Big change at K-Rock ( PD/MD and GSM OUT )

[rapking]

WXRK ( 92.3 K-ROCK )/New York PD/MD Mike Tierney and GSM Steve Townsend have exited the station.

 

[neo11]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a format change soon after the new year, or perhaps coinciding with the end of Opie and Anthony's one year contract with them.

Would be interesting to see how many of K-Rock's listeners would migrate over to RXP if the station does flip.

 

[andreajesus]

at this point, it's ANYBODY's guess as to what's gonna happen at 92.3 and what they're gonna do with the frequency - and with radio industry veteran Moire Mason becoming GSM... ???

 

[erwin33]

Maybe a flip to a more K-ROCK2 format or a replace from this HD2 format to FM.

 

[neo11]

Turning K-Rock 2 into...K-Rock 1 would be pretty fantastic. If anything, I feel it would be worth a try. It'll attract those young demos they want, and may even steal what few listeners RXP has. But something tells me this is just wishful thinking.

 

[lalumia]

MC 5, Stooges and The New York Dolls....that's the ticket...yeah,bay-beeee,YEAH!

 

[neo11]

MC 5, Stooges and The New York Dolls....that's the ticket...yeah,bay-beeee,YEAH!

Yes, that's the ticket to even lower ratings.

 

[TonySantiago]

Why do I NOT see rock as part of the future here?

My educated guess would be that the station totally implodes by year end, then comes in with new call letters and a new format.
I know these type of stations didn't do well on PPM but if 92.3 would go "urban" or another Spanish oriented format, don't be shocked.

 

[neo11]

I doubt CBS will choose to go urban; that landscape is already pretty cluttered here in NY. CHR, however, might make sense, to take on Z100. However, for such a format to succeed against Z100, it would require $$$ to invest in marketing, promotions, and most importantly, personalities. I don't see that happening either.

 

[andreajesus]

you know, these kinda discussions ALWAYS amaze me - 'cos it's like all of us "armchair programmers" ALWAYS try to figure WHAT the management of a radio station's gonna do and what's gonna happen - and then the radio station ends up surprising ALL of us, INCLUDING me....but it's ALWAYS fun to "banter" back and forth about this stuff....but that's just MY opinion...

Andrea
("Disco 92" Part 2?? Stranger things have happened in NY radio in the last 18 months... ???)

 

[neo11]

("Disco 92" Part 2?? Stranger things have happened in NY radio in the last 18 months... ???)

I seriously, seriously doubt that will happen. In fact, CBS tried that already, with Mix 102.7, and even though the station sounded good (IMO), it lost the ratings war to KTU. Not to mention that it would compete with CBS-FM, which already plays some of the music of that genre in its rotation (or did, before it went all-Xmas! ).

 

[housemusic]

they should have blown out anyone involved in that bs of a station. the people and energy inside needs to change positively before the format and revenue get better. why keep the gm if the station did so poorly. btw, what is she so famous for?

 

[MarcR]

Why do I NOT see rock as part of the future here?

My educated guess would be that the station totally implodes by year end, then comes in with new call letters and a new format.
I know these type of stations didn't do well on PPM but if 92.3 would go "urban" or another Spanish oriented format, don't be shocked.

I think I read in the New York Times a while back that the Hispanic share of New York City's population has declined in this decade, so I doubt there'd be another Spanish-language format (I personally would riot in the streets if there's yet another Spanish-language format. ;D)
As for Urban, I think the Hip Hop genre, after years of steep declines in album sales, is a burnt out force, and that even New York City can only sustain two stations of that type.
Since Rock music still resonates with the desirable demographic ofyoung males, I don't anticipate a format change.

 

[neo11]

Since Rock music still resonates with the desirable demographic ofyoung males, I don't anticipate a format change.

It is plausible that rock will remain on 92.3, but I don't think the specific type of rock that K-Rock plays resonates with the young male demographic. If O&A aren't renewed, things will only get worse for the station if it remains as is musically.

 

[MarcR]

Since Rock music still resonates with the desirable demographic ofyoung males, I don't anticipate a format change.

It is plausible that rock will remain on 92.3, but I don't think the specific type of rock that K-Rock plays resonates with the young male demographic. If O&A aren't renewed, things will only get worse for the station if it remains as is musically.

My guess is you'll hear even more dinosaur Rock on K-Rock rather than any experimentation with Alternative/K-Rock 2 type music. There's an outside chance though that management becomes so desperate that they might indeed experiment with something different (Z-100 did back in the early '90s when the market for good pop music dried up), but I doubt it.

