but we’re now in an age where we’re not spending as much and looking to cut down on subscriptions
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New Rock station coming to DFW?
- Thread starter Kramer
- Start date
Is any other station in Dallas doing that? You & Kramer are focusing on one group of songs. But each of the stations that play that group of massive hits combines those songs with some other very different songs. There are lots of ways to put together a curated playlist. You can do it so it all fits neatly into one very narrow box. That way you hit one very specific group. Or you can take elements from one group and combine it with elements from another similar group. One thing that has helped the country format achieve such mainstream popularity has been to combine various subgenres of country together, so people hear some of everything. Back to the bar analogy, it becomes more like a buffet.
My take on the Turbo list is it's way too male. That's fine if you have advertisers who only want men, or in the case of Sirius, no advertisers at all. My sense is that the problem with the Freak was not only that the audience was too small, but it was also too old and too male. So this approach is to tamp that down a little. Not a lot. The classic rock increases the women by a few points over what they'd get with all hard rock.
I have a problem with all of the classic formats: Classic hits, classic rock, or adult hits. My problem is they don't play any currents or recent music. That ends up making the station kind of stale. Some people like familiarity. I don't. I want variety. So you take Def Leppard and follow it with Seether. Or Godsmack. And Aerosmith followed by Avenged Sevenfold. Bon Jovi followed by Disturbed. You'd NEVER hear that combination on Jack. It sounds like a trainwreck, but some people like trainwrecks. This is for them. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't.
It’s also notable the station hasn’t been on the air for 24 hours yet as the Eagle (again). You want to start with music that’s familiar and will get the station in people’s minds. Being too adventurous in the first weeks, let alone the first day, of the station isn’t a great way to cultivate and retain listenership. I predict the station will fine tune and adjust the music as they see appropriate after it’s been on the air for a bit. Right now, they’re smart to focus on the mass appeal hits. Tweak it and get more obscure if needed later.
And that’s why I love 99.5 KISS
D
Deleted member 76036
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So we’re starting off with something that didn’t work 2 years ago? This is basically the same exact station before The Freak signed on. The only thing that’s changed is the music has aged even more and there’s no talk yet. From my own observations, it appears that Ben & Skin will be back soon. They might as well just hire everyone back, since it seems that no one is open to change.
I don’t think that a lot of people are searching for a rock-based variety hits format. The hype will wear down, The Eagle will continue with abysmal ratings and another format change will happen again a couple years down the line.
I also feel like being safe at the beginning could backfire. If their plan is to tweak as time goes on, they’re setting false expectations. The only people tuning in now are us and former listeners. I don’t think they’re really gaining anyone new at this point.
—————
Browsing social media, here’s some comments:
“Eagle be like:
We got an artist coming to town and they just released a new album! Now instead of playing anything off their new album, we're going to be playing their hit single from 20 years ago!
And since so many people are wondering if we're doing an interview with them, here's a clip of them saying, "I'm from this band and you're listening to 97.1 The Eagle. It just rocks!"
“Play some music from this century.”
“Boring 😴”
“Please don't have the same playlist like the last time it was on. I got so burnt out on AC-DC, Guns n roses(to name a few) that I was making bets on what I predicted would play next and was right. That's how you lost listeners to begin with. But let's see ...”
“Oh yay we have our guns n roses and Aerosmith station back 🙄”
“I’m very happy the eagle is back , but It’s literally the same playlist . There’s so many awesome current bands they could play . Bad omens , adtr, miw, FIR, architects, I prevail , wage war, sleep theory etc etc etc”
“Same repetitious songs we've heard for years and years. And they wonder why the ratings are so bad.”
““97.1 THE EAGLE!”
“Here we go, again…”
“AGAIN!”
PLEASE play modern metal. Get AC/DC, Rush, Led Zep, and Ozzie TF out of constant rotation.”
I don’t think that a lot of people are searching for a rock-based variety hits format. The hype will wear down, The Eagle will continue with abysmal ratings and another format change will happen again a couple years down the line.
I also feel like being safe at the beginning could backfire. If their plan is to tweak as time goes on, they’re setting false expectations. The only people tuning in now are us and former listeners. I don’t think they’re really gaining anyone new at this point.
—————
Browsing social media, here’s some comments:
“Eagle be like:
We got an artist coming to town and they just released a new album! Now instead of playing anything off their new album, we're going to be playing their hit single from 20 years ago!
And since so many people are wondering if we're doing an interview with them, here's a clip of them saying, "I'm from this band and you're listening to 97.1 The Eagle. It just rocks!"
“Play some music from this century.”
“Boring 😴”
“Please don't have the same playlist like the last time it was on. I got so burnt out on AC-DC, Guns n roses(to name a few) that I was making bets on what I predicted would play next and was right. That's how you lost listeners to begin with. But let's see ...”
“Oh yay we have our guns n roses and Aerosmith station back 🙄”
“I’m very happy the eagle is back , but It’s literally the same playlist . There’s so many awesome current bands they could play . Bad omens , adtr, miw, FIR, architects, I prevail , wage war, sleep theory etc etc etc”
“Same repetitious songs we've heard for years and years. And they wonder why the ratings are so bad.”
““97.1 THE EAGLE!”
“Here we go, again…”
“AGAIN!”
PLEASE play modern metal. Get AC/DC, Rush, Led Zep, and Ozzie TF out of constant rotation.”
