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Heat Wave Must Have Fried Brains: WKLB Advances

L

Laurence Glavin

Guest
The latest Arbitrends for Boston were just released and a major winner was country WKLB-FM. We know there was a fierce heat wave in early June. Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?
 
I have heard some great stuff on the country stations in the Boston and southern NH markets, and on my "magic radio" I listen to 3 of the country stations (XM 10, 16, and 17) and I'd rather listen to some of the country artists than the crap they are programming on the other stations.
 
Boston does not realize how lucky it is to have WKLB. It honestly plays the best variety I have ever heard on a Country station. I love loose playlists.
 
The latest Arbitrends for Boston were just released and a major winner was country WKLB-FM. We know there was a fierce heat wave in early June. Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?[/i][/i]


I am not a big fan of that particular station but I am curious to know what station and genre of music we are permitted to listen to.
it seems you have a little "I'm better than you are problem" goin' (that's country for going ) on there. Perhaps you should get some insulation going on over your head too.
 
Laurence Glavin said:
The latest Arbitrends for Boston were just released and a major winner was country WKLB-FM. We know there was a fierce heat wave in early June. Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?
Click to expand...


Main Entry: glav·uh·nate

Pronunciation: \ˈglü-vin-ˌnāt\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): gla·va·nat·ed; gla·va·nat·ing

Etymology: Latin glavinatus, past participle of glavin to chew the cud, muse upon, from glavin-, glaven glavven; perhaps akin to Sanskrit glavintha act of chewing the cud

Date: 2003


transitive verb

1 : to go over in the mind and often aloud and in print repeatedly and often casually or slowly

2 : to insult anyone who's music tastes disagree with your own.

3 : to assume that one's taste in religion, music and people is superior to anyone else's

4 : to have total disregard for anyone else.

examples:

WCRB plays crappy music by crappy people with a crappy signal by a crappy company that only cares about their crappy profits. Only crappy people disagree with me.... (repeat often)

Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?

Magic 106.7's musical choices are so insipid that I don't understand why they are the most popular music station in Boston. Why can't everyone be like me...?
 
Laurence Glavin said:
The latest Arbitrends for Boston were just released and a major winner was country WKLB-FM. We know there was a fierce heat wave in early June. Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?
Click to expand...

Tell us again how your head fits through the doorway. ::)
 
Laurence Glavin said:
The latest Arbitrends for Boston were just released and a major winner was country WKLB-FM. We know there was a fierce heat wave in early June. Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?
Click to expand...

That would be moot, because the survey was taken from April through June.
 
See, people are thirsting for anything other than rock and chick AC music! At least WKLB is playing something fresh and different in the marketplace and people are clearly responding.

Also, don't get that myopic view that "city people" sometimes get. The vast majority in this market (~75%) live in the suburbs and country music is reasonably popular there....and not just with the NASCAR set. Combine that with well executed programming and you get success where some say it can't be done.

Give credit where it's due. WKLB's programmers are doing an excellent job.
 
so who's to say that maybe a mix of very hot acts who blur the formatic lines (American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, Kid Rock, Faith Hill, et al), a more-platter/less-chatter approach and a mostly-positive on-air sound (no morning zoo or endless-working-the-phones regardless of shift) didn't equate to a much-deserved bump for my dear friends at WKLB (disclaimer - worked there many moons ago - when gas was 1.50 a gallon, maybe 1.75...). Not to say that Kiss 108 or Magic 106.7 doesn't keep the whole forward-positive-feel-good thing workin' (country/rock/urban/pop for working), but maybe WKLB got an uptick in listeners and a very favorable placement of diary-keepers.

just curious - as bad as the news has been of late (bad meaning message-of-the-content and not delivery or presentation), how did WBZ do?
I am normally a 24/7 info-junkie - plugged in and listening to all-news stations more than music stations. but of late, give 20 minutes of fun music couple with a jock who wants to have fun (or at least sound he/she is), and I'm pretty happy.

thankfully, i'm not prone to the glavuhnization of radio. (grinnin' - that's Classical for grinning)
 
BRNout said:
See, people are thirsting for anything other than rock and chick AC music! At least WKLB is playing something fresh and different in the marketplace and people are clearly responding.

Also, don't get that myopic view that "city people" sometimes get. The vast majority in this market (~75%) live in the suburbs and country music is reasonably popular there....and not just with the NASCAR set. Combine that with well executed programming and you get success where some say it can't be done.

