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Alt 92.3 to Become WINS Simulcast

DavidEduardo said:
It's just not that way. Program Directors, who seldom wear suits, push to get budgets for music tests because tests almost always help increase ratings. They look for more songs to add and songs that have not done well for a while that may have recovered a bit and for crossovers that "fit" in listener minds.

If a song tests positively, it is not burnt out and does not bore people. A music test is based on asking, for each song, "how much would you like to hear this song today?"

And if people don't want to hear it, why the heck would you want to play it? Testing is asking listeners to tell you what to play.

In any case, the reason why so few newer songs test is that the alt field is fragmented into multiple groups who don't care much for the well-liked songs of the other groups. So fining songs that all the possible listeners like is very hard because there are few of them.

That is because the "rock universe" is shrinking in a multi-ethnic rhythmic New York market.

And if they did this day after day, they would get a 0.1 share. There is a reason why they don't do it regularly. And, again, consultants and management don't pick the songs. The listeners do.
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I just can't see the audience this format is for participating in a corporate music test. Well, actually they might but how they would participate, you light up my life would test a perfect 5. No that's not offered but I'd bet lots of 5s for songs They are tired of as a way of sticking it to the man.
 
DOB said:
I just can't see the audience this format is for participating in a corporate music test. Well, actually they might but how they would participate, you light up my life would test a perfect 5. No that's not offered but I'd bet lots of 5s for songs They are tired of as a way of sticking it to the man.
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A music test today is done by inviting people who pass a screening on music taste to listen to tidbits of songs online on their smartphone or tablet or whatever and to score them according to how much they want to hear that song. How is asking a person for their opinion because it matters "corporate"?

And if they won't rate songs "so we know what you want to hear" they won't be part of a Nielsen panel, either!

So, because the group is so contrarian, there is no way to please it. And that is why nobody wants to take a multi-million dollar radio station and program that format today.
 
DavidEduardo said:
That is because the "rock universe" is shrinking in a multi-ethnic rhythmic New York market.
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WXBK is doing no better after a year and it's as rhythmic and multi-ethnic as can be. You speak as though someone just needs to do music testing and automatically the station will perform great. And then when it doesn't you blame the market or the fact that it's not ethnic or rhythmic enough. Obviously not true.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
WXBK is doing no better after a year and it's as rhythmic and multi-ethnic as can be. You speak as though someone just needs to do music testing and automatically the station will perform great.
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I never said that. Music testing is just one element in good programming.
Theater of My Mind said:
And then when it doesn't you blame the market or the fact that it's not ethnic or rhythmic enough. Obviously not true.
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No? The market is less than 40% non-Hispanic white now, and the influences of Latin and Black music are felt all the way out to Egg Harbor!
 
It's an alternative to the other radio offerings. The more you validate the way the other formats do their thing well, the more you make the case for alternative taking an alternative approach from that.
I'm target demo, I heard music tonight I would not seak on my own, but the presentation was compelling and interesting. The passion that was represented by the talents is an attraction. I wanted an alternative to the rest of the radio dial, and that was delivered.
 
DavidEduardo said:
It's just not that way. Program Directors, who seldom wear suits, push to get budgets for music tests because tests almost always help increase ratings. They look for more songs to add and songs that have not done well for a while that may have recovered a bit and for crossovers that "fit" in listener minds.

If a song tests positively, it is not burnt out and does not bore people. A music test is based on asking, for each song, "how much would you like to hear this song today?"
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SiriusXM's contemporary country channel, The Highway, sends out a music test to subscribers to its Facebook page every week. A couple of dozen songs have snippets played and the respondent is asked two questions: "Do you like this song?" (with multiple choices ranging from "Love it" down to "Hate it" with shades of each emotion in between, and "I'm not familiar with this song" as the final option.
 
The station now goes by WINS-FM.
 
CTListener said:
SiriusXM's contemporary country channel, The Highway, sends out a music test to subscribers to its Facebook page every week. A couple of dozen songs have snippets played and the respondent is asked two questions: "Do you like this song?" (with multiple choices ranging from "Love it" down to "Hate it" with shades of each emotion in between, and "I'm not familiar with this song" as the final option.
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Not sure what happened here, but this was not my complete post, or at least was not all of what I intended my post to be. I may have been distracted and hit "post reply" unconsciously and never returned to the post.

