Why do radio stations change formats? The answer is money, of course. When a radio station’s ratings decline, the station cannot charge as much for advertising, which means less revenue overall. Typically, this is evaluated over “books” or several radio ratings periods.
Here in Rochester, the latest format change involved 98.9 The Buzz (WBZA-FM), owned by Entercom Marketing Results Group. When morning show hosts Scott Spezzano and Sandy Waters went on vacation the week of July 4th, teasers ran stating that due to “positive listener feedback,” they were going to keep the “Everything. All The Time!” hits format on the air during their absence. When they returned the following week, the format became permanent.
So why would The Buzz change its format? The folks programming The Buzz had a decision to make: go younger or go older, and somehow do it without alienating existing listeners and keeping the station imaging the same. They chose the latter, which made most sense.
By skewing the music older, they can capitalize on a slowly rising Fickle 93.3 (WFKL-FM, Variety Hits). Also, this brings them closer musically to Radio 95.1 (WAIO-FM, Classic Rock), owned by iHeartMedia, which achieves higher ratings overall.
Making this change positioned The Buzz more competitively helping them remain on top and continue to see advertiser dollars. Also, with the change in hosts and demographics, the new format better suits their listeners.
{{cta(‘0a21b518-5bd5-4a4e-be47-32c7c26f1960′,’justifycenter’)}}
Search behavior is shifting faster than most marketing teams realize. More of your customers, and the business decision-makers you’re trying to reach, are skipping Google’s traditional results entirely and going straight to ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Google’s own AI Overviews for answers. The good news: the SEO work you’ve already done is still pulling its
When the news cycle feels unpredictable, interviews can be both an opportunity and a minefield. Whether you’re leading a company through change, addressing a sensitive issue, or positioning your brand for growth, what you say, and how you say it, matters more than ever. At Tipping Point, we’ve helped hundreds of executives and spokespeople
Every event planner has war stories. The best ones learn from them and build safeguards to prevent the same problems from happening again. The tools and pressures of event planning have evolved. Costs are higher, technology is more complex, and expectations are through the roof. Yet most stress comes from
