RBR+TVBR INFOCUS
Veteran program director Mike “Mud” Gross is used to spending a decade in one place, and enjoys stability. Three months ago, he relocated from Miami to Rochester, N.Y., to take the Program Director position at Entercom-owned Classic Rock station WCMF-FM 96.5. The station oozes with personalities that have been on the air for years. Then again, the entire market is full of veterans. Why haven’t they left? That’s a story that every broadcast media executive may want to read, and comprehend, as the very word “stability” can bring big dividends to a station and its staff.
With one look at Gross’ resume, it becomes clear that this industry professional is no nomad.
From March 1995 through November 2004, he served as the PD and morning host of Meridian Broadcasting-owned Classic Rocker WARO-FM 94.5 in Ft. Myers-Naples, Fla.
In October 2005, Gross resurfaced in Nashville, where he held PD duties for iHeartMedia Classic Rocker WNRQ-FM in Nashville until August 2014, when he transferred to Miami to take similar duties at Classic Rocker WBGG-FM “Big 105.9.”
After Mud’s tenure in Miami ended, an opportunity to relocate to Western New York came his way. That’s because WCMF’s PD, Chris Crowley, had been “promoted” to a similar role at Classic Rock sibling KGON-FM 92.3 in Portland, Ore.
Interestingly, Crowley had replaced Mud at WARO. Now, the reverse was possible.
Mud went for it, leaving a city where he had attended the University of Miami as an undergrad for a metropolis many may view as yet another strung along America’s faded Rust Belt. Rochester became famous for Kodak, and for Bausch & Lomb. Kodak is a far cry from its former self; Bausch & Lomb is presently based in New Jersey.
But, like many post-industrial cities, Rochester is reinventing itself, albeit at a pace somewhat slower than that of nearby Buffalo, some 90 minutes to the west. It’s a craft beer hub, and it’s just 40 minutes to the northern tip of the Finger Lakes, home to an abundance of wineries and recreational activities.
Perhaps that’s why Mud is the newcomer in a market where no one seems to leave — and that’s one of its biggest strengths.
“It’s a very high personality market,” Mud says. “In my cluster alone, everyone has been here a quarter-century. People stay here … it’s crazy. It’s almost the way radio was.”
Yet, it is the way radio is for companies active in the Rochester, N.Y., market — Nielsen Audio ranked at No. 58. That puts it just out of reach of Portable People Meter (PPM)-based measurement. And, that make all the difference in the world as to why one of the nation’s highest-ranked diary-based markets is so beloved by those that work there.
“It’s not a PPM market, so you have a bit of leeway in the market, like playing the entire Def Leppard ‘Hysteria’ record [in honor of its 30th anniversary],” Mud says of a noontime feat accomplished a week ago on WCMF. “In a PPM market someone who hates Def Leppard could have simply punched out. And, that’s not a good thing.”
LONGTIME PLAYERS, BIG-TIME PERFORMERS
Entercom’s Rochester, N.Y., cluster is comprised of Country WBEE-FM, CHR/Pop WPXY-FM, Adult Hits WBZA-FM “The Buzz,” and Sports WROC-AM, which uses a translator at 95.7 MHz.
Also in the market are seven iHeart stations (including WVOR-FM 102.3 in Canandaigua).
There are some local players, too, including Andre Langston’s Monroe County Broadcasters, the 50-year owner of Urban WDKX-FM in Rochester.
A look at all of these stations shows a lack of business for Mayflower and U-Haul.
“I would love to ask the question, ‘Why do you hang here?’,” Mud jokes. “I don’t know … You’re close to Toronto, and New York and Philadelphia are 5 1/2 hours away. I guess they have the freedom to do personality-based programming, and I see it in the TV news here, too.”
Indeed, NBC-affiliated WHEC-10 is a Hubbard Broadcasting station that’s been home to co-anchor Brett Davidsen since 1987. ABC-affiliated WHAM-13 is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and has been home to veteran anchor Don Alhart since, incredibly, summer 1966.
Newcomer Mud observes, “There’s a slick presentation to the news that I didn’t see in any of the other places I’ve been. It is indicative of how these stations, and their personalities, are very important in the community.”
At WCMF, Mud entered a station where Dave “Kane-O” Kane may as well be permanently affixed to the midday mic: He’s been holding the shift for 38 years.
For someone who doesn’t like to bounce around, Mud could be in for some good job security, given the keys he’s been handed. “We have someone at WPXY who has been there for 25 years in morning drive, so again it’s not just our station but everywhere,” he says.
Does that present troubles when trying to coach or lead a team as the “new guy”?
Not at all. “They embrace me, most because of my experience,” he says. “They see me as this guy from Miami with a new playbook and new, fresh ideas, and that’s a good thing.”
CLASSIC ROCK AS A CASH COW
Mr. Gross has been involved in Classic Rock for nearly his entire professional career. What does this say about the format’s Power Ratio, and its continued ability to bring top dollars to radio broadcast companies?
“It’s 100% secure, and 100% safe,” he says. “It’s the music that society has grown up with, and has been passed on to the the next generation. There is a young audience that loves this music — the Rolling Stones, the Who, Paul McCartney. It’s in TV commercials. It’s in the movies. This is the most vibrant format.”
It also helps that WCMF is “very promotionally oriented.” That has only grown under Mud.
On the afternoon of Aug. 25, a few unique things were taking place. With Kane-O taking a deserved lengthy vacation, The Break Room — WCMF’s morning show helmed by Duffy, Kimmy and Tommy Mulé (he was the sidekick for former longtime morning star Brother Wease, now at iHeart’s crosstown WAIO “Radio 95.1”) — was on in afternoon drive.
Why? Normal afternoon drive host Mud was en route to a tasting party.
A local brewery had approached WCMF about creating three unique beers — one for each of the Break Room hosts. The tasting is for WCMF listeners, and they’ll get the chance to select the three flavors used for the forthcoming limited releases of brews created expressly for WCMF.
If that’s not enough, Mud is thinking about WCMF’s “Garage Mahal” (a play on the Taj Mahal) giveaway for those with a “man cave” craving.
Then, there is the decisively non-music programming that’s about to bring a whole mess of revenue to Entercom/Rochester, N.Y., and WCMF. That’s because it’s the radio broadcast home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.
“If I was in a PPM market I’d be dead,” he says of the heavy sports play-by-play that’s set to appear on WCMF. “But, there is a whole lot of money in sports and we have people that say they listen to WCMF all day long.”
They likely scribe that in their Nielsen Audio diaries, too.
What can Mud say about his new home, now that he’s experienced his first summer in Western New York?
“There are great summers here, and when it comes to food … this place has the best pizza and ice cream all year around. It’s also got some good people.”
Some of those people can be seen in heard in Rochester’s media, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
RBR+TVBR
