G-Rock

[hubcity]

BigBoy -

Show me where I questioned the loyalty of any G Rock listeners? My original point is just showing simple human respect.

I, more than ANYONE, was quite moved by the fact that people would stand outside in 30 degree weather on a Saturday afternoon and let their voices be heard about G Rock. In fact, I drove to our offices and watched everything happen that day. It was a very emotional day and to see that kind of love for G Rock was truly amazing. Does that not show loyalty on both ends?

I'm talking about the here and now. You say "you are a radio listener and want to be entertained." We are not robots in this building. Do you not think that we haven't been through an emotional rollercoaster ourselves? You're a listener of the radio station. We WORK there. We put a ton of effort into making G Rock what it was and in the end, unfortunately, the efforts came up a bit short.

How do you think we feel knowing that for all the hard work we put into a project, that it didn't pan out? You think that doesn't have an emotional toll? People on this radio board are obviously passionate (to an extent) about radio. I'm sure people here who have been through a format flip at a station they truly loved (this is my SECOND one by the way, with the first one being B98.5) have had some emotions running wild for a while after. You'll notice also that most people don't actually SURVIVE a format flip. That being proven by some of my friends who no longer work here. Have you watched a friend lose a job? It sucks doesn't it?

You say I chastise people for being loyal? Wrong. Did I ever say "It's gone, get over it and shut up?" No. I still have very good, personal friends in this building who's jobs and livelihood depend on the success of this new station. You don't have to "care" who works here. Just have some respect for those who DO.

God knows I wouldn't wish anyone in YOUR family or group of friends to lose a job in 2009. It's RESPECT.

Matt, you're taking things too personally. This is business, and from a business perspective, Press is screwing up horribly. If your job goes south, it's not because G-Rock fans hate the new station, it's because Press couldn't create enough Hit106 fans to make a dent in the ratings. (Though the volume of G-Rock fans telling their friends that happen to like pop to listen to something else can't help matters.)

And if that's how it turns out, one way or another, the buck stops at Press. They'll probably blame the listeners again, though.

 

[hubcity]

This is business, and from a business perspective, Press is screwing up horribly. If your job goes south, it's not because G-Rock fans hate the new station, it's because Press couldn't create enough Hit106 fans to make a dent in the ratings. (Though the volume of G-Rock fans telling their friends that happen to like pop to listen to something else can't help matters.)

Further: I don't think there's a single person out there who really wants Press to fail utterly, putting everyone out on the street. (Well, maybe a few, at least until they grasp all the ramifications of what that means.)

But there's a lot of people (creeping up to 10,500 when last I looked) that would like to remind Press that the community they worked so hard to create is feeling pretty damn jilted right now, and absent any move by Press to ameliorate that hurt, the only option open to them is to do their damndest to make sure Hit106 fails as a format. Does that mean Press fires everyone and pots up the bird (again)? Good question.

Let's say Press does the extremely unlikely thing and reinstates G-Rock. I think as long as you wind up playing the stuff the listeners want to hear, all will be forgiven - after all, you'll be sure to make sure they know you've been working from the inside to make it happen all along during the Dark Period, right? (Wink, nudge.) Listeners will have their station back, and a solemn duty to go from door-to-door in Monmouth and Ocean counties, find people who have diaries, and scribble G-Rock all over them.

But real corporations are never wrong...