Anyway, the second question the Highway music test asks for each song snippet is "How tired are you of this song?," with the options of "Not tired at all," "Somewhat tired" and "Very tired." I'm not sure how much influence this very unscientific polling has on airplay decisions on The Highway, but I thought that the addition of a burnout question rather than just asking whether the respondent knew/liked the song was kind of interesting.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
Avid music listeners are the ones who used to listen to Alternative radio before it got homogenized.

When you get layer upon layer of executives in suits who believe the only way to succeed in radio is to test old music over and over again and play nothing but those songs you end up with those "hits". That works fine on AC radio which is a background format, but in Alternative you end up with tired old songs that have been burnt to a crisp that bore music fans to death.

Since this is New York you can be assured everything on 92.3 was music tested and micro-analyzed to death before getting a slot in their locked-down rotation and what did it get them? Not even a 2 share after two years.

Listen to the creativity and the music mix happening at 92.3 today. The creative people, not the consultants, are running the show for a change. That's the spirit that used to make Alternative radio good.
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Keep in mind though that Alternative radio was successful back when radio had more owners due to the cap. In this environment, with the same owners owning more stations, it becomes a money game. That's the one thing Alternative by nature is not meant to be. Alternative as a genre is meant to go against the norm.
 
Alt 92.3 rolling 7-day playlist at https://onlineradiobox.com/us/wbmp/playlist/

As of this posting it goes back as far as Friday 10/21/2022.
Thus, you may be able to see what aired during the "Alt Rock History Block" hours
featured this past week from Noon-Midnight daily.

By the way, the last song aired on a live-hosted show on WRXP Version 1 was "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve (1997).
Later on when automated, The Who's "Long Live Rock" played last before Merlin took over. (5 PM on 7/15/2011)
Jeff Buckley's "The Last Goodbye" closed out "New Rock 101.9" before the changeover to WFAN-FM on 11/1/2012 at 11:57 PM.
 
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This morning on 1010 WINS, anchor Susan Richard said that the celebration of the launch of the FM simulcast will begin at 8:50 am.
 
Alt 92.3 just announced that when WINS-FM transitions to the news format at 8:45 am, those who tune to Alt 92.3 via the Audacy website/app will begin hearing the HD2 broadcast of the alternative format.

EDIT: They now say that the format change will happen at 8:50 am, which is what 1010 WINS has been announcing.
 
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I’m recording the last day of “Alt 92.3” until the station flipped to “92.3 WINS-FM” at 9AM. If you want to hear some more alternative if it leaves the airwaves forever, I highly recommend to check out WRRV in the Hudson Valley. The link and the stream is down below.

I will be posting the the end of “Alt 92.3” when I get home and put it on Dropbox.

wrrv.com

92.7/96.9 WRRV – The Hudson Valley's Alternative – Hudson Valley Rock Radio

92.7 96.9 WRRV Radio, a Townsquare Media station, plays the best rock music in Poughkeepsie, New York on WRRV-FM and WRRB-FM.
wrrv.com wrrv.com
 
Of course, no music radio station farewell show in New York City would be complete without a song about the Big Apple. Alt 92.3 just played "An Open Letter to NYC" by Beastie Boys. The song mentions 1010 WINS, among many other things.
 
Least said:
Keep in mind though that Alternative radio was successful back when radio had more owners due to the cap. In this environment, with the same owners owning more stations, it becomes a money game. That's the one thing Alternative by nature is not meant to be. Alternative as a genre is meant to go against the norm.
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It's always been a money game. Alternative usually does not make enough of it.
It has nothing to do with owners or "corporate suits" -- although I understand why you'd want to blame some "boogeyman" rather than take time to actually understand the problems that the radio business faces.
 
pjc1961 said:
The closing song at 8:45 AM after the final remarks by the hosts is New York artist
LCD Soundsystem - New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down
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I do not think anyone could have guessed that.

Sadly, I guess it could be expected unfortunately, allot of Howard ass kissing this morning. Otherwise they gave it more of a farewell then any other switch over.

They made the switch, now saying they are responding to technology and justifying the switch to 1010 WINS. Basically justifying what is effectively worse than any shortwave station coming to AM.
 
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