Almost 6 months since we lost GRock, is Hit 106 a hit?

[bigtom101]

It can be heard real well into Passaic County. Did WHTG increase their signal since they switched to Hit 106? It seems to come in more clear than when it was G Rock.

I've noticed this too - I can get WHTG in Morristown while driving along 287, even before the tropo started comming in.

 

[RadioNation]

a 1.3? Shocking ..I can't believe their that low! That is anemic for a station that covers a good part of the state. I must admit I really thought the station would at least break a 2.. How do you spin this Press? The modern rock audience needs to be flushed out and then you build a CHR audience over time? 92.3 NOW signed on and killed any chance of good ratings? OK.. well good luck w/ all of that...Clearly the area wants and deserves a modern rocker - look at WRAT's surge..

Honestly - I think the DJ's are great people and Hit 106 is a decent CHR, but Press really screwed up. No public warning of GRock's demise or an online alternative (no pun intended) just shows how clueless they are with the 18-34 demo. And these billboards "Finally" I see on the highway are insulting - like the listeners in Monmouth "finally" for the first time have a CHR... give me a break - ultimately radio caters to the listeners, and I truly believe if the diary/PPM system was able to improve it would show a much higher % of younger & rock listeners.

 

[nd2023]

I can bet that people would be willing to throw money at Press to keep G-Rock, similar to the way people threw money at Mega Media to keep Pulse 87. No one will throw money at Press to keep Hit 106, they will just listen to the other 5 CHR stations. Flip it back to alternative rock, admit that you screwed up, and you'll get the listeners back. Look at CBS-FM.

In the summer, there is almost a constant tropo enhancement for stations on the coast, as I can get WFPG all day 100 miles away from AC. That doesn't happen in the winter. In Atlantic City itself, I can hear the NYC stations including Pulse 87, as well as Ocean City/Salisbury and Norfolk/Virginia Beach on a daily basis.

 

[d21ofnj]

I can understand that "finally" quote but at the same time, there was already a "CHR" station in Monmouth before Now and Hit, and that's 94.3. I realize Hit is deeper into CHR and 94.3 is more Hot AC, but there was no need for another CHR, let alone launching a week earier than Now. Not to mention, Press must've known that another CHR was coming to be heard in this area. I know some people are not too fond of tuning in 95.9, but at least The Rat had an increase in ratings, and still barely supporting RXP. The main question is how long is it gonna take for Press to just swallow their pride, admit that they screwed up and bring back what was over 20 years in the making. This is dejavu from when Party 105 flipped to channelcast CHR back in 04 but brang Party back as dance and ADMITTED they screwed up live ON-AIR. And if Hit does get the plug pulled, then all the Hit 106 fans are simply gonna switch just like how most of G-Rock listeners jumped to The Rat. If Pres needed a CHR so bad, either flip back to 98.5, because that station is no Y107, or file for a new frequency.

 

[nd2023]

The Monmouth-Ocean ratings were released. Lowest ratings on the frequency in 2 years with a 1.3.
One of the dumbest format flips that ranks among CBS-FM going to Jack, Party 105 to "Party Hits Channel 105", Sunny 104.5 to Rumba.
Finally, you've got your own hit music station...to add to the last spot of your presets filled with 5 other hit music stations.

 

[SoulCrusher]

WRAT is clearly one of the winners in the latest Monmouth/Ocean ratings. Undoubtedly, they were beneficiaries of Press and their foolish decision to drop G Rock. I'm sure many former WHTG/WBBO listeners have jumped on board, but not me. The Rat's all about Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Aerosmith, overplayed early '90s grunge, and modern lunkhead rockers like Nickelback, Hinder and Saving Abel (right now they're playing Billy Squier ... ugh), and I'm not into any of that. But it's one of the less offensive stations around - at least they aren't playing Beyonce like pretty much everyone else. I knew the station was going to experience a ratings increase - the fact that they shot up so much without tweaking their format at all is even more impressive. Imagine how they would have done had they attempted to court alternative rock fans a bit more.

The other big story that we have yet to discuss here is WKMK (Country Thunder 98.5). Despite having a signal that only covers a small part of Monmouth County, it shot up two points in the latest book and is now fifth overall in the market. Maybe the increased advertising presence had something to do with its success, or possibly the new branding connected better with listeners than "Kountry With A K". I am even more surprised by the success of Country Thunder considering that most of its coverage area can also get WPUR (Cat Country 107.3) pretty strong as well.

WRFF (Radio 104.5) had a respectable showing for a Philadelphia station, also reflecting the dearth of an in-market Alternative station. Sure, with a playlist about half the size of G Rock's, limited listener interaction (no request line or all request shows to my knowledge), some baffling non-Alternative selections (The Fray, Black Crowes, Blues Traveler, 3 Doors Down, Peter Gabriel's Delilah staple "In Your Eyes") and a "Shut Up And Play The Music" attitude, it won't make you forget G Rock, but it's something that fulfills a need in the market, and the same can't be said about Hit 106. The station could be good if they dug a little deeper and didn't slam some overplayed Gold titles (no joke - recently I tuned in 104.5 on three separate occasions on different days, and within 15 minutes each time I heard The Offspring's "Self Esteem"), but it appears Clear Channel isn't interested in appealing to the dedicated fans of the Alternative format. The safe approach seems to be working for now, but if Radio 104.5 refuses to evolve, it won't stay that way.