 

[GSP163]

Ok after reading my post again I will say I was a bit harsh about the new Hit 106….I am still very angry what Press did to both their listeners and G-Rock staff……Matt you have every right to angry about what I wrote and I am sorry….When I meant “fail” I meant the format and I was not thinking about people losing their jobs…...I never want to see ANYONE lose their job……Matt I always enjoyed listening to you on G-Rock and at least Press made one good decision in promoting you….However, you have to realize that what Press did to their listeners was wrong ….I mean come on, they just pulled the plug on a 20+ year format @ 12 noon and left all us loyal listeners with no explanation, NOTHING!!!...They didn’t even have the curdecy to tell their employees until 2 hours before the launch…..Now if they went with a unique format that is currently not offered on other area stations I would not be as angry….However, they sold out and went for the money and put on a cheaper satellite fed CHR format….These days you hear the same Top-40 crap on just about every other station…..Besides College & Satellite Radio where can people turn to hear wall to wall Alternative Rock on the radio??……I live up here in Bergen County and it was very difficult pull in G-Rock due to WFAF Mt Kisco….I have a radio in my house that would pull in G-Rock nicely and I also listened online….When I drove down the shore I would listen to G-Rock from Exit 145 all the way down to Exit 17…..Now, even though I was out of their coverage area I was a very loyal to the station and I considered Press to be a unique company with G-Rock & The Breeze (The Breeze has a much different sound then the typical AC)….After this move I now consider them as another Clear Channel (I felt the same about TMO when they sold 92.7 WLIR back in 2004)…Yes times are tough economically but radio keeps doing this to all their listeners…..These moves are making radio more and more boring and corporate sounding everyday…..Why do you think people have given up on radio and have gone to other forms of media?....Most people I talk to can’t stand listening to the radio these days….If companies don’t start trying something different, the radio industry will be dead in near future….Listen Matt I apologize again for what I wrote I wish you nothing but the best….. I don’t hold the grudge against you; it’s the upper management at Press I hold the grudge against.

 

[BigBoy41]

not really interested in over thinking things...we are listeners...we like a station or we don't...sorry...doesn't go much beyond that...it shouldn't...I'd rather hear an HTG format than what they have now on 106.3.
maybe others prefer Britney Spears...thats ok too. doesn't matter to me how many people are in the building working. I don't hear them when I turn on a station. I hear Britney.

 

[d21ofnj]

Let's say Press does the extremely unlikely thing and reinstates G-Rock. I think as long as you wind up playing the stuff the listeners want to hear, all will be forgiven - after all, you'll be sure to make sure they know you've been working from the inside to make it happen all along during the Dark Period, right? (Wink, nudge.) Listeners will have their station back, and a solemn duty to go from door-to-door in Monmouth and Ocean counties, find people who have diaries, and scribble G-Rock all over them.

But real corporations are never wrong...

If Press does decide to bring back G-Rock, then you would expect a hell of an explanation from them. What really trigered the angry comments and the disappointment from the loyal fans was that Press took a shot at the listeners, and blamed them for no support. To add more salt on the wound, Press didnt bother giving the staff at least the proper GODBYE. This where I undestand the frustration from the fans and the listeners did shoot back on Press, but to bash the jocks for being on the new format was harsh, and at this time with how the economy is, Press wasnt that bad to keep the staff. I thought that they were gonna just keep the satellite feed 24/7. This is where my points were said on how this type of format wont work, and everyone knows the history of how Top 40 formats that occured in the Jersey Shore (K94, B98.5). I admit, B 98.5 was better than Z and it was the station to lock it in. But since it was sold to the hands of Press, they just had to kill it. This goes for the same action on how Press killed one of the best known heritage format on the 106.3 frequency. Press just had to kill a good format again.

 

[IknowwhatIknow]

At least they tried to keep people employed. Look what just happened at KLSX.

 

[d21ofnj]

Like I said earlier in my post, Press wasnt bad to keep their staff. They couldve went the route to just say "we dont need you" and would stick to the dial global broadcast.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I PMed Matt earlier in the day to express my sentiments about why so many people are angry about the format change to this day.

