Alt 92.3

[davideduardo]

Especially since most of the requests come from the same people week after week.

... after week after week after...

Of course, "back in the day" we had to put up with the teen fan clubs who would mob-attack the phones to make every release by their favorite artists seem like a hit.

And the "listener" who calls for you to play the same song that is just fading out as the call comes in.

There was nothing fictitious about the movie "Play Misty for Me". Nearly all of us have had an obsessive listener-fan-psycho.

And the radio truism: the sexier they sound, the uglier they are. (And female DJs got the same kinds of calls too, so this is not sexist!)

 

[Kelly A]

Probably. My point is, the alt-pop stuff like "Mood" has been dialed down as of late.

Do doubt because it's not testing as well.

 

[tall_guy1]

No station is going to program for hundreds of thousands of listeners based on a few phone calls or email or text requests.

Stations in a market that big do music tests with a carefully recruited sample and an extensive list of songs to test.

It's owned by steel city media though, which is a more family run business, so I don't know if that affects it at all.

 

[davideduardo]

It's owned by steel city media though, which is a more family run business, so I don't know if that affects it at all.

Even smaller groups who have major market stations do research. That is the only way to remain competitive.

 

[MVB13]

I called 92.3 today. I got on the radio lol I was excited I asked them if they could play Dave Matthew's Band they said they see what they could do. They cut out me asking if they could play Dave Matthew's Band and played The offspring for the 90th time.

 

[tvk5195]

I called 92.3 today. I got on the radio lol I was excited I asked them if they could play Dave Matthew's Band they said they see what they could do. They cut out me asking if they could play Dave Matthew's Band and played The offspring for the 90th time.

Some of the best radio stations are in smaller towns far away from tight playlists and corporate algorithms. Ithaca NY has a great locally owned alternative station you may like. Thanks to the internet you no longer need to be within range to listen to a radio station.

 

[davideduardo]

Some of the best radio stations are in smaller towns far away from tight playlists and corporate algorithms. I

That statement is loaded with both personal opinion and conjecture.

The difference between larger markets and small ones can be reduced to a couple of points:

• Stations in small markets have less revenue and can't spend to find out the audience's consensus opinions.
• There is a greater tendency in small markets for the person doing music selection to employ personal taste.
• There is less competition so listeners have to accept what is offered (only now, with streaming, they don't).

If your personal taste matches that of the programmer, then you are in luck. Otherwise, you are in the inverse group... SOL.

 

[TheBigA]

Some of the best radio stations are in smaller towns far away from tight playlists and corporate algorithms.

Although what's starting to happen is those smaller towns are getting their music from various national syndicators.

Some distribute by satellite, and some by internet.

 

[Barry]

Though AAA rather than Alternative, WXPK 107.1 (The Peak) in White Plains seems to fit the category of being a station in a smaller town "away from tight playlists and corporate algorithms." They have a very broad playlist of currents and classic rock. The Peak also plays deep cuts of classic rock songs, and far more currents than the AAA channel on satellite radio. They also play emerging and local artists.
I wonder whether they do research, or is their playlist mostly up to the MD? They carry mostly local advertisers, so they apparently don't need to be concerned about agency buys.
I never find the station boring.

 

[theman8410]

Also regarding 107.1 The Peak- I love the 10 @ 10 and the fact that you can listen on Sunday to all of the past weeks 10 @ 10's back-to-back. In addition they try to make each 10 songs relevant to the particular month we are in at the time, not just repeating the same 10 songs every time they feature a certain year. Then at the end of each 10 songs Jimmy Fink gives an interesting recap of all the music, commercials and promos he played.

 

[tvk5195]

That statement is loaded with both personal opinion and conjecture.

The difference between larger markets and small ones can be reduced to a couple of points:

• Stations in small markets have less revenue and can't spend to find out the audience's consensus opinions.
• There is a greater tendency in small markets for the person doing music selection to employ personal taste.
• There is less competition so listeners have to accept what is offered (only now, with streaming, they don't).

If your personal taste matches that of the programmer, then you are in luck. Otherwise, you are in the inverse group... SOL.

I knew what worked in small markets doesn't always work in large markets like NYC. I appreciate your points that provide more detail to back this.

