Convergence

[Nu_Roo_2]

Notice how WLVQ and the Brew have moved closer toward each other, so that their playlists are about 75% the same, maybe more (not to mention that 99.7 pounds some of the same songs)?  Pretty soon they'll be as similar as the two mainstream AC's (SNY and LZT).

Just what we need in an under-radioed (decent-signal-wise) "Top 40" market where one big stick has already ditched music for talk.

Sigh.  It's REALLY hopeless...

 

[Clayman43130]

Hopeless alright. Columbus radio should be ashamed. Imagine driving through the state listening to our great variety list of radio stations?? :-\

 

[jakej]

After I played "Monkey See, Monkey Do" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs on my show last Friday night, I mentioned that it explains how the commercial radio business works these days.

 

[alans613]

These sure ain't the days of great radio in the Capital City. Makes you pine for the days of Hot 105/107/Kiss-FM and 92X and WNCI pre-CC. I guess if you like jock talk and cookie-cutter radio then Columbus is your town. It makes Dayton radio look like LA in comparison. ;D

 

[schmave]

In the past 15 years, Columbus radio and its playlists have lagged far behind Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland. That's not to mention how pathetic most of our signals are compared to all those other cities.
In recent years, though, stations like WTUE, WIOT, WEBN and WFOX all have lost their formerly unique flavor and become corporate cookie-cutters. Columbus was ahead of the trend in that respect.
There's no rationale of smaller markets (at least in Dayton and Toledo's cases) being that much better than our stations.

 

[One Who Knows]

After I played "Monkey See, Monkey Do" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs on my show last Friday night, I mentioned that it explains how the commercial radio business works these days.

I grew up in the 1960's, Jake. I have no clue what that song is, nor would I care, nor would I seek out a radio station playing it. Nor do most average, non-radio junkie people.

 

[jakej]

Gosh, I'd better quit doing what I'm doing then. Thanks for straightening me out. ;D
Does this mean you're not coming to the WCRS Benefit at the Summit (2210 Summit St.) this Saturday from 5pm to 2am? All ages admitted, nine great local bands, back issues of my '80s alternative music fanzine The Offense for sale (with 100% of the proceeds going to the station), and although I can't guarantee it, One Who Knows, I think it's highly unlikely that any of the groups will be performing "Monkey See, Monkey Do" -- so you're almost certain to have a great time!

 

[alans613]

In the past 15 years, Columbus radio and its playlists have lagged far behind Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland. That's not to mention how pathetic most of our signals are compared to all those other cities.
In recent years, though, stations like WTUE, WIOT, WEBN and WFOX all have lost their formerly unique flavor and become corporate cookie-cutters. Columbus was ahead of the trend in that respect.
There's no rationale of smaller markets (at least in Dayton and Toledo's cases) being that much better than our stations.

Fly 92.9 has a unique sound...I could listen to that station for hours on end. Every Columbus station I can barely listen to for seconds on end.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

In the past 15 years, Columbus radio and its playlists have lagged far behind Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland. That's not to mention how pathetic most of our signals are compared to all those other cities.
In recent years, though, stations like WTUE, WIOT, WEBN and WFOX all have lost their formerly unique flavor and become corporate cookie-cutters. Columbus was ahead of the trend in that respect.
There's no rationale of smaller markets (at least in Dayton and Toledo's cases) being that much better than our stations.

Fly 92.9 has a unique sound...I could listen to that station for hours on end.  Every Columbus station I can barely listen to for seconds on end.

I couldn't agree more with every word from both posts.  The state of radio in general is sad, but the state of Columbus radio is beyond sad.  It's pathetic.  It's inexcusable.  It's mind-numbingly bad compared to Cincy and Dayton.  And unless CC does get broken up, there's almost no hope that's ever going to change.  Welcome to Stagnation Central.