d21ofnj summed up nicely how the majority of G Rock fans must have felt after reading the letter posted by Press Communications CEO Robert McAllan, which placed all the blame on listeners for being "reluctant to fill out Arbitrons" and repeatedly referred to Alternative as a "niche" format (which it is not - "niche" would be acid jazz, polka or German hip-hop). More frustrating was not acknowledging the many mistakes that Press made in handling G 106.3 / G Rock over the years. From 2000 until 2005 (when the WBBO simulcast began), Press insisted on throwing a heavy dose of Hot AC acts into the mix: John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Pink, Dido, Sarah McLachlan, Maroon 5, etc. ... a very bad move from which the station never quite rebounded in terms of ratings, in my opinion. Also, they had a very popular morning show with Brian Phillips and Jen Ursillo which was abruptly replaced (sound familiar?) with Kramer. Now, Kramer wasn't a bad jock by any means, but his Southern sensibilities just didn't work at a Jersey Shore station, and having a weak morning show didn't help matters for G Rock at all. They later went on to launch The Morning G with Matt Murray and Erin Vogt, which was far superior - the problem was that it never received any promotion from Press, a mistake that they did not repeat with the new Pork Roll & Eggs morning show on Hit 106 (which had the benefit of both a newspaper article and a full-page ad in the papers!).

So there were without question plenty of mistakes made by Press executives over the years. These mistakes had a lot more to do with G Rock not performing to their desired level than the implied unwillingness of listeners to fill out surveys.

The last two years for the station, with the addition of Murray, Terrie Carr and Scott Lowe, were the best G Rock had ever sounded under Press ownership. The micromanagement finally came to a stop and the staffers were finally given room to breathe, and it made a huge difference in the sound of the station. Unfortunately, Press should have allowed this style of programming when they first purchased the station ... listenership never quite recovered because of the bad management decisions.

To summarize, I think people are unhappy because: We lost a great Alternative station that was highly interactive and had an excellent staff that was passionate about the product ... it was replaced by another CHR - yes, there wasn't technically a Monmouth/Ocean Top 40 station, but Hit 106 shares 80-100% of its playlist with stations that come in strong like Z-100, Q 102, Wired 96.5, WAYV, 99.3 Kiss-FM, etc. ... fans of alternative rock loathe Top 40 acts ... no proper sign-off for G Rock, with the jocks being notified of the flip not even two hours before it happened ... no warning to listeners that G Rock was struggling, and no opportunity for them to try and save it ... and finally, the comments from Press executives that were like pouring salt in an open wound to disappointed G Rock listeners.

I'm not sure if anyone knew this, but CEO McAllan actually asked readers of his letter to "give the new format a chance". He obviously doesn't know too many alternative rock fans, does he? I doubt he is one himself. He honestly believes that a fan of Oasis or Rage Against The Machine is going to bother tuning in to a station that plays Britney Spears and Beyonce as much as twice an hour? I don't know whether to be insulted or laugh hysterically at that.

 

[BigBoy41]

one question I asked awhile back....if the goal is to be profitable...wouldn't the negative feelings towards a new station (especially one that has received much press and facebook coverage) be brought to advertisers attention...especially by competing radio stations? obviously people in the central southern Jersey area stomped their feet regarding the WHTG change...or any other station that receives negative feedback. I'm looking at it strictly from an advertisers perspective...

 

[SoulCrusher]

Radio follower that I am, I always try to stay on top of every station within the Monmouth/Ocean market, even if they aren't my favorite. That said, I saw something on Hit 106 that I found to be ridiculous even by CHR's standards.

11:16 PM Katy Perry - Thinking Of You
11:25 PM Lady GaGa - Just Dance (w/ Colby O' Donis & Akon)

12:00 AM Lady GaGa - Just Dance (w/ Colby O' Donis & Akon)
12:04 AM Katy Perry - Thinking Of You

Yes, you read that correctly. The same songs (only reversed the second time) repeated 45 minutes later.

When I see something like that, it disappoints me even more to think that Press blew up G Rock for THIS.

 

[nd2023]

That's even worse than Q102's 160 spins per week of the same song. Maybe the playlists are generated for only 24 hours, and resets at midnight. Some of the programming on Hit 106 is locally generated, some is off the bird.

