Another new Cox translator for Greenville?

[awp69]

^ That's interesting, because "Settle Down" just peaked at #19.  I didn't think it was their best work, but it was good to hear them back together again.  Good to know!

Yeah, was kind of a surprising pick to me as well. I actually hadn't even heard it before and was surprised to see that it even had charted on Alternative. Prefer their early stuff as well. But won't complain about the fact that they at least slipped this into their playlist.

I've been getting annoyed at some of the FB posts regarding bands like Fun. Yes, they're way overplayed and I'm not really a huge fan, but the last thing I want is for X to turn into another Active Rock station so I'll take Fun. any day over the hard crap that The Planet plays. I know a lot of "rock" fans in this area don't really understand what "alternative" really means, but if it's all screeching electric guitars they want, they can have The Planet.

Don't know why I get so defensive. Guess it's just the lack of an alternative station in the area makes me not want to lose it or turn into something like The Planet.

 

[carolinaradio]

The only time I remember hearing it was on Channel 96.1 and MY for a little while back in the summer.

A lot of these complaints are illustrative of the divide with rock radio, and why (IMO) a lot of rock stations struggle. Excluding Classic Rock, there seems to be such a divide with "new rock" fans. I remember when WRXP in NYC came back for a while, it seemed like they couldn't please anybody. Some people wanted harder, some more active, some more AAA-type stuff, etc. The audience is so fragmented in many markets that it becomes impossible for the station to be able to appeal to a broad enough audience to stay on the air. There are just so many different kinds of rock, and sounds, I guess, as opposed to Country, Urban, etc.

I have mixed feelings about Alternative crossovers being so big on CHR and Hot AC. Since I listen to all 3 formats, it gets kinda old. I also wonder if these bands like Fun., Foster The People, Imagine Dragons, Gotye, etc. will "sell out" to even more of a CHR-friendly sound in order to get more widespread airplay if/when they release sophomore albums.

 

[awp69]

I have mixed feelings about Alternative crossovers being so big on CHR and Hot AC.  Since I listen to all 3 formats, it gets kinda old.  I also wonder if these bands like Fun., Foster The People, Imagine Dragons, Gotye, etc. will "sell out" to even more of a CHR-friendly sound in order to get more widespread airplay if/when they release sophomore albums.

They get old to me as well, but guess I just prefer to have Alternative rock stay on a course where it's not sharing so much with Active Rock. It's been mentioned on the Alternative boards how much the Active/Alternative became so similar. But at least at this point, there's very little crossover between those rock charts. Guess I'd rather have Alternative cross over to CHR than hard rock that doesn't belong on Alternative at all (IMO). I think a lot of the crossover to CHR is just a phase, where sort of more jangly, crunchy alternative is hot right now. Nirvana and Pearl Jam had a good amount of CHR airplay during their time as well.

What's kind of ironic too is that before we got an Alternative station, I actually was liking the fact that there was Hot AC and CHR (more so on Channel 96.1 at the time) crossover because it was the only way I was going to hear those songs locally.

I still laugh at the fact that a song like Nine Inch Nail's "Closer" was HUGE even on B93.7. Now they wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

 

[upstate29651]

The only time I remember hearing it was on Channel 96.1 and MY for a little while back in the summer.

A lot of these complaints are illustrative of the divide with rock radio, and why (IMO) a lot of rock stations struggle. Excluding Classic Rock, there seems to be such a divide with "new rock" fans. I remember when WRXP in NYC came back for a while, it seemed like they couldn't please anybody. Some people wanted harder, some more active, some more AAA-type stuff, etc. The audience is so fragmented in many markets that it becomes impossible for the station to be able to appeal to a broad enough audience to stay on the air. There are just so many different kinds of rock, and sounds, I guess, as opposed to Country, Urban, etc.

I have mixed feelings about Alternative crossovers being so big on CHR and Hot AC. Since I listen to all 3 formats, it gets kinda old. I also wonder if these bands like Fun., Foster The People, Imagine Dragons, Gotye, etc. will "sell out" to even more of a CHR-friendly sound in order to get more widespread airplay if/when they release sophomore albums.

