• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

WBOS

C

CassChopper96

How would you judge the stations ratings performance in its current classic rock format. And what station do you think is better WBOS or WZLX
 
Jury is probably still out as to your first question.

Personally, I hate 92.9's playlist. It leans too heavily on vomit inducing butt rock songs from the 80's, the real meat & potatoes of the classic rock genre doesn't receive sufficient airplay, and the 90's/00's alterna-pop hits that get thrown into the mix sound incredibly out of place alongside the other music.

Almost all of the so-called "Next Generation" or "New Generation" classic rock stations across the country are total garbage. Either give me a well-rounded Mainstream Rock station, an ass kicking Active Rock station, or an honest Classic Rock station (not a bastardized one).

WRKI in Stamford, CT uses such positioning, but I consider them to be more of a library-based Active Rock/Alternative hybrid. They actually sound very good!

But hey, if you like hearing Joan Jett and Stone Temple Pilots in the same quarter hour, 92.9 is the station for you! :)
 
MarkW said:
It leans too heavily on vomit inducing butt rock songs from the 80's, the real meat & potatoes of the classic rock genre doesn't receive sufficient airplay,
Click to expand...

Not exactly...they're getting lots of airplay on 105.7. Which may be why that station is #1.

They list the format as classic hits, but they play a whole lotta classic rock.
 
They are not as large of a component of 105.7's playlist as 92.9's playlist. Overall, I think that type of music (when played in reasonable quantity) works better on a Classic Hits station.

Beasley should leave such music for 105.7.

Hearing a bunch of 80's butt rock, a sporadic real classic rock song, a sporadic 90's pop-alternative song, and a sporadic 90's grunge/hard rock song just doesn't do anything for me. "Next Gen" classic rock stations usually don't have much staying power and shift to a more traditional playlist with time (or dump rock music altogether following a period of slumping ratings).

I wouldn't mind seeing 92.9 shift to a Mainstream Rock or Active Rock format to help put WAAF out of its misery.
 
Last edited:
93X in Minneapolis/St. Paul, WMMR in Philly, and KQRC in Kansas City all have double digit shares in PERSONS (not just men) 25-54.

WRIF in Detroit is often #1 or #2 for the week in Persons 25-54. Ditto KUPD in Phoenix. KISW Seattle is usually top three.

There are plenty of Active Rock stations that do well. WAAF suffers from poor programming and an equally poor signal.

If the main goal is to peel listenership away from WZLX, I think that could be better accomplished by featuring a Classic Rock format that does NOT play the likes of Linkin Park and Blink 182 while leaving out too much good classic rock from the 70's & 80's. WDRV in Chicago didn't knock off WLUP by OD'ing on 80's butt rock and 90's alterna-pop. The highly successful KQMT in Denver didn't rise to success by following such a strategy, either.

Next Gen Classic Rock has been tried before (Clear Channel launched several such stations ten years ago); traditionally, such stations have never worked over the long term. They always wind up evolving to something else (such as bona fide classic rock) or flipping outright.
 
MarkW said:
Jury is probably still out as to your first question.

Personally, I hate 92.9's playlist. It leans too heavily on vomit inducing butt rock songs from the 80's, the real meat & potatoes of the classic rock genre doesn't receive sufficient airplay, and the 90's/00's alterna-pop hits that get thrown into the mix sound incredibly out of place alongside the other music.

Almost all of the so-called "Next Generation" or "New Generation" classic rock stations across the country are total garbage. Either give me a well-rounded Mainstream Rock station, an ass kicking Active Rock station, or an honest Classic Rock station (not a bastardized one).

WRKI in Stamford, CT uses such positioning, but I consider them to be more of a library-based Active Rock/Alternative hybrid. They actually sound very good!

But hey, if you like hearing Joan Jett and Stone Temple Pilots in the same quarter hour, 92.9 is the station for you! :)
Click to expand...

I actually think WBOS would be better of as an Alternative modern rock station like WXDX in Pittsburg or 94.5 the buzz in Houston. As it was before
 
Last edited:
CassChopper96 said:
How would you judge the stations ratings performance in its current classic rock format. And what station do you think is better WBOS or WZLX
Click to expand...