 

[d21ofnj]

you would think at least have the same artists at that time slot but with different songs. it would be more understandable if "Just Dance" played at 11:25, then have Lady GaGa's Poker Face play at 12:00 and have either "I Kissed A Girl" or "Hot N Cold" play at 12:00. then again, this can sometimes happen with how the playlists are set, but its been more noticeable with Z with repating the same songs every hour.

 

[hubcity]

one question I asked awhile back....if the goal is to be profitable...wouldn't the negative feelings towards a new station (especially one that has received much press and facebook coverage) be brought to advertisers attention...especially by competing radio stations? obviously people in the central southern Jersey area stomped their feet regarding the WHTG change...or any other station that receives negative feedback. I'm looking at it strictly from an advertisers perspective...

Conventional wisdom is that when you change the format, the listenership resets to a zero rating.

I would suggest that the conventional wisdom is wrong here - there's a measurable subset of the market that's actively working to ensure the new station's defeat. I'd say they're starting with a -1.0.

If they can overcome that deficit, they'll have done some rather astute programming, indeed. I wouldn't put money on it, though.

 

[Zackster]

I would suggest that the conventional wisdom is wrong here - there's a measurable subset of the market that's actively working to ensure the new station's defeat. I'd say they're starting with a -1.0.

Do you seriously think that rants on this forum, or a Saturday Parking Lot Protest
or silly online petitions to "Save G-Rock" are even slightly visible, or otherwise
important to the teenagers who find the station and like it? It's a mass-market
format, playing the hits. Although it doesn't appeal to me, there are those
that will find it and like it, and probably in much bigger numbers than the cult
following the old FM-106.3 had, and maybe even bigger than G-Rock.
Don't be surprised when the ratings come out.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Does someone consciously make the decision to play those songs 45 minutes after they had already been played? Never having worked in radio, I don't know how the whole thing works. Am I correct to assume the playlist is entered into a computer program which generates an "order" of songs? I would think then that this program has a feature where you tell it what the minimum amount of time is that needs to pass before a song can be played again? I've often wondered this and Soulcrushers last post prompted me to ask.

I can't imagine that a program/music director thinks that its a good idea to have the same song on twice in less than an hours time. I understand its a "hit" music station but dear god... :

 

[hubcity]

I would suggest that the conventional wisdom is wrong here - there's a measurable subset of the market that's actively working to ensure the new station's defeat. I'd say they're starting with a -1.0.

Do you seriously think that rants on this forum, or a Saturday Parking Lot Protest
or silly online petitions to "Save G-Rock" are even slightly visible, or otherwise
important to the teenagers who find the station and like it? It's a mass-market
format, playing the hits. Although it doesn't appeal to me, there are those
that will find it and like it, and probably in much bigger numbers than the cult
following the old FM-106.3 had, and maybe even bigger than G-Rock.
Don't be surprised when the ratings come out.

That Saturday Parking Lot Protest - in 35-degree weather, in winter - was as large as the protest - in New York City, in summer - over WCBS-FM's change to Jack. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it. (Online petitions are always silly, though, I'll grant you that.)

However, here's a fact: there are 10,600 people either in, or with ties to, the Monmouth-Ocean market who are actively telling anyone who'll listen to them to tune to any hit station other than Hit106. That's a headcount of Facebook users only; as to how representative it is of the population, your guess is as good as mine.

Let's try some math. People on this board like to pooh-pooh this, but nobody seems to actually try refute the math, so in the interest of reproducible results, I welcome your attempt to debunk this.

- There's 1.1 million people in the market.
- There are 10,600 people on Facebook who've joined the "Bring Back G-Rock" group. That's 0.96% of the size of the market, which is where I get the -1.0. (I rounded up, so shoot me.)

Let's say each of them tells ten people "no, don't listen to that hit station, they suck. Try Z-100 or Hot97." Well, that adds up to a -9.6 (rounding down from the original result this time.) That's a big number.

