Big 105.9 & Classic Rock

[strangelove]

The playlist on Big has been evolving of late and I find myself listening more often than I have in years. I'm hearing songs that were in regular rotation on Zeta and She back in the 90s (Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Blind Melon, Chili Peppers, etc.) and they seem to have done something about that godawful VoltAir that put an aluminum edge on the audio.

The classic rock radio staples from Zeppelin, the Stones, et. al. are still in the mix but still it makes me wonder of the title 'Classic Rock' even works anymore.

I'm sure this is entirely subjective but when I think Classic Rock the first thing that pops into my mind as a 40-something is rock music exclusively from the late 60s and 70s and perhaps early 80s. Granted, 'Shine' by Collective Soul is 27 years old but to me it just doesn't feel like the name 'Classic Rock' suits it. I'm loving the direction Big is heading in (a necessary move as gen-x grows up) but is it time to retire the title Classic Rock and call it something else?

 

[criminallawbaer]

Big !05.9

It seems Big 105.9 has increased their playlist. A lot more 90's and 2000's have been added. I wish the gater 98.7 would do it. I live in Lake Worth and can get both. Anyone think 105.9 is going to be mainstream rock? I highly doubt they ever will skew to active rock.

 

[MarkW]

Re:

It's an interesting playlist, to say the least!

I like the change. Looks like all the 90's rock product 93.9 refused to pick up showed up on 105.9 instead.

I could do without the tracks from Men At Work, Blondie, and Nickelback, though.

 

[davideduardo]

It's an interesting playlist, to say the least!

I like the change. Looks like all the 90's rock product 93.9 refused to pick up showed up on 105.9 instead.

I could do without the tracks from Men At Work, Blondie, and Nickelback, though.

And those are exactly the tracks that give it a chance in Miami. They are still too "non-Hispanic white*" for the market.

* That group is down to less than 20% of the market now.

 

[transitfan]

It seems Big 105.9 has increased their playlist. A lot more 90's and 2000's have been added. I wish the gater 98.7 would do it. I live in Lake Worth and can get both. Anyone think 105.9 is going to be mainstream rock? I highly doubt they ever will skew to active rock.

With the departure of 93 Rock almost 10 years ago, I would say it's highly doubtful that Active Rock would ever return to Miami/Fort Lauderdale. I suspect the demographic won't support it.

 

[strangelove]

Active Rock probably won't happen but it would be nice if they kept going on the present course because I'm listening to Big more now than I have in years.

I read somewhere else that Classic Rock is more of a period in rock music rather than just a catch-all for old rock songs and I tend to agree with that.

I think if there are any more changes coming to the station it should be new branding because when I think 'Classic Rock' I don't think of Nirvana or The Offspring.

Even Majic stopped calling themselves an Oldies station before they stopped being Majic so maybe it's time Big did the same thing.

 

[Mikey Radio]

It'd be nice to have a proper rocker in the Miami market again. I really miss 93 Rock (though as someone else mentioned, 93.1 flipped from Rock to Easy Listening after playing Christmas music for the holiday season a decade ago so it's been a while). While I never really considered if the demographics in Miami could support a rock station, I can tell you what killed 93 Rock for me and many listeners I spoke to back then was "listener fatigue". It seemed nearly every time I turned on that station I'd hear the same relatively limited rotation (including some tunes like "Love in an Elevator" by Aerosmith which were relatively old by then, but still in heavy rotation). Sadly, there were so many great groups and songs that would've fit that genre and given a lot more variety, but it seemed they'd either given up, didn't care or were trying to lower ratings so they could make the switch to "Easy 93.1"

 

[criminallawbaer]

I think a mainstream rocker that plays a 50/50 classic with 90 and 2000s rock can work. I am 42 and white and it fills the gap for me. 104.3 the shark plays some music I like but skews so far into the new stuff for a younger audience

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

and you think a rocker targetting older white guys would work in a market thats anything but very old or very white?

 

[criminallawbaer]

Big 105.9 has been doing well for the market as it targets older white males. Look
At the numbers, I wonder how the shark is doing?

 

[strangelove]

I can tell you what killed 93 Rock for me and many listeners I spoke to back then was "listener fatigue". It seemed nearly every time I turned on that station I'd hear the same relatively limited rotation (including some tunes like "Love in an Elevator" by Aerosmith which were relatively old by then, but still in heavy rotation).

