Could WBCN go "Free"? (example of Baltimore version)

[bostonmusicman]

Could the Doghouse be right for Boston?

I like Free FM NY's Free Rock music. If BCN could step up and identify itself as either an alt rocker, indie, classical, or continue with a touch of everything.. They could throw down an "All Rock Block" for a few hours to do away with the over use of syndication from outside the market. Local music blended with alt rock would be nice.

BCN, if they want to stay afloat in the continuing coming of age of sat radio/Sirius etc, needs to identify itself, strengths and weaknesses, and move on from there. Otherwise we'll be having those "Remember the good ole' BCN days" threads.

 

[BRNout]

Reimaging or rebranding WBCN to some version of "Free FM" would be the final nail in the coffin of this venerable station. The Free FM concept has been a failure practically everywhere that it was tried. What amazes me is how CBS sticks with it. WYSP (Philadelphia) has something like 1/10th of the listeners with the Free FM format that they had as an active rocker.

Free FM in New York is a perennial cellar dweller in the ratings too. There's talk of blowing it out in the next few months (which would be nice if true). CBS came up with this concept based on the success of Howard Stern. But, Stern was a man for his time - a fluke. He caught lightning in a bottle at a certain time in radio history. No other program on the radio has come close - not even his own show on Sirius. Attempts to copy his success have been met with disaster (e.g. Free FM). If Stern came along now (rather than in the 70s and 80s), he could never repeat his own success either. Radio is different now. The whole thing is a boondoggle. Then again, CBS Radio does a lot of stupid things. They should have pulled the plug of the 'Free FM' concept years ago.

Bringing it back to Boston, the more talk they try on 'BCN - the worse the ratings seem to get. No, they should give it up and go the other way - back to music with LOCAL personalities. Enough with the canned, syndicated talk.

 

[bostonmusicman]

As of now BCN has O&A as the only sydicated talk and for some reason CBS and PD's aren't seeing that Stern like models won't pull it off. There is one and only Stern. The Free FM concept was cheaply thrown together and thats why it is bringing bad ratings.

 

[Smoke]

They should have pulled the plug of the 'Free FM' concept years ago.

You mean the earlier "hot talk" or "guy talk" format like WTKS in Florida or 1999-2002 WNEW?

 

[BRNout]

They should have pulled the plug of the 'Free FM' concept years ago.

You mean the earlier "hot talk" or "guy talk" format like WTKS in Florida or 1999-2002 WNEW?

The WNEW version was pretty bad, particularly since they built the format around a show (Stern) that they didn't even have! Free FM is just a continuation of that mess - albiet on a different frequency (in NY). It went pretty badly and they did pull the plug on WNEW - but turned around and did the same thing with "free fm". So far, it hasn't worked any better.

Apparently, the 'hot talk' format does work pretty well in certain Florida cities - but that success may well be a regional phonomenon. Also, if I am not mistaken, WTKS tends to do a lot of local programming. The Free FM format, on the other hand, is almost all syndicated. The local feel makes a huge difference, IMO.

 

[TowerBuzz]

While the syndicated hot talk direction might not be the answer, they have got to do something because it is dead in it's current form. Wellington has done nothing but bury them even deeper. Wbcn .2 above WBOS, .6 above wfnx, that's ugly. Jack said it best in "Batman";

"This town needs an enima"

 

[brightonboris]

While the syndicated hot talk direction might not be the answer, they have got to do something because it is dead in it's current form. Wellington has done nothing but bury them even deeper. Wbcn .2 above WBOS, .6 above wfnx, that's ugly. Jack said it best in "Batman";

"This town needs an enima"

In WBCN's case, they need a double enima....

 

[chitchatjf]

I still like the idea of scrapping jsut about everything and starting over with a RnB Oldies/ Rhythmic AC format using the Movin trademark.

I WOULD keep the WBCN call letters Boston's Clubbin Network and i would KEEP the Patriots games.

 

[brightonboris]

I still like the idea of scrapping jsut about everything and starting over with a RnB Oldies/ Rhythmic AC format using the Movin trademark.

I WOULD keep the WBCN call letters Boston's Clubbin Network and i would KEEP the Patriots games.

Yea, and that will really happen...come on, get a grip. WBCN or anyone else in Boston going dance? Are you mad? Star 93-7 wasn't a real station - it was like community radio out of Revere or Saugus.

