DRC 8th again

[DRC-FM]

November is a month for turkey! Congratulations to the turkeys at Connoisseur Media for hauling a whopping 4.6 in the November 30, 2014 ratings! That's 8th place again for WDRC-FM. Last book under the old guard was 6.5.

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb061

 

[MarcB]

November is a month for turkey! Congratulations to the turkeys at Connoisseur Media for hauling a whopping 4.6 in the November 30, 2014 ratings! That's 8th place again for WDRC-FM. Last book under the old guard was 6.5.

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb061

I don't like it and I don't listen (but my mom does), but look it's up to a 4.6 from a 4.2 in October.

 

[CTListener]

I don't like it and I don't listen (but my mom does), but look it's up to a 4.6 from a 4.2 in October.

And we have no idea how it's doing in its target demo -- 35-54 men -- or how well it has eliminated the 55+ crowd from its audience. Don't forget, to radio geeks it sounds like WPLR Lite. but the average radio listener in the Hartford market never listens to New Haven stations, so to that listener, the new WDRC-FM is a brand new sound.

 

[Don CT]

And we have no idea how it's doing in its target demo -- 35-54 men -- or how well it has eliminated the 55+ crowd from its audience. Don't forget, to radio geeks it sounds like WPLR Lite. but the average radio listener in the Hartford market never listens to New Haven stations, so to that listener, the new WDRC-FM is a brand new sound.

WPLR has a great signal in Hartford and is established as Rock, why would they go to DRC?

 

[CTListener]

WPLR has a great signal in Hartford and is established as Rock, why would they go to DRC?

Look at the ratings. Despite its signal, PLR is a non-starter with the average Hartford listener, who only listens to local stations. In general, listeners who venture beyond their home market for daily listening are a small minority. PLR also has a different music mix from the new DRC -- heavier on the '90s and '00s than the '60s through '80s, and a solid focus on album tracks; in other words, songs you would have heard on CCC, or maybe PLR itself, when they were current rather than on KSS or TIC-FM.

 

[Don CT]

Look at the ratings. Despite its signal, PLR is a non-starter with the average Hartford listener, who only listens to local stations. In general, listeners who venture beyond their home market for daily listening are a small minority. PLR also has a different music mix from the new DRC -- heavier on the '90s and '00s than the '60s through '80s, and a solid focus on album tracks; in other words, songs you would have heard on CCC, or maybe PLR itself, when they were current rather than on KSS or TIC-FM.

DRC was an oldies station. Your choices in Hartford if you wanted a rock station was CCC. Or PLR if you wanted classic, even tho they are a New Haven station. Would DRC gain new listeners who already know of PLR after CCC died. Connecticut being such a small state you can hear just about every signal. So having 2 radio markets with overlap in the middle of the state doesn't mean much for people that are scanning the dial for a strong signal. Really if you want a hard rock station you are not tuning to DRC now anyways. By them dropping oldies in an attempt to pick up the younger crowd isn't going to work. Hopefully the new internet version of CCC really takes off. So far it sounds like it is off to a good start.

 

[CTListener]

DRC was an oldies station. Your choices in Hartford if you wanted a rock station was CCC. Or PLR if you wanted classic, even tho they are a New Haven station. Would DRC gain new listeners who already know of PLR after CCC died. Connecticut being such a small state you can hear just about every signal. So having 2 radio markets with overlap in the middle of the state doesn't mean much for people that are scanning the dial for a strong signal. Really if you want a hard rock station you are not tuning to DRC now anyways. By them dropping oldies in an attempt to pick up the younger crowd isn't going to work. Hopefully the new internet version of CCC really takes off. So far it sounds like it is off to a good start.

But Hartford has had two out-of-market classic rock stations for years -- WPLR and WAQY. Back when those stations would show up in the Hartford ratings (they don't anymore, because their ownerships -- and advertisers -- are focused on the home markets) their numbers combined would be lucky to reach the mid-4s that DRC is now getting. Now that Hartford has a rock-centered classic hits station of its own (Remember, non-radio geeks don't know that the whole thing is being originated in Milford.) they've probably lost even more Hartford listeners. That's probably where the .4 that DRC gained in the November book came from, and they'll continue to drift to DRC. Look, I find the new DRC boring and repetitive as all hell, but the ultra-safe rock hits it's playing are the soundtrack of a whole lot of 35-54 male lives. Keep listening to the Internet CCC for rock and Ron Sedaille's new Fun Tower Radio for oldies, because I can't see Connoisseur turning back.

 

[Don CT]

But Hartford has had two out-of-market classic rock stations for years -- WPLR and WAQY. Back when those stations would show up in the Hartford ratings (they don't anymore, because their ownerships -- and advertisers -- are focused on the home markets) their numbers combined would be lucky to reach the mid-4s that DRC is now getting. Now that Hartford has a rock-centered classic hits station of its own (Remember, non-radio geeks don't know that the whole thing is being originated in Milford.) they've probably lost even more Hartford listeners. That's probably where the .4 that DRC gained in the November book came from, and they'll continue to drift to DRC. Look, I find the new DRC boring and repetitive as all hell, but the ultra-safe rock hits it's playing are the soundtrack of a whole lot of 35-54 male lives. Keep listening to the Internet CCC for rock and Ron Sedaille's new Fun Tower Radio for oldies, because I can't see Connoisseur turning back.

I agree that DRC won't flip back, that would mean they admit they were wrong and I don't see them doing that. It is sad that we don't have anymore parody in radio around here. We don't have any true rock stations. We go from Classic rock of PLR to soft classic of DRC, to top 40 and AC. Had they flipped DRC to active rock would it have done better or had the same fate of CCC.

I don't care what the ratings say I think there is a demand for newer harder rock radio.

