97.5 and B101: Stop the insanity!

[Soon Yi CIV.V]

We in the fastest-shrinking large market in the country have suddenly found ourselves with two Mainstream Adult Contemporary stations. Woo-hoo! Finally competition for B101! And a younger approach! Hooray! But wait. What's this?

While I generally support 97.5's assertion that their music is younger (albeit very slightly) and I prefer them to B101 (I like that they're playing "The Sign" by Ace of Base...but would they be doing that if 97.5 weren't?), I have some repetition issues I want to float.

Now I get that they have to share current AC hits and even recurrents. But the really shmalzy, moldy stuff? Why do we need two stations with these songs in rotation at the exact same time?

"December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)" (4 Seasons), "Lean On Me" (Club Nouveau), "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (Cyndi Lauper), "Boys of Summer" (Don Henley), "Rich Girl" (Hall & Oates), "Small Town" (John Mellencamp), "Faithfully" (Journey), "Don't Stop Believin'" (Journey), "Heaven" (Los Lonely Boys), "Brass In Pocket" (Pretenders), "Forever Young" (Rod Stewart), "Where Did Our Love Go/Tainted Love" (Soft Cell), "With or Without You" (U2), and "Red Red Wine" (UB40). [Granted, this may be a little bit personal: I could live the rest of my life quite happily without ever again hearing "Lean On Me," "Small Town," "Faithfully," "Heaven," "Brass In Pocket," and just about anything by Rod Stewart.]

And these shared titles are just in their top 100 spins. God knows how many other awful artifacts are being played on both stations?

And I know I've brought this up before but no one's addressed it (or at least said anything to make me feel better about it--LOL): Why is 97.5 forcing Phil Collins and Genesis on us? They don't need it to compete with B101 (no Phil Collins or Genesis getting heavy spins there) and it certainly doesn't lend itself to the "younger" thing. Plus, it makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

Speaking of younger: I heard "Better In Time" by Leona Lewis last night on 97.5 and Q102 at the same time! Of course, that's pointless because B101 is playing it too!

So in summary: Can't 97.5 afford to drop some of the crap AC Gold titles that B101 is already playing? Maybe not all of them...but I mean, seriously. Look at that list. That is some serious garbage. Alright, maybe it's not garbage. LOL. But I don't think may people would notice or be turned off if one of these stations were not playing a lot of them. And it would make room for...you know, good stuff.

I got off track from the summary!

• Can't one of them drop some of those songs?
• Does anyone disagree that 97.5 has forced B101 to add newer songs they wouldn't otherwise be playing (Ace of Base-type stuff)?
• Why must I keep hearing Phil Collins and/or Genesis on 97.5? It ruins everything!
• Which do you prefer: B101 or Now 97.5?
• Which do you actually listen to more frequently?

 

[650AM]

That is funny, most of the songs that you mention are also being worn into the dirt by 99.5, WJBR in Wilmington, too.
Oh brother, WJBR has certain songs that they really wear out.... Bonnie Raitt's "Give 'em Something to Talk About," McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed," (apparently McCartney's recorded no other songs suitable for airplay), Mellencamp's "Small Town," anything by Journey, not to mention the relentless plays of "Not Gonna Write You a Love Song," "How to Save a Life," "Vida la Vida," "Sweet Escape," and on an on. The station is a caricature of itself.

 

[imhomerjay]

Can't one of them drop some of those songs?
If it's working/tests well, why drop them? You may not like them, that's great. I dislike certain songs and artists as well, but wouldn't suggest it makes sense to drop them just because I have a distaste for them. If the testing proves otherwise, heck, sure, go ahead and pull them. But if your competitor is going to be playing songs a significant part of your audience likes, why cede the ground? Just to please a few radio-heads?

Does anyone disagree that 97.5 has forced B101 to add newer songs they wouldn't otherwise be playing (Ace of Base-type stuff)?
I'm more amused by Ace of Base being newer at this point in time, but yes, I disagree. They played The Sign well before Now debuted; whether it came and went from their rotation at some point only to come back again, I don't know, but I don't buy the whole "forced by Now" argument as a blanket statement. For quite some time, they've added 'newer' titles, before Now ever got here.

Why must I keep hearing Phil Collins and/or Genesis on 97.5? It ruins everything!
See "Different Folks, Different Strokes for" in the dictionary.

Which do you prefer: B101 or Now 97.5?
Whichever one isn't in a commercial break at the same time Ben is in a break or playing one of the (considerably) few(er) songs in their rotation I can't stomach.

Which do you actually listen to more frequently?
My guess is the B by a bit, as 101 is my second preset in the car, and more often than not when I tune away from Ben, I find something I like on the B, without having to move on to Now...and then WJBR, WLEV, WMGK, WRFY and WSJO...or just hit 'scan.' On the flip side, the radio tuner I have for my iPod hits Now before the B (no way to rearrange the order, it just goes up the dial to the presets I have), so on my train rides, Now edges out the B...but I spend more time in the car.

 

[qtpieislit]

Insanity? You know what’s really insane? Is that you keep scanning the same few outdated tired terrestrial options and expect different results. Either that’s insane or just short of challenged, if you know what I mean. At the very least it a severe learning disability. Discover portable internet protocol, change you world, and change your life.

 

[Soon Yi CIV.V]

Now IHJ, you know that I know all of that already. LOL. Play along!!!

