my 2 sense and history- and some fill in the blanks

[radioactiv911]

Just my view of Albany Radio

WVCR 88.3- Good Liners, Terrible Music. Stop playing so much 80’s. The other day I heard (4) 80’s back to back, and had to switch. An hour later I hear 3 more 80’s back to back

FLY 92.3- Don’t Listen (fill in the gaps)

93.7/94.5- Very over processed, sounds like they are trying to be the loudest thing on the dial, and music does not even compete with PYX (not saying much) Q103 or the (Voice’Trckd’River).

95.5 – Recycling jingles from 4 years ago, sounds like they are using their 10 year lease and reviving jingles from 4 years ago. (Seems like they are putting more into Magic then their own flagship station, but rotation…….)

98.3 Terrible oldies station, playing the top 200 oldies favorites, will not last much longer. Need to go back to the 50’s and 60’s oldies and bring this station back to the way it used to be. Bring back Super Hit Oldies SHO FM. [Flashback to 1991, when radio was fun at 316 Canal Square! Thank god I have copies and mostly originals (Jam, 2 Kool), of all the master reels before they went into receivership. And airchecks and jingles when they first went on the AIR in 1989 when WNYJ and WACS switched for the first time to become SHO. But anyways ancient history. Makes me appreciate what Bruce Lyons tried to do for radio in the early 90's. Oldies 99.5 switched to oldies 1 month later, and was the downfall of SHO..

99.5- Voice’Trckd’River Would be a great station if it were live. Music is ok, but needs a little more variety.

100.9- Great to hear the CBS “Do it again” jingles again, good mix of music, although they tend to get a little bit too mushy every 3rd sond. Sorry Cracklin’ Rosie, then Rita Coolidge, I’d rather leave while I’m in love, and then the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald , just doesn’t do it for me.

101.3 – Using weather jingle from “the jockey” days, circa 1990 with an edited bed,
stale liners and instrumentals to get to top of hour, playing a minute and a half of a song
(Huey Lewis and The News), and then abruptly cutting off song in the middle to go to top hour ID, then go to ABC news for 3 minutes, then a recorded weather from the week before. Full service radio belongs on AM…not FM.

102.3- Don’t Listen (fill in the gaps)

103.9- nice playlist, heard a lot of songs I haven’t heard from in a while, but morning show is boring and stale.

104.5- Sounds good, I listened for a good 30 minutes and didn’t change the channel. Played a lot of good music, a good hot AC station, but tended to jump jump across formats a little too much…sounded like an urban station for a few songs.

106.5- I think most of us feel the same way. The 2 classic Rock CD’s from 1981 I have shuffled has more songs than PYX’s playlist.. OK add the Boston anthology and Jethro Tull CD, and we have a complete playlist.

107.7- Not much to say…except….When are they going to get rid of those 5 year old jingles. Come one…we have been hearing those for 5 years + now.

 

[FM AM]

93.7/94.5- Very over processed, sounds like they are trying to be the loudest thing on the dial, and music does not even compete with PYX (not saying much) Q103 or the (Voice’Trckd’River).

Disagree...Their music is different and the playlist is wider than Q-103 and PYX.

98.3 Terrible oldies station, playing the top 200 oldies favorites, will not last much longer.

The ratings would suggest otherwise......

Need to go back to the 50’s and 60’s oldies and bring this station back to the way it used to be. Bring back Super Hit Oldies SHO FM. [Flashback to 1991, when radio was fun at 316 Canal Square!

SHO-FM was an amzing Oldies station, no doubt about that. They were the best that I have ever heard anywhere!!!!
An amazing playlist that truly represented the Top 40 Rock and Roll era, and live 24/7. The DJs even had the old Top 40 Hits Books, in the studio, and they would check on specific songs for you, and answer your questions. It was a sad day,
when they left the air, after little more than a year, back in November, 1991. Ownership was misguided at the time, however. They arrogantly came into town, in June 1989, and shut down the area's only local FM Oldies station, 98.3-WNYJ
to flip it to Hot A/C. 98.3 was only 3000 watts in those days. 103.5-WACS was directional, away from Albany, at the time too, due to existing FCC regulations. They entered a hot A/C war against several other competitors, and had their ass soundly kicked!!!! A year later, in bankruptcy, a consultant told them that there was a hole in the Albany market, for an FM Oldies station....Brilliant!!!! They flipped both frequencies back to Oldies in late September, 1990, as Super Hit Oldies SHO-FM 98.3/103.5, but one week later on October 1, 1990, WGY-FM flipped from Top 40, to Oldies as Oldies 99.5. With a tight playlist, and a massive signal advantage, they completelly overwhelmed SHO. SHO was even beaten, in most ratings periods by Oldies station WTRY-980 AM. It was in November, 1990 that WTRY took over the 98.3 frequency from SHO, for an AM/FM simulcast....

