Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 9:30:11 GMT -5
Or, "When a Radio Station Dies But Not Really."
I've lived through several of them, most of which escape me. But the ones that I do remember were amusing.
Yesterday a local news/talk station - which had been rumored to be changing formats a week or 2 ago - did so around noontime. Their morning show did a farewell broadcast, and then sometime after that it changed.........not to something fitting to the audience that might've been listening already, but to (as far as I can tell) hardcore rap/hip-hop.
Several years back another talk station near me changed, completely unannounced in the middle of the week, from local news/talk to Radio Disney.
And before that, a local alternative rock station did a huge farewell weekend event - best of the best songs, classic moments, old DJ's returning (with the stereotypical shock jock names that clearly weren't their real ones) - ended their existance with Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", then went off air for the rest of the day and redebuted the next morning as a soft rock/jazz/blues station.....
.....a day or so later, I realized that the DJ's serenely introducing songs and reading ads were in fact the same exact DJ's from the alt rock station, using very dorky real names instead of the shock jocky ones.
|
|
|
Post by willywonka666 on Jan 3, 2013 9:48:48 GMT -5
Wow. Those are sad. I was reading in Rolling Stone a few years ago, when they were slowly introducing ppms(Personal people meters) and it was a new more concise way to see what people are actually listening to and a lot of stations that thought they were doing great, changed their formats completely
|
|
|
Post by Apricots And A Pear Tree on Jan 3, 2013 10:01:18 GMT -5
Rebel Radio's going soft?
|
|
|
Post by hypnoticgenes on Jan 3, 2013 10:12:04 GMT -5
A few years ago our local smooth jazz station changed format and became just another top 40 station.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 11:47:29 GMT -5
Another one I hate is when classic rock stations start playing music from my youth. But that's just because I'm getting old, at which point I shake my fist toward the clouds and yell at God. But seriously, how many stations play music from the '50s and '60s anymore? It's '70s and '80s now.
|
|
agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,162
|
Post by agent817 on Jan 3, 2013 11:53:36 GMT -5
Well, this is only seasonal, but during the holiday season, a station that plays classic rock, pop and R&B plays Christmas music from November to after Christmas.
|
|
|
Post by Cyno on Jan 3, 2013 12:47:47 GMT -5
New York City - The largest city in the USA yet they can't support a modern rock station.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 12:58:07 GMT -5
Well, this is only seasonal, but during the holiday season, a station that plays classic rock, pop and R&B plays Christmas music from November to after Christmas. I love how those stations go RIGHT back to their normal music at 12:01am on December 26th. We get like 2 months build, then the moment the day is over it's back to business as usual.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 12:58:39 GMT -5
One of the biggest change fails of all time happened in NYC. WCBS-FM is a classic music station (60's and 70's) and is probably one of the most well known stations in the city. Years ago, it was announced that it was gonna be something like JACK radio which was gonna be like an all music/no talk station. And to show how different they were, WCBS ended with The Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra and JACK started with Fight for your Right by The Beastie Boys. People hated the change so much(even Bloomberg hated it) and ratings were getting so bad, that a year or two later, they switched right back to classic music.
|
|
|
Post by Bone Daddy on Jan 3, 2013 13:00:27 GMT -5
Boston has 1 rock station left. About 3 years ago they just started dropping like flies. Now they're all sports talk/pop music
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 13:08:50 GMT -5
In the LA area, 100.3 The Beat went from Rap/R&B to soft rock out of NOWHERE. EDIT: Rebel Radio's going soft? I ain't fartin on no snare drum.
|
|
|
Post by Vanilla Gorilla on Jan 3, 2013 13:09:41 GMT -5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-Rock_On_XPNI am still not over the loss of Y-100 in Philadelphia seven years later (they went from alternative, modern rock to rap). WMMR 93.3 and WRFF 104.5 are not totally adequate replacements as Y-100 seemed to embrace a more alternative, rebellious, more college-y radio vibes. WRFF plays the same music, but its just so cold and corporate. Preston & Steve (morning show) moved to WMMR, but it was never quite the same.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 13:09:51 GMT -5
Boston has 1 rock station left. About 3 years ago they just started dropping like flies. Now they're all sports talk/pop music Boston only has one talk station now (it's the station I mentioned that turned to rap/hip-hop yesterday) too. And looking on Google News today, apparently this is something of a big deal today.
