New Alternative Station in Monmouth County

[Zackster]

Online at http://shorealternative.com/ and will be
on the air soon on 94.3/HD (WJLK-HD2)

 

[d21ofnj]

I knew I had this feeling someone was gonna pull this off. I guess this fan of alternative knew that G-rock wasn't gonna come back anytime soon, so going the route of internet radio was the way. As for hubcity...

Or just get into internet radio.

I had a similar impulse...but a slightly different take on "get into"...

-Sean
AltrokRadio.com

Well, would you at least get into this station and see for yourself?

 

[hubcity]

I knew I had this feeling someone was gonna pull this off. I guess this fan of alternative knew that G-rock wasn't gonna come back anytime soon, so going the route of internet radio was the way. As for hubcity...

Or just get into internet radio.

I had a similar impulse...but a slightly different take on "get into"...

-Sean
AltrokRadio.com

Well, would you at least get into this station and see for yourself?

Ya know, this whole "nobody likes a rabid self-promoter" schtick I've got going has it's downside...

(Have you listened to Altrok's G-Aid yet? It still needs more imaging, though.)

 

[SoulCrusher]

This is a promising sign. I'll be sure to check it out if they stream online. Maybe if it gets enough of a response, we'll get an Alternative format back on FM radio.

Press Communications should accept responsibility for G Rock not performing to their standards. For years they thought a straight-up Alternative station wouldn't work, decided to mix the format with Hot AC titles, and fairly early in its ownership of WHTG played Guns N' Roses and Bon Jovi. The station sounded really good with Terrie Carr as PD, but by that point a lot of listeners had departed. Press should have left the station alone and not tinkered with it much other than streamlining the music a tiny bit and more polished imaging. I think they should also realize that the decision to replace G Rock with a hit music station was not met with a positive response - no one I know is happy about this, and the people where I work that listened to G Rock now listen to either WRXP or online radio streams.

There are several stations that have fluctuated in the ratings, and some really don't perform to their capabilities. Take, for instance, WCHR (105.7 The Hawk). For as long as I can remember, they have never pulled really impressive numbers, and in this past book, despite an incredible signal, they had ratings that were the same as G Rock. With so many other stations targeting the same audience, there had to be one loser, and it seems to be The Hawk. I don't understand what's keeping them from going Alternative. There's a few other stations that have been consistently mediocre as well. The protests and all the Facebook groups that formed in response to the loss of G Rock should be a wake-up call to programmers out there about the need for an Alternative station in this market.

 

[hubcity]

This is a promising sign. I'll be sure to check it out if they stream online. Maybe if it gets enough of a response, we'll get an Alternative format back on FM radio.

Press Communications should accept responsibility for G Rock not performing to their standards. For years they thought a straight-up Alternative station wouldn't work, decided to mix the format with Hot AC titles, and fairly early in its ownership of WHTG played Guns N' Roses and Bon Jovi. The station sounded really good with Terrie Carr as PD, but by that point a lot of listeners had departed. Press should have left the station alone and not tinkered with it much other than streamlining the music a tiny bit and more polished imaging. I think they should also realize that the decision to replace G Rock with a hit music station was not met with a positive response - no one I know is happy about this, and the people where I work that listened to G Rock now listen to either WRXP or online radio streams.

There are several stations that have fluctuated in the ratings, and some really don't perform to their capabilities. Take, for instance, WCHR (105.7 The Hawk). For as long as I can remember, they have never pulled really impressive numbers, and in this past book, despite an incredible signal, they had ratings that were the same as G Rock. With so many other stations targeting the same audience, there had to be one loser, and it seems to be The Hawk. I don't understand what's keeping them from going Alternative. There's a few other stations that have been consistently mediocre as well. The protests and all the Facebook groups that formed in response to the loss of G Rock should be a wake-up call to programmers out there about the need for an Alternative station in this market.

Well, if I can look into the future by looking into the past, it looks to me like HD2 is roughly where FM was in, say, 1966 - seldom heard by listeners, run mostly to protect a license that would hopefully be useful at some future point, with the staff being expected to put something, anything, up on the signal as long as it isn't dead air. One thing it is, incrementally speaking, is relatively cheap; once you've gone HD, the upgrade to take your station from HD to HD2 capability is only in the five figures (and may already have been purchased.) Automation is an incremental cost, with production creativity on-air being your most precious asset.