No one asked, but my thoughts.....on WXRV ("The River 92.5") vs. WBOS (As a station, not their current format du hour)

Considering the signal problems of The River....and the lack of corporate backing, research, marketing, etc.....The River does very well with all it's drawbacks and limitations.

Also, people LOVE the river. They have pretty good people on the air (daytime) and have a consistent product/format, etc. They seem to be programmed by people who know the format and understand the lifestyle.

WBOS on the other hand, has none of that.

I always wondered what would happen in The River was put on a full signal over Boston.

In my daily brain musings, I always wondered if WBOS 92.9 could simply import the Entire River radio station to 92.9 and blow 92.5 out of the water with signal and promotion.

I don't think anyone at Beasley "gets" the format (or any format they have done), or wants to spend the time/money on 92.9. It seems like a station no one cares about.
 
Wimmmex said:
I always wondered what would happen in The River was put on a full signal over Boston.
Click to expand...

Probably a little bit better than it's getting now. This is a station for someone who likes classics mixed with some recents. There's obviously an audience for that combination, but it's not a mass appeal format. It works in certain places. This same format is done in places like Portland Oregon, where KINK gets a bit more than a 3 share. Portland is a different place, and KINK has a lot of heritage. The problem is the audience is a bit old. Not as old as WMUB, but it's older than WBOS. So that's the decision an ownership makes.
 
TheBigA said:
Probably a little bit better than it's getting now. This is a station for someone who likes classics mixed with some recents. There's obviously an audience for that combination, but it's not a mass appeal format. It works in certain places. This same format is done in places like Portland Oregon, where KINK gets a bit more than a 3 share. Portland is a different place, and KINK has a lot of heritage. The problem is the audience is a bit old. Not as old as WMUB, but it's older than WBOS. So that's the decision an ownership makes.
Click to expand...

Vermont -- a sort of small-scale Oregon with more snow -- has a statewide network of stations that go by "The Point" that have a similar format. Not doing killer ratings by any means, but the demographics and lifestyles of Vermont insure that it gets more than enough advertising to keep the format going -- think skiing, environmental consciousness, and Subaru, the unofficial state vehicle. In fact, when you get to the Upper Valley (White River Junction area), you will find TWO commercial stations in the format: the local Point translator and Great Eastern Radio's full signal The River.
 
CTListener said:
Vermont -- a sort of small-scale Oregon with more snow -- has a statewide network of stations that go by "The Point" that have a similar format.
Click to expand...

Which is why I think the ratings wouldn't be a whole lot better on a full city signal. This isn't a full city format. They're aiming it at a particular population, and its working.
 
Wimmmex said:
In my daily brain musings, I always wondered if WBOS 92.9 could simply import the Entire River radio station to 92.9 and blow 92.5 out of the water with signal and promotion.
Click to expand...

Different flavors of AAA were tried on WBOS for nearly two decades from 1989 to 2008, through at least a couple of ownerships ending up with Greater Media for the last several years, but the station never seemed to quite "get" the format. Playlisting was too cautious and not compelling enough for a AAA. Often WXRV and WBOS were nearly tied in the ratings despite WBOS's big Boston signal.

WXRV now has low power on-channel boosters on the air in Boston (Hancock tower), Charlestown, Lexington, Waltham and Natick and a translator on 96.5 in Needham.
 
Eli Polonsky said:
but the station never seemed to quite "get" the format.
Click to expand...

Would you agree that The River (WXRV) "does "get" the format?

Why do you suppose a station (WBOS) with a lot of resources, could never get their act together?

Anyone want to speculate?
 
Last edited:
Wimmmex said:
Why do you suppose a station (WBOS) with a lot of resources, could never get their act together?

Anyone want to speculate?
Click to expand...

Having resources doesn't mean you win all the time. Cumulus has lots of resources.

Beasley may be struggling with this station, but they're doing just fine with the others.
 
In the last 3 books of the ratings periods we're allowed to see, WBOS making very slight improvement.14th place.

https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb013
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom