G-Rock

[d21ofnj]

Regardless of whether 150 people is or isn't a smashing turnout, the facts remain the same: Press made a business decision and even if turnout had been three times what it was, it certainly wouldn't have changed any minds. Sure, it suck for the fans...but G Rock ain't coming back.

You never know, maybe Press will admit they messed up and at least for the best, to have G-Rock on an HD channel (106.3/106.5 HD-2) or hopefully one of the G-Rock employees can get the naming rights and pop an online stream. I don't believe G-Rock is COMPLETELY dead.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

We former listeners will have the last laugh for this will fail for press and rightfully so.This is one of the worst decisions in radio i have ever seen made. There research is not accurate at all!!!When people want the hits hits 106 will be the last thing people go to it is kinda like do you vote for the democrat that talks like a republican or the real republican no you vote for the republican same thing with this chr they threw on the air people will listen to pst Z-100 and pst etc and press communications with there piped in crap will be the big losers they will realize this is gonna be a collosal failure in 6 months or so and rightfully so!!!They are not very bright people and deserve to be fired for this!!!

With that said i like chr i love the alt format and always will but will not listen out of principle and i hope they get zero advertisers!!!

Note to the account execs at hits 106 get a new job now you will need it!!!

 

[ccuphl]

You're also moving the goalposts. 150 is a small percentage of 1.1M, but it's a full percent of the Arbitron-measured listenership.

Huh? 150 is 1% of the listenership?

How're your statistics working out now? Did you remember to carry the '1'?

I've completely lost what you're talking about.

The fact that 150 people showed up says one of two things: the audience is more vocally committed to the station than statistics would suggest, or the measured listenership is not nearly as much as the actual listenership.

In the NYC book that just came out, WHTG had 161,000 listeners during the holidays. 8,000 (I think that's the most recent number) Facebook fans and 150 showed up to protest.

Look at WRXP. Their ratings are awful, but those non-existent listeners keep selling out venues for WRXP events. What are you gonna believe, the ratings or your lyin' eyes?

If I follow your line of thinking, WRXP is 100% responsible for their events selling out? Ever go to a show and then find out a radio station sponsored it? I've been to several shows sponsored by WXPN and had no idea it was an XPN show. If I find a band I like, I'll find their schedule on Pollstar and see if they're coming to the area. No radio involved.

And for the record, WRXP with its cume of 1.25 million, has more listeners (cume) than the legendary WABC at the moment.


Look, I'm not trying to egg you on. I'm glad you are/were passionate about WHTG. More people need to be that passionate about radio. Look at the facts: the ratings sucked (say what you want about Arbitron, but that's the currency). 106.5 is a monster signal and combined with 106.3 it was in 16th place. If you own a station in 16th place in your home market, you will have a very difficult time selling it. How do you spin that to make your sales packages look good? On the flip side, did Press have an appropriate sales staff to sell modern rock? Did Press market the station enough? Did Press tinker with the format too much?

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Press has just gotten the station sounding good since terry had terrie carr had taken the reins prior to that since press bought it they kept tweaking and tinkering with it and just meandered aimlessly on the terrestrial radio dial. The end result is there own fault not the format!!!

 

[softmachine]

Press has just gotten the station sounding good since terry had terrie carr had taken the reins prior to that since press bought it they kept tweaking and tinkering with it and just meandered aimlessly on the terrestrial radio dial. The end result is there own fault not the format!!!

Forgive me, Patrick, but can you please employ some useful punctuation so we all can get a clearer understanding of your posts? Thanks!

Actually, they were very schitzo musically. There's some stuff that should never be touched in an alt format, and they touched a lot. The roots are gone. Go to Satellite Radio, where you'll find even older, better friends from the heyday of HTG.

Good Riddance.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Press has just gotten the station sounding good since terry had terrie carr had taken the reins prior to that since press bought it they kept tweaking and tinkering with it and just meandered aimlessly on the terrestrial radio dial. The end result is there own fault not the format!!!

Forgive me, Patrick, but can you please employ some useful punctuation so we all can get a clearer understanding of your posts? Thanks!