Thank god I have copies and mostly originals (Jam, 2 Kool), of all the master reels before they went into receivership. And airchecks and jingles when they first went on the AIR in 1989 when WNYJ and WACS switched for the first time to become SHO. But anyways ancient history. Makes me appreciate what Bruce Lyons tried to do for radio in the early 90's. Oldies 99.5 switched to oldies 1 month later, and was the downfall of SHO..

103.9- nice playlist, heard a lot of songs I haven’t heard from in a while, but morning show is boring and stale.

Can't argue....

106.5- I think most of us feel the same way. The 2 classic Rock CD’s from 1981 I have shuffled has more songs than PYX’s playlist.. OK add the Boston anthology and Jethro Tull CD, and we have a complete playlist.

You can not argue with the success that PYX has had for the past 25 years, in this market.......

.

 

[AMonFM]

WVCR 88.3- Good Liners, Terrible Music. Stop playing so much 80’s. The other day I heard (4) 80’s back to back, and had to switch. An hour later I hear 3 more 80’s back to back

Well, that is the core of the Variety Hits format. But Saint Jack has too wide a playlist, which = certain death in commerical radio. I guess it's ok to program this way where you get a steady check despite performance.

93.7/94.5- Very over processed, sounds like they are trying to be the loudest thing on the dial, and music does not even compete with PYX (not saying much) Q103 or the (Voice’Trckd’River).

'Old School AOR' is how I've heard this station described in other posts. And that's probably true if the only AOR station you've ever listened to is Rock 107 in Utica. In the rest of the world, it's just kinda boring radio. Zzzzzzz

95.5 – Recycling jingles from 4 years ago, sounds like they are using their 10 year lease and reviving jingles from 4 years ago. (Seems like they are putting more into Magic then their own flagship station, but rotation…….)

If you notice, the stations that are at the top of the ratings are using dated imaging. That's no coincidence. You don't change what works. B95 is working... very well at that.

98.3 Terrible oldies station, playing the top 200 oldies favorites, will not last much longer. Need to go back to the 50’s and 60’s oldies and bring this station back to the way it used to be. Bring back Super Hit Oldies SHO FM.

I heard some changes in certain elements to TRY over the summer. Music seems more focused, centering somewhere in the 1969, 1970 period. Jingles aren't *that* bad, but the imaging is all over the road. Sometimes you hear old tags like "Good Times, Great Oldies", then you'll hear "Oldies 98", then every once in a great while a "Superhits" imager will slip through. Station sounds better than it did a year ago, and certainly better than 2 years ago, but the VT perosnalities simply have to go, and overall flow has to be improved. Morning show gives no reason to tune in. After so many years, midday/PM drive shifts still sound canned. They've adjusted processing to the point where all the dogs in the neighborhood aren't barking anymore (RVE, PYX still sound like ------), but that Omnia box they run is crap. As I've stated before: Where is the heritage of TRY? Why not emphasize that 'Hey, we've been at this for 40 years. We're the best'. Instead we get 'Hey, we're just another lifeless CC cloned oldies station.' Anybody just passing thru the area and hearing TRY for the first time would never know this is a heritage radio station. And if we're talking jingles, why not bring back, or at least sprinkle in, the TM (Shockwave?) package they ran in the 70's?

99.5- Voice’Trckd’River Would be a great station if it were live. Music is ok, but needs a little more variety.

Actually, I think the variety is just right. Sometimes, too much variety is a real killer for an otherwise good station. Audio is el-stinko since HD turned on. Why does CC have so much problem dialing in the audio? Other stations seem to get it right without much ado. Live shifts would be great.

100.9- Great to hear the CBS “Do it again” jingles again, good mix of music, although they tend to get a little bit too mushy every 3rd sond. Sorry Cracklin’ Rosie, then Rita Coolidge, I’d rather leave while I’m in love, and then the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald , just doesn’t do it for me.

I been hearing some 70's cuts on here that simply don't belong, way too hard for a 'soft AC'. I know it's tempting to try and go after *every* WTRY listener, but they'll kill this station's success if it's not curbed. Jings are great, a few were poorly written though... and something that's been irking me. Why run a local news teaser after CBS net feed when there's nobody home at night? It sounds pretty stupid. Just go to weather if you don't have anything else to offer.

101.3 – Using weather jingle from “the jockey” days, circa 1990 with an edited bed,
stale liners and instrumentals to get to top of hour, playing a minute and a half of a song
(Huey Lewis and The News), and then abruptly cutting off song in the middle to go to top hour ID, then go to ABC news for 3 minutes, then a recorded weather from the week before. Full service radio belongs on AM…not FM.

Full Service AC is fine for FM, but 'Saratoga's Station' is floundering in the land of obscurity. Not even a ratings dominator in their home market. I no fan of consultants, but Star is in desparate need of one. So much potential here yet seems like nobody's at the wheel.

103.9- nice playlist, heard a lot of songs I haven’t heard from in a while, but morning show is boring and stale.

Musically, Q is all over the freakin' place. Who are you serving? Aging boomers? Gen X'ers? Mass appeal is hard to do in the Classic Rock genre, and Q just ain't there yet.

