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JACK-FM HD2 post-flip

Yep, of course it's still on the air on HD2. Does anyone listen to it (or at ilikejack.com) still, and what do they think?

I've noticed a couple of things since the flip-flop...

More musical variety (slightly more slanted towards Alternative/New Wave)
Less commercial breaks with more annoying PSAs (but, I thought there were supposed to be no breaks whatsoever now)
 
No one ever said that the digital subchannels were supposed to be commercial-free. It's just that, frankly, if no one is listening you can't sell commercials! Eventually, as HD penetrates, they'll have spots just as the main channels do.
 
mmnassour said:
No one ever said that the digital subchannels were supposed to be commercial-free.

There's that CBS-FM "We Didn't Start the Fire" parody that says "Jack moved to HD and he's commercial free".

I have to admit that, as glad as I am that CBS-FM is back, I kinda miss Jack. More alternative/new wave sounds like a good thing too. I guess I can add another reason to invest in a new HD-ready car stereo.
 
I've made it no secret that I'm a big fan of the whole "JACK FM" format. That said, I've come to embrace CBS-FM since it's return but I do miss hearing JACK when I'm not around a computer.

Some things I've noticed while listening online is that some of the pre-HD2 liners have been dropped. For example, the TOH ID now says "This is ilikejack.com and 101.1 WCBS-FM New York... HD2" or "Broadcasting worldwide at ilikejack.com and on HD2 at 101.1... this is WCBS-FM, New York"

Some of the standard, dry "101.1 JACK FM" liners have been replaced with just a quick "ilikejack.com" liner as well.

Musically, I've noticed more variety as well. Also, the inclusion of newer songs is still happening (just heard The Fray's "Look After You") which is nice to see.

I agree with the OP that there ARE less breaks, and they are a bit annoying, but not because of the spots themselves, but because of a tech error. The spots seem to break in DURING the song. It's quite annoying... let's say I'm air guitaring to Def Leppard's "Rock of Ages" and all of a sudden in the middle of it, quick silence and a commercial break.

Yeah... annoying :-\

I dont even mind the commercials, but that error is annoying. I'll probably be emailing CBS-FM/JACK FM's tech people about this. Otherwise, JACK sounds great... I still enjoy listening via ilikejack.com.
 
mikesingh said:
Musically, I've noticed more variety as well. Also, the inclusion of newer songs is still happening (just heard The Fray's "Look After You") which is nice to see.

I agree with the OP that there ARE less breaks, and they are a bit annoying, but not because of the spots themselves, but because of a tech error. The spots seem to break in DURING the song. It's quite annoying... let's say I'm air guitaring to Def Leppard's "Rock of Ages" and all of a sudden in the middle of it, quick silence and a commercial break.

Yeah... annoying :-\

As much as I'm not a huge JACK fan, I'm glad to see that the people who are programming it are still adding new songs and keeping it up-to-date. Jeff Mazzei did a great job with the oldies on HD-2, and whoever is programming the JACK-HD-2 station seems to be putting in some effort to make it sound good.

As far as the spots cutting into a song, that should be fixed. It wasn't a problem for the oldies HD-2, so hopefully, it's just temporary.

I don't get why commercials (or PSA's or whatever) get aired on CBS-FM's HD-2. I was surprised when I heard them play these commercials last year (since none of the other HD-2's run commercials), and they seem to have continued playing them.
 
DataSmith said:
This format has "Jammin' Oldies" written all over it.

So far, it sure has outlasted Jammin' Oldies... the first terrestrial JACK was in 2002... I don't think that J.O. as a format lasted that long (could be wrong)...

IMO, JACK is much stronger than Jammin' Oldies was. J.O. was never so widespread as JACK currently is, with stations all over America/Canada and now in the UK with some others pending.

To quote from VarietyHits.com -
Q: Won't this be like Jammin' Oldies, a fad format that dies off quickly when people get sick of it?

A: I don't think it's going to be another Jammin' Oldies fad. What gets overlooked with Jammin' Oldies is that it hit the nostalga factor so hard for the 25-54 demo, but what in hindsight will be remembered is the 1½ to 2 year burnout factor that the format had in most of its markets. What I believe will keep the Variety Hits format from burnout is the following: it has a much, much larger playlist than gold-based fad formats of the past; it has enough new material added in that there will be a continuing base of new material filtering in; music targeting the 35-44 narrow and 25-54 wider demo changes over time, so what is played today would be different than what would be five years from now, assuming that the given station is programmed correctly. All of those factors, I believe, will give Variety Hits the legs to last indefinitely as a viable format.

http://www.varietyhits.com/variety/faq.shtml
 
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