Who will take on Rock in New York?

[CTListener]

Radio used to be about ratings, which helped keep popular music on the radio. Now its about billing, and the suits dont care which music gets listeners anymore.

The music that's getting ratings -- all that auto-tuned pop and hip hop you hate -- is billing well. Rock lost much of its most important source of growth -- the teens -- to rhythmic-based music years ago. How are they supposed to become rock listeners in their 20s and 30s when they become valuable to advertisers when the music they've grown up with and loved is as far away from rock as Gregorian chant? These are perilous times for rock; if no one rock "sound" emerges that can win over not only the existing rock fans but the teens and young adults now listening to Minaj and Pitbull, commercial radio will continue to shun it. In New York City, rock's troubles are compounded by the ethnic makeup of the market -- lots of folks with no history of liking rock or rock-based music.

Not true at all, turn your eyes south 80 miles, to Philadelphia, where the alternative station is number one in 18-49 and 25-54.  These are not perilous times for rock, it's just that NYC ignores it.  The biggest problem is the commuting factor in New York.  Public transit users are going to use an ipod, not a radio. 

Philadelphia must be an anomaly if what you say is true. Hartford's WCCC has a terrific signal and looks up at the market's CHR and Urban stations, not to mention its two ACs, book after book. Boston just lost WFNX, one of its two new rock stations, to Clear Channel's miscellaneous old rock format -- heavy on the '80s -- and WAAF struggles mightily. And this is in a market that has a reputation for favoring rock over rhythmic.

[Tony Santiago]

I totally agree with X-Country. How many stations do you need playing autotuned pop? 92.3, 95.5, 97.1,100.3,103.5,105.1 and some on 106.7 too! 7 stations that play Usher, Taio Cruz, and Nicki Minoj? Cmmon! Meanwhile there won't be even one station that plays new rock artists like Muse and The Black Keys? Look at SNL, they are more and more featuring NEW ROCK artists like Muse as well as Passion Pit, but NYC radio won't respond. Merlin screwed new rock fans as well as CBS, who'd rather continue to push NOW which plays the same stuff that you hear on 6 other radio stations? Seriously? Radio used to be about ratings, which helped keep popular music on the radio. Now its about billing, and the suits dont care which music gets listeners anymore. NYC is the most boring corporate radio in the whole country. I cant think of any other place that has so many stations playing the same music. And sadly this is not a new problem in NYC. Fortunately the areas around NYC, such as on Long Island, have more variety to offer with AAA stations such as EHM and harder edged rock on 94.3 and 103.9 (though I wish 94.3 would have been more alternative sounding), Hudson Valley has 107.1, NJ has 105.5 WDHA.
BTW Neon Trees are on Leno right now, but you wont hear them on NYC radio in a few weeks. Seems NYC is an island of ignorance when it comes to radio programming as it has been for years. The loss of RXP for the 2nd time just proves it, esp when ratings are climbing higher than FAN on FM will, just look at 98.7! Oh thats right ratings dont count anymore

If you can't work with PPM, go around it 

[mrbrightside]

Radio used to be about ratings, which helped keep popular music on the radio. Now its about billing, and the suits dont care which music gets listeners anymore.

The music that's getting ratings -- all that auto-tuned pop and hip hop you hate -- is billing well. Rock lost much of its most important source of growth -- the teens -- to rhythmic-based music years ago. How are they supposed to become rock listeners in their 20s and 30s when they become valuable to advertisers when the music they've grown up with and loved is as far away from rock as Gregorian chant? These are perilous times for rock; if no one rock "sound" emerges that can win over not only the existing rock fans but the teens and young adults now listening to Minaj and Pitbull, commercial radio will continue to shun it. In New York City, rock's troubles are compounded by the ethnic makeup of the market -- lots of folks with no history of liking rock or rock-based music.

Not true at all, turn your eyes south 80 miles, to Philadelphia, where the alternative station is number one in 18-49 and 25-54.  These are not perilous times for rock, it's just that NYC ignores it.  The biggest problem is the commuting factor in New York.  Public transit users are going to use an ipod, not a radio. 

Philadelphia must be an anomaly if what you say is true. Hartford's WCCC has a terrific signal and looks up at the market's CHR and Urban stations, not to mention its two ACs, book after book. Boston just lost WFNX, one of its two new rock stations, to Clear Channel's miscellaneous old rock format -- heavy on the '80s -- and WAAF struggles mightily. And this is in a market that has a reputation for favoring rock over rhythmic.

Wrong.  Radio 104.1 is in the top ten a18-49.  WBOS Radio 92.9 also in the top ten in a18-49. 

[CTListener]

Radio used to be about ratings, which helped keep popular music on the radio. Now its about billing, and the suits dont care which music gets listeners anymore.

