92.5 XTU Becomes Garth 92.5 in Celebration of Philly Show

[radiodx10]

Can't you just feel the holiday spirit here? LOL. It seems like some folks are in a crummy mood today. If I may offer a tip: This site has an Ignore feature so that (A) you don't have to see posts from argumentative folks or folks who constantly post inane jibberish and (B) you won't be tempted to respond to those people. Hell, I finally got sick of it and blocked someone who's in this very thread. Once a person is blocked, the site shows you that the person submitted something but it doesn't show you what they submitted...so you can just keep scrolling with no added Grinch-iness!

If I were a betting man, I think I can guess who you've blocked! Thanks for the tip, and I shall follow your advice accordingly.

And JB- thank you so much for your kind words! I try to just report on whatever anomalies I hear. I never call anyone out, or curse. Today, however, I was provoked to do so. He gets whatever he deserves. Was my comment originally saying I hate country called for? Maybe not, but I think unless you were purposefully looking for a fight, no one would read so much into it and I think I was being hostile.

 

[JBraddock]

All mass appeal radio formats, whether country or rock or AC or CHR or Urban or whatever are "generic". They are true to their genre (the word "generic" actually means "belonging to a large group of objects,") by appealing to the larger mass of people who like that kind of music. There is nothing wrong, and there is much to be had by appealing to the largest group of listeners possible.

Niche formats, unless non-commercial, fail.

Not only is there nothing wrong with it, that's how commercial radio today has to work in order to exist, right?

Some of us, however, were spoiled growing up during that 10-year period when FM was forced by the FCC to come of age programming-wise (1966-76), resulting in some pretty cool experimental formats, most notably Progressive Rock and wide-playlist AOR, which were originated to keep those FMs out of the way of the co-owned profitable AMs. It's what attracted some of us to radio as a hobby and, in some cases, a profession. If you were lucky enough to be in one of the right markets in the 80s, you got to experience the same kind of thing with the original new wave/modern rock stations.

Non-comms can do well with niche formats as long as they have an available audience and are presented in a consistent manner. WXPN is a prime example in Philadelphia, showing the way for noncomms to become self-supporting with a music format other than jazz or classical. How long AAA, classical, jazz and NPR will be able to attract adequate support is an active question right now as the audiences for those formats age.

Some people take umbrage at the term Lowest Common Denominator, and I don't hear the industry referring to audiences that way, but that's really what's going on. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Those AOR stations became mainstreamed, just as satellite radio post-XM has, to attract the generic audience.

To bring this back to WXTU, 92.5 experimented with freeform rock in the late 60s and new wave in 1983, before settling on country in 1984. It's been gravy ever since.

 

[davideduardo]

If I were a betting man, I think I can guess who you've blocked! Thanks for the tip, and I shall follow your advice accordingly.

And JB- thank you so much for your kind words! I try to just report on whatever anomalies I hear. I never call anyone out, or curse. Today, however, I was provoked to do so. He gets whatever he deserves. Was my comment originally saying I hate country called for? Maybe not, but I think unless you were purposefully looking for a fight, no one would read so much into it and I think I was being hostile.

There is nothing wrong with saying you hate country... or any other kind of music. In fact, saying that frames your comments and gives context to your opinion.

I avoid making comments about the content and music selection on AAA stations because in general terms I don't care for much of the music and, in fact, don't recognize about 90% of the playlists of stations like KINK and KBCO. But I can still comment on the position in the market, the sales appeal and demographics and similar quantifiable aspects of that kind of station.

But if you ask me whether KBCO plays better music than KINK, I can't possibly comment.

Similarly, I find "standards" about as appealing as a bucket of nails being scratched on a chalkboard. I find no harm in saying I dislike Sinatra and Tony Bennnett and Mel Tormé and Doris Day and Patti Page. I don't have to like every genre of music, and neither do you. Stating our personal preferences as part of a discussion of a topic validates our position. It's the equivalent of "full disclosure".

 

[TheBigA]

Stating our personal preferences as part of a discussion of a topic validates our position. It's the equivalent of "full disclosure".

Here's my "full disclosure:" When I was in college radio, I actively sought employment in radio stations that played music I liked. I found that those stations didn't have much staff turnover, so finding work there wasn't easy. After a year of looking, I had to decide if I was more interested in the music or radio. If it was radio, then the format wasn't important, and I quickly found a job at an oldies station. Certainly not my first choice as someone who was 22 years old. Most of the songs were older than me. But that job led to many others in many other formats. Thus my advice to all college radio DJs: Keep an open mind.

