I know we have a thread on this, but given that it has been nearly a dozen years, I'm wondering your thoughts on the radio dial in Boston. Personally, I'd add a Rhythmic AC on 93.7, move 107.3 back to Paxton, change 104.1 to an Urban, 102.5 to Hot AC and 103.3 to a JACK.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
If you run the Boston radio dial, what would it be like?
- Thread starter Tomgsinger
- Start date
Bring back listenable music stations like the pre-Howard Stern WBCN.
Restore 96.9 to a talk station instead of the thumping noises for kids format that it now runs.
Get rid of the goofballs passing for sports talk hosts on Sports Hub.
Replace Minihane with somebody, anybody else.
Restore 96.9 to a talk station instead of the thumping noises for kids format that it now runs.
Get rid of the goofballs passing for sports talk hosts on Sports Hub.
Replace Minihane with somebody, anybody else.
AMEN to that!!! They were my last holdout for what I call "REAL" Oldies!!! (Is WCBS-FM still "Oldies 101"???!!)
OTOH...doing a complete 180 re: format.....I'd like to see WBCN return to its "pristine" state, with the likes of Carter Bondl......!!
Get Cheryl Gowdy to get the old WCGY "Rock 94" kickin' again (sans the Shaffer 903 "canned" effects - ie., "live" CHR music.....!!)
EEI is fine at 93.7, esp for Sox games. A return to oldies might be good ..are the young getting their music from other sources rather than terrestrial FM?
Agreed on a talk FM.
Getting back to top 40 it was interesting to see how in Barre VT WSNO 1450 dropped talk to simulcast top 40 from their new translator.Under the rules, the FM has to simulcast the AM but really they had to put the music on AM to justify the FM.
What we like of course might not make the most money.
You could do all blues but if you want that you can get it on Bluesville on XM
or WZLX Radio Mojo (HD2)
Agreed on a talk FM.
Getting back to top 40 it was interesting to see how in Barre VT WSNO 1450 dropped talk to simulcast top 40 from their new translator.Under the rules, the FM has to simulcast the AM but really they had to put the music on AM to justify the FM.
What we like of course might not make the most money.
You could do all blues but if you want that you can get it on Bluesville on XM
or WZLX Radio Mojo (HD2)
Define "Oldies"?
As for me I would love a WNBP or WMEX-FM format on FM on a full market signal, they play what I remember as Oldies, and well into the 70's.
As for what WODS considered "Oldies" as they wrapping up is more late 70's and into the 80's stuff...
Very much like what Beasley is playing on WRBQ in Tampa where Paula Street ended up.
You would be hard pressed to find any Mowtown, Pre British Invasion, or even British invasion or post British Invasion music pre 1974.
I know I know, Oldies is a dying demographic. Soundgarden and Nirvana are now Classic Rock, Classic hits stations are playing into the 90's now.
Thank God for my Magic Radio, WNBP's 106.1 translator, and any other place I can listen to the music of MY youth
As for me I would love a WNBP or WMEX-FM format on FM on a full market signal, they play what I remember as Oldies, and well into the 70's.
As for what WODS considered "Oldies" as they wrapping up is more late 70's and into the 80's stuff...
Very much like what Beasley is playing on WRBQ in Tampa where Paula Street ended up.
You would be hard pressed to find any Mowtown, Pre British Invasion, or even British invasion or post British Invasion music pre 1974.
I know I know, Oldies is a dying demographic. Soundgarden and Nirvana are now Classic Rock, Classic hits stations are playing into the 90's now.
Thank God for my Magic Radio, WNBP's 106.1 translator, and any other place I can listen to the music of MY youth
I think we need an all accordion music format, on a high power FM!
Problem is "thumping noises" have been the essence of pop music for at least 15 years now and that's what a lot of 18-34s still want to hear. It's a dumbed-down, rhythmic world out there, and we fuddy-duddies who long for "listenable music" with melody ain't part of it -- nor are we wanted by advertisers.
Tom,
First of all, let me thank you for originating/resurrecting this thread. (I didn't know about this site a dozen years ago.)