 

[andreajesus]

("Disco 92" Part 2?? Stranger things have happened in NY radio in the last 18 months... ???)

I seriously, seriously doubt that will happen. In fact, CBS tried that already, with Mix 102.7, and even though the station sounded good (IMO), it lost the ratings war to KTU. Not to mention that it would compete with CBS-FM, which already plays some of the music of that genre in its rotation (or did, before it went all-Xmas! ).

1) Like I said before, stranger things have happened in NY radio over the past 18 months
2) The "music of that genre" is STILL available at www.wcbsfm.com (on their HD-2 channel)
3) (this bears repeating) - like i said before, stranger things have happened in NY radio over the past 18 months
4) (FULL disclosure here - when Mix 102.7 was around, i checked out their Classic Dance weekend Memorial Day 2006 - it was a reunion of Classic DJs playing "dance" music from different eras - you had guys like Ray Rossi, Paco, some dude named Joe Causi--whatever happened to him?? , and Bobby Jay, just to name a few. It was GREAT 'cos you got to hear the same stuff from each DJ that you heard from them back in the day; LOVED hearing Bobby that weekend-Saturday he was doing a LOT of Motown, 60's R&B;oh, man it was GREAT; Sunday he was doing love songs-SWEET!! :-* It was a weekend that this ex-Disco 92 fan will NEVER forget - for a LOT of reasons!! )

Andrea

 

[AnimatronicAbeLincoln]

CBS is doing FM-AM simulcasts in at least a couple of markets - Detroit, San Francisco... maybe more but I know for sure those two. The idea of simulcasting one of your AMs on an FM is starting to take hold - it's going in in Seattle, DC, Phoenix, Salt Lake, Denver...

It would make total economic sense to flip 92.3 to a simulcast of WFAN... and as a side-benefit you get on FM where the younger demos are.

 

[neo11]

Since Rock music still resonates with the desirable demographic ofyoung males, I don't anticipate a format change.

It is plausible that rock will remain on 92.3, but I don't think the specific type of rock that K-Rock plays resonates with the young male demographic. If O&A aren't renewed, things will only get worse for the station if it remains as is musically.

My guess is you'll hear even more dinosaur Rock on K-Rock rather than any experimentation with Alternative/K-Rock 2 type music. There's an outside chance though that management becomes so desperate that they might indeed experiment with something different (Z-100 did back in the early '90s when the market for good pop music dried up), but I doubt it.

That really is my guess too, regardless of whether I think it's a good idea or not. Going back to the previous incarnation of K-Rock and the "Great Rock Period" era, CBS Radio seems to have a love affair with the dino rock.

1) Like I said before, stranger things have happened in NY radio over the past 18 months
2) The "music of that genre" Smiley is STILL available at www.wcbsfm.com (on their HD-2 channel)

Stranger things may have happened, but I don't think CBS will go back to that format with CBS-FM also on the air. There's really a lot of overlap between the two. As remote a possibility as it also is, I think you're more likely to see the return of Jack than to see the return of Mix 102.7.

An AM-FM simulcast seems to be a strong possibility. It certainly is the cheapest option. But while it will save money and expose the AM station (e.g. WFAN) to younger demos (although I firmly believe that the young demos that are really interested already know where to find such stations), the opportunity cost is the added revenue you're *not* getting, potentially, by having a separate station on FM. In other words, what's being added to the AM station's revenue by the FM simulcast may be less than what an entirely different station would bring in on FM, assuming that it is successful of course.

 

[andreajesus]

no, no, no, dude, what i was referring to with my "stranger things have happened...." comment was the 92.3FM frequency going BACK to "Disco 92" (for the young 'uns on this Board, "Disco 92" was the format that was on the 92.3 frequency from about 1976 to 1985 - before that, it was known as "Mellow 92" and had guys like Randy Place and Dave Mallow(?) working there.....) right before the switchover to rock in 1985, Dan Ingram was doing afternoons there as well...

Andrea

 

[neo11]

I got that, and I'm aware that 92.3 was once Disco 92. My point is that I don't see CBS Radio putting on a disco/classic dance format on 92.3, because a) they've done it before and it didn't work out, and b) it would be too similar to a lot of what CBS-FM plays on 101.1 (and would even possibly eat into Fresh's numbers a bit). I also don't think they care that 92.3 was the home of disco 25-30 years ago...that's hardly "heritage."