I read somewhere that the vaunted KROQ in Los Angeles had a playlist of only about 90 songs before the new PD began adding newer alternative music to the mix. It seemed like 93 Rock was in the same place in the days before it flipped but for all I know they may have been trying to keep listeners by running a lean playlist of hit songs in hopes people would hang around to hear the songs they liked.

Is it really true that companies will try to tank ratings in order to justify a flip? I would think if an owner wanted a new format they would just up and do it.

 

[MarkW]

The Shark should've been named The Flounder.

 

[davideduardo]

I read somewhere that the vaunted KROQ in Los Angeles had a playlist of only about 90 songs before the new PD began adding newer alternative music to the mix. It seemed like 93 Rock was in the same place in the days before it flipped but for all I know they may have been trying to keep listeners by running a lean playlist of hit songs in hopes people would hang around to hear the songs they liked.

Is it really true that companies will try to tank ratings in order to justify a flip? I would think if an owner wanted a new format they would just up and do it.

None of that is true.

The playlist on KROQ had been at the same level for years, but it had declined since the early 00's because Alt taste is so fragmented it is harder to find consensus, mass appeal songs.

And no company tanks ratings to justify a flip. If the research and the ratings indicated no potential for recovery, then a flip is studied and put into effect.

In the case of KROQ, they had been losing for years after 10 AM. When the morning team split, ratings went down. Finally, they had no morning boost and low 10 AM and on ratings, so a flip was required.

If anything, they waited too long.

 

[Ai4i]

When "Sweet Sixteen" first hit the Miami airwaves between WMYQ and Power 96, they stunted for while by counting down their top sixteen hits ad-nauseam.

 

[davideduardo]

and you think a rocker targetting older white guys would work in a market thats anything but very old or very white?

In these cases, it's very important to specify "non-Hispanic white". Not just "white".

I have Hispanic friends in Miami who are lighter than I am... and I am lighter than an overnight snowfall on Svalbard from my Celtic/Galician and British heritage.

As we are now in an era where everyone has to be sub-classified, we have to remember that "Hispanic" is not a race, it is cultural catch-all that includes Zapotec native Americans from Oaxaca, 5th generation Asians in Peru and Cuba, Italians, Germans and Russians (among others) in Argentina, Africans from anywhere around the Caribbean basin, Inca descendants from the Andean range and many more.

Don't think I am criticizing you... you just nudged open the door for me to add a bit of social awareness at a time where there is so much attention... and confusion... on the subject. This all seems like a very dark tunnel at times, but hopefully there is a light... and maybe enlightenment... at the end.

 

[davideduardo]

When "Sweet Sixteen" first hit the Miami airwaves between WMYQ and Power 96, they stunted for while by counting down their top sixteen hits ad-nauseam.

Sedaka's "(Happy Birthday) Sweet Sixteen" preceded WMYQ by a decade. Billy Idol's "Sweet Sixteen" came out a decade after it was gone.

What "Sweet Sixteen" are you referring to.

 

[Oldiesaholic]

In 1985 WCJX signed back on as 96X under new ownership. They played the top 16 current hits...Over and over.
This may have been a stunt to attract listeners back to the station (Familiar Name) It Later Became Power 96.

 

[davideduardo]

In 1985 WCJX signed back on as 96X under new ownership. They played the top 16 current hits...Over and over.
This may have been a stunt to attract listeners back to the station (Familiar Name) It Later Became Power 96.

But by 1985, WMYQ was long gone. When I was GM at Metroplex in Miami in 1980, no WMYQ! Sister Y-100 was highly dominant.

 

[RMarino]

Just catching up on this thread. Regarding Big's new playlist, it looks like a rock version of Adult Hits. I have a Jack FM in my market and the era balance is the same as what I see on the Big playlist, only difference is it's all rock. I think a rock based Adult Hits could be very successful. For Miami? I can't say and will leave that to those who are more familiar with the market than I. But in a broad sense Rock Adult Hits seems like a good idea.

 

[davideduardo]

Just catching up on this thread. Regarding Big's new playlist, it looks like a rock version of Adult Hits. I have a Jack FM in my market and the era balance is the same as what I see on the Big playlist, only difference is it's all rock. I think a rock based Adult Hits could be very successful. For Miami? I can't say and will leave that to those who are more familiar with the market than I. But in a broad sense Rock Adult Hits seems like a good idea.

Miami requires a more rhythmic approach to the Adult Hits idea. The market has always been perhaps the most rhythmic in the US, and with the non-Hispanic white population now being under 30% of the MSA, the driving force for music in Miami is totally a rhythmic one.