Guy talk is a disaster. CBS hasn't recovered from losing Stern. That's why Joel Hollander no longer has an office in the Viacom building. WBCN will never go talk. It's a rock station with 40 years of heritage. If they still had Stern, you could make an argument that the format could've survived with him as an anchor here. Without Stern they'd be just sitting ducks. That's why when there's crap printed in the Herald about them thinking of becoming a talk station, you have to laugh.

 

[JustinT]

Reimaging or rebranding WBCN to some version of "Free FM" would be the final nail in the coffin of this venerable station.

The name "Free FM" was pulled in Chicago today; it's already gone in Baltimore and never appeared in Pittsburgh. Whatever the case may be with talk on WBCN, it's not going to be called Free FM.

Apparently, the 'hot talk' format does work pretty well in certain Florida cities - but that success may well be a regional phonomenon. Also, if I am not mistaken, WTKS tends to do a lot of local programming. The Free FM format, on the other hand, is almost all syndicated. The local feel makes a huge difference, IMO.

It's funny that a Clear Channel station is the model for what WBCN should it go to a "guy talk" format... even if Clear Channel wasn't the company that launched it almost 15 years ago. WTKS 104.1 is huge on local programming, with "Monsters of the Morning", "The Shannon Burke Show", and "Phillips Phile" keeping the station local from 6a-7p. Nights, the station runs "Lex and Terry" on a nearly 12-hour tape delay, and during overnights and weekends, the station plays automated rock that appears to be midway between what WBCN is now and what Mike FM would be if they played only rock-based cuts.

It's probably the programming that helps WTKS the most, but other benefiting factors include Orlando's relatively young population, the 100,000w ERP signal, and the lack of any other FM talk stations. It should also be noted that for the target audience, the market also boasts a Cox-owned classic rocker, a CBS-owned alternative station, a Clear Channel-owned alternative station, and a Clear Channel-owned AM sports talker.

 

[TowerBuzz]

I still like the idea of scrapping jsut about everything and starting over with a RnB Oldies/ Rhythmic AC format using the Movin trademark.

I WOULD keep the WBCN call letters Boston's Clubbin Network and i would KEEP the Patriots games.

Yeah I dont know if dance music gels with the Pats brodcasts either.

 

[chitchatjf]

I still like the idea of scrapping jsut about everything and starting over with a RnB Oldies/ Rhythmic AC format using the Movin trademark.

I WOULD keep the WBCN call letters Boston's Clubbin Network and i would KEEP the Patriots games.

Yea, and that will really happen...come on, get a grip. WBCN or anyone else in Boston going dance? Are you mad? Star 93-7 wasn't a real station - it was like community radio out of Revere or Saugus.

Guy talk is a disaster. CBS hasn't recovered from losing Stern. That's why Joel Hollander no longer has an office in the Viacom building. WBCN will never go talk. It's a rock station with 40 years of heritage. If they still had Stern, you could make an argument that the format could've survived with him as an anchor here. Without Stern they'd be just sitting ducks. That's why when there's crap printed in the Herald about them thinking of becoming a talk station, you have to laugh.

It is still a format Boston could use. A rhythmic station that doesn't play ALL RAP!
If I HAD the ability and the $ I would launch it Memorial Day weekend and go commercial free (well one commercial break per hour,and it wouldn't run 10-15 minutes it would be more like 2 or 3) until the first Pats game.

I would defiantly toss in some danceable rock tunes especially stuff from local artists and maybe a rock show or two on the weekends.


CBS-FM was a heritage station and that got tossed in the garbage when Jack came to town.

You don't see uptempo dance music much on Kiss,and that is ITS heritage

 

[mgpt6]

Doubt that BCN will go "Free FM" with failure in New York of 92.3 ,there. Maybe they could try having Bruins and Patriots both on WBCN, and revamp the music to be more like old BCN was ...

 

[dsturdy5]

Doubt that BCN will go "Free FM" with failure in New York of 92.3 ,there. Maybe they could try having Bruins and Patriots both on WBCN, and revamp the music to be more like old BCN was ...

I like that idea. I assume they will keep O&A, I see no reason to think otherwise. If T&R play a little more music in the afternoon, they will be just about where they were back in the mid-late 90's when Nik Carter was the afternoon jock. He talked a lot but still balanced plenty of music in there.