Active rock is an offshoot of 90's Alternative. This is the reason why you hear a lot of active gold & current active artists on alternative radio. What I wanna know is who decided that alternative should take a more CHR/Hot AC - friendly approach? That's my biggest issue with alternative radio today. Godsmack segues into Fun. into gold Metallica into Gotye. THIS is the current state of alternative radio...and it's a trainwreck!

G

 

[awp69]

Active rock is an offshoot of 90's Alternative.  This is the reason why you hear a lot of active gold & current active artists on alternative radio.  What I wanna know is who decided that alternative should take a more CHR/Hot AC - friendly approach?  That's my biggest issue with alternative radio today. Godsmack segues into Fun. into gold Metallica into Gotye.  THIS is the current state of alternative radio...and it's a trainwreck!

G

I guess I see it the other way around. Fun. and Gotye crossed over to CHR. It wasn't Alternative becoming more CHR friendly. And a true Alternative station doesn't play things like Godsmack and Metallica. That's active rock and you'll hear them on The Planet but they aren't played on X98.5 -- nor should they be.

If you go back to the real roots of Alternative in the late '80s with stations like WHFS in Washington, DC, there really wasn't much of anything that comes close to "hard rock". It was things like R.E.M., The Cure, U2, The Smiths, New Order, 10000 Maniacs mixed in with things like earlier New Wave, reggae and, yes, some punk but not metal. Metallica was around back then too, but you wouldn't hear them on early alternative stations. Grunge exploded and alternative rode the ride, but it didn't start out that way. To me what you see on the Alternative charts is closer to what it used to be. It's not all Fun. and Gotye either. It's also more electronic groups like M83.

To me Fun. and Gotye (neither of which are my favorites by the way) sounded off beat when they first came to the scene. I REALLY don't think either group would have succeeded if it wasn't for Alternative radio. That sound wasn't what I would call CHR-friendly, particularly at a time when CHR was going more and more rythmnic.

I like the distinction between Active and Alternative rock. To me, Five Finger Death Punch does not belong on Alternative. Just like Fun. doesn't belong in the same playlist either. If you look at The Planet and X98.5, the only overlap you really even see is the '90s alternative, particularly grunge. Yes, some cities have stations that try to balance both. But personally, I think that's a setup for failure because they really are quite different. I'm not a fan of head-banging music. But I am a fan of new rock that isn't just screaming guitars. Just because CHR picked up some of the bands doesn't mean it wasn't "alternative" at the time they first came out.  They were.

As I mentioned before, this isn't like it hasn't happened before. You can't tell me that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Jeremy" weren't played on CHR. They were.

 

[awp69]

^^ Wanted to clarify after looking at past charts that "Jeremy" was a bad example of grunge crossover. But Pearl Jam did have other CHR hits like "Yellow Ledbetter".

Ironically, I was saying yesterday on X's FB page that I was impressed with the sound of the station this week and mentioned there seemed to be less grunge. Must have jinxed myself because they played Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains in the space of about 40 minutes this afternoon. Oh well, they still are sounding good overall. Liking some of the new songs, like Capital Cities' "Safe and Sound".

 

[carolinaradio]

^ That's really a shame. I just can't take Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains. STP are OK. I have a feeling the grunge is just not going to go away, unfortunately. I don't understand how that stuff can apparently test better than the more non-grunge stuff from the 90s like I have been mentioning. I don't think grunge (or even a lot of post-grunge) has stood the test of time very well.

I will add that I think the CHR stations are to blame for the "CHR-ization" of Alternative - not the Alternative stations. I agree. The CHR's latched on to songs that were recorded for Alternative radio.

I thought this was interesting: http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/80586/97x-tampa-gets-crowdsourced-jockless/ - looks like it might sound pretty good. If Cox ever unloads X-98.5, if it was to a smaller company, perhaps they would broaden the playlist to add better 90s variety.

