What the heck was Greater Media thinking? "Hey, let's drop the only Classic Hits station in the area for more soft rock, because 5 stations around here playing the same thing isn't enough"?
They made the decision to flip WJRZ before the ratings came out. We now know that it was a good book for them, as they beat many of their local competitors. The argument can be made that going from "Oldies 100" to "Greatest Hits Of The '60s & '70s" wasn't smart, as they performed even better in the prior incarnation. I know that they aren't the most desirable demo to advertisers, but we definitely have the 55+ population that will support a station that plays early rock n' roll (including pre-British Invation music). In spite of that, WJRZ still provided a format that was needed in the area ... now they're skewing much younger, with a format that will repel their former listeners in much the same way that Hit 106 did the G Rock audience. Expect WJRZ to drop to the 1's next book, with The Breeze possibly getting the push it needs to claim the top spot in the market.
Speaking of The Breeze ... the other day I heard them playing teenybopper pop song "Genie In A Bottle". Why are they playing kiddie music that their audience will likely find offensive? If they want to play some music from the last 10 years, that's fine, but they should leave the polarizing children's stuff to sister station Hit 106, 94.3 The Point, and all the rest.
Back to JRZ - GM is just being cheap, that's all there is to it. If you're going to change, at least provide the area with a format it can actually use: oldies, easy listening (a la Easy 93.1 in South Jersey), alternative rock, conservative talk, or smooth jazz. Can we expect a similar cost-cutting measure in the future with WMMR, WDHA and WRAT? The Rat took a big hit in this last book, and all three are basically the same station. They must be micromanaging them, because there is really no way of telling them apart in terms of music. All go very heavy on classic rock and shy away from anything heavier than, say, Godsmack. At this rate, if they did a "trimulcast" and you're one of those people that only listens for the music, you probably won't even notice a difference.