New: WODS 103.3 HD3 now on the air

[Eli Polonsky]

It's called "Mercy Rock". Contemporary Christian pop/rock music. Heard it for the first time today.

 

[Wbzfm2010]

i heard it yesterday on a trip from wrentham to med field i was like what is this??? WHY NOT simulcast a station from there cluster in a another state like they do in Hartford.

 

[pqgeorge]

Why do they not put 50's and 60's oldies on either HD2 or HD3? That would be a good reason to get an HD radio. There is an audience who would LOVE to hear that music once again.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Why do they not put 50's and 60's oldies on either HD2 or HD3? That would be a good reason to get an HD radio. There is an audience who would LOVE to hear that music once again.

I'm guessing that their reason for putting "The Cove" (soft AC) on their HD2 may be, in the hope that HD radio ever takes off and more people listen to the multicasts, that "The Cove" may slightly erode the ratings of WODS' main competition WMJX, perhaps just enough for their main channel to rival or overtake WMJX in the numbers.

I think that, unfortunately, the audience for '50s/'60s oldies is considered "too old" by major market corporate programmers even for HD2 or HD3 channels nowadays. They hope to get sponsors and commercials on those channels someday, and the bean-counters seem to adamantly believe that sponsors will not support a mostly over-50 year-old audience. It's up to programmers of independent smaller stations such as Clark Smidt (WCAP Lowell), Ed Perry (WATD Marshfield), and Bob Bittner (WJIB) who know better and still appreciate an older audience to keep music of that era on the air.

 

[BRNout]

Why do they not put 50's and 60's oldies on either HD2 or HD3? That would be a good reason to get an HD radio. There is an audience who would LOVE to hear that music once again.

Totally agree! This move shows how ownership groups - for the most part - still don't get it. They toss away these subchannels on formats that have very little appeal. In the case of CBS, you find subchannels offering three basic things: an extension of the main channel's format, a simulcast of one of their AMs, or some fringe "throw away" format that almost no one will listen to. In the case of "Mercy Rock" it has limited appeal in a market like Boston and involves music that can be found elsewhere.

Aside from the 50s - 60s format, an urban a/c would be another excellent format to put on an HD2. Doing that might actually sell some HD radios. But CBS radio doesn't get it. For example, putting "sounds of the 70s" on the HD2's of many of their oldies formatted stations. Huh? Most of those stations are 70s centric anyhow.

Here's an idea: try something different!

 

[mjb1124]

I would love to see a 50s-60s oldies channel on 103.3 HD2 or HD3 myself. Since they retired the "Oldies 103.3" brand on the main channel, they could use it for a subchannel. I suppose you could argue that such a channel's average listener wouldn't be likely to buy an HD radio, but then again young people aren't exactly lining up to buy them either.

 

[mgpt6]

Best CBS format is on an HD3 ,Freeform BCN on ZLX -HD3

 

[JustinT]

In the case of "Mercy Rock" it has limited appeal in a market like Boston and involves music that can be found elsewhere.

No denying your first point, but CCM really isn't on the dial anywhere in Boston. Along the South Coast there's 91.1 WTKL, and up on the NH Seacoast there's 106.5 WNHI, but Christian contemporary music is pretty much completely non-existant on the Boston airwaves. You'd think Salem would run some of that on WEZE during the weekends, but that's not the case.

 

[Deleted User]

we can't get 50's/60's music on an HD2 or hell I'd even take an HD3 but we can get that crap?

Another reason Ed Perry is my hero, I have XM radio, and listen to the music channels on Comcast's digital cable box!

 

[Smoke]

Best CBS format is on an HD3 ,Freeform BCN on ZLX -HD3

Is ZLX promoting it in any way? WBZ-FM never mentions their HD channels.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Best CBS format is on an HD3 ,Freeform BCN on ZLX -HD3

Is ZLX promoting it in any way? WBZ-FM never mentions their HD channels.

I haven't heard any promo for "Free Form 'BCN" on WZLX, but WZLX does promote their HD2 "Radio Mojo" (all-blues).

"Free Form 'BCN" is also online at wbcn.com, which is a way that it can be heard in stereo since HD3's are mono.

