Initial Talent Dilemma
WGIR experienced a high amount of talent turnover in the previous years leading up to my hire. A combination of poor decisions by management with poor decisions by talent left the on-air staff in a state of disarray. Essentially, ROCK 101 was a heritage station without consistent talent outside of Greg and the Morning Buzz.

With our regional heritage in mind, we found it very important to try and target talent that was born, raised and/or residing in New England—knowing the fabric of the region was key. Great talent from in and around the area were added for middays and nights, and most recently, Scorch returned to ROCK 101 to bookend the Buzz for PM Drive. Scorch was with ROCK 101 up until 1989, and has since lived and worked around the Northeast.

Competitive Situation Arises
In the Spring of 2005, ROCK 101 faced an immediate threat as two new classic rock-based competitors launched a week apart. ROCK 101 had always been the heritage rock station in the marketplace, but with the station’s decision to move towards current, aggressive music over the previous five years, the “always-sure” upper-demos were severely in jeopardy.

Within days, ROCK 101 addressed the format threat by moving the station back towards its traditional mainstream/AOR position musically. Clocks were constructed to hit a core, classic artist/hit every quarter-hour. New music was selected with particular caution not to upset the classic balance of the radio station. Promotions were designed to target those listeners that were “on-the-fence.”

Poor Public Image
On top of the above, ROCK 101 was reeling from a fractured public image. The station was coming off a poorly-executed promotion that ended in the dismissal of the afternoon drive talent, and a resulting lost account. The City of Manchester was unhappy with moshing and subsequent arrests at outdoor concerts. The station was negatively targeted in the press, and overall, underperforming and failing execution of client-driven requests on many levels.

To combat this trend, social gatherings were held for our clients to meet, and feel comfortable with our staff. The Promotions department was re-tooled and re-trained. We met with city leaders and the police department to find out how to curb arrests at our outdoor events. We launched an ad campaign in the press to target the positive aspects of our programming. Since then, we ran many successful, recurring client-based promotions, and we were recently commended by the Manchester Police Department for low numbers of incidents at our summer shows.

Invasion from the South
Our most-recent challenge involved increased street pressure from Boston radio stations such as WAAF. This station, in particular, has attempted to establish a marketing foothold in Manchester and surrounding areas to support their Boston showings—whether through ratings or revenue. The early results showed no ratings gain for them, and no revenue loss for ROCK 101. If anything, advertisers were behind us more than ever before because of their bullying tactics, and the consistent results generated by ROCK 101.

Ratings Results
Despite the challenges above, ROCK 101 managed to turn the corner into year 26 and 27, re-establishing its heritage and powerhouse status within the marketplace. For the first time in Fall 2006, ROCK 101 was able to achieve an overall #1 12+ share--beating the heritage AC. With the demise of rock formats across the country, many stations would have folded to the pressure and the resulting lost audiences. ROCK 101 listeners, however, are very forgiving, and in turn, the station is dedicated to them for many years to come…

However, from the late 1990s until 2001, the station saw a downward slide in Arbitron cume, AQH, and share. That’s where I came in! To combat this erosion, a series of perceptual and auditorium music tests were conducted to refocus the station to our target. From there, we filled in the missing talent pieces around our heritage morning product, Greg and the Morning Buzz. We matched that talent influx with big, lifestyle-oriented promotions. Over just 4 books (Spring 2001 through Spring 2003), the results were in…

A rejuvenated and active listener base…
• 40% of WHEB’s cume visited the station website at least once, with half returning on a regular basis.

…identifying with the image of the radio station…
• Behind a veteran morning show leader, the station built promotions tailored around the show, and the lifestyle of the show’s listener.

…translating to high, winning shares…
• Bucking a national downward trend for the format, WHEB doubled shares in key Male 18-34 and 25-54 demos…

• In Fall 2003, Greg and the Morning Buzz reached a new plateau with their first #1 12+!

…and finally, national recognition!
• WHEB was nominated for Radio and Records’ Rock Station of the Year Industry Achievement award (all markets) in 2004, winning the award in 2005!

We took steps towards this by constantly evolving with the audience and their lifestyles. As they get older, kids grow up, responsibilities change—we’ve had to understand and communicate that with the audience. Through this process, we stayed open-minded to new ideas… kept the local focus… and with five distinctly different characters, maintained the team chemistry.

The Buzz’s show content is also of the highest standard--guests routinely include A-level sports and entertainment celebrities. All promotions are thoroughly built with the show’s listener in mind, and with the annual Lend-A-Helping Can Radio Auction, the show continually gives back to the community in which they serve—raising over $70,000 last year alone!

Across the board, results have shown the show’s acceptance from young to old, male to female. The show is routinely #1 in Persons and Men 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 at WGIR and WHEB. A new benchmark was set in the Fall of 2004, as the show reached a 42.0 share in Men 18-34 at WGIR!

Without a doubt, The Morning Buzz is a major-market product, living and working in the shadow of a major market. In the past, the Buzz has been nominated for Radio and Records’ Rock Personality/Show of the Year Industry Achievement Award (all markets, 2004).