The station I normally hear on 97.1 in the Houston area has been off the air for over 24 hours since the thunderstorm. Tropos has been bringing The Eagle in quite nicely throughout the night and early afternoon. And in typical iHeart fashion most of what I heard were commercials. But the music I’ve heard hasn’t been too interesting. Would have been cool to see something like Baton Rouge’s Eagle 98.1.
@TheBigA - "My take on the Turbo list is it's way too male."
It's extremely male, as should be the Eagle. If you read the comments on all of their new posts, people are already saying, "We don't want oldies and we don't want alternative." They WANT a rock station.
Furthermore, it's already shot itself in the foot bringing Ben and Skin back to afternoons (PAY TO PLAY), leaving the Mavs plus they're about to start playing 15 minute stopsets of corporate ads that are being shoved down their throat.
This industry is a shell of itself, and let's be frank, iHeart is just trying to build some cume on some of it's larger market stations so it can sell the company.
It's extremely male, as should be the Eagle. If you read the comments on all of their new posts, people are already saying, "We don't want oldies and we don't want alternative." They WANT a rock station.
Furthermore, it's already shot itself in the foot bringing Ben and Skin back to afternoons (PAY TO PLAY), leaving the Mavs plus they're about to start playing 15 minute stopsets of corporate ads that are being shoved down their throat.
This industry is a shell of itself, and let's be frank, iHeart is just trying to build some cume on some of it's larger market stations so it can sell the company.
That question is valid for ALL radio stations.
So do we just turn them all off?
Last I checked, you PAY for Sirius as well.
Agreed. Playing it safe to get remembrance is key.
The big difference is, with Sirius the music is the product that the listener is paying for. With radio, the LISTENER is the product the ADVERTISER is paying for. So, for Turbo, what are the demos they attract, and would advertisers pay for them? Once you hit 54, that answer is usually "no" because 54+ year olds are starting to spend less money, are less likely to try new products, etc.
From my point of view as a SiriusXM listener, Turbo still appeals to me, but I'm in my mid 40s. And people in their 40's and 50s must be a pretty big portion of the people who pay for SiriusXM. Would it have the same appeal to someone who is, say, 25? Lot of factors as to why a particular sound is chosen. I suspect that a lot of 80's songs will be phased out entirely at most stations in the next decade, and even a lot of 90s product. Hell, even Sirius is relegating older channels like Deep Tracks to higher numbers because they are now creating stations focused specifically on the 2000-2010 decade as the demographics shift.
If you had an auditorium filled with 3000 people (MEN 25-54) and played the biggest songs from the bands I mentioned, the majority of those 3000 people would know and like the song.
I'm 53. I know AC/DC, and I'm sick to death of it. Same with Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Pink Floyd, Heart, Tom Petty, The Stones - and the list could go on and on and on.
There's way more that goes into The Eagle than the music, as well. It needs a GREAT local morning show. It needs to be built with the right people, including myself. It needs a heritage talent on MID DAYS. It needs the same for afternoons, but that point is moot because Ben and Skin or I should Pay and Play will have that covered. It needs to drop the Mavs, which it isn't, and hire a local person to be all about the local music scene and be entrenched into it. It needs to apologize for all the horse shit it's put listeners thru over the years, and it needs to have regular calls from the biggest bands from out on the road. It needs to continue BFD and all the massive show it's done for years. Most importantly, it needs to never take another call from corporate, ever again. 😎
I'm 53. I know AC/DC, and I'm sick to death of it. Same with Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Pink Floyd, Heart, Tom Petty, The Stones - and the list could go on and on and on.
There's way more that goes into The Eagle than the music, as well. It needs a GREAT local morning show. It needs to be built with the right people, including myself. It needs a heritage talent on MID DAYS. It needs the same for afternoons, but that point is moot because Ben and Skin or I should Pay and Play will have that covered. It needs to drop the Mavs, which it isn't, and hire a local person to be all about the local music scene and be entrenched into it. It needs to apologize for all the horse shit it's put listeners thru over the years, and it needs to have regular calls from the biggest bands from out on the road. It needs to continue BFD and all the massive show it's done for years. Most importantly, it needs to never take another call from corporate, ever again. 😎
The question isn't what do "they" want. The question is what do advertisers want. If you have a station with Top 10 ratings and no advertisers, you get WRME or KOAI, which are free music jukeboxes that make no money. Instead of using subscription channels as a model, try to find a commercial radio station that is playing what you want.
Because they already have KJKK. But KJKK doesn't play a lot of other bands. This station does. That's the difference.
Don't waste your time reading facebook posts. They're not going to listen whatever you play.
Advertisers don't want men only. Let me say that again: An all-men station doesn't sell. You need to get their wives and girlfriends to listen as well.
WFAN? KLAC? The southern female demographic, 18-34/25-54 is being covered fine on the Eagle. Women in Dallas are different than the female demographic in Chicago, New York/New Jersey or LA. KEGL could‘ve relaunched as an all male country format, women in Dallas/southern regions would still listen
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What iHeart wants is WMMS or WDVE. Those are the models. WMMS is a Top 5 station that also does baseball play by play.
The mistake they made with the freak was hiring grandpa who was past his prime, and dropping all of the music. So Ben & Skin with music might get what they want.
Need to change their name from Eagle to Cat with its nine lives
Yeah, The Ticket is BROKE.
See you're another guy that buys into the idea that the only people who listen to real rock are 19 year old kids with black tee shirts and pink hair. That attitude has completely destroyed the format.
Then you're saying *I* have pink hair? You're wrong.
A research sample of one...who is arguably NOT a *typical* listener. (You're a rather unique individual, Kramer. Respectfully.)
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