Actually, they were very schitzo musically. There's some stuff that should never be touched in an alt format, and they touched a lot. The roots are gone. Go to Satellite Radio, where you'll find even older, better friends from the heyday of HTG.

Good Riddance.

I would have definitely called G Rock schizo for the first few years of Press ownership, but when Terrie Carr became PD, the station became a lot more focused musically. No more Nickelback and other acts that didn't belong, which was great. Up until then, Press micromanaged the station to the point where it turned a good amount of listeners off, and I don't think a lot of them came back unfortunately. This was a very bad move by Press, as the new and improved G Rock wasn't given a fair shot. Don't we have enough Top 40 and Adult Top 40 stations in the market as it is? What is Hit 106 going to do differently?

Satellite radio isn't for everyone. It's not about the money, either - it's the fact that I've listened to it and many stations are basically just jukeboxes. In addition, you don't have that local focus to find out about traffic and events in the area that you may be interesting in attending. Satellite might be good for the music aspect, but in so many other areas it suffers. Why do you think Sirius and XM had to merge after just a few years of being on the market, and even now they've got one foot in the grave?

 

[hubcity]

Huh? 150 is 1% of the listenership?

Well, yes - 1.1 million in the market x 1.4 rating (meaning 1.4% of the market) = 15,400, right? That's the station's listenership. (Unless I'm misunderstanding ratings, which is possible.)

150 people is just a hair shy of 1% of that, assuming both Arbitron and I are correct.

Look at the facts: the ratings sucked (say what you want about Arbitron, but that's the currency). 106.5 is a monster signal and combined with 106.3 it was in 16th place. If you own a station in 16th place in your home market, you will have a very difficult time selling it. How do you spin that to make your sales packages look good? On the flip side, did Press have an appropriate sales staff to sell modern rock? Did Press market the station enough? Did Press tinker with the format too much?

Agreed on all counts. If you can't get around Arbitron as the currency, then the decision you'll make is the decision Press made, absent commitment to the format or to its audience (which Press convinced themselves didn't matter.)

Those people that didn't matter have a funny tendency to not go away, though.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

G rock fans will not listen to hits 106 no way i won't ever!!! Z-100 will crush them!!!Hopefully press will go under with some luck!!!

 

[nd2023]

I used to listen to GRock and I like top 40 music, but I refuse to listen to Hit 106 out of principle.

 

[RadioNation]

What happens in 1-2 years when Press finds themselves still not getting ratings or $$ due to the fact that this age group has *also* abandoned radio? I really hope they just sell the damn signal and bring back owners who want to continue the real WHTG.. It really is apart of the Jersey Shore Culture.. and will always be. Hearing Pink (back in 2002 and now) on 106.3 just will never make sense.

 

[UncleBozzle]

It would seem to be far more logical to put the K 98.5 Country format on 106./106.5 and move this terrible sounding CHR on 98.5. 106.3/106.5 cover a large area of South Jersey where Country does well. Just an idea and via 106.3 it would get Country at NYC's doorstep.

 

[hubcity]

What happens in 1-2 years when Press finds themselves still not getting ratings or $$ due to the fact that this age group has *also* abandoned radio? I really hope they just sell the damn signal and bring back owners who want to continue the real WHTG.. It really is apart of the Jersey Shore Culture.. and will always be. Hearing Pink (back in 2002 and now) on 106.3 just will never make sense.

It's nice to think that perhaps the entire house of cards will tumble and that Press would be forced to sell their assets or relinquish their licenses (there's actually examples of stations doing exactly that these days) but in this market, I think the reality is that someone bigger will buy them out if things get that bad.

That said, a regulatory change could dry up the market in bigger suckers...

 

[softmachine]

It's nice to think that perhaps the entire house of cards will tumble and that Press would be forced to sell their assets or relinquish their licenses (there's actually examples of stations doing exactly that these days) but in this market, I think the reality is that someone bigger will buy them out if things get that bad.

That said, a regulatory change could dry up the market in bigger suckers...

If only older staffers like yourself can come up with the cash at that juncture (I'm assuming that you probably don't want to invest in a stick solely for 'the love of the music' without some qualified sellability) a la WFMU when Upsala went bust. I think Pinfield could swing a loan. Well, I'm guessing-what does NYC pay for music formats these days?