While I do not agree with your choices per se, I am in total agreement with those who would like to see (hear, actually):
- talk on 96.9;
- a "pre-Howard Stern WBCN";
- an oldies-like format on 103.3.
IMHO, we have way-y-y too many "thumping noise" stations as is; to wit, 96.9, 103.3, 104.1, 107.9, and, yes, even 106.7.
When I need a fix of oldies now, I have to turn to Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel on line, as it is not available OTA anywhere near here. Even the mix of tunes from CBS' KFRC-HD-2 would make my day. And, yes, I'd like live personalities to go with that on 103.3. I mean, why not? They've got the right call letters for this!
No sense in my whining about WROR; despite their limited (read, "boring") playlist, they still keep posting hyooooge numbers.
Sports also rules in this market, so we likely won't see a return of music on 93.7 or 98.5.
Again, thanks for a topic many of us can actually care about.
Last edited:
How about change wbos into a true classic hits station like kool fm here in Phoenix. Or a jack like format would be cool too. The Phoenix radio dial is quite different we have a jack like format,only one sports station now granted all the teams are bad here so likely no need for two fm sport stations. An all news station imagine that along with a few thump thump stations. Best part is there is a hard rock station which Boston doesn't have i don't believe.
would this improve the radio dial?
It's interesting how many people, when asked to redesign the Boston radio dial, simply want to back to the past... ;-)
I only have two gripes about the dial now.
I would like to see simply more variety available to listeners.....so, first, can we do away with the duplicate programming? Do we need WBUR & WGBH both doing similar programming? Both running ME and ATC? Can we whittle down the 2 sports stations to ONE GOOD sports station that we can all enjoy? Should WERS simply be another Alternative station? Do we need 101.7 to play Country music as well as WKLB? Can 97.7 do something original?
With those duplicates eliminated that would free up a lot of signals for formats that we currently don't have in Boston.
Jazz? (Maybe on GBH?)
Latin/Spanish (101.7?)
Black news/talk/gospel? (1260AM?)
50's/60's/70's Oldies? (850AM?)
Music of your Life/Standards (97.7?)
A Softer AC like WDUV in Florida (99.1?)
EDM/Dance? (97.7)
Can we eliminate some of the more stupid formats on HD2? And replace them with somethings that would add variety? Get rid of Irish and Christmas music..and whatever they do on 92.9 HD2. Replace them with some "era" music. 40's 50's 60's 70's 80's 90's 00's How about folk on an HD 2 or 3? Muzak/Beautiful Music? Smooth Jazz on WCRB-HD2? How about BBC World Service on WBUR-HD2?
JUst some out loud thinking....in order to keep people listening to broadcast terrestrial radio...we need to offer them variety!
It's interesting how many people, when asked to redesign the Boston radio dial, simply want to back to the past... ;-)
I only have two gripes about the dial now.
I would like to see simply more variety available to listeners.....so, first, can we do away with the duplicate programming? Do we need WBUR & WGBH both doing similar programming? Both running ME and ATC? Can we whittle down the 2 sports stations to ONE GOOD sports station that we can all enjoy? Should WERS simply be another Alternative station? Do we need 101.7 to play Country music as well as WKLB? Can 97.7 do something original?
With those duplicates eliminated that would free up a lot of signals for formats that we currently don't have in Boston.
Jazz? (Maybe on GBH?)
Latin/Spanish (101.7?)
Black news/talk/gospel? (1260AM?)
50's/60's/70's Oldies? (850AM?)
Music of your Life/Standards (97.7?)
A Softer AC like WDUV in Florida (99.1?)
EDM/Dance? (97.7)
Can we eliminate some of the more stupid formats on HD2? And replace them with somethings that would add variety? Get rid of Irish and Christmas music..and whatever they do on 92.9 HD2. Replace them with some "era" music. 40's 50's 60's 70's 80's 90's 00's How about folk on an HD 2 or 3? Muzak/Beautiful Music? Smooth Jazz on WCRB-HD2? How about BBC World Service on WBUR-HD2?
JUst some out loud thinking....in order to keep people listening to broadcast terrestrial radio...we need to offer them variety!