The final step, as you say, is the choice of music. I'd like for them to be more of the BCN of "The New Rock Revolution" than the BCN of today.

 

[JustinT]

Problem is, even if WBCN keeps doing what its doing and adds the Bruins, they're not solving any of the problems at WZLX. Making one talk and one rock at least deals with the continuing issues at both properties.

I'll be watching what happens at "93.7 The Zone" in Pittsburgh, in regard to whether it either thrives or at the least survives. It wasn't launched under Mason leadership (right before), but it does have a lot of local talk: as I understand, local talk in the sense of local people talking about local happenings and the like, not the disasterous locally-produced blend of satellite radio hosts, political hosts, and hot talk hosts that WFNY was. The former was what the rumor mill was suggesting for Boston a few months ago.

 

[Osama]

Since the Free-FM mothership, WFNY-FM, New York City, was killed off yesterday for a return to Rock with
its former identity WXRK, K-Rock, I don't see CBS spreading this malignancy into any other markets at this point...

 

[JustinT]

Since the Free-FM mothership, WFNY-FM, New York City, was killed off yesterday for a return to Rock with
its former identity WXRK, K-Rock, I don't see CBS spreading this malignancy into any other markets at this point...

"Free FM" is/was a disaster. End of story. But if CBS considers the failure of "Free FM" to mean that no talk stations that they launch in the future will ever be successful, in an era when iPods and satellite radio are making an big impact in the TSL of many music stations, then the company is being ridiculous.

 

[ciao99]

Last night out of curiosity I went to AM 1090 to see how the Orioles broadcasters were covering the
O's-Sox game; but the O's, longtime a part of WBAL, weren't there! It was a local sports talk show instead.
So I went to the Orioles site today and found that the team is now on WHFS-FM 105.7, "Free FM"
(those calls were originally on a modern rock station in D.C., IIRC)

Here's their site: could WBCN do something similar?

http://1057freefm.com/
(Owned by CBS as it turns out)

They have local talk except for Jerry Doyle overnights and Don & Mike (out of nearby Wash DC I think) in
pm drive. WBCN could also do some local talkers in addition to Opie and Anthony; maybe have some shows
mix music in, etc. Throw in Pats, which they have, and Bruins, which they can get from sis station WBZ.
Could it happen?

Who cares what WBCN does. WFNX is a far superior rock station with a better play list.

 

[presidents04]

I'll insert the perspective of a mid-late 20-something guy who earns a good living (are we a coveted demo for advertisers? I thought we were....)

I think BCN is just about *perfect* as it has been the past year, with the exception of playing horrible new eyeliner rock from the Killers, Panic Boy, Fallout at the Chemical Bonedance, et al. I've written at length about this here about a month ago, and I won't rehash everything, but there *is* a strong core audience of listeners who, I believe, are in general vastly more intelligent than any other station's core audience of similar demographic composition (18-34, 12-29, 25-34) Let me give an actual example from this week of what I'm talking about....

I wake up this past Tuesday morning around 7:30 via fm alarm clock. The dial is tuned to WBCN, but on this day, there's an unusual weather pattern interfering with the ordinarily strong signal I receive. So I turn the dial a bit to the left...

"...It's just Manny being Manny, you *KNOW* what you're getting with him......"

My thoughts: oh god no, not this awful dreck....ok turn it again (in my groggy state I actually turn the dial to the left two more times before correcting myself).

"...coming up we've got another American Idol PRIZE PACK to give away!...."

Me: you've got to be kidding me (to the left once more)

"...be sure to tune in tomorrow for another BRAIN STRAIN..."

Me: i think i'd rather kill myself (turn it way to the right)

"....looks like LINDSAY LOHAN is in trouble again..."

Me: there must be a sharp, clean object around here somewhere

Finally, I find the signal for BCN and Opie and Anthony are ranting about some woman's sexually aberrant behavior. It may not be the most interesting thing, but at least it's listenable, and I'm actually hearing real human beings with their own thoughts, views, senses of humor on the other end of my radio.

It's moments like these that I most appreciate what WBCN gives me every day - the means to keep my sanity and find moments of uproarious laughter amidst the utter meaninglessness of workaday life.

 

[Smoke]

Who cares what WBCN does. WFNX is a far superior rock station with a better play list.

If you can tune them in, that is.