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"IF" The River Is Smart They Would....

R

RK

Recgonize the potential if they expand the playlist into the 1965-1970 area as well.

Add to the fact they throw in more rock tunes. For example: i'd like to hear "Do Ya" by ELO," "When The Levee Breaks" by L.Z., "Fool For The City" by Foghat, "Face In The Crowd" by Tom Petty. Maybe throw some Mott The Hoople or Bob Dylan in. This can tweak up the playlist and make it more familiar to listeners. Right now i'm getting killed by slow ballroom dance-ish type songs.

Heck last night i heard some Jimi Hendrix. If they can play that, then there MUST be room for other titles that wouldn't be hard rock as listed above, yet all HITS in their own day and age.

Another twist i believe would be beneficial to The River would be the DMB song they played yesterday. That song came out in 2002 does not fit with their current playlist AT ALL.

[TO ELABORATE]

I think this can be tweaked so (IF) 104.9 wanted to get creative, they could play NEW MATERIAL that never gets played in this market from The Mountain or 107. New stuff by the classic rock artists: Foghat, Petty, Rolling Stones, Dylan, Deep Purple, McCartney, RUSH, REO, STYX, Don Henley, Robert Plant, and dare i say Alice Cooper?

Funny thing, some of the groups i mentioned are viewed larely as HARD ROCK bands, but truth be told they have MANY more popular less hard rock oriented stuff out there today. In fact most of these bands are creating some EXCELLENT MUSIC IN THE PRESENT DAY that could be tapped into. If The River realized this, they could really capitalize on it. Think about it. NOBODY else would be playing this type of material. Sounds like theres a market for that to me!
 
> I think this can be tweaked so (IF) 104.9 wanted to get
> creative, they could play NEW MATERIAL that never gets
> played in this market from The Mountain or 107. New stuff by
> the classic rock artists: Foghat, Petty, Rolling Stones,
> Dylan, Deep Purple, McCartney, RUSH, REO, STYX, Don Henley,
> Robert Plant, and dare i say Alice Cooper?
>
> Funny thing, some of the groups i mentioned are viewed
> larely as HARD ROCK bands, but truth be told they have MANY
> more popular less hard rock oriented stuff out there today.
> In fact most of these bands are creating some EXCELLENT
> MUSIC IN THE PRESENT DAY that could be tapped into. If The
> River realized this, they could really capitalize on it.
> Think about it. NOBODY else would be playing this type of
> material. Sounds like theres a market for that to me!
>
I don't see that happening...it's obvious they're trying to jump on the "JACK" bandwagon, but as usually happens around here, they seem to be doing only half the job. Their 5,000 song cruise is loaded with stiffs and I'm already starting to hear most of the songs I heard yeaterday. If they were doing it right all 5,000 songs would be their entire playlist. With the amount of hit songs produced between the years 1965-1999 there should be plenty of opportunity to avoid both the stiffs and the repitition. I have heard BEN in Philadelphia has around 3,500 songs on their active list---no stiffs and little repitition.
 
> I don't see that happening...it's obvious they're trying to
> jump on the "JACK" bandwagon, but as usually happens around
> here, they seem to be doing only half the job. Their 5,000
> song cruise is loaded with stiffs and I'm already starting
> to hear most of the songs I heard yeaterday. If they were
> doing it right all 5,000 songs would be their entire
> playlist. With the amount of hit songs produced between the
> years 1965-1999 there should be plenty of opportunity to
> avoid both the stiffs and the repitition. I have heard BEN
> in Philadelphia has around 3,500 songs on their active
> list---no stiffs and little repitition.
>




I agree, Ben-FM in Philadelphia plays all music that people are familiar with. I can only identify a few songs on The River's playlist. They need to play more hits and less stiffs!
 
