Let's clarify and get a reality check
> > You're missing the point Boston isnt NYC, or LA, or even
> > HArtfod for that matter, not a hotbed of hip hop culture
> and
> > those who truly live it arent listening to the radio,
> theyre
> > trading mix tapes. That said Jamn does exceptionally well,
>
> > in their demo actually better than Kiss a lot of the time
> > and you must remember that ten years ago before they
> signed
> > on there was NOTHING even Urban (Wild doesnt count, am,
> > daytimer, whatever) and WERS served as the only place to
> > hear anything even close to hip hop. The Theory was that
> > Boston didnt have enough blacks to support a hip hop or
> even
> > a mainstream URBAN station, the same guys in suits who
> > thought that blacks were the only ones that listen to hip
> > hop are the ones that have madethe Jack format necessary
> > because they have over thought and over programmed every
> > other format to the point where people have tuned out.
> >
> > So the fact that Jamn is on the air and throwing up huge
> > numbers should be put in context. they mix the old library
>
> > stuff with the new stuff that some other stations have
> been
> > bangin' for a few months now because that formula works in
>
> > this city. Cadillac Jack Jamn's PD knows what he's doing
> and
> > knows more than most, why do you think Hot 97 in NYC tried
>
> > to hire him a few times?....... He turned them down.
> >
> > THAT's Gangsta!
> >
>
> I gotta disagree with you here on a couple of things. First
> off, I absolutely agree with TJ and Edbealtherapking. For a
> large market, Boston's examples of CHR and CHR/Rhythmic are
> truly lame. Hartford's stations ARE better, not to mention
> NY, Philly, etc., etc.
>
> Jamn gets huge numbers because they are IT! There is
> nowhere else for most listeners to go. WBOT still has too
> weak of a signal to provide decent suburban penetration and
> Boston is a suburban market. Boston proper is a tiny
> percentage of the population (unlike New York, for example),
> most listeners are in the 'burbs. And, Hot is too weak to
> get much play - or even awareness.
>
> Kiss 108 plays a lot of older songs and skews very "soccer
> mom". The ultimate problem here is that Clear Channel owns
> both outlets and "tailor" them to get the ad dollars. To do
> this, they run each one pretty conservatively. Only
> recently has Jamn gone a little more R&B and that's because
> of Hot 97-7's move to Blue Hill. They still play a lot of
> out of date music and are slow with the new stuff. That
> Hartford hears new songs before Boston does is a travesty!
> And, the same can be said of Tampa or Louisville or even
> Oklahoma City. All have better choices for fans of urban or
> hip hop music (or even CHR) than Boston does.
>
> One more thing: this BS of "Boston is a white market" is a
> load of crap. Hip hop permeates the entire youth culture.
> People like what they like and urban contemporary music is
> pretty hot right now all over the place. Your comment
> reflects thinking that is 20 years out of date. Even where
> I live in New Hampshire, white kids aren't blaring Jethro
> Tull out those speakers anymore. No, it's artists like
> Ludacris or .50 that they're playing.
>
> There are no more real "rock towns" left. It's why WAAF's
> ratings suck, WBCN's ratings (outside of Stern and the Pats)
> suck, and even WZLX's ratings aren't great. The days are
> long gone where WBCN or WAAF was the "official station" of
> high schoolers. Today it's JAMN - because everyone else has
> forfeited the title.
>
> Musical tastes have changed and Boston radio is not keeping
> up.
>
Ok while I applaud your obvious enthusiasm for hip hop, you're wrong on so many levels!
1. jamn doesnt do as well as they do because they are "IT" (he only game in town), that means nothing if they weren't doing it well for the market that they are in. So many stations were/are the only ones doing what they're doing but that does not assure ratings suucess. 96.9 is the only FM talk station in town, Star was "IT" (the only dance station in town) but it didnt work. Being the only one in town is not a guarantee that the station will have listeners just because there is not another station playing the same music, Star is the example that refutes your argument. True they were not a true dance chr either they were a gold based ryhtmic AC but I think the point still remains.
2. You completely misunderstood what I said about Boston being apredominantly white market, what I said was that before Jamn signed on the conventional wisdom for there not being an URBAN station in town was that there were not enought ethnics, that was an answer given by the late Sunny Joe White (rest his soul) on a panel at a radio convention when he was still PD of Kiss. I did not say that I agreed with that idea, and you are right hip hop does cross lines and permeate the entire youth culture...NOW, TODAY, not then by any stretch of the imagination. I have on several occaisions posted that hip hop IS the new rock in the sense that it is the dominant movement in youth culture, we agree on the point even though you obviously ha dnot read mypost very carefully. The truth is most hip hop/rap music is purchased by white suburban kids more so than anyone else but that doesnt change the fact that the eason why Boston never had even a full time, full Urban signal before the year that Jamn signe don was because the perception of programmers was that there was not a large enough black population to support such a station, in other words they didn't know that whites would tune in as well. Their thinking not mine but the reason why there was nothing Urban on the radio in Boston forever.....understand now?. Hip Hoppers are the new rock stars, who doenst know that?.
3. Kiss should not even be mentioned in a discussion of hip hop although you are also wrong that they skew "Soccer mom" they are hipper than that but let's remember they are still a CHR, so you're going to hear the killers and Gavin Degraw along with older Biggie etc. MIx definately targets the Soccer Mom however Kiss still has a spark of life to them, true they are not targeting kids so their approach is a little more laid back and less of a screaming Z100 like chr delivery, they are targeting women between 18-34 but your soccer mom argument isnt even close
4. Hot's ratings issues have much less to do with their signal and more to do with the fact that they're just not programmed very well. The jocks are without basic radio sense because their prirotity is to try to rock the party even when the party isnt going on. Chubby Chubb, and Reggie Beas being better examples of this, LBD is a great, solid talent but he is also a first timee PD and his station is as loose as it gets, because he doesnt know any better. I listen to them all the time, love hip hop and find myself bored out opf my mind listening to that station at times because they just ramble on and on and on and on at times when they're not trying to show up ROy Barbosa on Jamn with their live mixes. In short they needed to tighten that station up long ago and dont be surprised if they end up transerferring WILD's Urban AC format to the 97.7 signal soon if they dont get it together and get some numbers there.
5. These other markets that you mention, Hartfod, Oklahoma etc they mean nothing in the real world in that Boston is a bigger market, more moneyy is made from radio here and that is all it is about, period. Who doesnt know that? You cannot argue with Jamn's numbers and they generate a whole lot of CHEDDAR, ENDS, PAPER, $$$$$$$$$$$$$........ That is what it is about. Most companies would broadcast static or 24/7 Hitler speeches if they knew that they would bill the kind of money that Jamn makes, that is reality. So whether you think that Jamn is edgy enough or not makes no difference they are a cash and ratings cow. What they do works and works well that's why they do it. That station could be as edgy as they wanted, they could probably be on records a day after Hot 97 NYC if they wanted to be that edgy but they are a Rhthmic CHR,....."CHR" being the operatiev words, they are a pop station at the heart of it. THey want to appeal to the greatest, most braod audience, not just the hardcore hip hop heads. They want the WOMAN that likes both Ludacris and Madonna, not guys that just like Wu Tang, Jadakiss and whoever else. YOu think Jamn plays so much 50 cent because he's soooo GOOD?......no as mc's go he sucks, period; BUT he's chisledpercieved as dangerous, and down with Eminem, women LOVE 50, see the big picture?.
