in the format in January 2010. I feel pretty good about being part of the team that put the station on the air but I have to give lots of credit to the current programmers who have managed to keep the format relevant and fresh with a new audience.
Now you know where the expression: "Don't change that dial" came from!
Regards,
Bob Tarsio