The best HD2 for your station is one that attracts an audience that wouldn't be caught dead listening to your main signal. No cross-promotion necessary (or, in fact, desired.) If it chips away at someone else's numbers, even better.

The death of G-Rock has had an interesting effect on Altrok Radio, and one that belies my first impulse, which was to create a G-Rock clone, formatically speaking. The trial of that clone is up and running as "Altrok's G-Aid", linked in from the top of the altrokradio.com page. Strangely enough, though, the actual result has been increased listenership for my original Altrok Radio station - it's almost as though people who tuned in to G-Aid actually wound up sticking with the far more eclectic Altrok Radio station, and the only reason I can think of is that they were bemoaning the loss of G-Rock not because of its actual playlist, but because of the potential it had to actually air something interesting once in a while. When they found Altrok (which is pretty interesting - which most mainstream listeners would regard as "off-putting" - pretty much all the time) they actually liked that better.

I think that type of person - the one that would try to track down and listen to a G-Rock replacement - is by definition adventurous, and is more likely than G-Rock's average listeners to have an affinity for Altrok Radio, which is why they seem to be tuning past G-Aid. G-Rock, however, attracted an audience beyond the adventurous, who don't necessarily spend time hunting down a substitute for a station they've lost.

Where does this leave WJLK-HD2? If it's too much like G-Rock, I don't think it'll necessarily be worth doing. It needs to attract people who'll actually be committed enough to what they're playing to buy equipment to listen to their new service. (And actually, what I heard on ShoreAlternative's teaser sounded as though it was approaching that direction - didn't hear much legacy going on there, though, and I think that's necessary. But then again, you might suspect that.)

 

[South NJ for Life]

If you want to stream an alternative station in Jersey you should check out www.jserocks.com. It's WJSE in AC, they flipped back to alternative six months ago after a nasty vacation called "The Ace" and dabbled in Active Rock. The last station standing in the alternative world in Jersey!

 

[oasisrulz]

From what I am hearing on line they sound fantastic....are they going to be on HD soon, I need something local when I hit the Seaside Heights boards this summer....now I am content living in S. Philly with 104.5.

 

[mjb1124]

I've listened to them a few times, and I have yet to hear anything I recognize. Mind you, I'm all for getting exposed to new music, but there should really be a balance between familiar and unfamiliar if they expect to draw in G-Rock's audience. Plus, they should have some way of identifying what they're playing, whether it's through voiceovers or a "last played" list.

 

[ccuphl]

The last station standing in the alternative world in Jersey!

Kinda weird that country stations out-number alternative rock stations 3-to-1 in New Jersey.

 

[JerseyShor]

The last station standing in the alternative world in Jersey!

Kinda weird that country stations out-number alternative rock stations 3-to-1 in New Jersey.

Am I missing something here?

ROCK - 105.5 WDHA/Dover
ROCK - 100.7 WZXL/Wildwood
ROCK - 95.9 WRAT/Point Pleasant
ROCK - 102.7 WJSE/Petersburg
ROCK - 107.1 WWYY/Belvidere

COUNTRY - 98.5 WKMK/Ocean Acres
COUNTRY - 107.3 WPUR/Atlantic City

I'd say ROCK stations out-number Country stations 5 to 2! (And that's not even counting Classic Rock stations WNNJ/WMGM/WCHR-FM)

 

[SoulCrusher]

The last station standing in the alternative world in Jersey!

Kinda weird that country stations out-number alternative rock stations 3-to-1 in New Jersey.

Am I missing something here?

ROCK - 105.5 WDHA/Dover
ROCK - 100.7 WZXL/Wildwood
ROCK - 95.9 WRAT/Point Pleasant
ROCK - 102.7 WJSE/Petersburg
ROCK - 107.1 WWYY/Belvidere

COUNTRY - 98.5 WKMK/Ocean Acres
COUNTRY - 107.3 WPUR/Atlantic City

I'd say ROCK stations out-number Country stations 5 to 2! (And that's not even counting Classic Rock stations WNNJ/WMGM/WCHR-FM)

ccuphl is correct.

Four of the "alternative rock stations" that you listed are actually Heritage Rockers, with WJSE as the only one that can be even remotely considered alternative. In addition, WJSE, while probably the only music-based FM in NJ I can tolerate now, hardly ever plays any pre-Nirvana alternative rock, so that's disappointing if you're a fan of the genre. And WWYY is located in PA, so that doesn't even count.

You also forget to include in your listing of country stations...

COUNTRY - 106.7 WKOE/North Cape May (Coast Country)