K-ROCK TO RETURN AGAIN???

[WBIMDJ]

I was just listening to K-Rock HD 2 and I was thinking...
If K-Rock in HD 2 came to NY on the mainstream signal, wouldn't that just be like having Indie 103.1 before its death in New York?
It's almost the same product minus the fact that K-Rock is a little more mainstream than Indie was, even before it went off the air and went in a more mainstream direction.
I personally believe that if K-Rock in HD 2 went on 92.3, it would work. New York is filled with alternative rock lovers, NY has produced some of the best alternative bands to date such as MGMT, TV On The Radio, Vampire Weekend...RXP barely focuses on ALTERNATIVE. RXP could never be a replacement for an alternative station. Alternative is doing great in PPMS around the nation. KYSR, KROQ, WRFF, WBOS and many more are succeeding more than expected them to in PPM. What K-Rock (pre-NOW) did wrong was they weren't actually ALTERNATIVE, they were just rock. If K-Rock HD 2 came on 92.3 and left chatter and a morning show out, and just focused on playing music, they would do great. Even in a diverse city like New York...

That's EXACTLY what NYC does need. An actual ALTERNATIVE station, similar to say WFNX in Boston. Playing currents like MGMT, Vampire Weekend, Metric, Manchester Orchestra and even the new Kings of Leon alongside older stuff like Weezer, Gorillaz, Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Beck etc. could and probably would work, as no one else in the market would be playing those bands.

Get real.

WFNX has a 0.7 share in Boston. Jockless WBOS is killing all alternative/active rock competitors in PPM.

CBS wants more than a 0.7 share. Therefore it's more likely they'd replicate WBOS than WFNX.

And WBOS is as stale as hell, no jocks apparently wins though. There's no comparison between them and FNX's playlists. FNX wins hands down. K-Rock should go for something inbetween these two stations IMO.

 

[radiojomo]

Personally, jockless is the way to go in ANY format right now. Not only does it save money but with iPods and the internet these days, jocks are seen as annoying and unnecessary. But KYSR is doing good right now and they have jocks excluding mornings. The sad thing about Alternative is that stations like WFNX and KDLD are most likely not attractive to mainstream radio audiences which leads to poor ratings. An exception is KBZT in San Diego, that station plays a REAL alternative format and they're doing better than 91X, KPRI, KIOZ and KSCF.
If K-Rock came back to 92.3, it would be nice if they came back as the station they are right now on HD 2 but they'd have to sound like a combination of what they are right now and something like WRFF or KYSR to stay above.

 

[Brooklyndon]

If K-Rock came back to 92.3, it would be nice if they came back as the station they are right now on HD 2 but they'd have to sound like a combination of what they are right now and something like WRFF or KYSR to stay above.

What? Why? According to what data?

K-Rock as it is is perfect. Yeah they play Green Day too much. Other than that the station is spot on, in my opinion. I'm having troubleunderstanding why they would have to change "to stay above," whatever that means.

 

[Zeb Norris]

Get real.

WFNX has a 0.7 share in Boston. Jockless WBOS is killing all alternative/active rock competitors in PPM.

CBS wants more than a 0.7 share. Therefore it's more likely they'd replicate WBOS than WFNX.

And WBOS is as stale as hell, no jocks apparently wins though. There's no comparison between them and FNX's playlists. FNX wins hands down. K-Rock should go for something inbetween these two stations IMO.
[/quote]

"FNX wins hands down?!?" Not in Arbitron. What you or I think is cool is not how winning is measured.

 

[SoulCrusher]

And WBOS is as stale as hell, no jocks apparently wins though. There's no comparison between them and FNX's playlists. FNX wins hands down. K-Rock should go for something inbetween these two stations IMO.

"FNX wins hands down?!?" Not in Arbitron. What you or I think is cool is not how winning is measured.

We're not talking about a level playing field here. WBOS's signal destroys WFNX's, and that has to be the main factor in its success.

For the record, I checked out WBOS (aka Radio 92.9), and it has a playlist that's almost identical to Philly's WRFF (aka Radio 104.5). At least they're playing the new Franz Ferdinand, which WRFF continues to sleep on while still playing "Take Me Out" at least once or twice during the workday.

And on the subject of no jocks: DJs are what sets radio apart from your own personal music mixes, whether they are iPods/MP3s, CDs, cassettes, etc. If your station doesn't have any DJs, I will be much less likely to listen unless you really impress me with your playlist and presentation. South Jersey's late, lamented WDOX, which stated off as a completely automated format helmed by Tom McNally and Frank Lario, is an excellent example of a station that got it right. Unfortunately it also suffered the effects of weak signals and poor promotion, and kicked the bucket on two occasions.

WRFF does the "more music, less talk" thing just like WBOS, but they have a few DJs. Unfortunately, we're talking an extremely small (for Alternative) playlist of roughly 400 or so songs, most special features consisting of simply playing one song (heard around 12 PM and 6 PM on weekdays), and a droning Jack-esque voice on the station IDs - couldn't be further away from DOX.

Boston's a good market for rock fans - they have something for everybody. New York & New Jersey deserve far better than what they have now. CBS needs to realize that emulating the competiton will not be a recipe for success if they decide to bring back K-Rock - they made that mistake with its last incarnation, and they've been doing it for years in Philly with WYSP, apparently content to reside in the ratings cellar.