I don't want anyone dropping songs just because I don't like them. I just want Now to differentiate themselves from B101 a little bit better. I know that a lot of total shit tests well. But do they both have to be playing so much of it at the exact same time?

As for B101 adding songs they wouldn't be adding if it weren't for Now, I was kinda asking about it with tongue in cheek. Because no one will ever convince me otherwise. I know B101 was playing some of that stuff occasionally but I think they do it only when it's dictated by another station (defensive programming). And I'm convinced they've gone heavier on it nowadays. And why wouldn't they? They have competition to fight off. I really honestly believe there's a lot of stuff B101 would rather not have in rotation...but which they now have no choice but to occasionally add. (As for that particular Ace of Base song: I just find it highly coincidental that they both happen to have added it at the same time.)

I stand by my comments about Phil Collins and Genesis. The world would be better off without them. Except maybe that "You Can't Hurry Love" cover. Yeah. That was pretty cool. ROFL.

Well anyway, don't get me wrong: B101 is a much better station now that there's competition. I do find myself in captive listening situations occasionally and they're sounding a lot better (to my ears) than just a year ago. Thank God.

 

[Soon Yi CIV.V]

Insanity? You know what’s really insane? Is that you keep scanning the same few outdated tired terrestrial options and expect different results. Either that’s insane or just short of challenged, if you know what I mean. At the very least it a severe learning disability. Discover portable internet protocol, change you world, and change your life.

Your insults and repeated attempts to interject your internet protocol agenda into every possible discussion, regardless of how irrelevant, are duly noted. Thanks for your participation. As I've mentioned before, feel free to skip my posts going forward.

 

[in3media_be1]

Some posts from this thread have been moved to Take It Outside


http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,120233.msg971158.html#msg971158

 

[mcmannors]

Insanity? You know what’s really insane? Is that you keep scanning the same few outdated tired terrestrial options and expect different results. Either that’s insane or just short of challenged, if you know what I mean. At the very least it a severe learning disability. Discover portable internet protocol, change you world, and change your life.

Your insults and repeated attempts to interject your internet protocol agenda into every possible discussion, regardless of how irrelevant, are duly noted. Thanks for your participation. As I've mentioned before, feel free to skip my posts going forward.

I agree with the point Sam was trying to make, though I wouldn't have worded it so harshly.

Stations like B-101, Now 97.5, WJBR, Magic 98.3, Fresh 102.7, and countless others are designed to sound like crap to anyone but 35-40 year old women. They test those songs with those demos and nobody else. I'm sure men of the same age group don't want to hear the Phil Collins/Genesis or Journey titles constantly played on those stations. Me? I'd much rather hear "I Missed Again" or "Anyway You Want It" than "In The Air Tonight" or "Faithfully", but since I'm a 49 year old male, I don't count. It doesn't have anything to do with being a "radio buff" or not.

I guess what Sam was trying to say was that these stations will never change, and it's not worth fighting them or even discussing it. To hear a slightly bigger variety of Phil Collins or Journey songs, you will need to tune to WMGK. To hear a bigger variety of those tunes, you will need to subscribe to SiriusXM.

 

[imhomerjay]

Your insults and repeated attempts to interject your internet protocol agenda into every possible discussion, regardless of how irrelevant, are duly noted. Thanks for your participation. As I've mentioned before, feel free to skip my posts going forward.

Eh, Sam and his three IP listeners can go on crowing about the horrors of radio while doing remotes from the deli counter at the Wawa in Cherry Hill or what have you. When they have a viable business model and can attain something close to market saturation, it might be more interesting.

Back to the spirit of fun, I was playing along with the questions. What I find most amusing is that the newcomer that comes up with an incredibly original slogan that copies, word-for-word, the 'other' guys, song tags, and a format that sounds almost (to be generous) indistinguishable, is somehow the 'original' one in the equation.

 

[Soon Yi CIV.V]

What I find most amusing is that the newcomer that comes up with an incredibly original slogan that copies, word-for-word, the 'other' guys, song tags, and a format that sounds almost (to be generous) indistinguishable, is somehow the 'original' one in the equation.

Hey, this is radio. As has been displayed right in this thread, if they think someone'll be stupid enough to buy it, they're gonna try to sell it! haha.

 

[qtpieislit]

Eh, Sam and his three IP listeners can go on crowing about the horrors of radio while doing remotes from the deli counter at the Wawa in Cherry Hill or what have you. When they have a viable business model and can attain something close to market saturation, it might be more interesting.

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[imhomerjay]

Hey, this is radio. As has been displayed right in this thread, if they think someone'll be stupid enough to buy it, they're gonna try to sell it! haha.

Radio is just the same as nearly every other business in that regard.

 

[Soon Yi CIV.V]

Radio is just the same as nearly every other business in that regard.

Of course. But doesn't it seem like it's getting worse? And faster?

 

[imhomerjay]

Honestly, not really vis a vis most other industries or businesses. "New and improved" has been the oldest gimmick in the books since Eve convinced Adam to try the new and improved apple, and the second oldest gimmick is to nearly copyyour competitor and say you're somehow doing it better. It's a natural - if one fishes where the fish are, doing what attracts the audience makes sense, then you put a fresh coat of paint on it and sell it as different.

The overall pace may be accelerating, but radio doesn't stand out in terms of having a greater acceleration than most other categories.

 

[nd2023]

I prefer a gold AC like Sunny 104.5 used to be, so I would have to say that I listen to neither station after December 26th.