Only problem is that WBCN was primarily a rock station, not an alternative station.
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December 2017 Boston Radio Ratings.
- Thread starter freqlost
- Start date
Only problem is that WBCN was primarily a rock station, not an alternative station.
But which incarnation of WBCN? The AOR WBCN? The Alternative-era WBCN? The post-Stern Mainstream/Active Rock WBCN? Point is, if Beasley keeps the alternative format, WBCN call letters mean nothing to the current core demo; if they rebrand withe those calls, being a current-based alternative station is not going to bring in the cume that remembers what WBCN was. If they go, say, Classic Alternative (with a focus on grunge-era), the novelty will wear thin if it's not personalty driven - and that's an expensive experiment.
My thinking is that Beasley is trying to creep 92.9 more into the active rock direction, despite the name of the station being "ALT 92.9." I've noticed a bit of a lean toward the hard rock direction lately, while still playing core alternative artists. The current morning show doesn't work for an true alternative station, and the fact that they're piped in from Detroit. Perhaps this is why WXRV, WERS, and WUMB have made relative gains in recent months. The other side of this is that WAAF's ratings have been declining, so even though WBOS's musical shift and morning show have hurt themselves, it also seems to be taking a piece from WAAF as well.
Jacko
Jacko
I was mainly pointing out that Beasley now completely owns the intellectual property of WBCN.
They have the call letters, parked in NC.Not sure about history and archives.
Yes, and Fybush has a rumor about Beasley potentially returning the WBCN call letters to Boston, similar to how Entercom returned the WBMX call letters to Chicago shortly after they launched 104.3 Jams.
Of course the heritage of the WBOS call letters actually pre-dates WBCN. So they'd probably want to hold on to the WBOS letters in some way.
How about if Beasley moves the WBOS call letters to 98.5 to eliminate the confusion with WBZ-AM?
How about it? I wasn't aware there is confusion. Who is confused? One is sports, the other news.
I remember WBOS as that weird station at 1600 kHz (kc, back then) that my dad would sometimes listen to the Yiddish music program on. Is that the heritage of which you speak?
No, I was referring to WBOS-FM that began in 1960.
My point about heritage is these aren't random call letters here.
And the call letters are not why this station is tanking.
WBOS-FM has "heritage" call letters going back over half a century, but WBCN had a heritage of being Boston's top FM rock station for most of the few decades from 1968 on, only being briefly topped a few times by challenges by others that didn't last (such as WCOZ), until WBCN went on its own downhill decline in the 2000's.
WBOS-FM never had such a memorable heritage of such a longtime format. After the '60s through mid-'70s when it was "beautiful music", it went through many formats including disco, AOR, country, AAA, then finally mainstream '90s Grunge-leaning alternative rock. While WBCN on 104.1 was some sort of rock station for 41 years, WBOS had various formats through most of those decades.
I don't know how much any of this matters anymore, as even the younger end of those of us who remember WBCN as a heritage rocker are getting up there in years as far as sponsors are concerned.
WBOS-FM never had such a memorable heritage of such a longtime format. After the '60s through mid-'70s when it was "beautiful music", it went through many formats including disco, AOR, country, AAA, then finally mainstream '90s Grunge-leaning alternative rock. While WBCN on 104.1 was some sort of rock station for 41 years, WBOS had various formats through most of those decades.
I don't know how much any of this matters anymore, as even the younger end of those of us who remember WBCN as a heritage rocker are getting up there in years as far as sponsors are concerned.
92.9 has been considered something of a "dog" frequency in Boston for decades. The only time WBOS ever came close to topping the ratings was the brief period in the '70s when it flipped to disco. That ended quickly when WXKS-FM also flipped and did so with a much more polished presentation. Otherwise, WBOS-FM, despite the call letter that should have really helped it in the days when call letters mattered, has floundered about from format to format, tweak to tweak, never much more than a minor player.
Was Kiss 108 more polished...or simply aided by a gazillion dollar promotional budget that WBOS could never match? ;-)
Tired Of It All
Banned
Oh baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabeeee....ratings are through the roof, we are for sure GOING NATIONAL.....yeah buddy!
Oh baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabeeee....ratings are through the roof, we are for sure GOING NATIONAL.....yeah buddy!
"Well, hold on now!" - Jeff Kuhner
I like Mike Siegel; very intelligent and articulate; no nonsense. But he's only been covering for Kuhner since Christmas, not for most of December.
In my unprofessional opinion, I don't see Beasley ready to quit that quickly. First, they right now control the market on a format and station branding that both Entercom and iHeart show high interest in building up, heck even in New York City, where anything modern rock or alternative were pretty much given up upon.
First, I see them giving more time to the morning show. The closest thing to it with "edgy" content would be Toucher and Rich, which I could have seen Beasley courting to come to WBOS, pre-merger and divestments. Now, Beasley isn't going to move them from their established show and put them on an alternative station to pick up where they left off in 2009.