 

[dawg4life]

I must agree with both alans613 and Nu Roo 2. Columbus radio is beyond bad. I'm starting to think that these idiots who run these horrible stations think that the people of Columbus never travel out of central Ohio so we must not have any clue as to what a really well programed station sounds like. I was just in Chicago and Miami a couple of weeks ago and had the pleasure of listening to their radio stations and thinking how embarrassing it must be for Columbus when people from other cities travel here and hear our sorry @ss radio stations. Oh well, it's not like anything is gonna change anytime soon. It's been like this for at least 15 years now.

 

[jakej]

Y'all come out to the 'CRS benefit this Saturday at the Summit if you're so bummed out about Columbus radio, and help us fight the good fight!

 

[alans613]

Yep, Columbus radio is the worst it's ever been in the 19 years i've been listening to it. Four Rock stations(Q-FM, The Rock, The Brew and Radio), two ACs(Sunny and Lite), and four Country signals(WCOL, WHOK, WNNK, WCLT). One CHR? One Hot AC with signal limitations? One Classic Hits rimshot? Where's the variety?

 

[jakej]

I've never done this before, but I've seen other playlists get posted on this board, so here's what I have lined up for my show tonight:

The Carpenters - Don't Be Afraid
Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard
Shonen Knife - Top Of The World
The Beatles - That Means A Lot
Ten Years After - Hard Monkeys
New Colony Six - Can't You See Me Cry
MC5 - Tonight
Gang of Four - Natural's Not In It
Three Dog Night - The Family Of Man
U2 - In God's Country
The Only Ones - The Beast
The Carpenters - The Parting Of Our Ways
Cocteau Twins - Musette And Drums
Dif Juz - No Motion

This will mark the 81st episode of "Yesterday's Top Secrets" on WCRS, which will be aired from 8:00 to 9:00 tonight at 98.3 and 102.1 FM, and I'd like to add that all of the other music shows on the station, which explore all sorts of other genres, are even better than mine.

So there's your variety, folks.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Jake - I'd suggest running the Shonen Knife cover of the Carpenters' hit BEFORE you pay something less familiar by the Carpenters, as a way of setting it up. I used to do this kind of thing on an adult AAA format a little west of you a few years back, and when I was on the air at WCBE back when they had money and a clean signal.

How many familiar artists who never get airplay on commercial radio can you name off the top of your head who had hits, B-sides songs, and plenty of interestnig album material that you'd like to hear again in a creative mixed format? You can get away with playing anything you like, but the segues between the songs of varying styles have to work to avoid sounding incoherent, and the announcing has to be brief, provocative, and to the point.

Have fun,

Goldilocks

 

[jakej]

Well, I WAS having fun until I read your post! Now I know how incoherent, verbose, boring, and pointless I am and presumably have been for the past nine months!!
The featured artists HAVE to be played first on each edition of "Secrets", Goldilocks; that's just the LAW, and if the show's gonna go down because of that, then so be it. Anyone who read the Columbus Dispatch that day knew it was the Carpenters even if they didn't recognize the opening tune, because Karen and Richard and the Cocteau Twins were listed along with "Yesterday's Top Secrets" and WCRS in the paper's "Radio Highlights" section (the show in fact getting a listing there for the eighth time!), and thank you SO MUCH for that, Susan. And thank you to all who attended the 'CRS benefit last night; it was quite fun and successful. My personal high point of the evening? Well, let's see -- it had to be meeting Sean Gilbow.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Hey Jake - Why the thin skin? A suggestion, even a criticism, shouldn't ruin your day if you are a performer and a professional. It's not about YOU, but about what your listeners will hear when they tune in. My only suggestion was that Carpenters might be considered too "soft" for the rest of your line up without a set-up to make people want to hear them. (I do think a lot of their material is worth hearing again - have you tried "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" or "This Masquerade" lately?)

Jake - This board is meant to be a sharing of ideas - not just promoting and putting people down. That's certainly not my intention here. But maybe you benefit from a few ideas from other broadcasters who have made an eclectic format work (there aren't very many who try this, and even fewer who make it interesting.)