 

[davideduardo]

Some of us, however, were spoiled growing up during that 10-year period when FM was forced by the FCC to come of age programming-wise (1966-76), resulting in some pretty cool experimental formats, most notably Progressive Rock and wide-playlist AOR, which were originated to keep those FMs out of the way of the co-owned profitable AMs. It's what attracted some of us to radio as a hobby and, in some cases, a profession. If you were lucky enough to be in one of the right markets in the 80s, you got to experience the same kind of thing with the original new wave/modern rock stations.

FM was actually making strides prior to the FCC's January 1, 1967 ending of much major market AM/FM simulcasting.

Jerry Lee had long been growing his Philadelphia station. Kaiser, under the leadership of Pete Taylor, had already built KFOG and WJIB into market forces.

As early as 1959 I worked at an All-Jazz station in Cleveland and our market had two profitable all-ethnic (Italian, Polish, Greek, Czech, et. al.) stations. There were several independently programmed "good music" stations and, of course, WCLV, one of America's great classical stations under Bob Conrad.

FM had faced other obstacles for development prior to the FCC's nudge. One was the wait for the Armstrong patents to expire, allowing more and cheaper FM radios. Another was the development of AFC circuitry for FM as prior to that one had to be constantly nudging the radio dial to keep a station locked in. Another was creating a USP for FM, and that came in the early 60's with stereo.

And, of course (and as you say), the reason why so many "experimental" format were created is that owners of AM/FM combos did not want to program anything that disrupted the cash flow of the AM. So we saw "a bunch of hippies in the back room" doing whatever they wanted, as long as it did not ding the AM. Or we had Beautiful Music or some other format far removed from the AM offering.

In fact, except for simulcasts (allowed for daytimers like the legendary WPGC), we did not have Top 40 on FM for about 5 years after the FCC decree. And the progressive rock stations, frequently unprofitable except for major ones like KMET, became AOR stations following the roll-out of Lee Abrams' WQDR Superstars format which eliminated the "DJ picks" aspect of FM rock in favor of a disciplined approach.

In other words, it took FM about half a decade to find its way following the FCC ruling. And when it did, the stations sounded a lot like AM stations of the day, but in stereo and with better quality and fewer commercials.

The end result was more signals in competition in every market. A metro with 6 or 7 viable AMs suddenly had ten, twelve, thirteen viable FMs. So as time went by, shares fragmented and formats split... such as Modern Rock as a split from AOR. That was a format that could not have lived off its share level in 50's and 60's radio, but by 1980, everything was fragmented so that the small Modern Rock share was actually competitive!

 

[radiodx10]

Here's my "full disclosure:" When I was in college radio, I actively sought employment in radio stations that played music I liked. I found that those stations didn't have much staff turnover, so finding work there wasn't easy. After a year of looking, I had to decide if I was more interested in the music or radio. If it was radio, then the format wasn't important, and I quickly found a job at an oldies station. Certainly not my first choice as someone who was 22 years old. Most of the songs were older than me. But that job led to many others in many other formats. Thus my advice to all college radio DJs: Keep an open mind.

Keeping an open mind is by far the best advice you could give. I know for a fact I want to pay the bills by being on air. Even if I gotta work at a CHR playing taylor swift all day, I'll do it and with a smile.

 

[BRUSSTAR]

I think it's kind of neat how this thread ultimately wound up being a worthwhile read. (For whatever it's worth, I welcomed JBraddock's "better than the uncultured masses" line as harmless humor likely aimed at easing the earlier tension.)

I'm generally not a fan of messing with a successful brand name, even for Garth Brooks. Stations do stuff like this all the time, I'm well-aware, shortsighted as I personally think it is. Also I can't help but realize a 30-year-old WXTU listener has no living memory of Garth's heyday, though I'm admittedly not the best-qualified to say whether or not he/she would likely know much of the catalog beyond "Friends In Low Places."

JBraddock mentioned 92.5's experimentation with Progressive Rock in the late '60s. Interestingly the man largely behind that (at WIFI), Gene Arnold, passed away just a couple weeks ago.


George Brusstar
(FirstnameLastname -at- Google empire's free mail service)

 

[Tibbs4]

Keeping an open mind is by far the best advice you could give. I know for a fact I want to pay the bills by being on air. Even if I gotta work at a CHR playing taylor swift all day, I'll do it and with a smile.

radiodx10 - As a young person in "the industry", it's actually refreshing to have you on this good ole board. Not enough folks under 30 are engaged in trying to move the radio football forward. (And FTR, most of the good folks on here giving advice really have suffered through literally every disaster the industry has created, so some of their advice is really helpful in avoiding mistakes at your own expense. It's all in the delivery.)

As for country music, I live in Nashville and am in the radio biz despite not being a fan. It's quite okay. Keep rocking!