Horrible Music on WHOM

[mainer3223]

Why the hell is WHOM playing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" three times in a six hour period?? I caught that yesterday, and they have been playing that god awful song too much lately. It's old as hell, and crappy too. WHOM should probably stop playing it, especially so often, as WHOM will probably see themselves sink as quickly as the Titanic did.

 

[lesabre]

> Why the hell is WHOM playing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go
> On" three times in a six hour period?? I caught that
> yesterday, and they have been playing that god awful song
> too much lately. It's old as hell, and crappy too. WHOM
> should probably stop playing it, especially so often, as
> WHOM will probably see themselves sink as quickly as the
> Titanic did.
>

Perhaps they are doing some type of contest with it. WHOM does a great job in that type of format. What a signal, would rather listen to WHOM anytime, given the choice, than the horrible ham and egg job WJJR does with the same format for example.

 

[channelsurf]

No doubt that GV Rapp is really enjoying rocking out, to all that Celine Dion!!!

Why the hell is WHOM playing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go
> On" three times in a six hour period?? I caught that
> yesterday, and they have been playing that god awful song
> too much lately. It's old as hell, and crappy too. WHOM
> should probably stop playing it, especially so often, as
> WHOM will probably see themselves sink as quickly as the
> Titanic did.
>

 

[am_directional]

WHOM Back in the Day (was Re: Horrible)

This is not really related to the post other than it jogged my memory

I remember back in the day when 'HOM was easy listening - they'd manage to sneak in one or two Christmas tunes on Thanksgiving day. Then the Christmas tunes would not be heard from again for at least another week or so.

cheers,
Joe

> Why the hell is WHOM playing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go
> On" three times in a six hour period?? I caught that<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by am_directional on 11/18/05 02:24 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[JustinT]

> Perhaps they are doing some type of contest with it. WHOM
> does a great job in that type of format. What a signal,
> would rather listen to WHOM anytime, given the choice, than
> the horrible ham and egg job WJJR does with the same format
> for example.

WHOM has gone downhill somewhat in the past few years. The music previously was a typical soft AC, but as the genre has become more upbeat, the station has stayed soft. Sandra Harris' popular "Love Songs at Night" was cut by Citadel in lieu of the syndicated John Tesh show. And the Dave Koz smooth jazz show is refreshing, but is a bit out of place.

Apparently, they have a new logo as well, which I was shocked to see when I visited the website. Although the old one was certainly dated, the new logo appears just too upbeat and lively for the rather sleepy station. The station's presentation sounds OK, but the majority of the jingles are incredibly down-tempo. It makes Bedtime Magic on 106.7-WMJX in Boston sound like a Morning Zoo at times.

There's a commercial on WHOM's website at<a target="_blank" href=http://www.whom949.com/about.shtml>http://www.whom949.com/about.shtml</a> that gives an interesting view on the station. All of the music played in the background is of the very-soft AC genre, and the commercial looks like it was produced for a CCM (in particular, the white circles look like the bubbles on Salem's Fishes, and I believe the couple under the word "Family" are also in a commercial for WFSH/Atlanta). The titles make it look like they're trying to sell some sort of medication (in fact, the lady during the title "Job" stars is in the same setting for a commercial for a dentist (Dr. Hart) in the Boston area).

WHOM's huge signal provides a world of opportunities for Citadel to explore. The soft AC that 94.9 is now works, but as that demo ages, it's not likely to be all that appealing. If Citadel were to move the station a bit more upbeat, WHOM would break away from other snooze-button stations like WBAE/WVAE and WLAM, with a more attractive audience and better potential.

 

[rjoc]

>Maybe Celine is back visting her native Quebec??? And WHOM puts a mighty fine signal into much of SE Quebec. I'm not sure where in Quebec Celine is from, probably further north than WHOM reaches, but who knows??? On my last trip, in August, from Montreal back here to Mount Desert Island, I had WHOM on from Mount Orford, just west of Sherbrooke, all the way down to Bangor. Dam, what a great signal! Unfortunately, the music really chewed..but it was the only thing with a fairly steady signal coming down past Sugarloaf and into the Carabasset Valley. (and WTOS 105.1 is NOT my style) ((And before WNSX 97.7 came on with its' surprisingly pleasant and refreshing Smooth Rock and Roll))



Why the hell is WHOM playing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go
> On" three times in a six hour period?? I caught that
> yesterday, and they have been playing that god awful song
> too much lately. It's old as hell, and crappy too. WHOM
> should probably stop playing it, especially so often, as
> WHOM will probably see themselves sink as quickly as the
> Titanic did.
>

 

[rjoc]

Re: WHOM Back in the Day (was Re: Horrible)

