Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110027
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF DeBELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If all goes as planned, Benchmark Communications of Baltimore will be the owner of both WYYD-FM (107.9), a country station in Lynchburg, and WROV-FM (96.3), a rock station in Roanoke, about the time the next ratings survey is taken in the fall.
The stations should complement each other in attracting a broad spectrum of listeners and advertisers, said Mike Slenski, general manager of WROV-FM.
"We're excited," said Kenny Shelton, program director at WYYD, which was bought by Benchmark last year. "It just goes to show [Benchmark] bought the right property."
The stations will continue to have separate staffs, including sales, to try to continue doing the things that have made them successful, Slenski said.
Both stations have undertaken aggressive marketing and promotion campaigns in the last couple of years, which both Slenski and Shelton credited with helping boost the number and loyalty of listeners.
They also have tried to refine their music playlists to accommodate as many fans as possible, both men said.
Despite the strong positions of the two market leaders (see accompanying chart), other stations also found something to be happy about.
As every radio executive knows, the overall ratings published here, which measure all listeners 12 and older during the entire day, are not the most important sales tool.
"Every station aims to serve a specific market," said Leonard Wheeler, general manager of WSLQ (99.1, FM).
Stations that buy the ratings services receive detailed breakdowns of who is listening to their stations, broken down by age, sex, time of day, and geographical region.
Consequently, a station like Q-99 can draw on Arbitron Company data showing that in the Roanoke metropolitan area it was number one among all listeners, and in particular among all people ages 25-64.
Further, it can quote numbers showing it is ahead among women in that age group, a key demographic segment that attracts many advertisers.
On the other hand, the new alignment of WYYD and WROV-FM under a single owner may give those stations increased selling power. According to the Accuratings survey, their combined listeners give them powerful broad-scale coverage among both sexes and at every age from 14 to 64.
The ratings services also can break down listeners by their income - WROV-FM, for instance, is number one among those with an income of more than $75,000 - and occupation - more working women listen to WYYD than any other station, according to Accuratings.
Accuratings even asks specific marketing questions on each survey. This time, it discovered that K-92 is the favorite station among Fink's Jewelry shoppers while J-93 (WJLM) is tops among those who shop at Ginger's Jewelry. Autozone shoppers seemed to prefer WJJS-WJJX, while Advance Auto customers were listening to WROV-FM the most. Those shopping at Heironimus for women's clothing were most likely to listen to WFIR, while those looking for women's clothes at Hecht's were listening to WYYD the most.
Competing listener surveys can be a bit confusing, since they may have conflicting results in some areas.
But, WROV-FM's Slenski points out that while the surveys' numbers may vary slightly, the positions of the top stations tends to be similar. Having two surveys is helpful whether they agree or not, he said, by either confirming positions or, in the case of widely varying results, prompting station executives to question the validity of the results or conditions of the surveys.
by CNB