 

[awp69]

I thought this was interesting: http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/80586/97x-tampa-gets-crowdsourced-jockless/ - looks like it might sound pretty good. If Cox ever unloads X-98.5, if it was to a smaller company, perhaps they would broaden the playlist to add better 90s variety.

Does look like an interesting experiment, but sounds like it's a trainwreck right now as far as what I've seen on their website. It'll be fun to see how it evolves. Don't think something like would work in Greenville. I'm all for listening to listener input, but can just see all the bickering on the social sites now about it.

 

[vchimpanzee]

There should be some rule that Fun. never end a sentence, to prevent confusion.

 

[awp69]

Whatever becomes of this station, and I hope it sticks around, you can't say it's for the lack of effort. I've been impressed with the amount of attention Cox is putting into the station, like this week's addition of news and weather in the morning. Particularly when they're trying to unload their Greenville stations, they certainly seem to care about the success of this station (which is more than can be said of other half-assed efforts like MY's flip).

Of course, while they're waiting for a sale, they want to make money. But with the use of the translator, they could have just thrown whatever they wanted on there and took whatever profit they could get with little to no effort.

Hope that if/when they do sell their GSP stations that effort will payoff in the buyer wanting to maintain the format on the signal.

 

[freqdev]

if you are selling your house you paint and clean and trim. i guess it is the same in radio when you dress up the station. curb appeal

 

[carolinaradio]

Whatever becomes of this station, and I hope it sticks around, you can't say it's for the lack of effort. I've been impressed with the amount of attention Cox is putting into the station, like this week's addition of news and weather in the morning. Particularly when they're trying to unload their Greenville stations, they certainly seem to care about the success of this station (which is more than can be said of other half-assed efforts like MY's flip).

Of course, while they're waiting for a sale, they want to make money. But with the use of the translator, they could have just thrown whatever they wanted on there and took whatever profit they could get with little to no effort.

Hope that if/when they do sell their GSP stations that effort will payoff in the buyer wanting to maintain the format on the signal.

According to the NYC board, they are definitely going to go through with selling these stations, most likely to a smaller company. I had been wondering what the status was. Cox is a good company that seems to value localization (compare this to "The Road"). Hopefully, since a smaller company is more than likely to buy them, they will also.

It's good to see they put the effort in to curb appeal. You don't even see that everywhere these days. While I don't agree with some of the older music choices, the presentation as a whole is very good and small things like news and weather do make a difference. I think this station is doing well so far. 97.7 did not get the numbers it's getting overnight. I think they can at least get a 1.5-2.0 in 6+ as it becomes more established, and I think that would be decent enough to keep it around.

 

[awp69]

According to the NYC board, they are definitely going to go through with selling these stations, most likely to a smaller company. I had been wondering what the status was.

What thread are they talking about that in? Looked through the NYC board, but couldn't find it. Just be curious to keep tabs on any news on that front.

 

[carolinaradio]

According to the NYC board, they are definitely going to go through with selling these stations, most likely to a smaller company. I had been wondering what the status was.

What thread are they talking about that in? Looked through the NYC board, but couldn't find it. Just be curious to keep tabs on any news on that front.

http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=227573.msg2047058#msg2047058

Not a lot of discussion about this sale, per se, but it is still on. I was under the impression they might have changed their plans since we haven't heard anything.

 

[awp69]

Thanks for the link.

BTW, keep missing who sings the song "Hero" they're now playing. While my stance still stands that groups like Fun., Gotye, Imagine Dragons and Grouplove belonged on Alternative because they were different and probably never would have made it to CHR, this is probably the first song that I'm thinking should not have been pushed to Alternative. It's way too slow and just feels like an acoustic ballad that belongs on CHR/AC. Maybe it's a single by a traditionally alt group that I'm not familiar with?

That aside I do love that they've thrown in a bunch of new singles over the past two weeks by groups I had never heard of. And all of them seem to affirm their commitment to being an true alternative station and not an Active Rock station so that makes me happy. 