 

[hubcity]

It's nice to think that perhaps the entire house of cards will tumble and that Press would be forced to sell their assets or relinquish their licenses (there's actually examples of stations doing exactly that these days) but in this market, I think the reality is that someone bigger will buy them out if things get that bad.

That said, a regulatory change could dry up the market in bigger suckers...

If only older staffers like yourself can come up with the cash at that juncture (I'm assuming that you probably don't want to invest in a stick solely for 'the love of the music' without some qualified sellability) a la WFMU when Upsala went bust. I think Pinfield could swing a loan. Well, I'm guessing-what does NYC pay for music formats these days?

Ah, if only. There's a chance of that, but somewhere between slim and none. It's a rare confluence that the people with the money respect the people with the vision (and vice versa - which is just as important.)

 

[eyg2181]

G rock fans will not listen to hits 106 no way i won't ever!!! Z-100 will crush them!!!Hopefully press will go under with some luck!!!

nope for top 40, PST is where its at.

 

[d21ofnj]

G rock fans will not listen to hits 106 no way i won't ever!!! Z-100 will crush them!!!Hopefully press will go under with some luck!!!

nope for top 40, PST is where its at.

Both Z and PST have been listened to in the jersey shore. Period. Where's K94? Where's B 98.5? If they havent attracted the listeners of their respective local communities, what makes Press think that $Hit 106 will steal listeners that already is listening to Z and PST.

 

[GSPGUY]

PST is a great station however they are not a factor in Monmouth/Ocean...PST has zero ratings in that market. They don't show.
HTZ only has a 2.7--and you can't hear it in some of Monmouth and most of Ocean. In a year or two this local new station will do better than that.

 

[SoulCrusher]

PST is a great station however they are not a factor in Monmouth/Ocean...PST has zero ratings in that market. They don't show.
HTZ only has a 2.7--and you can't hear it in some of Monmouth and most of Ocean. In a year or two this local new station will do better than that.

Hit 106 is essentially going to be a jukebox with the exception of morning and afternoon drive (with Matt Knight) shows. Don't think for a second that with this approach, it's going to take any listeners away from Z. They can boast on-air about being "local", but everyone that listens for a few minutes knows that it's a feed from Hollywood.

Wherever you go in this market, if you were looking for Top 40 pop music, you could find it. Plenty of places for those who enjoy this music to go; not so for alternative fans. And let's not forget that B 98.5 was your token CHR in Monmouth/Ocean and posted anemic ratings just a few short years ago ... also, unlike Hit 106, it was actually live and local most of the time.

Just as G Rock had become really good, just as they had progressed by leaps and bounds - Press pulls the plug. The CEO doesn't accept the blame for constant corporate tinkering of G's sound from 2000-2006 and how that had an effect on ratings, and instead blames listeners for being "reluctant to fill out Arbitrons". The disappointment of losing G Rock just grew exponentially after reading that statement.

It's unfortunate to be a fan of alternative rock. Everyone thinks that either we have no money, or we're listening to satellite radio or MP3 players ... both are wrong. The FM dial in Monmouth/Ocean is in really pathetic shape right now. It may as well cease to exist as far as I'm concerned, because it's all soft rock, country, Top 40 and generic Neanderthal tractor-pull rock now. About as exciting as watching paint dry.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

Hey gspguy don't you get it hits 106 will be one of the biggest failures ever in radio. Press really f-ed up big time and for that they need to go out of business i hope they go under soon the ceo and everyone in mgmt of that place deserves to be homeless they made a huge mistake and a 2.7 yeah that will happen when Z-100 goes alternative yeah right hits 106 will will will no ifs and buts will fail and that failure will take press down with them and we will have the last laugh your 2.7 is laughable they will be lucky to every get a 1.3 ever in there pathetic existence and that assumes the last two years dude.They should not have flipped it to chr.Worst choice they could have made.

 

[d21ofnj]

In other words, 106 is not gonna take away listeners from Z, in a year or two, u will be lucky to see a $Hit 106.5. Regardless if Z has a 2.7 in the ratings, they are stillgonna be the top CHR station in Monmouth and Ocean.