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92.1/100.1

D

DStroyer

Guest
For those keeping track, QFM is now "The Q". Music doesn't appear to have changed. Website still says "QFM".
 
Well if you know how they operate up there you know that it's not entirely impossible to imagine that they forgot they have a website!

Look for an update (if they remember to make it) 12 to 18 months down the road. If it costs anything it'll be longer than that or it'll just "go dark". On second thought, it won't "go dark", they'll just ignore it altogether then blame someone a rung or two above intern.
 
I find this to be a frustrating station. It has potential but something about it just turns me off about it. One thing is they play a lot of the same songs all the time (I know, big surprise here) and I can almost predict what song will be on at one time. Why do stations do that. Why can't they expand their playlist more. People love to hear songs they have not heard in years. Their are sooooooo many songs that have been released over the years, why do they think people want to hear the same few songs over and over and over and over again. The only stations I hear that tend to push the envelope are the Mountain (which according to ratings, is in its death throes and may not be around much longer) and WHLM-FM. Come on guys, surprise us now and again.
 
I think you answered your own question when you said the Mountain is losing in the battle of the ratings. Doesn't that tell you something? People like what they know. They consciously or subconsciously expect things at certain times and yes, power songs at the same time (top and bottom of the hour) seems to be one of them. Nature abhors a vaccum or is that chaos?
 
I don't know that I buy into the whole Arbitron rating system. I agree they need something to rate stations by but I always thought it was rather arbitrary and may not reflect true listener habits out there. One thing about the Mountain is that their listeners tend to be fiercely loyal. Basically they listen to nothing but the Mountain (same goes for Rock 107 listeners to an extent).

Unfortunately you may be right about the population at large. On the other end I know of people who listen to nothing but KRZ. They love repetition and knowing that they'll hear the same song 5, 6 times in an 8 hour period. I can't stand listening to the same song twice in one day. But I believe there is a significant segment of listeners out there waiting for a station to push the envelope. QFM has potential but they'll never go anywhere if they just try to be like Magic 93. At least when we had EZ 103, they played songs that Magic forgot about a long time ago (I still cannot believe Entercom killed EZ--especially since they were starting to do better).
 
With qfm they just can't admit they made a mistake two years ago.They invested time and money in this format and are giving it a shot anyway.What happens when the mountain eventually flips? I'm surprised it's been around this long.It might be someone's pet project out there.But if the flip happens soon what's next?Look at what happened with wilk going on fm.Why?No other formats they want to try?Out of ideas?
 
I Really Don't See Entercom Flipping The Mountain Because It's Rising's Baby.

And it's A Good Alternative For People That Are Sick Of Rock 107.

I know People Like things That Are Familiar ... But How Many Times Can You Hear Freebird?
 
Dave McAndrews said:
Wow .. When Did He Leave Route 81? Last I knew He Was Running WCDL

Was running CDL, then moved over to Lite 94.3, then must have realized the Route 81 is going nowhere and ...over to the "Q". As a matter of fact, I was waiting in the car for my wife last Saturday or Sunday (memory is shot) and heard him pulling a shift. (VT'ed but he is one of the few that can make you think he was "in studio")
 
Damian C Merillat said:
the Mountain (which according to ratings, is in its death throes and may not be around much longer) and WHLM-FM. Come on guys, surprise us now and again.

I really think the Mountain is good but just as Q102 could not "take the candy from the baby" with KRZ, the mountain has the same problem. SIGNAL! 102.3 has been plagued with one of the worst signals in the area. All of the translators in the valley have better coverage over 102. The Mountain is a great alternative to Rock 107 but it just doesn't have the signal. They should have moved to Mountain over to 103.1 with a much better signal, but that was turned over to WILK. As was supposed to be done years ago. Years ago, back in the WISH days, 102 was supposed to become WILK-FM. This move would have appeased the crowd that complain they can't get the AM in the office. ::)
 
Q-102 was 6th 12+ in it's heyday, and 3rd 18-34 behind WKRZ and WEZX.For a few years it had a nice run. It never was designed to beat WKRZ, it wouldn't be technically possible.While it's not the best "Class A" signal in the market, it's not the worst. Arguably it's the 4th best Class A signal in terms of population served with city grade signal. WEZX, WBHT and WQFM would be the best three technical facilities IMHO.
It's worth noting and admirable that WEZX/WPZX remains at the top ( currently # 1 or 2 in 25-54 adults, isn't it?) with two 6kw Class A stations simulcasting. It's got to be one of the most successful Class A stations in the top 100 markets.
Can you list any more successful? (Perhaps WWIN in Baltimore?)
 
I think I can say this now without divulging information most of you don't know.
Ed Histed left Rt 81 about a month ago. I believe he saw changes coming that he didn't like, but that is my opinion only.
He formed his own radio consulting firm and his first job was consulting WQFM from the Scranton Times Building. No doubt "the Q" moniker was Ed's and I know Ed.

There will be change at Q. Not tomorrow. But soon.

I worked for Ed when he owned WDNH in Honesdale. Even in 1990, WDNH was amongst the very first local stations to use computer automation. Ed taught all of us how to voice track, and he is still amongst the very best voicetracker. He really DOES sound like he is live, you really can not tell if he is there or not. And that is a fact: I once called Ed at WCDL convinced he was there, and it was early: but he emailed me back saying he needed to step out for an early meeting.

Inasmuch as in that year, computers inside businesses were just coming to fruitation, WDNH had a very ingenious automation system, that really allowed you to do anything you can do now, just not as smoothly. It was a pioneering system.
Now, everything is on hard disc, but this automation system was hooked up to a bank of (IIRC) about 30 CD decks that each held 5 CD's. These were in another room across from the studio.
When Ed or Pete wanted to change songs in the CD players they would just delete the song from the computer and add in a new title (this is what we saw in the studio). Interestingly, everyweek we did the Weekly TOP 40 program, and part of my job was to time this out on a CD deck that had a very accurate timer. I wrote every time break down on paper and Ed would go in and program it into a log. Therefore, if a commercial break ran over or under 2 seconds, it was MY fault! :) It was a simple matter of just putting the cd's into the proper player and when it was time for the show, it fired off automatically.

In 1996, it was becoming the end of the analog era. The DJ's could record shows 2 days in advance onto the computer if they wanted the weekend off. However that automation system was restricted to two days out. IF there was a holicay weekend (like Labor Day) that someone wanted the day off, he recorded his liners onto a reel, and I dumped that audio into the computer on Sunday night. We did get agency spots on reel that I dumped into automation, but other than that we didn't use much analog even at that time.

So, for the person wondering if the QFM website will change....I would imagine YES. Ed did all the Route 81 sites, and he also owns his own computer programming company. Write him at edhisted.com.
Carl
 
I heard from Ed Histed this morning. (Do PD's read these boards?.......yes they do).
Ed is now the PD at WQFM.
Expect change.
Thanks for the nice letter ED!
Carl
 
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