WRXP remained stagnant, but it would be my station of choice if it came in well in Southern Ocean County. They have the variety that so many other rock stations lack, and they're not afraid to play The Smiths, Pixies, Replacements, etc. It might be musically unfocused, but at least it's never boring.

Everything that Press neglected to do with G Rock, they did with Hit 106 ... everything from full-page newspaper ads and those ubiquitous "FINALLY" billboards to outside-the-box sales strategies and frequent remotes. I saw a couple of billboards when G Rock Radio launched as a two-station broadcast in '05, and I know they did remotes occasionally, but nothing even approaching the level of what's going on with Hit 106. I had friends asking me what happened to G Rock's Ocean simulcast when it moved from 98.5 to 106.5, which tells you something about how ineffective Press was in getting the word out about the switch. Press can blame listeners all they want for G Rock's ratings, but the listeners had nothing to do with G Rock's lack of promotion, nothing to do with the decision to drop the popular morning show for one hosted by a friend of the General Manager at the time, and nothing to do with all the liberties taken with the format. If the executives at Press understood anything about alternative rock, they would have known that: a) mixing in the likes of Pink and Maroon 5 was a terrible idea, and b) the heavy trailer-park rock influence the station had upon the G Rock Radio launch was ill-advised, especially on the frequency that hosted one of the oldest commercial Alternative formats in the country. There's no question they lost a lot of listeners during this period, but the egos at Press are just too big for anyone to admit that they made mistakes. It took them six years to get to where they should have been from the beginning, but a lot of people had given up on the station at that point. Because of the lack of passion and enthusiasm for alternative rock on the part of Press executives, as well as their boneheaded decisions, the people of Monmouth/Ocean end up big losers. I hope an Alternative format gets another shot here eventually, and that these mistakes will NOT be repeated.

 

[RadioNation]

Simple as this : If Hit 106's rating remain in the low 1's by Jan 2010 - they have some splainin' to do to everyone: Listeners, Advertisers, their Employees. Would they ever admit a mistake??

But now I can see something else coming about in this whole situation - 106.3 / 106.5 turning Country. As much as I would not be happy with that - it would really fill a hole in the marketplace - and would most likely do extremely well in Monmouth/Ocean.

 

[d21ofnj]

Okay, maybe I was wrong about K....i mean "Thunder" and The Point had dropped as well. Even if Hit does go below 1, do you think Press will explain anything? Now that The Point tweaked their format, they are only .2 from Z, and since Now is higher than Hit, they might as surrender now and give up the CHR format.

 

[mjb1124]

With the combination of negative publicity due to angry listeners, plummeting ratings in spite of significantly increased promotion, and a big increase for what used to be their closest competitor, it is clear: Hit 106 is a big fat failure. No need to wait for another ratings book - throw in the towel right now and bring G Rock back.

 

[Slinky]

No need to wait for another ratings book - throw in the towel right now and bring G Rock back.

So trade a 1.3 for a 1.7? If anything, I think they'd put Country on 106.3/106.5. WKMK's monster numbers this book were a fluke, but even before this book, they were doing better than G-Rock. On a bigger signal, Thunder would be a consistent top 10 player. There's no way G-Rock is coming back to 106.3/106.5.

 

[nd2023]

No need to wait for another ratings book - throw in the towel right now and bring G Rock back.

So trade a 1.3 for a 1.7? If anything, I think they'd put Country on 106.3/106.5. WKMK's monster numbers this book were a fluke, but even before this book, they were doing better than G-Rock. On a bigger signal, Thunder would be a consistent top 10 player. There's no way G-Rock is coming back to 106.3/106.5.

98.5 in Ocean has 2 competitors: 92.5 and 107.3. There are no country stations around NYC.
Then what will they put on 98.5?
At least put G-Rock back on 98.5 if they flip 106.3/5 to country.
10 to 1 odds against Hit 106 lasting another year.

 

[Slinky]

98.5 in Ocean has 2 competitors: 92.5 and 107.3. There are no country stations around NYC.
Then what will they put on 98.5?
At least put G-Rock back on 98.5 if they flip 106.3/5 to country.
10 to 1 odds against Hit 106 lasting another year.

I don't think there's an audience for G-Rock where the 98.5 signal is. Not a lot of young males in Ocean County and WRAT already serves that demo.

If I were in control, I'd probably just do a straight switch- Thunder on 106.3/106.5 and Hit on 98.5.

98.5 does cover an area where no CHRs (or any other young female formats, for that matter) have strong signals. B98.5 didn't do that badly when it was on. It did better than Hit is doing right now, and about as good as the dual G-Rock signals in their final days.