 

[MVB13]

Also regarding 107.1 The Peak- I love the 10 @ 10 and the fact that you can listen on Sunday to all of the past weeks 10 @ 10's back-to-back. In addition they try to make each 10 songs relevant to the particular month we are in at the time, not just repeating the same 10 songs every time they feature a certain year. Then at the end of each 10 songs Jimmy Fink gives an interesting recap of all the music, commercials and promos he played.

I like 107.1 The Peak I think their station overall has awesome music. I wish their signal was better though. I can't get it where I am in NJ.

 

[ksradiogeek]

I called 92.3 today. I got on the radio lol I was excited I asked them if they could play Dave Matthew's Band they said they see what they could do. They cut out me asking if they could play Dave Matthew's Band and played The offspring for the 90th time.

You know that DMB hasn’t had an alt hit since about 20 years ago, right? I like their music, but the band is largely irrelevant...you don’t really hear them on alt except for a flashback program, and even rarely at that. They’re better off being on AAA. The Offspring has more relevancy because they still test well among the core alt audience (and still make new music, though mostly on the active side now).

 

[MarkW]

About three times what the country format got.

...and that's *still* pretty darn bad!

Just goes to show that the billing of New Country 94-7 was outrageously dreadful.

The fact that K-Rock faltered without Howard Stern should speak for the viability of Active Rock. Hell, even 92.3 NOW, 92.3 Amp Radio, and Alt 92.3 lasted longer than the second iteration of K-Rock.

The second iteration of K-Rock was an abysmally programmed station from a music standpoint. CBS at the time was seemingly incapable of programming rock radio properly other than its legacy classic rock stations & arguably KROQ out in L.A.

The current day Alt 92.3 is also a poorly programmed station.

The best sounding station from a music standpoint, in my opinion, was New Rock 101.9, which is the format that immediately preceded WFAN-FM. Pretty ironic considering that station's only purpose in life was that of a placeholder until the station could be divested. I believe New Rock 101.9 peaked at about a 2.5 share.

 

[kevtronics]

You know that DMB hasn’t had an alt hit since about 20 years ago, right?

Their last Alternative Airplay hit was "Funny the Way It Is" in 2009. But they've always been more of a Triple A and Hot AC group than Alternative (Rock).

 

[luperm]

That statement is loaded with both personal opinion and conjecture.

It actually translates to "the station does not play what I personally want to hear at all times."

 

[Least]

They've definitely moved away from the alt-pop sound from a year ago where it was all '00s to now alt-pop in favor of more heavy 90s/00s gold. While they're "worn out" songs, it sounds like they're trying a little bit to fix the problem. For example, I no longer hear them play things like 24k "Mood", but I hear things like "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins.

Over in the Boston thread, I've been beating a drum with my perception of burn out from 90s alt-rock. In the case of WNYL, hasn't the 90s Alt-rock failed in two incarnations of that station as WXRK? Sure, they played well in the early 2000s as they were newer then, but once Stern left, they immediately flipped the station to talk radio. Then after bringing it back to rock a second time, the station again failed to draw in ratings, causing it to flip to CHR. So, how is relying on Nirvana/Foo Fighters, Blink 182, The Offspring, and so on (all bands that I personally like) going to help the station in its current Alternative format?

We don't know what the modern dominant Alternative sound is as of now, but how is WNYL leaning on songs that were partially part of a playlist that failed to sustain the station in two runs as K-Rock (unless Howard Stern was involved) going to result any different this time, as the songs are even more burnt out now?

 

[TheBigA]

We don't know what the modern dominant Alternative sound is as of now,

That's the problem, and that's why radio goes back to the era when it was clear what the sound is.

 

[Least]

That's the problem, and that's why radio goes back to the era when it was clear what the sound is.

Where I don't debate that, this particular station failed twice at formats that included those exact same songs. In fact, a main reason it was successful when said music was new, was due to the station's nationally syndicated morning show, which didn't even play songs when it was on, during that era.

I just think a third go at something that already failed twice on that station isn't quite sound.

 

[davideduardo]

We don't know what the modern dominant Alternative sound is as of now...

That is not really the issue. What we do know is that Alt partisans are split into multiple sub-groups, with only moderate commonality. There is no longer a "one size fits all" situation, and each fragment of current or recent music is too small to sustain a station.