 

[Oldbones]

I think that, unfortunately, the audience for '50s/'60s oldies is considered "too old" by major market corporate programmers even for HD2 or HD3 channels nowadays. They hope to get sponsors and commercials on those channels someday, and the bean-counters seem to adamantly believe that sponsors will not support a mostly over-50 year-old audience. It's up to programmers of independent smaller stations such as Clark Smidt (WCAP Lowell), Ed Perry (WATD Marshfield), and Bob Bittner (WJIB) who know better and still appreciate an older audience to keep music of that era on the air.

It's only fair though to point out that both WATD and WCAP put the 50s/early 60s music in dayparts where listenership is lower (ie-nights and weekends) and they have relatively little to lose. You don't see either one making it into a full-time format.

Bob Bittner runs his stations as essentially non-profits. I'm guessing his approach would be much different if he needed to attract an advertising base. My hat is off to him for doing what most of only dream of, but it's not a good business model.

 

[DToTheJ]

Why do they not put 50's and 60's oldies on either HD2 or HD3? That would be a good reason to get an HD radio. There is an audience who would LOVE to hear that music once again.

I still say CBS should take me up on my "Cheers Radio" idea for one of their HD2 or HD3 channels.

 

[CTListener]

I think that, unfortunately, the audience for '50s/'60s oldies is considered "too old" by major market corporate programmers even for HD2 or HD3 channels nowadays. They hope to get sponsors and commercials on those channels someday, and the bean-counters seem to adamantly believe that sponsors will not support a mostly over-50 year-old audience. It's up to programmers of independent smaller stations such as Clark Smidt (WCAP Lowell), Ed Perry (WATD Marshfield), and Bob Bittner (WJIB) who know better and still appreciate an older audience to keep music of that era on the air.

It's only fair though to point out that both WATD and WCAP put the 50s/early 60s music in dayparts where listenership is lower (ie-nights and weekends) and they have relatively little to lose. You don't see either one making it into a full-time format.

Bob Bittner runs his stations as essentially non-profits. I'm guessing his approach would be much different if he needed to attract an advertising base. My hat is off to him for doing what most of only dream of, but it's not a good business model.

WDRC-FM in Hartford has a '50s-'60s HD2, and has promoted it on-air and on its website. The format makes all the sense in the world for a heritage oldies station that's transitioning to classic hits. So far, no advertising, but I'm not hearing advertising on any of the HD2s affiliated with the Clear Channel or CBS stations in Hartford-New Haven either, so it's not like little Buckley Broadcasting is denying itself a revenue stream by putting older music on the HD2. If ads suddenly start appearing on WHCN's '80s-heavy classic rock and WKCI's dance HD2s and the ad buyers say "No way , you skew too old" when Buckley goes looking for its slice of the pie, then all bets are off.

That said, I have no idea what CBS thinks the market for contemporary Christian is in Boston. Yes, it undoubtedly skews younger than oldies, but since Boston has never had a full-time CC format in the market, the music is completely foreign to a gigantic portion of the total potential audience. How are advertisers expected to eventually pay for that, as opposed to the guaranteed numbers that would listen to music they'd heard all the time on local FM until less than a decade ago?

 

[BRNout]

WDRC-FM in Hartford has a '50s-'60s HD2, and has promoted it on-air and on its website. The format makes all the sense in the world for a heritage oldies station that's transitioning to classic hits. So far, no advertising, but I'm not hearing advertising on any of the HD2s affiliated with the Clear Channel or CBS stations in Hartford-New Haven either, so it's not like little Buckley Broadcasting is denying itself a revenue stream by putting older music on the HD2. If ads suddenly start appearing on WHCN's '80s-heavy classic rock and WKCI's dance HD2s and the ad buyers say "No way , you skew too old" when Buckley goes looking for its slice of the pie, then all bets are off.

That said, I have no idea what CBS thinks the market for contemporary Christian is in Boston. Yes, it undoubtedly skews younger than oldies, but since Boston has never had a full-time CC format in the market, the music is completely foreign to a gigantic portion of the total potential audience. How are advertisers expected to eventually pay for that, as opposed to the guaranteed numbers that would listen to music they'd heard all the time on local FM until less than a decade ago?

All true and all are example of the way in which CBS is mishandling HD radio. Beyond 50s-60s oldies, which is just begging to be on an HD-2....why not install an urban/AC format on an HD2 in Boston? Such a format would sell A LOT of HD radios there. No, instead they are running a lot of ho-hum formats that are generating almost no buzz.

Christian rock? In Boston? What in the world is CBS thinking?

What a waste of potential in a market that's lacking several potentially crowd-pleasing formats!