Ciao said:
You sound like the typical white suburban male. I really don't expect you to understand.
Way to pull the completely unrelated race card. For your information, You couldn't be more wrong. Bent Ct. represent! It doesn't get more "urban" than where I'm from. And again, skin pigment has
nothing to do with this conversation.
I grew up listening to SugarHill, P-Funk, Kurtis Blow, BDP, Melle Mel, PE, Jonzun Crew, Whodini etc. I'm fairly well-versed in Hip Hop culture. But, of course you assumed you knew my background and therefore misjudged. AND played the race card where it has no place.
The fact remains that there were two great urban stations in Boston. Neither of them were profitable enough to sustain operating costs. What part of that equation can't you fathom?
Ciao said:
Rapking, if I read him correctly, does not have 'scorn' for Boston radio, but is frustrated by it. As am I. This market serves one type of person, while other large communities are ignored.
Completely, unequivocally, incorrect. The market was served. It didn't support the product, or the clients who advertised upon it. The owners sold to a buyer, as was their right. It's gone, and truthfully, not many people care. They're happy with what they're getting from Jamn' and KISS. Both stations fought off the competitor by marketing, and serving their target audiences better. If there were a legitimate hole for what you want to hear...it'd be filled already. But, there is no such hole.
..and you never know what you have until it's gone.
Getting back ON-topic. I'm sure the Bruins would love to be on FM. The NHL is suffering from horrible national ratings due to their decision to negotiate a terrible TV deal. In a city like Boston, one of the few where the NHL posts profits, cutting a deal to move to an FM signal makes sense. Now the question is...does it make sense to blow up both stations, and can the Pats be moved over to WZLX? I'm of the understanding they have a "no move" deal, and that any attempt would have to be OK'd by the Krafts.
Rock radio is moving backwards. The fragmented formats are going away in favor of a return to AOR. Why? Because quite simply, there isn't enough "new music" in Active, Mainstream, and Alternative radio to support three distinct formats. And record co. budgets have been slashed to the point of they cannot superserve individual formats. So the station that casts the widest possible net...will eventually win. Which is why WBCN plays some Classic Rock, and WAAF has incorporated a ton of artists that traditionally, they'd never touch.
Bringing us full circle to (IMHO) CBS' best move; to obliterate WZLX, and combine the best of that playlist with the best of WBCN's playlist, thereby re-launching "The Rock Of Boston" as we once knew it. The station that played the Allman Bros. and Elvis Costello back then, can now play both of them, AND Grunge, AND new rock like Wolfmother & The White Stripes, which are nothing but new versions of Cream, and The Clash anyway.
That's what WBCN was, and what Boston remembers it as. That's ingrained heritage. You can't beat that. You take the best of two (perceptively..I don't know) underperforming stations, and create one efficient, cume-friendly rock station.
AND...you create that FM Sports station everyone's been predicting for 5 years.
...of course this opens up another can o' worms. Can WEEI be taken?
