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94.5 WNJO needs to come back!
- Thread starter nd2023
- Start date
Only if the calendar also flips with the station -- flips back at least 35 years, when money could still be made by playing songs from those three decades.
If you want Oldies in NJ, try:
92.1 WVLT
1250 WMTR
1410 / 100.7 WHTG
95.1 / 107.9 WOLD-LP
1230 WCMC
1310 WMID
93.1 WEZW
And various HD subchannels on FM.
92.1 WVLT
1250 WMTR
1410 / 100.7 WHTG
95.1 / 107.9 WOLD-LP
1230 WCMC
1310 WMID
93.1 WEZW
And various HD subchannels on FM.
Commercial radio has become more homogenized than ever, and it was bound to happen when we allowed these media monoliths to coalesce. If I listen to radio at all in Ocean Co., it's 91.9 WBNJ (the one non-commercial station that isn't NPR or a Godcaster). The one oldies station that we had went pop country, and there's basically a small handful of formats done exactly the same from Tacoma to Toms River. Tons of great stations with other formats online, so that's primarily where it's at if you want anything other than Top 40, consultant-programmed soft rock & classic rock, etc.
Radio sounds homogenized because the music they play is homogenized. Only three major labels in the world. They're working to eliminate genres so all music sounds the same. The music business is way more consolidated than radio.
I'm super-intrigued to know what makes you think a station playing music from five, six, and seven decades ago would "do well in the ratings." I mean, I can't conceive of any possible way for something playing such old music to do well. The theoretical audience for such a format would be (a.) too old for advertisers to want to reach and (b.) too dead for advertisers to want to reach. Don't read this with a mocking tone. I am really interested in knowing how you think it's possible that such a format would do well.
There are two reasons why radio has become even more uniform in formats and playlists in the last few decades.
First, the Internet has "standardized" music nationally in each format or subset.
Second, the record companies, nearly totally consolidated under three major owners, have reduced or eliminated niche genres and become far less tolerant of slow-to-develop artists.
And, of course, most important radio stations ask their listeners what they want to hear and what they do not want to have on the radio.
I actually respectfully disagree. I think the internet has made everything more niche than ever. If you know what Vaporwave is, you'll get my point. Nightcore, hyperpop, plunderphonics, these are genres birthed completely off the internet. If you want to hear music that sounds like it's coming from another room, you can find millions of youtube videos or bandcamp artists that make solely that. Niche is an understatement lol.
I know it's purely anecdotal, but you can ask most people my age (mid-twenties) and you'll find that we listen to a huge range of stuff, and there's no single radio format that encompasses that. One of the many reasons younger people simple aren't listening to the radio.
Also let's not forget that advertising has just become so intolerable to listen to. I think these advertising agency are comprised of sadists who have a fetish for making the most annoying commercials humanly possible. That lady's brookyln-esque voice on WPPZ is an instant turn off. It doesn't even work! I don't even know what they're selling, I turn it off the second I hear her voice. Who the hell thought yeah! that'll get em to laugh! haha funny lady sound funny! It's embarrassing.
Anyway time to get off my soap box. You get my point. It's more than a generational gap, it's totally different worlds between radio and internet. Radio ignored the internet for so long, and now it's trying to catch up to the internet generations. Is it working is a whole other discussion.
My view is it's both. The popular stuff is more popular than ever. At the same time, there are even more niches, and they seem to be catering to smaller and smaller groups. I go to a lot of music conferences (MusicBiz just wrapped up last week), and they focused more on DIY niche music. At the same time, NARAS and the bigger music organizations are saying more people are listening to more music than ever before.
Radio has always been about consensus music. It was that way 90 years ago, and it's that way now. There are ways for non-commercial stations to exist catering to the niches. But the way the niches are operating, there is no core to bring a few of them together into a format. At least that's how it appears to me.
At MusicBiz, the emphasis was diversifying revenue streams for musicians so they aren't dependent on radio airplay. So the musicians understand that airplay isn't going to be a given. The revenue streams are (1) Touring (2) More touring (3) Super-serving the fan base with exclusives for paid memberships, and lastly, (4) recording music.
So what does that mean for radio? Somewhere down the road, the hope is that some of these niches become the size of grunge, and starts to attract attention beyond the core fans. That's what's needed. Until then, radio will focus on playing the major label acts who deliver consensus hits.
That is exactly what I said: the Internet has "standardized" music nationally in each format or subset.
"Subset" and "niche" mean the same thing.
And some niche music tastes are so limited that OTA radio can't cover them. But the Internet makes exposure to those smaller genres both national and international.
There was a crew doing some construction work next door for over a month. They had the same radio station on all day, every day. I finally asked one of them about it, and he said that "that's the music we all like". I then asked what other music they liked, and they said, "none".
Radio did not ignore the Internet. There's this guy who owns a big sports team now and appears on a TV show about entrepreneurs who made his first couple of billion putting radio stations on the web... more than 20 years ago.
What was that music that they all liked? What format was the station?
Regional Mexican.
Tripp Rogers did a great job at WNJO, he is doing the same at WBNJ, just wish they would boost their power and antenna height on that cell tower off 72.
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