Do you also aircheck yourself, and ask others for their feedback, too? If you do and don't take offense, you'll be a good broadcasters and your radio efforts stand a better chance of gaining a broad enough audience to support the station.

 

[jakej]

I'm sorry for what you perceive to be an overreaction on my part, Goldilocks; in my first couple sentences I was simply having some fun with what you wrote! But I don't consider myself to be either a performer or a professional, as I don't make a dime doing "Yesterday's Top Secrets" and I gave up all my phony seriousness on the air a long time ago -- what people hear is simply the real me and not a performance.
"This Masquerade" actually opened show #74, which can be played or downloaded at wcrsfm.org/audio/user/18?page=1. I thought about including "Occupants" during the Carpenters' six-week-long reign as featured artists, but I couldn't really find a Cocteau Twins tune that matched up well with it, as you can perhaps imagine! Maybe I'll play it sometime later, maybe as part of a UFO-themed edition of "Secrets".
I've read about airchecks but don't really know what they are. I listen to the show and hear a thing or two that I do wrong, and other people let me know what they think I'm doing wrong ... but I gotta tell you, generally we all like what we hear, believe it or not. Used Kids Records has been our wonderful sponsor since March and recently renewed for another four weeks, and I've got a couple other places interested in coming aboard, so "Secrets" is definitely pulling its weight and doing its part to support the station. Listeners tell me they're donating to WCRS because of the show, and I don't know, maybe they're lying, but I don't think so.
Anyways, thank you so much for responding to the playlist and to my most recent post, Goldie; I really really do appreciate your interest and concern. Radio-info.com is truly an incredible thing, and we are all so very lucky to have it.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

In the past 15 years, Columbus radio and its playlists have lagged far behind Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland. That's not to mention how pathetic most of our signals are compared to all those other cities.
In recent years, though, stations like WTUE, WIOT, WEBN and WFOX all have lost their formerly unique flavor and become corporate cookie-cutters. Columbus was ahead of the trend in that respect.
There's no rationale of smaller markets (at least in Dayton and Toledo's cases) being that much better than our stations.

Fly 92.9 has a unique sound...I could listen to that station for hours on end.  Every Columbus station I can barely listen to for seconds on end.

I couldn't agree more with every word from both posts.  The state of radio in general is sad, but the state of Columbus radio is beyond sad.  It's pathetic.  It's inexcusable.  It's mind-numbingly bad compared to Cincy and Dayton.  And unless CC does get broken up, there's almost no hope that's ever going to change.  Welcome to Stagnation Central.

Was just looking at today's ratings roundup in Taylor on Radio-Info and saw a great example of how, by comparison with similar-sized and smaller markets, Columbus is such a pathetic mess:

Omaha has one of the other handful of "Brew" stations, CC's KQBW, which sounds very similar to Columbus' Brew and has a 3.9 AQH, up a little from the last trend.   And as in Columbus, CC/Omaha also has a top-rated Talker and a top-rated Country.

So far, so good.

But what is the #3 station in Omaha?  A CC Classic Hits that has been getting 8's and 9's.  Now, Columbus completely lacks Classic Hits except on pip-squeaky, syndicated 104.3.  So obviously, a big-stick Classic Hits would at least be worth a trial here on 93.3, right?  So what does CC/Columbus, in its infinite "wisdom," instead keep trudging along with on 93.3?  AC, which is already well-represented on big stick WSNY.  It's really sheer stupidity, almost to the point of violating the license terms to serve the public interest (let alone make more bucks beyond what cash cows TVN, NCI and COL bring in).