> This is not really related to the post other than it jogged
> my memory
>
> I remember back in the day when 'HOM was easy listening -
> they'd manage to sneak in one or two Christmas tunes on
> Thanksgiving day. Then the Christmas tunes would not be
> heard from again for at least another week or so.
>
> cheers,
> Joe
>
> > Why the hell is WHOM playing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will
> Go
> > On" three times in a six hour period?? I caught that
>


Ya, I'm showing my age, sorry...but yes, I do remember back in 70's early 80s when WHOM was in its' EZ days. And before Millinocket's WSYY moved from 97.7 to 94.9. That totally trashed WHOM's signal from Waterville on north and east.
"Music for New England, from the Top of Mount Washington, on WHOM FM-Stereo 95" was a common liner and promo.

 

[rjoc]

> > Perhaps they are doing some type of contest with it. WHOM
> > does a great job in that type of format. What a signal,
> > would rather listen to WHOM anytime, given the choice,
> than
> > the horrible ham and egg job WJJR does with the same
> format
> > for example.
>
> WHOM has gone downhill somewhat in the past few years. The
> music previously was a typical soft AC, but as the genre has
> become more upbeat, the station has stayed soft. Sandra
> Harris' popular "Love Songs at Night" was cut by Citadel in
> lieu of the syndicated John Tesh show. And the Dave Koz
> smooth jazz show is refreshing, but is a bit out of place.
>
> Apparently, they have a new logo as well, which I was
> shocked to see when I visited the website. Although the old
> one was certainly dated, the new logo appears just too
> upbeat and lively for the rather sleepy station. The
> station's presentation sounds OK, but the majority of the
> jingles are incredibly down-tempo. It makes Bedtime Magic on
> 106.7-WMJX in Boston sound like a Morning Zoo at times.
>
> There's a commercial on WHOM's website
> athttp://www.whom949.com/about.shtml that gives an
> interesting view on the station. All of the music played in
> the background is of the very-soft AC genre, and the
> commercial looks like it was produced for a CCM (in
> particular, the white circles look like the bubbles on
> Salem's Fishes, and I believe the couple under the word
> "Family" are also in a commercial for WFSH/Atlanta). The
> titles make it look like they're trying to sell some sort of
> medication (in fact, the lady during the title "Job" stars
> is in the same setting for a commercial for a dentist (Dr.
> Hart) in the Boston area).
>
> WHOM's huge signal provides a world of opportunities for
> Citadel to explore. The soft AC that 94.9 is now works, but
> as that demo ages, it's not likely to be all that appealing.
> If Citadel were to move the station a bit more upbeat, WHOM
> would break away from other snooze-button stations like
> WBAE/WVAE and WLAM, with a more attractive audience and
> better potential.
>


What puzzles me is why WHOM doesn't promote more of the fact that it trasmits from the top of Mount Washington and has such a large coverage area, even today. In it's old Easy-Listening days, it was always promoting "Music for New England from the Top of Mount Washington." or "From the top of New England, WHOM Mount Washington" (I found some old airchecks and tapes on a cassette of WHOM, incuding a 1980 sign-on during a recent cleaning-binge.)
Today they only mention Mount Washigton during their required top-of-the-hour ID. Although maybe I'm missing other mentions. I only listen when I am down in Southern Maine, or during the Dave Coz show on Sunday mornings, which I make a point to rotate the antenna for best reception of WHOM here on Mount Desert island.

 

[Oldbones]

> What puzzles me is why WHOM doesn't promote more of the fact
> that it trasmits from the top of Mount Washington and has
> such a large coverage area, even today. In it's old
> Easy-Listening days, it was always promoting "Music for New
> England from the Top of Mount Washington." or "From the
> top of New England, WHOM Mount Washington" (I found some old
> airchecks and tapes on a cassette of WHOM, incuding a 1980
> sign-on during a recent cleaning-binge.)
> Today they only mention Mount Washigton during their
> required top-of-the-hour ID. Although maybe I'm missing
> other mentions. I only listen when I am down in Southern
> Maine, or during the Dave Coz show on Sunday mornings, which
> I make a point to rotate the antenna for best reception of
> WHOM here on Mount Desert island.
>

I wonder if the huge signal is as much of an asset as it once was. I'd imagine from a sales standpoint it probably doesn't help them much...just because the station's signal covers most of northern New England it doesn't mean that an advertiser in Burlington, Vt. is gonna want to advertise on what is essentially a Portland station.