Last edited:
Oh, man, I wish I had the power to hand the dial over to you!
You hit the nail right on its freakin' head: too much duplication, little uniqueness.
Lemme guess: in radio, if you can't beat 'em, copy 'em!
99.1 already has a Softer, gold-heavy AC format, but I must say that 107.3 should change its format to CHR because Worcester can already get 97.7 anyways, and there hasn't been a Worcester-area CHR in ages.
Jazz on GBH? News talk brings in money. Ent. is paid to run ESPN on 850 though yeah, True Oldies Channel could do OK.I doubt they'd do local DJs...it would be birdfed.Standards on 97.7? Some like it but it's often in the 65-to-death demr maybe some in their 50s like me. Some older cuts are on WJIB. Spanish on 101.7? iHeart makes some money with country and it cuts into Greater's WKLB numbers.
EDM was tried by iHR on 101.7 and it served to maybe promote their Evolution brand online, but they relegated it to an HD2.
Salem owns 1260 and prob wants to keep it as is.Black talk was tried for awhile on 1090.
For many who want these niche formats while it may be nice to have them, they can be heard on sat. radio, HD (WODS former format..minus DJS), online, etc.
r maybe some in their 50s like me. Some older cuts are on WJIB. Spanish on 101.7? iHeart makes some money with country and it cuts into Greater's WKLB numbers.EDM was tried by iHR on 101.7 and it served to maybe promote their Evolution brand online, but they relegated it to an HD2.
Salem owns 1260 and prob wants to keep it as is.Black talk was tried for awhile on 1090.
For many who want these niche formats while it may be nice to have them, they can be heard on sat. radio, HD (WODS former format..minus DJS), online, etc.
Last edited:
Bring back early 1990's WFNX. It wasn't perfect, but it had timeslots when it played local music and more indie stuff. Bring back the comedy station that 1200 ran for a while.
Jazz on GBH? News talk brings in money. Ent. is paid to run ESPN on 850 though yeah, True Oldies Channel could do OK.I doubt they'd do local DJs...it would be birdfed.Standards on 97.7? Some like it but it's often in the 65-to-death dem
EDM was tried by iHR on 101.7 and it served to maybe promote their Evolution brand online, but they relegated it to an HD2.
Salem owns 1260 and prob wants to keep it as is.Black talk was tried for awhile on 1090.
For many who want these niche formats while it may be nice to have them, they can be heard on sat. radio, HD (WODS former format..minus DJS), online, etc.
Oh, there's always a spoilsport in the crowd! ;-) Here I was happy in my delusional imagination!
The question was if *I* ran the band....no one said anything about making money, squiring stations, debt or any of those other pesky things!
My ideal radio dial would involve the resurrection of Jerry Williams, Larry Glick, Norm Nathan, Jess Cain, David Brudnoy, Gene Burns, Bob Kennedy, Paul Benzaquin, Dale Dorman, Richard L. Kaye, Kenny Mayer, and several others. I don't think I can even name the people on Boston radio nowadays. Thank goodness for Sirius/XM
My ideal radio dial would involve the resurrection of Jerry Williams, Larry Glick, Norm Nathan, Jess Cain, David Brudnoy, Gene Burns, Bob Kennedy, Paul Benzaquin, Dale Dorman, Richard L. Kaye, Kenny Mayer, and several others. I don't think I can even name the people on Boston radio nowadays. Thank goodness for Sirius/XM
Gotta say....I really miss "68/WRKO" Top 40 days......Al Gates (and "Feathers"), Joel Cash, J.J. Jeffrey (now a part of the Fuller/Jeffrey Group, IIRC.....).....and, of course, Alan Bickley --- "WRKO 20/20 News"!!!!
Of course....if it's news/talk that's selling....How 'bout bringing back the likes of Gus Saunders ("News while it IS news.....the Yankee Network News Service....ON THE AIR!") from WNAC !!!
GEEZ!! maybe my wife is right....I AM and old phart!!
---who just happens to LOVE radio!!
Yeah. In Hartford, Westerly, and Springfield Full-Power Radio just added FM repeaters to their AM Oldies/Classic Hits stations.
- Status