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New Rock

Jacko said:
I'd also add 98 Rock WIYY/Baltimore to the list of personality-driven rock stations that are doing quite well.
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The music isn't the attraction anymore in rock radio. People know where to go to hear their favorite rock music, and it's not the radio.

Promoting bands was something radio did in the 80s. Today, the bands have the tools to promote themselves and monetize that promotion.
 
Poorly programmed music in non-personality centric dayparts will turn listeners away.

Picking proper music still matters.

I would be quite surprised if longstanding successful rock stations such as WRIF, WMMR and WIYY didn't invest considerable effort in music research and if they didn't exercise considerable diligence with playlist formation.

WAAF in its final couple years of existence on analog FM had a crappy morning show, a crappy playlist, and a crappy Worcester-based signal (after losing the 97.7 signal). Not a formula for success, to say the least. Seems like the folks calling the shots waited until it was too late to try to fix some of the above maladies.

Ironically, it was Rock 92.9 that helped to extinguish 107.3 WAAF.
 
TheBigA said:
It's because people at colleges and universities likely don't listen to commercial radio. I didn't either when I was their age.
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Some do, some don’t. What do you think the students at traditional Black colleges listen to? Or Hispanic students anywhere? Or many college age country listeners in the South and plains states?

And students at colleges seldom get recruited for the PPM or even for diaries.
 
wcozBoston said:
Entercom should have kept the 97.7 signal, moved WAAF programming there and sold the 107.3 signal to K-Love.
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If I remember correctly, they had to sell a Boston market signal. A lot of people in central MA and even the western and northern outskirts of Greater Boston would've been upset if 'AAF stayed on 97.7 but not 107.3. A big majority of recorded listening during the simulcast period came from the 107.3 signal, not 97.7.

Nonetheless, losing 97.7 was a setback.
 
Historically, 107.3 was WAAF's signal, so moving it solely to 97.7 was probably never in the cards. The beginning of the end was back in the early 00s when they moved their transmitter from Paxton to West Boylston. From Paxton, they were (I believe) grandfathered a full 50-kw equivalent Class B with no directional null. They had consistent listenership in Western Mass., even into the Berkshires. They consistently showed up in the Boston, Providence, Springfield, Manchester, and Hartford books. Granted, this was also during the 90s heyday of the station. Despite them targeting the larger Boston market, Worcester was always the stronghold for the station. When they moved their transmitter, the signal was reduced toward Boston as well as toward the northeast and southeast to protect two 107.1s. Moving the transmitter, concurrent with the programming moves that essentially watered down the station, all had a part of WAAF's slow death.
 
I don't see why Entercom didn't do what K-Love did, moving the 107.3 transmitter from W. Boylston several miles closer to Boston to the tall TV Ch. 66/68 tower at the Hudson/Sudbury line, giving a somewhat improved signal around Boston and still good coverage of Worcester, metro-west, and much of central MA, and installing low-power boosters in Boston (the Hancock tower), Waltham and Lexington.
 
The synchronized booster technology 107.3 is using now didn't exist when Entercom had the station. Trying to put on-channel boosters in Boston without perfect synchronization would have created significant zones of self-interference that would have harmed the signal.
 
So agree, WAAF should have never moved out of Paxton. Wonder who convinced them to do it? What stations that are on the air today would prevent 107.3 from moving back to Paxton with the same parameters?
 
KLove moved back to Paxton but it dosen't matter rock is dead. WAAF like WBCN like WFNX failed. They all had good runs but thier formats died. You can't have that level of talent with out a lot of cash. Once the cash dries up you have a juke box. Your old move on.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
Alright, pretty much everything in your post is false. To begin with, there's a ton of good rock music right now. Jack White, The Hives, The Black Keys, Wolf Alice, all great. Green Day, Papa Roach, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and Evansescence are all heritage bands with strong new music out right now. T
Theater of My Mind said:
Alright, pretty much everything in your post is false. To begin with, there's a ton of good rock music right now. Jack White, The Hives, The Black Keys, Wolf Alice, all great. Green Day, Papa Roach, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and Evansescence are all heritage bands with strong new music out right now. The red hot Wet Leg is one of the best bands of the summer with a new album out this week. To name a few. All getting radio airplay, both commercial and noncom..



The aforementioned Wet Leg just did a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, and recent station events for KROQ and KCSN ahead of their album release. I would be shocked if they don't do radio interviews during their forthcoming tour dates.



Do you just like to hear yourself talk, even if it means making stuff up?
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is one of the best bands of the summer with a new album out this week. To name a few. All getting radio airplay, both commercial and noncom..



The aforementioned Wet Leg just did a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, and recent station events for KROQ and KCSN ahead of their album release. I would be shocked if they don't do radio interviews during their forthcoming tour dates.



Do you just like to hear yourself talk, even if it means making stuff
Click to expand...

Theater of My Mind said:
Alright, pretty much everything in your post is false. To begin with, there's a ton of good rock music right now. Jack White, The Hives, The Black Keys, Wolf Alice, all great. Green Day, Papa Roach, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and Evansescence are all heritage bands with strong new music out right now. The red hot Wet Leg is one of the best bands of the summer with a new album out this week. To name a few. All getting radio airplay, both commercial and noncom..



The aforementioned Wet Leg just did a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, and recent station events for KROQ and KCSN ahead of their album release. I would be shocked if they don't do radio interviews during their forthcoming tour dates.



Do you just like to hear yourself talk, even if it means making stuff up?
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WFNX-LP is pounding a lot of the new Wet Leg tracks.
 
fybush said:
The synchronized booster technology 107.3 is using now didn't exist when Entercom had the station. Trying to put on-channel boosters in Boston without perfect synchronization would have created significant zones of self-interference that would have harmed the signal.
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Weren't the boosters launched within the first 12 months of K-Love's ownership?
 
johnster said:
KLove moved back to Paxton but it dosen't matter rock is dead. WAAF like WBCN like WFNX failed. They all had good runs but thier formats died. You can't have that level of talent with out a lot of cash. Once the cash dries up you have a juke box. Your old move on.
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K Love moved to the 66 tower in Hudson and downgraded to a class B1.
 
I meant to ask - are the Boston area boosters for 107.3 currently on the air?

I seem to recall reading they were taken off line last autumn or winter.

How is overall Metro reception today versus the WAAF era?
 


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