Therefore, once again I ask: Who here believes that The River is actually what the format will be once the official take over is completed and the papers are finalized? I just don't buy all of this. I think it is simply a temporary thing designed to move one more step away from the stigma of WWDL,104.9,The Music Station, and whatever else is has been known as. They had nothing left there anyway, therefore they had nothing to lose by doing this in the interim. It seems like a very good move actually if that's what it really is. Comments I hear are things like "gee, CHET RADIO was better!
By the way, has anyone else noticed that WICK on the other hand is sounding much more "refined"? :)
 
Everyone's slamming the River because they play some songs that are not bonafide hits or well known songs. But if they did wouldn's they be just like every other station in the area. Everytime someone does something different or plays songs no one has either never heard of or have not heard in ages it gets slammed. We already have enough stations that play the hits. I like Tom Petty and U2 and other well known artists, but truth be told I get tired of hearing Freefalling and other well established hits all the time. I remember when the Mountain first started and everyone said they wouldn't last either because of their unique playlist, but they are almost 3 years old and I don't see any signs they are going away. What the River needs to do is build a loyal following like the Mountain has and realize they will never be number 1, but they can do modestly well if they work at it hard enough.

I for one like the variety and the fact I hear songs I have not heard in a long time.
 
105 The River ... Variety Hits

I for one like the variety and the fact I hear songs I have
not heard in a long time.



Variety Hits - The Newest Radio Format (Jack,Bob,Ben & More)


LATEST NEWS September 27, 2005

The latest Variety Hits station to come on the air is in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, as Bold Gold Media's AC 104.9 The Music Station (WWDL-FM) switched its calls to WWRR on 9/8/2005 and then flipped to Variety Hits yesterday at noon as 105 The River. Offhand, I believe this is the first (and only) VH station in North America to do the stupid "rounding up" thing that is a throwback to the non-digital radio era. That works with legacy stations and the like, but I personally loathe it for newly branded stations. I know the station used to be known as "Greatest Hits 105", but that was two formats ago. Anyway, you can cross Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (market #69) off as yet another Top 100 market with the format.



From www.varietyhits.com<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by MCNDRWS on 09/29/05 12:45 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: 105 The River ... Variety Hits

> I for one like the variety and the fact I hear songs I have
> not heard in a long time.
>
> I agree with Mr. McAndrews. It is great to see a wide
variety of songs especially ones that haven't been played
in a while. Repeats of songs within 24 hours are okay, not
optimum programming but not too terrible. And even throwing
in clunkers like "Stars on 45" once a week is all right with
me. I do not believe this is a "stalking horse" format. Like
"The Mountain" and "Rock 107", "The River" needs to be
consistent and if it does, it will find its niche. A big
chain like Citadel would read some of the comments posted here
and change the station by Oct. 15th to "Heritage Grunge Rock".
Stay the course boys and the listeners and billing will follow.
Yonkstur
P.S. All that said, I do believe there's a place for "Chet"
Radio somewhere.
P.S. #2: WICK as one of the previous posters said is a bit more
refined and grounded. That happened as soon as Bobby V took to
the airwaves. It was like the rest of them followed suit.
>
 
Re: 105 The River ... Variety Hits

> > I for one like the variety and the fact I hear songs I
> have
> > not heard in a long time.
> >
> > I agree with Mr. McAndrews. It is great to see a wide
> variety of songs especially ones that haven't been played
> in a while. Repeats of songs within 24 hours are okay, not
> optimum programming but not too terrible. And even throwing
> in clunkers like "Stars on 45" once a week is all right with
>
> me. I do not believe this is a "stalking horse" format. Like
>
> "The Mountain" and "Rock 107", "The River" needs to be
> consistent and if it does, it will find its niche. A big
> chain like Citadel would read some of the comments posted
> here
> and change the station by Oct. 15th to "Heritage Grunge
> Rock".
> Stay the course boys and the listeners and billing will
> follow.
> Yonkstur
> P.S. All that said, I do believe there's a place for "Chet"
> Radio somewhere.
> P.S. #2: WICK as one of the previous posters said is a bit
> more
> refined and grounded. That happened as soon as Bobby V took
> to
> the airwaves. It was like the rest of them followed suit.
>
> >


I like the format. Quite honestly, I've listened to this station quite a bit for the past two years, and I've always like their playlist. They've tweaked it a bit by not playing anything from the last 10 years or so (that I can recognize) and added a harder edge (Stones, Doors, etc.).