|
|
|
Post by Vice honcho room temperature on Jan 3, 2013 13:12:12 GMT -5
New York City - The largest city in the USA yet they can't support a modern rock station. I miss 101.9 WRXP. They switched it to some news/talk radio and no one gave a crap. Then it came back for WFAN to buy it and simulcast itself on it.... WHY? You already have on of the strongest am signals why the need for FM? To counter the local ESPN affiliate? Why? They are the leader in sports talk by far who gives a crap about what the ESPN affiliate is doing? I guess they want to make 660 the national CBS sports station if the rumors are true. One of the biggest change fails of all time happened in NYC. WCBS-FM is a classic music station (60's and 70's) and is probably one of the most well known stations in the city. Years ago, it was announced that it was gonna be something like JACK radio which was gonna be like an all music/no talk station. And to show how different they were, WCBS ended with The Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra and JACK started with Fight for your Right by The Beastie Boys. People hated the change so much(even Bloomberg hated it) and ratings were getting so bad, that a year or two later, they switched right back to classic music. Jack FM had to be the weirdest mix of songs I've ever heard. Like there was no theme, rhyme or reason for its playlist. Also when WCBS fm came back they seemed to move to be more like Q1043 with less focus on stuff before the Beatles.
|
|
rocket
Don Corleone
Posts: 1,801
|
Post by rocket on Jan 3, 2013 13:16:29 GMT -5
New York City - The largest city in the USA yet they can't support a modern rock station. This can't be stressed enough. For those outside NYC, let me explain the recent saga of 101.9. They first abandoned their smooth jazz format in 2008 for a station playing classic/modern rock. Then since their owner was in serious debt, they sold it new owners which included a man who helped make Clear Channel a dirty word in radio, and made it into a female-friendly all news station. Nobody listened. Then abruptly last summer, they pulled it and brought back a modern rock format. Only months later for it to become an FM simulcast of all-sports powerhouse WFAN. The worse thing is that there is another frequency that's rumored to be flipping to country once that sale is done. Imagine that, NYC is gonna have a country station, but no modern rock station. I can't imagine any country acts that come from NYC at all. Also, it's a good thing CBS-FM flipped away from Jack, even if they had to get rid of 50's and a lot of 60's music and add more 80's music. It's these demographic reasons also as to why news/talk/sports stations are migrating to FM (ie WFAN on FM) since nobody young really listens to AM radio anymore. And it's also why smooth jazz is virtually gone from radio. Finally, I think the majority of rock stations are usually obsessed with the past over what's out now. That could explain why rock is losing ground on radio. And imo, a lot of what accounts for hard rock now isn't so inspiring. But that's for another thread. /rant over
|
|
|
Post by Vice honcho room temperature on Jan 3, 2013 13:21:37 GMT -5
Also I miss KRock
|
|
|
Post by Bone Daddy on Jan 3, 2013 13:24:47 GMT -5
New York City - The largest city in the USA yet they can't support a modern rock station. This can't be stressed enough. For those outside NYC, let me explain the recent saga of 101.9. They first abandoned their smooth jazz format in 2008 for a station playing classic/modern rock. Then since their owner was in serious debt, they sold it new owners which included a man who helped make Clear Channel a dirty word in radio, and made it into a female-friendly all news station. Nobody listened. Then abruptly last summer, they pulled it and brought back a modern rock format. Only months later for it to become an FM simulcast of all-sports powerhouse WFAN. The worse thing is that there is another frequency that's rumored to be flipping to country once that sale is done. Imagine that, NYC is gonna have a country station, but no modern rock station. I can't imagine any country acts that come from NYC at all. Also, it's a good thing CBS-FM flipped away from Jack, even if they had to get rid of 50's and a lot of 60's music and add more 80's music. It's these demographic reasons also as to why news/talk/sports stations are migrating to FM (ie WFAN on FM) since nobody young really listens to AM radio anymore. And it's also why smooth jazz is virtually gone from radio. Finally, I think the majority of rock stations are usually obsessed with the past over what's out now. That could explain why rock is losing ground on radio. And imo, a lot of what accounts for hard rock now isn't so inspiring. But that's for another thread. /rant over Even 10 years ago it seemed like most Rock Stations in the North East were being propped up by some mix of Howard Stern/O&A
|
|
Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,037
|
Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Jan 3, 2013 13:25:36 GMT -5
Other than a few big stations, the Tampa market has had a revolving door of station and format changes. Mostly the CBS-owned radio stations. I think only one station in their group has had the same frequency and format since the beginning and that was their modern country station.
|
|
triplethreatmark
Grimlock
Party Fouler
I look exactly like this avatar in real life.
Posts: 14,074
|
Post by triplethreatmark on Jan 3, 2013 13:28:22 GMT -5
In the LA area, 100.3 The Beat went from Rap/R&B to soft rock out of NOWHERE. Is that what happened to The Beat? I always wondered why it disappeared and did so suddenly. How long ago was this? 10 years ago?
|
|
|
Post by Red Impact on Jan 3, 2013 13:28:42 GMT -5
We had a classic rock station here, one of only two, that changed formats several times. It went from rock, to latin music I believe, and has now become a station that plays crooner music, like Sinatra and such.
|
|