Country and Rock Radio - 102.7 and 101.1 Should Consider Making The Switch

[CHRles]

I'm no big fan of Country music, and I know this topic has been discussed at legnth, but with Jack FM doing so poorly, shouldn't Country and Rock music be considered as a possible Alternatives? Jack FM seems to work especially well in the Midwest and the South b/c it plays a lot of Pop/Rock hits by the likes of Journey and Bruce Hornsby. In other words staples for many Midwestern CHR stations back in the 80s. Now sure those artists were played on Z-100 and Power 95 back in the day, but they were not as strongly associated with those stations as they were with with other CHRs.

And what about WNEW's Classic Dance format? That station moved back down below the 2 shares, and is just barely above Jack FM. Maybe it's time to resurrect the Rock format where it belongs - on 102.7 FM. A Mainstream Rock format similar to WBAB Long Island or WMMR Philadelphia is one possiblity, or a REAL Modern Rock format similar to 106.7 K-Rock Los Angeles. Active Rock's core isn't even that big in Brooklyn nowadays, let alone the rest of metro New York (in my opinion at leat).

The only other format that could make some decent ratings and is not already available is one that will be in Spanish. such a station would have to differentiate itself from other Spanish formatted stations in NYC by finding its own niche of course.

 

[Jay_F]

> I'm no big fan of Country music, and I know this topic has
> been discussed at legnth, but with Jack FM doing so poorly,
> shouldn't Country and Rock music be considered as a possible
> Alternatives? Jack FM seems to work especially well in the
> Midwest and the South b/c it plays a lot of Pop/Rock hits by
> the likes of Journey and Bruce Hornsby. In other words
> staples for many Midwestern CHR stations back in the 80s.
> Now sure those artists were played on Z-100 and Power 95
> back in the day, but they were not as strongly associated
> with those stations as they were with with other CHRs.
>
> And what about WNEW's Classic Dance format? That station
> moved back down below the 2 shares, and is just barely above
> Jack FM. Maybe it's time to resurrect the Rock format where
> it belongs - on 102.7 FM. A Mainstream Rock format similar
> to WBAB Long Island or WMMR Philadelphia is one possiblity,
> or a REAL Modern Rock format similar to 106.7 K-Rock Los
> Angeles. Active Rock's core isn't even that big in Brooklyn
> nowadays, let alone the rest of metro New York (in my
> opinion at leat).
>
> The only other format that could make some decent ratings
> and is not already available is one that will be in Spanish.
> such a station would have to differentiate itself from other
> Spanish formatted stations in NYC by finding its own niche
> of course.
>


I expect FREE FM to freefall in the ratings. If they do, CBS could have all 3 of their FMs in the 1s. I'm not sure if country or rock are the answers or not, but CBS will need to look long and hard at their FMs in NY.

 

[luperm]

It seems like WLTW has been ripe for competition for years. Nobody has taken a shot at them since Mix 105 when it almost went full blown AC...before Bonneville sold it to Viacom. A Spanish language format or even a straight-ahead CHR could work too.

I think the advertiser appeal problem that country music has in NYC has been documented in this and other forums. It may be a misperception, but it is what it is...

As far as rock goes, NYC has never been a "rock friendly" town. Rock has done OK in the 'burbs, but not in NYC. Even when WNEW was at its peak, I don't think it had killer numbers. Maybe in the mid 3's??


> I'm no big fan of Country music, and I know this topic has
> been discussed at legnth, but with Jack FM doing so poorly,
> shouldn't Country and Rock music be considered as a possible
> Alternatives? Jack FM seems to work especially well in the
> Midwest and the South b/c it plays a lot of Pop/Rock hits by
> the likes of Journey and Bruce Hornsby. In other words
> staples for many Midwestern CHR stations back in the 80s.
> Now sure those artists were played on Z-100 and Power 95
> back in the day, but they were not as strongly associated
> with those stations as they were with with other CHRs.
>
> And what about WNEW's Classic Dance format? That station
> moved back down below the 2 shares, and is just barely above
> Jack FM. Maybe it's time to resurrect the Rock format where
> it belongs - on 102.7 FM. A Mainstream Rock format similar
> to WBAB Long Island or WMMR Philadelphia is one possiblity,
> or a REAL Modern Rock format similar to 106.7 K-Rock Los
> Angeles. Active Rock's core isn't even that big in Brooklyn
> nowadays, let alone the rest of metro New York (in my
> opinion at leat).
>
> The only other format that could make some decent ratings
> and is not already available is one that will be in Spanish.
> such a station would have to differentiate itself from other
> Spanish formatted stations in NYC by finding its own niche
> of course.
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by luperm on 01/11/06 02:54 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[CHRles]

> It seems like WLTW has been ripe for competition for years.
> Nobody has taken a shot at them since Mix 105 when it almost
> went full blown AC...before Bonneville sold it to Viacom. A
> Spanish language format or even a straight-ahead CHR could
> work too.
>
> I think the advertiser appeal problem that country music has
> in NYC has been documented in this and other forums. It may
> be a misperception, but it is what it is...
>
> As far as rock goes, NYC has never been a "rock friendly"
> town. Rock has done OK in the 'burbs, but not in NYC. Even
> when WNEW was at its peak, I don't think it had killer
> numbers. Maybe in the mid 3's??
>

Thanks for adding your thoughts, you raised some very valid points.

 

[radiolover78]

> I'm no big fan of Country music, and I know this topic has
> been discussed at legnth, but with Jack FM doing so poorly,
> shouldn't Country and Rock music be considered as a possible
> Alternatives? Jack FM seems to work especially well in the
> Midwest and the South b/c it plays a lot of Pop/Rock hits by
> the likes of Journey and Bruce Hornsby. In other words
> staples for many Midwestern CHR stations back in the 80s.
> Now sure those artists were played on Z-100 and Power 95
> back in the day, but they were not as strongly associated
> with those stations as they were with with other CHRs.
>
> And what about WNEW's Classic Dance format? That station
> moved back down below the 2 shares, and is just barely above
> Jack FM. Maybe it's time to resurrect the Rock format where
> it belongs - on 102.7 FM. A Mainstream Rock format similar
> to WBAB Long Island or WMMR Philadelphia is one possiblity,
> or a REAL Modern Rock format similar to 106.7 K-Rock Los
> Angeles. Active Rock's core isn't even that big in Brooklyn
> nowadays, let alone the rest of metro New York (in my
> opinion at leat).
>
> The only other format that could make some decent ratings
> and is not already available is one that will be in Spanish.
> such a station would have to differentiate itself from other
> Spanish formatted stations in NYC by finding its own niche
> of course.
>

We've dicussed the country radio thing multiple times. Country is simply not a format that would appeal to New York City. I live by New York City (I visit many times throughout the year) and I know country wouldn't be majorly appealing to the area. Trust me.

New York City isn't really a rock friendly town. Q104.3 does ok, but thats about it. K-Rock failed, so why try something that has failed?

I think Mix should give up on KTU and create some competition for WLTW. I like the Mix name, but maybe they should start fresh again. Go all Christmas in November before Lite FM (like in 2003), then kick off a new AC format after Christmas. And this time stick with it. They were an upbeat type of AC in 2003/2004, but only for a few months. It would be real exciting to see another AC station in town.