In my opinion, the sole problem with WBOS is the playlist. A major problem with all modern rock stations is the heavy emphasis on 90s alternative. It's a double edge sword. On one hand, they are playing music that's been tested to bring in listeners. But, on the other hand, the music has been over played across the country on countless platforms for the last 20 plus years. And, in the case of WBOS as Alt 92.9, or when it was Radio 92.9, a large chunk of the music is songs that fans of alternative really wouldn't be tuning in to hear. Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms in heavy rotation? That makes sense on satellite radio's 90's alternative channel, but not a terrestrial radio station that bills itself as modern alternative.
Also, when I go over the playlist, I notice that WBOS is missing a good amount of new alternative bands/groups. During the fall, when they said new, a good amount of time (I don't have exact evidence), new meant a new song by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or a similar band/group.
I want to say compare it to Radio BDC, but that's unfair as Radio BDC is free of the monotony of the terrestrial radio business. Then I want to say to compare it to the original WFNX (not the 99.9 repeater of WXRV), but that station was sold off and eventually shut down. That doesn't help my statement. So, I say this. Compare it to it's exact counterparts across the country. The Alt branded stations owned by Entercom and iHeart, KROQ, etc. How does WBOS's playlist compare to similar stations across the country? For what I've noticed, it's stuck in the 90s, and when it comes out, it's only for new music from established musicians. It's missing the exact element that it needs to even be what it claims to be. New alternative.
The format is booming, but WBOS is more like the poser kid who says they like alternative. They need to actually play new alternative more heavy in the rotation, leave the established Nirvana and STP songs as more outliers, and please drop the Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms. I've honestly never seen two or three hit wounders that are near 30 years past their 15 minutes of fame, get that much air time on a terrestrial radio station that claims to play new music. It's Beasley's tight playlist, not that the format wouldn't thrive in Boston. But, unlike CBS with the last three to four years of WBCN (when it was obvious that CBS wanted something different, so they did what they could to make the station meek - But that's for a different discussion), Beasley doesn't show signs of wanting to drop the format. They are more like Entercom with WAAF (have their set playlist and seems oblivious to the changes in the modern incarnation of the format).
But, this is all just my hypothesis. Again, I'm in no way an expert of formatting a radio station.
First, I see them giving more time to the morning show. The closest thing to it with "edgy" content would be Toucher and Rich, which I could have seen Beasley courting to come to WBOS, pre-merger and divestments. Now, Beasley isn't going to move them from their established show and put them on an alternative station to pick up where they left off in 2009.
In my opinion, the sole problem with WBOS is the playlist. A major problem with all modern rock stations is the heavy emphasis on 90s alternative. It's a double edge sword. On one hand, they are playing music that's been tested to bring in listeners. But, on the other hand, the music has been over played across the country on countless platforms for the last 20 plus years. And, in the case of WBOS as Alt 92.9, or when it was Radio 92.9, a large chunk of the music is songs that fans of alternative really wouldn't be tuning in to hear. Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms in heavy rotation? That makes sense on satellite radio's 90's alternative channel, but not a terrestrial radio station that bills itself as modern alternative.
Also, when I go over the playlist, I notice that WBOS is missing a good amount of new alternative bands/groups. During the fall, when they said new, a good amount of time (I don't have exact evidence), new meant a new song by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or a similar band/group.
I want to say compare it to Radio BDC, but that's unfair as Radio BDC is free of the monotony of the terrestrial radio business. Then I want to say to compare it to the original WFNX (not the 99.9 repeater of WXRV), but that station was sold off and eventually shut down. That doesn't help my statement. So, I say this. Compare it to it's exact counterparts across the country. The Alt branded stations owned by Entercom and iHeart, KROQ, etc. How does WBOS's playlist compare to similar stations across the country? For what I've noticed, it's stuck in the 90s, and when it comes out, it's only for new music from established musicians. It's missing the exact element that it needs to even be what it claims to be. New alternative.
The format is booming, but WBOS is more like the poser kid who says they like alternative. They need to actually play new alternative more heavy in the rotation, leave the established Nirvana and STP songs as more outliers, and please drop the Spin Doctors and Gin Blossoms. I've honestly never seen two or three hit wounders that are near 30 years past their 15 minutes of fame, get that much air time on a terrestrial radio station that claims to play new music. It's Beasley's tight playlist, not that the format wouldn't thrive in Boston. But, unlike CBS with the last three to four years of WBCN (when it was obvious that CBS wanted something different, so they did what they could to make the station meek - But that's for a different discussion), Beasley doesn't show signs of wanting to drop the format. They are more like Entercom with WAAF (have their set playlist and seems oblivious to the changes in the modern incarnation of the format).
But, this is all just my hypothesis. Again, I'm in no way an expert of formatting a radio station.
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But isn't that new alternative music available at WERS and other college stations in the area?
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