106.5- I think most of us feel the same way. The 2 classic Rock CD’s from 1981 I have shuffled has more songs than PYX’s playlist.. OK add the Boston anthology and Jethro Tull CD, and we have a complete playlist.

Ha! I dont think PYX's playlist is *that* tight, but it's just not correct for the clock. Long boring rock anthems at 2PM? NO NO NO!!! Leave that crap for 2AM, and play something with a freakin' beat during the day. It's called Dayparting folks... grasp the concept. Do that, and PYX will start sounding like a station that's played somewhere besides funeral parlors.

107.7- Not much to say…except….When are they going to get rid of those 5 year old jingles. Come one…we have been hearing those for 5 years + now.

See B95 comment. Don't fix it if it ain't broke...

 

[RockinRichie]

Let me just say some things about WTRY... As an oldies station "The Great 98" should be ONE of the hottest stations on the FM frequency. it saddens me to hear what they sound like, this is coming from a former TRY jock, when I was there in the late 80's, on the AM side, we were one of the top 10 oldies stations in the country!! 1500 + songs in rotation, not only newer jingles were played, we played lots of the old PAMS, JAM, & TM cuts TRY aired, I can remeber atleast 50 even more jingles in the studio that we got to choose from to play on the air!!! No liners just jingles!!

TRY should be using a moniker from thier TOP 40 days "The Station YOU Grew Up With" have lots of the old TM cuts re-sung, it was actually cuts from TMs Phase II & Fusion packages they used originally.. Whats wrong with remebering some of the past.. Drop the "W" and refer to it as "The Station You Grew Up with 98 TRY-FM!" Get some kick ass jocks, add reverb, yes alot of it sounds old school, it's an oldies station for god sakes!! Make it sound larger than life!!! Most of us remember the way top 40 sounded back in the 98 TRY-AM days.. To me an oldies format should sound anything but dry and BORING!! WTRY-FM is just that! What happened to having fun on the air?!?!?!!?! I don't get it, Tom Kent at night sounds more exciting than Tom Robinson in afternoon drive!!!! The voice tracked midday jock sounds more exciting than PM drive!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I rather hear a pumped up jock giving the weather forecast out of a hot jingle over a song hitting the vocal than The WTRY Top 5 at 5 boring ass countdown..

Radio today has noooooooooooooo creativity, we're all wrapped up in how many morning shows can give the previous night re-cap of American Idol, Survivor, Desperate Housewives, etc..... I remember PD's telling me don't ever mention what's on TV, you're just reminding the listener to click off the radio... How about TRY doing a "live" oldies show on Saturday night too!!! Enough with syndication already!!!

 

[djstevec]

Radioactiv911 - I worked for SHO when it started and wonder if I could get a copy of the aircheck from that time and possibly some jingles.

 

[kbradio]

Radioactive, same for me. I would love to get copies of those airchecks. Thanks...

 

[johnarbuckle]

Stations like 98.3 and 106.5 are playing the CC "Premium Choice" playlist. Same playlist on each station song by song by format. When you hear The Doors at 8:12am, it's playing at 8:12am in dozens of other markets with the same exact imaging except for the station name spliced in. Not likely to change any time soon.

99.5 and 98.3 are my favorite stations, but I agree with the voicetracking comment. Are we supposed to believe these jocks are working 7 days a week, 365 days a year? They are on air 7 days a week in order to avoid having to put the generic voicetracked format jock on that's already on in 30 markets. I guess it's better to be local.

92.3 and 102.3 - I agree. Probably more my taste of music than anything.

103.9 and 106.5 are favorites too.

 

[Oldiesmike]

Magic 590 needs to dump the standards, jazz and talk programs and turn into a full time oldies station and compete with 98.3 and play the great oldies from the 50's, 60's and 70's and maybe certain 80's cuts that fit into the format 24/7. And then they can drop the magic line since it sounds too much like a lite fm and call it Oldies 590 WROW. Also In my opinion, after CBS News at the top of the hour, just go to the weather jingle after they say this is CBS news. There's no need for more news.

 

[ChuckRoast]

I agree 100% Oldiesmike. WROW on the weekends sounds like an oldies station playing upbeat cuts and nixing the sentimental slop it plays weekdays. They should go Oldies 24/7 and pick up a FM signal. Even a FM translator would sound better then their cloudy AM signal.

But mainly my suggestion to all suffering listeners is to do something like I did to escape the crap that passes for local radio. Go to Amazon and spend a few bucks on a internet radio. I have what I consider the best one on the market, the Grace Digital Wi-Fi Music Player with 3.5-Inch Color Display (GDI-IRC6000). Best entertainment dollars I ever spent. There are many other ways you can access stations and streams from around the world to listen at home and in the car. The internet radio I own has among its many outstanding features the ability to listen to local radio too.

To paraphrase Johnny Paycheck, my access to the best oldies stations on the planet allows me to tell Clear Channel to "take TRY and shove it"!(at least their version of this once great station).