 

[MarcB]

A few months before they redid the playlist at DRC (removing the DISCO, changing to 70s, 80s, and more) Connoisseur did the same thing at B-103 on Long Island. Now WLNG 92.1 is taking on-air shots at B-103. "Still playing the Oldies you grew up with. We didn't abandon our listeners. Oldies 92 WLNG".

You guys are right the new DRC is way too repetitive. My friend had DRC on at his Labor Party and they were doing the "Hartford Labor Day 150". I remember thinking to myself "Doing the Hartford Labor Day 150 is a bit redundant considering they only have about 150 songs in their entire playlist.".

My Mom thought they did a good job with the "Class Reunion Weekend" they did during Thanksgiving. Her only complaint was that they weren't doing the years in order. One hour you'd hear "The Class of 1976" the following hour you'd hear "The Class of 1981."

My other complaint about the new DRC is the elimination of The Big D Morning Show with Mike & Kim. It was pretty much the only morning show I could tolerate. I don't like Chaz & AJ. (Never did). I like Hip-Hop too, but don't like Buck & Nancy on HOT 93.7, I like Country but don't like Broadway on 92.5 (which actually really sucks as a station as a whole). I don't like the Music on 95.7, 96.5, 104.1, 100.5, or 101.3 and that leaves me with nothing to listen to in the morning. Bax & O'Brien with Steve Nagel on WAQY are marginally funny. I tend to punch up Bob Muscatell on WMRD 1150 AM in the morning.

 

[MarcB]

Also after what Connoisseur did to the legendary WDRC jocks, I find it disgusting that they're trying to make themselves look like heroes by giving weekend and fill-in shifts to 2 former WCCC personalities - Picozzi and Ms. Klonk. When I first heard Picozzi on DRC I was like "Really? You guys hired a guy who quit WCCC because he was against their format change to Classic Rock?"

Also with everything coming out of Milford, do they have someone sitting in the studio in Bloomfield to answer the phones or do they have WDRC's studio number forward to Milford? The reason I ask is because I hear both "Slap Happy Lappy" and Allan Lambertti give out WDRC's studio line over the air 860-242-0103.

 

[EastCoastRadio]

DRC-FM used to be one of the best sounding Oldies/Classic Hits stations in Southern New England, and now every time I visit Connecticut I'm just shocked by what the station sounds like now. I think they changed too much too quickly. Why get rid of all the heritage radio personalities and the classic jingles for a bunch of second rate on air personalities and tacky sounding imaging. They got rid of everything that made the station successful in the first place. I understand that the disco music had to go sooner or later, so that the station didn't sound outdated, but DRC-FM (or whatever they're calling it now) sounds like it's in a bit of an identity crisis right now. I miss the big playlist and the unique sound of DRC-FM. I understand that the new ownership wanted to take the station in a new direction, but many of the changes just seem ill advised in my opinion. They took a successful Oldies/Classic Hits station and changed it into a wannabe Classic Rock station, as if the Hartford/Springfield area needs another one of those...

On a positive note, the signal seems a bit stronger now and the audio processing sounds cleaner and less "echoey".

 

[Unregistered]

DRC-FM used to be one of the best sounding Oldies/Classic Hits stations in Southern New England, and now every time I visit Connecticut I'm just shocked by what the station sounds like now. I think they changed too much too quickly. Why get rid of all the heritage radio personalities and the classic jingles for a bunch of second rate on air personalities and tacky sounding imaging. They got rid of everything that made the station successful in the first place. I understand that the disco music had to go sooner or later, so that the station didn't sound outdated, but DRC-FM (or whatever they're calling it now) sounds like it's in a bit of an identity crisis right now. I miss the big playlist and the unique sound of DRC-FM. I understand that the new ownership wanted to take the station in a new direction, but many of the changes just seem ill advised in my opinion. They took a successful Oldies/Classic Hits station and changed it into a wannabe Classic Rock station, as if the Hartford/Springfield area needs another one of those...

On a positive note, the signal seems a bit stronger now and the audio processing sounds cleaner and less "echoey".

WMRQ and WKCI are now within half a point of DRC 6+

 

[WPHA]

I don't like the Music on 95.7, 96.5, 104.1, 100.5, or 101.3 and that leaves me with nothing to listen to in the morning. Bax & O'Brien with Steve Nagel on WAQY are marginally funny. I tend to punch up Bob Muscatell on WMRD 1150 AM in the morning.

Have you tried listening to the morning show on K-Love? I find them very enjoyable. Funny, informative, etc. (The music is good, too, but that's just IMHO.)

 

[Bill-in-CT]

The headline, DRC 8th again, still applies. Also, two down months in a row for The Whale format. The station had a 5.3 in February, probably because of curiosity, but The Whale later scored a 4.4 in March and a 4.2 in April.

Their AM station again came in at a dismal 1.2.

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb061

 

[Don CT]

Hasn't the AM been dismal for years anyways.

 

[MarcB]

Yes the AM side of WDRC - The Talk of Connecticut is really blah. Grandpa Davis on in Morning Drive. Connoisseur should have shown him the door when they showed all the FM personalities the door. Grandpa Davis is getting to be like Don Imus - mumbling and hard to understand. Then other programming on the AM station includes "Kilmeade and Friends" from FOX Radio, Dave Ramsey, Michael Savage, "The Schnitt Show" (on a delays), Lars Larson (again on a delay), and Overnight America. Ever since Connoisseur took over the station they no longer list their weekend line-up on their website, but from what I've heard it's full of infomercials and "The Worst of Grandpa Davis."

The only good thing Connoisseur did was add an online stream of The AM Station. Of course now that there's nothing I'm interested in listening to on the AM station I could care less that they stream.

 

[scottg]

Grandpa Davis is the only thing bringing in ad money. They would be foolish to get rid of him.