I'm sure many of you heard about the drama going on at CBS Radio recently. They have let go a few marquee on-air personalities of both Sunny 105.9 & Mix 105.1.
The most noticable was Erica Lee's exit from Mix 105.1. "The Scott & Erica Morning Show" of almost 2 decades is now just "The Scott McKenzie Show" as of last week. What CBS Radio & Erica Lee are telling us is that they are "going in a different direction". Let me tell you a couple of insights about why CBS Radio has done this in addition to cost cuts.
One, Arbitron Portable People Meter readings are coming this September 2010. That means to become higher rated, a radio station must play more music. As for the News/Talk stations, it's all about keeping the listener tuned in at a strategic time of hour. As for Mix 105.1, they are going on the more music route.
Two, as stated before on my previous post last year, Mix 105.1 is looking more into becoming XL 106.7's direct competitor as "Amp Radio 105.1". The format is already on their HD2 channel & they already have "Amp'd Saturdays". Also notice that some of the on-air personalities they still have now are on the younger side. This brings us back to insight one - Top-40 radio has ranked high in most PPM radio markets. I expect a full format flip to Top-40 as "Amp Radio 105.1" to happen before September 2010.
Back to the drama about Erica Lee. Scott had commented on-air during his air shift last Friday about Erica's departure. Notice how carefully Scott words things & tries not to give anything away. His on-air comments can be heard here:
http://www.cflradio.net/105.1_WOMX_Scott_McKenzie%20on%20Erica%20Lee%201-8-10.mp3
Courtesy of CBS Radio, Mix 105.1, & cflradio.net.
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