Is it time for a CHR to come to Monmouth/Ocean?

[JerseyShor]

WHTZ barely bleeds into the Monmouth/Ocean market amidst interference from WJRZ at 100.1 and WPHI at 100.3, plus the challenge of being more than 70 miles away from a large chunk of Ocean County.

We also know that most people are not DXers and typically don't listen to a station much past it's 60dB contour. (WHTZ has a signal stregnth of less than 30db in Southern Ocean County and is barely above 40dB in Toms River )

Somehow, WHTZ is still rated # 8 in Monmouth/Ocean.

If enough people are willing to suffer through massive interference and static to make WHTZ a Top 10 station, there must be a demand for a LOCAL CHR.

 

[tom]

WHTZ probably gets ratings because people from Monmouth and Ocean Counties
drive North to work, and listen in the cars. Once again, a cheap local imitator
with Connecticut School of Broadcasting wanna be jocks isn't gonna work.

 

[SoulCrusher]

WHTZ barely bleeds into the Monmouth/Ocean market amidst interference from WJRZ at 100.1 and WPHI at 100.3, plus the challenge of being more than 70 miles away from a large chunk of Ocean County.

We also know that most people are not DXers and typically don't listen to a station much past it's 60dB contour. (WHTZ has a signal stregnth of less than 30db in Southern Ocean County and is barely above 40dB in Toms River )

Somehow, WHTZ is still rated # 8 in Monmouth/Ocean.

If enough people are willing to suffer through massive interference and static to make WHTZ a Top 10 station, there must be a demand for a LOCAL CHR.

If CHR is going to work in this market, it needs to be on a frequency that covers both Monmouth and Ocean. It didn't work on 98.5, where a niche format would have been a better idea. Instead of Country, which Ocean already has in Cat Country 107.3, Press should have given the area a format it needs, like Active Rock, Urban or Smooth Jazz. WCHR 105.7 has a nice strong signal - that would have been an excellent spot for a hit music station. Won't happen though, because Classic Rock actually does well despite the presence of 3 or 4 other stations with the exact same format. If there's room for an upstart that covers most of the market, I think it would do quite well in this area. I do think that due to the presence of WHTZ in Monmouth, the station would pull most of its ratings in Ocean, but the strong signal and additional ratings from Monmouth would help it pull in advertisers.

 

[Starscream]

n/m

 

[chuckydoll]

WJRZ was Top-40 in the 70's, CHR in the 80's and well into the 90's. No reason why it couldn't have stayed CHR into the format's comeback. I presume WJRZ dumped CHR during a fallow period for pop music.

Don't forget that the old Y107 was CHR in the 80's, too.

 

[CZT]

I can only tell you one thing: I still miss my B985!

Why has every station gone with one broadcast on three or more separate frequencies? Doesn't that take away the 'local' focus?

 

[SoulCrusher]

I can only tell you one thing: I still miss my B985!

Why has every station gone with one broadcast on three or more separate frequencies? Doesn't that take away the 'local' focus?

For that, you can thank Press Communications - they have become notorious for doing that, first with The Breeze, then with G Rock Radio. Wouldn't surprise me at if they tried that with K 98.5 (Real Jersey Kountry), since Monmouth needed the format far more than Ocean did.

It works two ways: You could accuse Press of being tightwads for using this low overhead approach by broadcasting one station on two frequencies. Or you could call them savvy businessmen for realizing that the only way to cover the entire market is to go with the simulcast approach.

Whatever your view is, it has led to the homogeny of radio in the Monmouth/Ocean market, with many bland formats that lack a strong identity and play very safe music selections. However, it would be unfair to place the blame solely on Press's head, for Greater Media and especially Millennium Radio Group are also at fault for this as well. Of course, Millennium also operates the most listened to station in New Jersey (heck, it's interesting enough to be one of my presets, too), so you can only make so much of an argument there. On the other side of the coin, it doesn't get more dull and dreadul than Soft Rock 92.7, WOBM. Like the blue-haired ladies don't have enough options when it comes to radio.

 

[damian542]

I can only tell you one thing: I still miss my B985!

Why has every station gone with one broadcast on three or more separate frequencies? Doesn't that take away the 'local' focus?

For that, you can thank Press Communications - they have become notorious for doing that, first with The Breeze, then with G Rock Radio. Wouldn't surprise me at if they tried that with K 98.5 (Real Jersey Kountry), since Monmouth needed the format far more than Ocean did.

It works two ways: You could accuse Press of being tightwads for using this low overhead approach by broadcasting one station on two frequencies. Or you could call them savvy businessmen for realizing that the only way to cover the entire market is to go with the simulcast approach.

Whatever your view is, it has led to the homogeny of radio in the Monmouth/Ocean market, with many bland formats that lack a strong identity and play very safe music selections. However, it would be unfair to place the blame solely on Press's head, for Greater Media and especially Millennium Radio Group are also at fault for this as well. Of course, Millennium also operates the most listened to station in New Jersey (heck, it's interesting enough to be one of my presets, too), so you can only make so much of an argument there. On the other side of the coin, it doesn't get more dull and dreadul than Soft Rock 92.7, WOBM. Like the blue-haired ladies don't have enough options when it comes to radio.

Silulcasting is very popular in lots of areas of the country... just not here where populations are dense just about everywhere... the people in Ocean County should feel lucky that the companies don't ignore them... look at Cape May county... Equity is the only company that was willing to put repeating signals down there... if not for them it would be 40dBu city down there....

 

[SoulCrusher]

Silulcasting is very popular in lots of areas of the country... just not here where populations are dense just about everywhere... the people in Ocean County should feel lucky that the companies don't ignore them... look at Cape May county... Equity is the only company that was willing to put repeating signals down there... if not for them it would be 40dBu city down there....

I know that WFNX in the New England area is simulcasted on 3 different frequencies - at least it was the last time I checked. That's a nice, eclectic Alternative station.

I don't think Ocean County would be "forgotten" if not for the simulcasts - after all, we did have many stations with a unique, local identity before the whole simulcast trend kicked in. At the same time, we can thank Press Communications for finally bringing an Alternative format (albeit a rather safe, streamlined one) to Ocean County for the first time - it was long overdue, and they are reaping the benefits for that wise move. Now that they've established themselves, the time has come for them to either step out of the comfort zone at least a little bit, or risk losing listeners due to repetition and predictability (a la 92.3 WXRK "K-Rock" in NYC).

Before the simulcasts began: 98.5, now home to Country WKMK, simulcasted WJLK until Nassau decided to launch a new format as WBBO (first a CHR, then Adult CHR under Press before the simulcast started) before the calls were moved to 106.5, which was once an AC / Cape May market station at 106.3. It went through several incarnations, most recently simulcasting "The Breeze". Before that, it was everything from a Rhythmic CHR to a Modern AC (as "The Shore"). Then there's 99.7, a current simulcaster of "The Breeze" in Ocean County, which was the launch station for the format. Before that it was a Classic Rocker as WBHX, a slightly better, more interesting version of the format - not as generic as "The Hawk" stations. I'll never forget how WBHX stunted playing Modern Rock, and then disappointed those of us that were craving it with the Classic Rock format. Not that I disliked their take on the format, but they missed a golden opportunity.