At 12 noon on January 19, 2009, the G-Rock format was abruptly stopped in favor of yet another top 40 station. Out went the sounds of Nirvana, Radiohead, Tears For Fears, 311, etc, and those were replaced by such legendary artists like Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Pitbull, Rihanna, etc. Press did this because G-Rock's Arbitron ratings were low (as said in an open letter to the public). Yet look where that got them. Hit 106 has even lower ratings than G-Rock. The only thing that sets Hit 106 apart from the 8 other CHR stations is that it plays more rock hits and more golds, and it can be heard from Atlantic City to Newark along the parkway. It was unique with an alternative rock format.
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1 year since G-Rock died
- Thread starter nd2023
- Start date
As of reading the letter by CEO Robert McAllen, I really don't know what he is broadening from the "niche G-Rock audience" when the majority of people listening to Top 40 in Jersey already have their alternative. Z100 grew stronger in the monmouth-ocean books, and KTU beat them, plus you have the addition of Now. Bad decision to flip, and too late to bring CHR to the shore.
And both WJSE and WRFF have capitalized on this with a significant amount of new listeners in Ocean County. WJSE even has a few Ocean County advertisers despite their signal being limited to the Tuckerton / Beach Haven area of the county.
*IF* WJSE stays Alternative after the signal increase I'm sure they would see a huge surge in listeners from Ocean County.
Too bad there's nothing for Alterntive fans in Monmouth County though...
*IF* WJSE stays Alternative after the signal increase I'm sure they would see a huge surge in listeners from Ocean County.
Too bad there's nothing for Alterntive fans in Monmouth County though...
GSP163 said:
(cough)90.5(cough)
Even if you were a huge 106.3 bigot that could only ever listen to former 106.3 staffers, there's one on somewhere at almost every hour of the day. On weekdays there's Pinfield and Phillips on RXP, and Rich Robinson and Jeff Raspe between them on 90.5. Friday nights at 90.5 there's me, and Loretta Windas shows up on weekends - there's even a Bart Cross-Tierney fix for you if you need one on the imaging.
What I'd really like to find are old airchecks. Anyone got any? ('Cause we sure don't...)
JerseyShor said:
I live in Southern Ocean County. I don't get WJSE at all, but I do get a mix of WWFS and static. Their ratings aren't strong enough to show up on the list - but then again, I can barely get them in even Tuckerton or Beach Haven on my car radio.
WRFF is horrible. They're like an iPod/MP3 with the safest "alternative" music out there. Actually, alternative-lite is more like it. They seldom ever let their personalities speak, and they actually go jockless much of the time - rather cheap move on the part of Cheap Channel. They remind me of Max 95.7. I even heard them play The Fray the other day - yes, the "Over My Head" clowns. Since when were they alternative? Looking at their playlist right now, and I see junk like Puddle Of Mudd, Paramore, Sum 41, and even No Doubt ('Underneath It All", no less, a song that has absolutely no business on an alternative station). Trust me, no one who liked WHTG in any of its incarnations would settle for something as bland, safe, and cookie-cutter as this station ... their ratings fell in the last book, for the record.
As for alternative rock fans in Monmouth County ... WRXP is the best option that can be heard anywhere in New Jersey. They've got WHTG alums Matt Pinfield and Brian Phillips as personalities, and they actually play acts that so-called "alternatives" like Radio 104.5 won't touch - so far I see Soul Asylum (and NOT "Runaway Train"), Nick Lowe, Grizzly Bear, Monsters Of Folk, Spoon, and I've heard them play The Pixies, Kaiser Chiefs, Peter Murphy, Love Spit Love, etc. ... yeah, try getting 104.5 to play any of them, it won't happen. While RXP might not sound like WHTG or G Rock, they at least offer something beyond just the safest hits.
On G Rock: I still miss it a whole lot. With Hit 106 and now Magic 100.1, Monmouth/Ocean radio is a barren wasteland. It's an endless procession of bland Soft Rock, Top 40, and Classic Rock stations, with nothing to break up the monotony. And these executives wonder why people are abandoning radio for other forms of media. In the last couple of years, G Rock actually was just about as good as it was in the FM 106.3 days - they had all kinds of shows like The 5 O'Clock Shuffle and Retro Request Hour, sponsored plenty of great shows in the area, had interviews and in-studio performances with a slew of excellent artists, etc. G Rock sounded so good that it actually made me excited about radio again, if only for what turned out to be a fleeting moment (since, as we all know, Press pulled the rug out from under us by abruptly dropping it for more of the same tired hit music heard on 8 other stations). There's a pretty good reason I don't post here much, and that's because everything about the industry right now is negative, and that goes tenfold for this area. I have the feeling that as long as we have the same feckless broadcasters around here, it's going to stay that way. I only hope that someone will prove me wrong...
Try Radio 104.1 WMRQ out of Hartford, Connecticut. http://www.radio1041.fm/ - Independently owned by Red Wolf Broadcasting who also owns - Soft Rock 106.5 and Jammin 107.7 in New London, CT (New London's Listen at Work Station and Hip-Hop station respectively) along with La Bomba 97.5 (104.1 HD2) Hartford's 60 watt FM Tropical Station.
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