As for the rounding up: 107 does it (although they were originally 107.1 until a few years ago), Magic 93 does it, and I think they needed to drop the 104.9 branding to shed the DL era.
<P ID="signature">______________
The Real ⌠Northernmån⌡ approved this post.</P>
 
> By the way, has anyone else noticed that WICK on the other
> hand is sounding much more "refined"? :)

A good friend of mine mentioned WICK is concentrating more on 50's and 60's while 104.9 picks up the slack for the 70's and 80's. It appears this is Bold Golds plan to cover themselves in almost every decade. Although in my opinion i think this logic is flawed because of the repeating songs and the NO IDENTITY or format that 104.9 is currently operating as. Someone close to the company has said this format is here to stay. We shall see i guess.
 
Re: 105 The River ... Variety Hits

>
> As for the rounding up: 107 does it (although they were
> originally 107.1 until a few years ago), Magic 93 does it,
> and I think they needed to drop the 104.9 branding to shed
> the DL era.
>


I Totally Agree About The Rounding Up.

I Have Always Thought 104.9 Should Have Been Called 105.

I Was Hoping They Would Go With This Format.

And I'm Glad They Beat "The Big Guys" To The Punch!

I Just Don't Understand Why Some People Are Questioning This

Being The Actual WWRR Format.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by MCNDRWS on 09/29/05 05:48 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: 105 The River ... Variety Hits

Well, I for one am through listening. I've listened every day since Monday and I've heard the same Bob Seger stiff 4 times. That and some Jimmy Buffett song I've never heard of that he duets with some AC female singer. What is this??? In fact some of the songs are on their 5th go-rounds. And I'm not one of those round-the-clock listeners. I just happen to have the radio on when I get in the car. This type of repetition will KILL this format. To be honest I liked their pre-stunt format a lot better. I'm totally bored with it now.
I think they need to move away from being identified with Doug, but this is not the way to do it. By the way, outside of this board has anyone even heard or seen ANYTHING mentioning there's a new station in town? I haven't. What good is any of this if nobody even knows you're around?
Somebody mentioned that lack of familiar songs has not hurt the Mountain...very true. But they set themselves up to be that way. That's their positioning. The River has done no positioning, no identity...on top of that, if they are setting themselves up to be a BEN/JACK station they HAVE to be a hit-player. It's okay to throw in a non-hit just as long as it's something people know, like one of those goofy songs from a TV commercial or "Oh Yeah" by Yello. That's the reason it's working so well in the other markets. It's all-hits all the time with an enormous active playlist...just like the old top-40 jukebox stations. Non-familiar songs work well for a maverick station like The Mountain. They will kill a JACK format. It's bad even if they're setting themselves up to rip-off The River in Harrisburg.
 
Re: 105 The River ... Variety Hits

I agree that they need to advertise and let people know they exist. At the same time though they have only been around 3 days so maybe something is in the works. I think it took the Mountain 2 or 3 weeks to get advertising out there when they started.

I'm not sure about the repetition. I have listened since Monday afternoon and while I have heard some of the same songs one day to the next, I can't say I have heard the same song in the same day. I also hear different songs I have not heard previously on the River. If you compare them to KRZ or Magic 93 that play the same songs hour to hour, I really can't complain about day to day repetition. Name a station that you don't hear the same songs the next day. Even the Mountain plays some of the same songs day to day. I'd like a station with a huge playlist and they seem to have a large playlist for now. But to expect them to have a 5000 song playlist may be a little unreasonable.

I just hope that they don't decide to cut back to the standard 300 song playlist sometime in the next few months.
 
Re: 105 The River ... Variety Hits

> I'd like a
> station with a huge playlist and they seem to have a large
> playlist for now. But to expect them to have a 5000 song
> playlist may be a little unreasonable.

Not so---your average BEN/JACK station has an active list of 2,500-4,000 tunes. It's ridiculous when you think of what The River is playing as opposed to what they COULD be playing. Someone didn't do their research.

> I just hope that they don't decide to cut back to the
> standard 300 song playlist sometime in the next few months.

AGREED!!!
 
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