MIKE's got friends in low places

[Runrigger]

Heard Garth on Mike this evening. OK I'm a country fan so I know the song but unless it's a karaoke hit, does anyone else other than a country listener?

Which brings me to my next topic: in spite of the all-over-the-road format, is it possible Mike is placing certain off-the-wall potential tune-outs at certain times of the hour to intentionally drive listeners to other stations just in time for a stop set that will bring them back to 93.7 again for the next quarter hour credit? Even for variety formats, Mike is more out there that I expected with Garth, Bobby Darin, & even Dean Martin. Is some of the music there, not for the variety, but for another reason? You'd really have to compare Mike's placement of certain songs & stopset times to those of other stations to determine if there's really a method to some of the madness. I know many think there's no rhyme or reason to trainwrecks, but I wonder if there is.

 

[MCarney]

> Heard Garth on Mike this evening. OK I'm a country fan so I
> know the song but unless it's a karaoke hit, does anyone
> else other than a country listener?
>
Funny thing - I left feedback on Mike's website suggesting they play some Garth (among other country artists)! Glad to know they listened, or coincidence intervened. I turn them off whenever I hear a dance tune, so you may be right about them looking for credit in quarter hours.

 

[OldiesCat]

is this the Comedy Channel?

> is it possible Mike is placing certain off-the-wall potential tune-outs at certain times of the hour to intentionally drive listeners to other stations?

*** that is about the silliest thing EVER on this board.

 

[Fab4]

Re: is this the Comedy Channel?

> > is it possible Mike is placing certain off-the-wall
> potential tune-outs at certain times of the hour to
> intentionally drive listeners to other stations?
>

It's actually something that's done to recycle listeners. I don't know if Mike is doing it or if anyone in Boston is doing it but it's nothing new. It depends on who you look at as potential competition and whether or not you want to go the extra mile to play a few games. Whether or not it works is another matter.

 

[OldiesCat]

Comedy Channel

No radio station that's at all committed to being competitive would EVERY purposely drive listeners away. It's absurd.
>
> It's actually something that's done to recycle listeners. I
> don't know if Mike is doing it or if anyone in Boston is
> doing it but it's nothing new. It depends on who you look at
> as potential competition and whether or not you want to go
> the extra mile to play a few games. Whether or not it works
> is another matter.
>
> > > is it possible Mike is placing certain off-the-wall
> > potential tune-outs at certain times of the hour to
> > intentionally drive listeners to other stations?
> >

 

[Fab4]

Re: Comedy Channel

> No radio station that's at all committed to being
> competitive would EVERY purposely drive listeners away.
> It's absurd.

Yes Cat it's absurd for any station to drive listeners away but that's not the reason something like this would be done. It's all about the numbers and it's a way to get numbers. A station like Mike is not expecting every listener to sit through every song unless the radio isn't within arms reach. They know there's going to be a tune out factor so they make the tune outs benefit them by playing the most suspect songs in the right places. If they didn't spread themselves so thin with so much variety they might not have to do this, but the variety is the decision they made to go with. The music is more than just one song flowing into another especially with this format where nothing flows. Then again maybe we're all wrong and they actually believe their audience wants to hear redneck music that never charted pop.

 

[raccoonradio]

> Heard Garth on Mike this evening. OK I'm a country fan so I
> know the song but unless it's a karaoke hit, does anyone
> else other than a country listener?

I heard that tonight, too, as I was driving back home from Manchester
Airport, having taken a trip to Memphis and...Nashville. So you KNOW
I liked that tune, hoss! Actually some country crossovers might not be
so bad for Mikey. (He likes it! Hey Mikey!) "This Kiss", "Man I Feel
Like A Woman", and (for this holiday) "God Bless the USA", maybe even
"Ugly American" or "Have You Forgotten".

Heck: "Devil Went Down to Georgia"...
They could do a lot. I had to smile as I tried the radio dial in
Music City--smile because I said to myself, "In Boston there's one
station that plays country. In Nashville I think there's one station
that DOESN'T play country!"

Blues Brothers: "What kind of music do you play here?"
Saloon owner: "Oh, we play both kinds! Country AND Western!"