 

[carolinaradio]

That song's by a group called Family Of The Year. Wikipedia says they're "Americana", "Indie", and "Folk." It's like #20 something on the Alternative chart this week.

I like it a lot, but it is kinda out of place. That's nothing, though, compared to Alternative adding CHR songs....I know 97X in Tampa was playing Phillip Phillips' "Home" before their change last week - I think it's just a joke to add a song that's being burned to death on AC and CHR to an Alternative format. I am unfamiliar with any songs that have crossed from CHR to Alternative in the past, but I haven't always followed charts.

The new stuff makes up for the (IMO) somewhat poor gold library.

 

[awp69]

That song's by a group called Family Of The Year.  Wikipedia says they're "Americana", "Indie", and "Folk."  It's like #20 something on the Alternative chart this week.

I like it a lot, but it is kinda out of place.  That's nothing, though, compared to Alternative adding CHR songs....I know 97X in Tampa was playing Phillip Phillips' "Home" before their change last week - I think it's just a joke to add a song that's being burned to death on AC and CHR to an Alternative format.  I am unfamiliar with any songs that have crossed from CHR to Alternative in the past, but I haven't always followed charts.

The new stuff makes up for the (IMO) somewhat poor gold library.

Yeah, I kind of the song too. Guess even though I always harp on the fact that Alternative should include softer rock and even alternative country (like Wilco), just seemed a bit too soft with the rest of the mix. Bigger breakouts like Of Monsters & Men and Mumford & Sons are pretty folksy themselves, though.

When "Home" first came out on CHR, I actually thought it sounded like something that could have started on Alternative. But I agree that I don't like it when it's the other way around. Songs that already are big due to repetitive airplay on CHR shouldn't be played on Alternative as they really aren't "alternative" at that point. The groups I named were alternative and had a unique sound at the time .... and hadn't been beaten to death when they first started out on alt stations.

 

[KyleSmith1988]

I wonder if Cox is still planning to move 107.3's transmitter to the WMYA-TV tower soon.
It would solve all the reception problems & HD for the eastern part of the Upstate.

Also 94.1 would then be allowed to legally move closer to downtown Spartanburg
where it needs to be, still very spotty in most parts of Spartanburg on 94.1.

A CP to move 107.3 was granted back on October 11, 2012.

I also see that 98.1 has a new Application (Pending CP) to move to 107.3's current tower
Downgrading to a Class C1 with a Directional antenna, 70% null to the Northeast.
Guess that explains the COL change to Williamston.

 

[awp69]

Other than carolinaradio, probably no one else cares, but X has really been on the ball lately with new music -- actually adding songs before they even break the top 20 on the alt charts, which sometimes seemed to be the case with them maybe playing it safe. New singles from Muse ("Panic Station"), Paramore("Now") and The Airborne Toxic Event ("Timeless") are getting spun (very nice to be hearing Paramore) And not sure if the survey had much to do with it, but there seems to be an overall decrease in songs that are closer to the active rock side.

Still could use a little shaking up with any '90s alt as far as grunge vs. other hits from the era, but that may be because they're leaning even heavier on recent music. Yesterday I heard three current/recurrents in a row, which was unusual as they usually spaced "new" songs out to every three or four songs.

I like the way they're evolving.

 

[carolinaradio]

Yeah, I was just wondering what happened to Paramore a while back. It's been several years since they've had anything new that was notable.

I don't think there's enough of a shortage in Alternative stuff to need the Active Rock. Once again, if there's a shortage and they feel a need to have to include Active Rock, I'd play more older stuff from the 90s. I still think the 90s was the golden decade for Alternative rock. I don't know why they play the same post-grunge (I like some p-g, but not much) from the 90s over and over. There is SO MUCH stuff from that decade to play. 90s Alternative overall was the best, IMO. There's good stuff out now, definitely, but not at the level the format was at back then. I do think this decade has been better than 2000-2010 so far, definitely, though. Almost a lost decade, somewhat, for Alt., especially the middle-latter part of the decade.