And it doesn't even have to be Classic Hits.  How about something like Dayton's Fly 92.9, as alans613 suggested?  And while I would *personally* be really sorry to see this (especially since 97.1 flipped to a form of Talk), even an FM version of TVN would make more sense.  Or any of multiple other mainstream, proven options.  Why the HELL are they doing AC on 93.3?  I've really tried to avoid using using extreme adjectives, but it boils down to MORONIC, STUBBORN STUPIDITY. Or, a personal agenda, e.g., vendetta (which is an even worse version of MORONIC, STUBBORN STUPIDITY).   If by some miracle an intelligent change is in already the works, I'll happily rescind those words.

Again, I hope that one silver lining of this awful economic crisis may be that CC defaults and has to sell locally so that some radio brains can find their way to this market -- e.g., Bonneville, one of the few companies with fairly easy access to capital.

 

[alans613]

Nu Roo, I couldn't agree more with your last post. 93.3 is a complete and total waste of a big signal. As I said in another thread, the Apocalypse for Columbus radio is here. Hopefully someone can step in and stop it, and soon.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

In the past 15 years, Columbus radio and its playlists have lagged far behind Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland. That's not to mention how pathetic most of our signals are compared to all those other cities.
In recent years, though, stations like WTUE, WIOT, WEBN and WFOX all have lost their formerly unique flavor and become corporate cookie-cutters. Columbus was ahead of the trend in that respect.
There's no rationale of smaller markets (at least in Dayton and Toledo's cases) being that much better than our stations.

Fly 92.9 has a unique sound...I could listen to that station for hours on end.  Every Columbus station I can barely listen to for seconds on end.

I couldn't agree more with every word from both posts.  The state of radio in general is sad, but the state of Columbus radio is beyond sad.  It's pathetic.  It's inexcusable.  It's mind-numbingly bad compared to Cincy and Dayton.  And unless CC does get broken up, there's almost no hope that's ever going to change.  Welcome to Stagnation Central.

Was just looking at today's ratings roundup in Taylor on Radio-Info and saw a great example of how, by comparison with similar-sized and smaller markets, Columbus is such a pathetic mess:

Omaha has one of the other handful of "Brew" stations, CC's KQBW, which sounds very similar to Columbus' Brew and has a 3.9 AQH, up a little from the last trend.   And as in Columbus, CC/Omaha also has a top-rated Talker and a top-rated Country.

So far, so good.

But what is the #3 station in Omaha?  A CC Classic Hits that has been getting 8's and 9's.  Now, Columbus completely lacks Classic Hits except on pip-squeaky, syndicated 104.3.  So obviously, a big-stick Classic Hits would at least be worth a trial here on 93.3, right?  So what does CC/Columbus, in its infinite "wisdom," instead keep trudging along with on 93.3?  AC, which is already well-represented on big stick WSNY.  It's really sheer stupidity, almost to the point of violating the license terms to serve the public interest (let alone make more bucks beyond what cash cows TVN, NCI and COL bring in).

And it doesn't even have to be Classic Hits.  How about something like Dayton's Fly 92.9, as alans613 suggested?  And while I would *personally* be really sorry to see this (especially since 97.1 flipped to a form of Talk), even an FM version of TVN would make more sense.  Or any of multiple other mainstream, proven options.  Why the HELL are they doing AC on 93.3?  I've really tried to avoid using using extreme adjectives, but it boils down to MORONIC, STUBBORN STUPIDITY. Or, a personal agenda, e.g., vendetta (which is an even worse version of MORONIC, STUBBORN STUPIDITY).   If by some miracle an intelligent change is in already the works, I'll happily rescind those words.

Again, I hope that one silver lining of this awful economic crisis may be that CC defaults and has to sell locally so that some radio brains can find their way to this market -- e.g., Bonneville, one of the few companies with fairly easy access to capital.

I really had no intention of replying to my own post again - honest!  But this was just too germane and timely to ignore:  The new New York ratings show Classic Hits WCBS-FM muscling up to SECOND PLACE (AQH) -- even a tad ahead of CC's powerhouse CHR Z100.  Which further drives home just how nuts it is that CC hasn't given the format a big-signal chance here, instead of wasting 93.3 as a second AC.