 

[d21ofnj]

98.5 does cover an area where no CHRs (or any other young female formats, for that matter) have strong signals. B98.5 didn't do that badly when it was on. It did better than Hit is doing right now, and about as good as the dual G-Rock signals in their final days.

And there is where most of the numbers show. I stated earlier if Hit does get numbers, it's gonna be mostly from Ocean more than Monmouth. Back in the B98.5 days, Z1000 was already dead by the time you were near Seaside, and if B was still on 98.5, they WOULD indeed still get better #'s than Hit. 99.3 is already gone by the time you reached the Mile 60 mark on the Parkway.

 

[SoulCrusher]

98.5 in Ocean has 2 competitors: 92.5 and 107.3. There are no country stations around NYC.
Then what will they put on 98.5?
At least put G-Rock back on 98.5 if they flip 106.3/5 to country.
10 to 1 odds against Hit 106 lasting another year.

I don't think there's an audience for G-Rock where the 98.5 signal is. Not a lot of young males in Ocean County and WRAT already serves that demo.

If I were in control, I'd probably just do a straight switch- Thunder on 106.3/106.5 and Hit on 98.5.

98.5 does cover an area where no CHRs (or any other young female formats, for that matter) have strong signals. B98.5 didn't do that badly when it was on. It did better than Hit is doing right now, and about as good as the dual G-Rock signals in their final days.

I think young males "tolerate" WRAT rather than enjoy it. WRAT is a straight-ahead meat-and-potatoes AOR format that generally skews older. They play a ton of classic rock and they completely ignore rock edgier than, say, Breaking Benjamin or Three Days Grace. No Slipknot, System Of A Down, Korn, Static-X, etc. here. And they're only playing Mudvayne and Disturbed because both bands have songs that are very high on the rock charts right now. You watch - they'll be out of the rotation in a couple of months, while they keep on cranking out the same Nickelback/3 Doors Down/Saving Abel/Daughtry/Theory Of A Deadman over and over again.

If an Alternative station were to come back in some capacity on an Ocean County frequency, would it shoot right to the top in ratings? Probably not. But it's safe to say that if G Rock were to come back on 98.5, it would at least equal what it took Hit 106 two frequencies to attain. The fact is that Hit 106, while supposedly "mass appeal", plays a lot of music that adults find highly irritating - add to that the fact that there's already several other stations playing all the same exact songs that they're playing, and there's no need for it to exist.

It should be interesting to see if Country Thunder can continue to post strong ratings like these on just an Ocean County signal. I have long believed that the northern part of the market needed a Country station more than the southern, since we are well served by Cat Country. But since another station doing the same thing can perform so well, it speaks volumes about the market for country music out here. If Country Thunder has another good book, they should move it to 106.3/106.5. If not, they should bring back G Rock. This area deserves far better than just a classic rock station and an 80% classic rock station for the rock fans out here. Most people I know under 50 don't want to sit through cheese rock like Billy Squier, Aerosmith, Van Halen, and Bon Jovi (yes, I know they're from Jersey ... no, I don't care).

 

[d21ofnj]

If Thunder goes to 106.3/5, maybe hit can flip to dance on 98.5 and have 105.7 flip to alernative.

 

[nd2023]

If Thunder goes to 106.3/5, maybe hit can flip to dance on 98.5 and have 105.7 flip to alernative.

Yes, because South Jersey really needs another dance station in addition to the one they already have.

 

[d21ofnj]

If Thunder goes to 106.3/5, maybe hit can flip to dance on 98.5 and have 105.7 flip to alernative.

Yes, because South Jersey really needs another dance station in addition to the one they already have.

Why not? If there can be 15 CHR stations, why not 2 dance stations? Besides, Z88.9 doesn't really cover the shore

 

[JerseyShor]

99.3 is already gone by the time you reached the Mile 60 mark on the Parkway.

Totally untrue.

99.3 easily reaches up to exit 77 even on a crappy radio. A decent car radio can pull it up to exit 90.

Back when 99.3 was Hip Hop/Rap they used to have plenty of callers from Manahawkin, Lacey and Toms River. They also used to get pretty good ratings in the Ocean County breakdowns.

 

[JerseyShor]

I don't think there's an audience for G-Rock where the 98.5 signal is. Not a lot of young males in Ocean County and WRAT already serves that demo.

WRAT can't even be heard on a good car radio south of Exit 67, on your average crappy house radio you're lucky to get it south of Exit 82.

There's a very large chunk of Ocean County that WRAT does not serve.

 

[d21ofnj]

99.3 is already gone by the time you reached the Mile 60 mark on the Parkway.

Totally untrue.

99.3 easily reaches up to exit 77 even on a crappy radio. A decent car radio can pull it up to exit 90.

Back when 99.3 was Hip Hop/Rap they used to have plenty of callers from Manahawkin, Lacey and Toms River. They also used to get pretty good ratings in the Ocean County breakdowns.

Then it must've been a crappy day for WZBZ, it was around last month where I started to lose them on mile post 61.3