 

[CTRadio]

WHOM was always on the conservative side. Celine Dion can still be found on mainstream AC, but heavy rotation of "My Heart Will Go On" at this point does seem a bit excessive. The days of being the only game in town are long gone, and it's not unusual for a big signal station to practically ignore a market in their backyard to focus on where the most money and Arbitron diaries are. Connecticut FM's in Meriden halfway between Hartford & New Haven cover both metros well, but the Hartford area (thanks to more suburbs) is the bigger market. Unlike TV, those are two separate radio markets. If it's between the Upper Valley and the White Mountains vs. the Seacoast and Portland for WHOM, you also have to choose where to put the emphasis.
>
> I wonder if the huge signal is as much of an asset as it
> once was. I'd imagine from a sales standpoint it probably
> doesn't help them much...just because the station's signal
> covers most of northern New England it doesn't mean that an
> advertiser in Burlington, Vt. is gonna want to advertise on
> what is essentially a Portland station.
>

 

[cheapman]

Re: WHOM Back in the Day (was Re: Horrible)

Before they were WHOM they were WMTW-FM. They were the FM sister
of channel 8 in Poland Spring. The studios were in the Ricker
Inn (check sp?). I lived in suburban Boston at the time and I
could pull in both the FM and channel 8 because they had killer
signals coming off of Mt. Washington. I don't think the FM signal
is quite what it once was, and the TV transmitter was moved to
outside Portland a few years back.
>
> Ya, I'm showing my age, sorry...but yes, I do remember back
> in 70's early 80s when WHOM was in its' EZ days. And before
> Millinocket's WSYY moved from 97.7 to 94.9. That totally
> trashed WHOM's signal from Waterville on north and east.
> "Music for New England, from the Top of Mount Washington, on
> WHOM FM-Stereo 95" was a common liner and promo.
>

 

[dommy]

> WHOM was always on the conservative side. Celine Dion can
> still be found on mainstream AC, but heavy rotation of "My
> Heart Will Go On" at this point does seem a bit excessive.
> The days of being the only game in town are long gone, and
> it's not unusual for a big signal station to practically
> ignore a market in their backyard to focus on where the most
> money and Arbitron diaries are. Connecticut FM's in Meriden
> halfway between Hartford & New Haven cover both metros well,
> but the Hartford area (thanks to more suburbs) is the bigger
> market. Unlike TV, those are two separate radio markets.
> If it's between the Upper Valley and the White Mountains vs.
> the Seacoast and Portland for WHOM, you also have to choose
> where to put the emphasis.
> >
> > I wonder if the huge signal is as much of an asset as it
> > once was. I'd imagine from a sales standpoint it probably
>
> > doesn't help them much...just because the station's signal
>
> > covers most of northern New England it doesn't mean that
> an
> > advertiser in Burlington, Vt. is gonna want to advertise
> on
> > what is essentially a Portland station.
> >

Don't know what the research for this particular song shows these days but I always have to chuckle when the segment of the audience not targeted by A/C radio.....men...complain about the music on these stations. The reality is...these stations don't care what you think about Celine Dion, Delilah, John Tesh, etc. As long as their target audience...35 plus females...want to hear Celine and the Titanic song specifically..they will keep playing it. Deal with it!!
>

 

[KML0224]

Re: WHOM Back in the Day (was Re: Horrible)

The analog transmitter for WMTW-TV was moved a few years ago (2002?) to Baldwin, ME near Lake Sebago. It isn't terribly far from the WCSH-TV (channel 6) transmitter either. I think this was also done due so WMTW-DT (digital) channel 46 could put a city grade signal into downtown Portland.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

> What puzzles me is why WHOM doesn't promote more of the fact
> that it trasmits from the top of Mount Washington and has
> such a large coverage area, even today. In it's old
> Easy-Listening days, it was always promoting "Music for New
> England from the Top of Mount Washington." or "From the
> top of New England, WHOM Mount Washington" (I found some old
> airchecks and tapes on a cassette of WHOM, incuding a 1980
> sign-on during a recent cleaning-binge.)
> Today they only mention Mount Washigton during their
> required top-of-the-hour ID. Although maybe I'm missing
> other mentions.

In those days decades ago, there weren't as many stations in the cities and towns throughout Northern New England. In many areas, especially in between certain mountain ranges, WHOM (WMTW-FM) was the ONLY signal you could get on the FM dial.

Nowadays there are many more stations serving all the different markets throughout the region, so I guess there's more financial incentive to localize to a larger market. Not meaning to belittle any of the smaller New England towns, but I don't know how much sponsor incentive there is nowadays in promoting that the signal covers lots of mountains, woods and forests.

That said, I've noticed that WHOM sponsors include a mix from the White Mountains and Lakes regions to a concentration in Portland and southern Maine to some as far south as Concord, NH (not much in Manchester, they're covered by WZID), and an occasional from Vermont.