 

[Zeb Norris]

And WBOS is as stale as hell, no jocks apparently wins though. There's no comparison between them and FNX's playlists. FNX wins hands down. K-Rock should go for something inbetween these two stations IMO.

"FNX wins hands down?!?" Not in Arbitron. What you or I think is cool is not how winning is measured.

We're not talking about a level playing field here. WBOS's signal destroys WFNX's, and that has to be the main factor in its success.

For the record, I checked out WBOS (aka Radio 92.9), and it has a playlist that's almost identical to Philly's WRFF (aka Radio 104.5). At least they're playing the new Franz Ferdinand, which WRFF continues to sleep on while still playing "Take Me Out" at least once or twice during the workday.

And on the subject of no jocks: DJs are what sets radio apart from your own personal music mixes, whether they are iPods/MP3s, CDs, cassettes, etc. If your station doesn't have any DJs, I will be much less likely to listen unless you really impress me with your playlist and presentation. South Jersey's late, lamented WDOX, which stated off as a completely automated format helmed by Tom McNally and Frank Lario, is an excellent example of a station that got it right. Unfortunately it also suffered the effects of weak signals and poor promotion, and kicked the bucket on two occasions.

WRFF does the "more music, less talk" thing just like WBOS, but they have a few DJs. Unfortunately, we're talking an extremely small (for Alternative) playlist of roughly 400 or so songs, most special features consisting of simply playing one song (heard around 12 PM and 6 PM on weekdays), and a droning Jack-esque voice on the station IDs - couldn't be further away from DOX.

Boston's a good market for rock fans - they have something for everybody. New York & New Jersey deserve far better than what they have now. CBS needs to realize that emulating the competiton will not be a recipe for success if they decide to bring back K-Rock - they made that mistake with its last incarnation, and they've been doing it for years in Philly with WYSP, apparently content to reside in the ratings cellar.

They're doing 6,000 watts from the top of One Financial Center; it's a better signal than when Max was programming it and they pulled 1.5 shares (in the diary)...

In the last diary book they had a .7. In the first PPM book they had a .7

WBOS does have more wattage, but they didn't get anywhere near the market share they have with PPM under the diary system.

With PPM cume has become more important. That's bad for niche formats, which is what FNX is doing.

Familiarity wins.

 

[p_herring]

And WBOS is as stale as hell, no jocks apparently wins though. There's no comparison between them and FNX's playlists. FNX wins hands down. K-Rock should go for something inbetween these two stations IMO.

"FNX wins hands down?!?" Not in Arbitron. What you or I think is cool is not how winning is measured.

We're not talking about a level playing field here. WBOS's signal destroys WFNX's, and that has to be the main factor in its success.

For the record, I checked out WBOS (aka Radio 92.9), and it has a playlist that's almost identical to Philly's WRFF (aka Radio 104.5). At least they're playing the new Franz Ferdinand, which WRFF continues to sleep on while still playing "Take Me Out" at least once or twice during the workday.

And on the subject of no jocks: DJs are what sets radio apart from your own personal music mixes, whether they are iPods/MP3s, CDs, cassettes, etc. If your station doesn't have any DJs, I will be much less likely to listen unless you really impress me with your playlist and presentation. South Jersey's late, lamented WDOX, which stated off as a completely automated format helmed by Tom McNally and Frank Lario, is an excellent example of a station that got it right. Unfortunately it also suffered the effects of weak signals and poor promotion, and kicked the bucket on two occasions.

WRFF does the "more music, less talk" thing just like WBOS, but they have a few DJs. Unfortunately, we're talking an extremely small (for Alternative) playlist of roughly 400 or so songs, most special features consisting of simply playing one song (heard around 12 PM and 6 PM on weekdays), and a droning Jack-esque voice on the station IDs - couldn't be further away from DOX.

Boston's a good market for rock fans - they have something for everybody. New York & New Jersey deserve far better than what they have now. CBS needs to realize that emulating the competiton will not be a recipe for success if they decide to bring back K-Rock - they made that mistake with its last incarnation, and they've been doing it for years in Philly with WYSP, apparently content to reside in the ratings cellar.

I think the main problem with rock stations is there seems to be no happy medium between that fray-boy mook style (the late K-Rock, BCN, etc.) or the NPR nap-induced drone type talk (RXP). Let's face it, any NEW rock station coming into the area at this point is never going to see more than, maybe, a 2.0. It's not like there will be this revolution where rock fans but away their ipods, computers, etc. and tune into this new station. However, they should leverage it as being the new alternative for your music listening habits. Stuck in a situation where you only have an FM/Am radio? We're here. Your CD player/computer broken? We're here, playing music you like.

At this point, I'd be happy to have BOS (as RXP grows increasingly frustrating when I have to sit through The Doors, Springsteen and Rod Stewart to hear Muse, 311 and Green Day).

 

[radiojomo]

FNX is owned by The Phoenix, which is an alternative news paper, so although they have low ratings, there's a good chance they're not going to flip anytime soon due to low ratings. But you never know. If The Phoneix wanted to make money off of FNX, they would sell or LMA the station, not flip it themselves. (That's my opinion)