How big? WRXP is already sending out messages to former G-Rock listeners via MySpace to tune in, so apparently they think the audience is significant enough to pay for that targeting.

That said, hit music is hit music; I won't be surprised if it does better than G-Rock ever did, but I'd also say that's what it HAS to do - if Hit106 can't overcome negativity in the market and overcome radio listeners' loyalty to Z-100 and/or 103.5, and surpass G-Rock's best ratings ever, it's toast.

 

[hubcity]

I can't imagine that a program/music director thinks that its a good idea to have the same song on twice in less than an hours time. I understand its a "hit" music station but dear god... :

Oh, I dunno - remember how Top 40 was born; two guys in a bar noticing how often the same songs kept coming up on the jukebox, meaning that after hearing the song once, a patron was willing to part with some pocket change to hear it again, and soon. Forty-five minutes sounds about right...but only if you can accurately ride the zeitgeist, 'cause when your listeners hear them too often, they don't want to hear them (or you) anymore...

 

[BigBoy41]

click on ratings on this very site....seems January was grocks lowest month in a few months....wasn't that the month they change the music? still waiting on an opinion if this will change the minds of advertisers in the hard economic times we live in....why wouldn't they just advertise on another shore station?

 

[ccuphl]

click on ratings on this very site....seems January was grocks lowest month in a few months....wasn't that the month they change the music? still waiting on an opinion if this will change the minds of advertisers in the hard economic times we live in....why wouldn't they just advertise on another shore station?

You can not judge a format change by looking at one months worth of data. In theory, you completely flushed-out the entire alt rock audience (they left in droves) while the new format had no traction. In reality, wait until this summer (especially late summer) to see what the format does. Most radio people will tell you that you have to give a new format at least three years to see if it really works.

Let's say each of them tells ten people "no, don't listen to that hit station, they suck. Try Z-100 or Hot97." Well, that adds up to a -9.6 (rounding down from the original result this time.) That's a big number.

That is a big number, especially when no station in the market gets a positive 9.6 overall. Your argument for the -9.6 assumes a 100% reaction. In reality, a good number of people (a) don't give a rat's rear end anymore, (b) most have moved on to ipods or satellite radio, and (c) most people know the station will never come back. Going further, (d) if you tell people not to do something, at least one or two of them will see why they shouldn't be doing it. If someone likes (or loves) Z100, they're gonna sample 106.3/106.5 simply because you can get it on a toaster in Monmouth-Ocean.

Either way, Pork Roll and Bacon or whatever the hell that morning show is called could be the worst name for a morning show in the history of radio. It's so bad, it sounds like a consultant from Guam asked someone in the area what people are known for around here. We were probably one conference call away from the "Traffic Circle and Unexploded World War I-era Military Munitions" morning show.

I can't imagine that a program/music director thinks that its a good idea to have the same song on twice in less than an hours time. I understand its a "hit" music station but dear god...

Keep in mind the 7P-Midnight show on 106.3/106.5 is a nationwide, syndicated show (just like Delilah, for example). I believe Nudge at Night, while being a Dial-Global show, is seperate from D-G's "Hits Now" syndicated format. Depending on how Press is running the format, either Dial-Global is doing a poor job of comparing the two music logs or someone at Press is doing a poor job of comparing the two music logs.

If you take the Delilah example, it would be rather easy for Delilah to play Taylor Swift's "Love Story" at 11:50 PM (on the network) and then the local station could play the exact same song at 12:01 AM if the PD wasn't paying attention. Selector or any music scheduling program would have no idea what Delilah just played and it would just maintain the normal rotation of the song.

 

[nd2023]

It would be wasteful to hire someone just to compare which songs a syndicated show plays in its last 15 minutes to what the locally scheduled songs are. That person who got hired for that purpose could easily be a local host of the night show.