 

[CTRadio]

"Horrible Music" for whom?

I've dealt with it for a long time. It's not what WE like but what the target audience will tune in to get. And it's a moving target. The fact is that all shades of AC radio have evolved over the years. I remember when Streisand tested through the roof with women 35-54 less than 15 years ago. Neil Diamond and Bread were AC essentials. Back then, the median age AC listener may have also been the female component of an oldies station's audience. We know what's been happening to oldies, and today's AC programmers have to keep their focus on protecting a lucrative franchise. Today's 41-year-old target listener does not share the same tastes as the ones in a 1990 music test.

AC has also pulled back on the divas of the 80's & 90's. Whitney Houston, who also underwent an image change along the way, isn't belting out "Greatest Love of All" over the airwaves as much as she used to. John Mellencamp isn't on the local Lite FM now because he tested well with guys, even if he did.

If WHOM wants to go slightly older and it's a niche that works for them, fine.

> Don't know what the research for this particular song shows
> these days but I always have to chuckle when the segment of
> the audience not targeted by A/C radio.....men...complain
> about the music on these stations. The reality is...these
> stations don't care what you think about Celine Dion,
> Delilah, John Tesh, etc. As long as their target
> audience...35 plus females...want to hear Celine and the
> Titanic song specifically..they will keep playing it. Deal
> with it!!
> >
>

 

[cheapman]

There's a certain kind of romance that comes from the day when
there was only one station on the FM dial. Unfortunately that's
gone the way of the vacuum tube!


> > What puzzles me is why WHOM doesn't promote more of the
> fact
> > that it trasmits from the top of Mount Washington and has
> > such a large coverage area, even today. In it's old
> > Easy-Listening days, it was always promoting "Music for
> New
> > England from the Top of Mount Washington." or "From the
> > top of New England, WHOM Mount Washington" (I found some
> old
> > airchecks and tapes on a cassette of WHOM, incuding a 1980
>
> > sign-on during a recent cleaning-binge.)
> > Today they only mention Mount Washigton during their
> > required top-of-the-hour ID. Although maybe I'm missing
> > other mentions.
>
> In those days decades ago, there weren't as many stations in
> the cities and towns throughout Northern New England. In
> many areas, especially in between certain mountain ranges,
> WHOM (WMTW-FM) was the ONLY signal you could get on the FM
> dial.
>
> Nowadays there are many more stations serving all the
> different markets throughout the region, so I guess there's
> more financial incentive to localize to a larger market. Not
> meaning to belittle any of the smaller New England towns,
> but I don't know how much sponsor incentive there is
> nowadays in promoting that the signal covers lots of
> mountains, woods and forests.
>
> That said, I've noticed that WHOM sponsors include a mix
> from the White Mountains and Lakes regions to a
> concentration in Portland and southern Maine to some as far
> south as Concord, NH (not much in Manchester, they're
> covered by WZID), and an occasional from Vermont.
>

 

[mainer3223]

Just venting a little, sorry Mr. Tim Moore.

> > WHOM was always on the conservative side. Celine Dion can
>
> > still be found on mainstream AC, but heavy rotation of "My
>
> > Heart Will Go On" at this point does seem a bit excessive.
>
> > The days of being the only game in town are long gone, and
>
> > it's not unusual for a big signal station to practically
> > ignore a market in their backyard to focus on where the
> most
> > money and Arbitron diaries are. Connecticut FM's in
> Meriden
> > halfway between Hartford & New Haven cover both metros
> well,
> > but the Hartford area (thanks to more suburbs) is the
> bigger
> > market. Unlike TV, those are two separate radio markets.
>
> > If it's between the Upper Valley and the White Mountains
> vs.
> > the Seacoast and Portland for WHOM, you also have to
> choose
> > where to put the emphasis.
> > >
> > > I wonder if the huge signal is as much of an asset as it
>
> > > once was. I'd imagine from a sales standpoint it
> probably
> >
> > > doesn't help them much...just because the station's
> signal
> >
> > > covers most of northern New England it doesn't mean that
>
> > an
> > > advertiser in Burlington, Vt. is gonna want to advertise
>
> > on
> > > what is essentially a Portland station.
> > >
>
> Don't know what the research for this particular song shows
> these days but I always have to chuckle when the segment of
> the audience not targeted by A/C radio.....men...complain
> about the music on these stations. The reality is...these
> stations don't care what you think about Celine Dion,
> Delilah, John Tesh, etc. As long as their target
> audience...35 plus females...want to hear Celine and the
> Titanic song specifically..they will keep playing it. Deal
> with it!!
> >
>