Give credit where it's due. WKLB's programmers are doing an excellent job.
Click to expand...

If you listen to WKLB, I think you'll hear that one reason for their success is that they're appealing to a contemporary country audience of which a notable portion are female listeners!

Listen to the music and the presentation. It's not quite like the traditional male-oriented country stations of a couple of decades ago - or still nowadays out in the rural boonies - that are just appealing to the male truck drivers, weekend hunters in their pickups, and the race car set - that approach has been proven not to work for country in the Boston area. The differences are subtle, but WKLB has engineered a contemporary country format that appeals to metro suburban and urban working women as well as the usual male country audience, which wouldn't be large enough to support it in this area alone. Most of the callers that they put on the air during their noontime request hour, for contests, and at other times are women. They had to make it cross over to attract a female contemporary country audience as well as male to succeed with country in this area, and they did.
 
Country is the new Rock.

It's that simple. the "Rock Stars" in the music industry are all in Country Music. They have character, depth, and fans are interested in them.

Because Country Radio was allowed to develop artists and didn't throw them away after 6 weeks.

It's not a shock that Boston finally catches up to the rest of America...Country Radio does well in a lot of places.
 
I actually enjoy country music...WKLB is a bit different from most stations though, they tend to be a bit, mmm what's the word....softer? than other country stations i've heard. There's also a lot of good "alternative" country stations i've heard....wow I should look into getting a gig at a country station.
 
Laurence Glavin said:
The latest Arbitrends for Boston were just released and a major winner was country WKLB-FM. We know there was a fierce heat wave in early June. Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?
Click to expand...

WLKB is one of the best-programmed stations in Boston; PD Mike Brophey, APD/MD Ginny Rogers, and most of the on-air staff have been there for at least a decade. Longevity like that speaks volumes. There's a substantial amount of country music that charts nationally that never makes it onto WKLB; the folks at the station know the Boston market very well.

It also helps that there is a lot of country crossing over to CHR and Hot AC these days (like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban.)

As for "C&W", nobody calls it that, at least not in Boston.
 
Watt said:
Laurence Glavin said:
The latest Arbitrends for Boston were just released and a major winner was country WKLB-FM. We know there was a fierce heat wave in early June. Were so many people's brains fried that they tuned to a C&W station in Boston?
Click to expand...

WLKB is one of the best-programmed stations in Boston; PD Mike Brophey, APD/MD Ginny Rogers, and most of the on-air staff have been there for at least a decade. Longevity like that speaks volumes.
Click to expand...

12+ they are the number 6 station in Boston in the last trend!

Congrats to everyone at WKLB for a job well done!
 
spilot113 said:
12+ they are the number 6 station in Boston in the last trend!

Congrats to everyone at WKLB for a job well done!
Click to expand...

Philadelphia is another market where Greater Media has a major presence (like here). At least one of GM's Philly properties is struggling ("Smooth-jazz" 97.5, the move-in from Trenton, is struggling for sure, but there may be others--even when you exclude GM's Phiily AM property, WPEN). Does Philly have a country station on a decent signal? (Nothing comes to my mind, but that doesn't mean much.) If not, I would think the WKLB formula would work down there and would be worth a try, although it's not clear to me that 97.5 (a full B licensed to Burlington NJ, with a stick further north of Philly proper than most of the Philly Bs, many of which are in Roxborough) is the one best situated to capture the maximum number of country-music listeners.
 
Country is quite popular nationwide and even here, and the station presents it well (and pretty much
has a monopoly on the audience). Did you know there was a concert a couple years ago at Gillette
Stadium that was the highest grossing one day concert ever (in some sort of category), and it was
_country_? Kenny Chesney!

People can make fun of country but it is a foundation of American music and we can't forget the
many great artists from Hank to Johnny to Garth who have brought American music to the forefront.
This is where I plug the fact that WMWM 91.7 Salem State has a fun country show, Jack's Roadhouse,
Sat from 3-6 pm and I will be filling in on the show July 19. The forecast is for (Hank) Snow; I will be paying
you (Johnny) Cash in your (Johnny) Paycheck because Parton is such sweet sorrow! Homer and
Jethro, Alabama, Tex WIlliams (Smoke smoke smoke that cigarette), and more.

Don't rock the jukebox, I wanna hear George Jones. Cause my heart ain't ready for the Rolling Stones.
More people like hillbilly music than you may think!
 
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