Has anyone heard...?

[BLewis]

Hi All:

WZRU FM 90.1 and 90.5 (Roanoke Rapids/Rocky Mount, NC) has been streaming since December 26, 2005. We are an NPR station, with a B/EZ-hybrid format. The blend consists of Softer-than-Soft AC, B/EZ covers from TM Century, some smooth jazz, and standards (new and classic). We play music weekdays from 9am-5pm (ET) and 7pm-10pm (ET). Overnights are more jazz-standards based on a locally-done show. Weekends, like other 'old school' public stations consists of a variety of programming from jazz, folk, big-band, oldies and inspirational music. Has anyone on the Soft AC/Standards page listened? If so...what do you think? Any ideas?

Thanks,
Brian
WZRU-FM

 

[BlueHen]

> Has anyone on the Soft
> AC/Standards page listened? If so...what do you think? Any
> ideas?

Our IT Dept may soon be prohibiting access to online streaming, but I’m glad I got to sample this in our office just in case they do pull the plug. This was the reaction in our office.

(First off, I don’t listen to NPR, so we would not have WZRU on for the first hour or so when our day starts, but I am a Paul Harvey fan). WZRU’s music mix is perfect for an office environment. Our local AC stations (actually, “soft rock”) are entirely too disruptive, and WZRU was a welcome change because there’s no similar format here. Our “Sunny” station here got to be very repetitive upon daily listening. I think there’s a misconception in the radio industry that the average listener doesn’t notice this… but they do. In fact, one woman commented that, with 50 years of music available today, why do they have to play “I Will Survive” every single day? Of course, “I Will Survive” is one of those disruptive songs that really stands out, and tends to be very noticeable. Something by Barry Manilow, on the other hand, would just blend into the background. Plus, there are enough Manilow songs out there, all with a similar texture, that one wouldn’t necessarily stand out above the rest.

Here’s what people thought. I really liked WZRU’s combination of instrumentals and vocal soft hits (“Fernando,” “And I Love You So”). Someone else thought there were too many instrumentals. I thought it was just right, but I’m a fan of instrumental music. So maybe a good idea would be to play instrumentals of big hits which are familiar to people.

The bottom line: WZRU succeeds as a true listen-to-at-work station.

Josh Groban and Michael Buble are popular in my office, as is that new Manilow CD of ‘50s music. One coworker’s favorite is Michael Buble’s version of the Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart.” I’ve changed the way I feel about the Soft AC format recently. I used to prefer a format of older MOR songs exclusively (“Beyond The Sea,” “A Certain Smile”)… songs which couldn’t be heard anywhere else. But now I think the format does need to jump ahead and include the likes of John Denver, James Taylor, Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, Dan Fogelberg, Crystal Gayle, Bette Midler, Olivia Newton-John, Abba, Bread, Carpenters, etc… and that’s because these are now the artists which can’t be heard anywhere else, and people like the ones in my office recognize. If these artists are included without abandoning Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Andy Williams, Steve Lawrence, et al, the format can gain a new audience without losing the one it currently has.