The music that's getting ratings -- all that auto-tuned pop and hip hop you hate -- is billing well. Rock lost much of its most important source of growth -- the teens -- to rhythmic-based music years ago. How are they supposed to become rock listeners in their 20s and 30s when they become valuable to advertisers when the music they've grown up with and loved is as far away from rock as Gregorian chant? These are perilous times for rock; if no one rock "sound" emerges that can win over not only the existing rock fans but the teens and young adults now listening to Minaj and Pitbull, commercial radio will continue to shun it. In New York City, rock's troubles are compounded by the ethnic makeup of the market -- lots of folks with no history of liking rock or rock-based music.

Not true at all, turn your eyes south 80 miles, to Philadelphia, where the alternative station is number one in 18-49 and 25-54.  These are not perilous times for rock, it's just that NYC ignores it.  The biggest problem is the commuting factor in New York.  Public transit users are going to use an ipod, not a radio. 

Philadelphia must be an anomaly if what you say is true. Hartford's WCCC has a terrific signal and looks up at the market's CHR and Urban stations, not to mention its two ACs, book after book. Boston just lost WFNX, one of its two new rock stations, to Clear Channel's miscellaneous old rock format -- heavy on the '80s -- and WAAF struggles mightily. And this is in a market that has a reputation for favoring rock over rhythmic.

Wrong.  Radio 104.1 is in the top ten a18-49.  WBOS Radio 92.9 also in the top ten in a18-49. 

Oops, forgot about those two, and Boston rimshotter WXRV as well. But the fact remains that all those stations are far from major players with advertisers and listeners compared to the CHR, AC and urban/rhythmic alternatives. BTW, WBOS is basically an iPod on shuffle play, bare-bones autopilot operation.

[mrbrightside]

Radio used to be about ratings, which helped keep popular music on the radio. Now its about billing, and the suits dont care which music gets listeners anymore.

The music that's getting ratings -- all that auto-tuned pop and hip hop you hate -- is billing well. Rock lost much of its most important source of growth -- the teens -- to rhythmic-based music years ago. How are they supposed to become rock listeners in their 20s and 30s when they become valuable to advertisers when the music they've grown up with and loved is as far away from rock as Gregorian chant? These are perilous times for rock; if no one rock "sound" emerges that can win over not only the existing rock fans but the teens and young adults now listening to Minaj and Pitbull, commercial radio will continue to shun it. In New York City, rock's troubles are compounded by the ethnic makeup of the market -- lots of folks with no history of liking rock or rock-based music.

Not true at all, turn your eyes south 80 miles, to Philadelphia, where the alternative station is number one in 18-49 and 25-54.  These are not perilous times for rock, it's just that NYC ignores it.  The biggest problem is the commuting factor in New York.  Public transit users are going to use an ipod, not a radio. 

Philadelphia must be an anomaly if what you say is true. Hartford's WCCC has a terrific signal and looks up at the market's CHR and Urban stations, not to mention its two ACs, book after book. Boston just lost WFNX, one of its two new rock stations, to Clear Channel's miscellaneous old rock format -- heavy on the '80s -- and WAAF struggles mightily. And this is in a market that has a reputation for favoring rock over rhythmic.

Wrong.  Radio 104.1 is in the top ten a18-49.  WBOS Radio 92.9 also in the top ten in a18-49. 

Oops, forgot about those two, and Boston rimshotter WXRV as well. But the fact remains that all those stations are far from major players with advertisers and listeners compared to the CHR, AC and urban/rhythmic alternatives. BTW, WBOS is basically an iPod on shuffle play, bare-bones autopilot operation.

Says who?  And yes, WBOS is run on the cheap, but does well.

[XCountry285]

New Rock 94.7!

[Joseph_Gallant]

Actually, I think there's a slightly better-than-even (about 55%) chance that when Cumulus gets 94.7, they will flip it to active rock.

I also see a 45% chance that 94.7 could be flipped to country, and an almost zero chance it will get flipped to anything else.

[XCountry285]

I'd rather it flip to Alternative. They own Alternative WRRV in Middletown and it does really well. Active Rock like K-Rock doesn't do well in NYC

[Tony Santiago]

Why do I have a feeling that we ALL are going to get "sucker punched" and a format comes through that no one would have seen coming?

[CTListener]

Why do I have a feeling that we ALL are going to get "sucker punched" and a format comes through that no one would have seen coming?

Yeah, I'm thinking Jack or a similar rock/AC "we play everything" format with no live jocks. That's what Clear Channel put on 101.7 in Boston when they bought it from the Boston Phoenix, which had a fully staffed alternative rock station going there.