The current age of broadcasters think of the term "Oldies" as referring to the less attractive demo of retirees. Lest we forget the timeless rock and roll of acts like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and countless others. These artists (with the exception of occasional Elvis) are nowhere to be found on WJRZ, which now might as well start reporting as a Classic Hits station. I actually heard them play The Cars not too long ago!
Basically, WJRZ sounds like what WCBS FM sounded like in the last couple of years, and we all know what happened to them. I really don't see why they completely dropped the music of the '50s - I'm not even 30, but I listened to plenty of it growing up and still enjoy it to this day. The differences between WJRZ and other stations in the market become more subtle, as now they sound very similar to The Breeze (which, despite its AC billing, is not quite as soft as you would think). The lines continue to be blurred and there's very little that stands out on the airwaves these days. Similar AC stations and even more similar Classic Rockers dominate the landscape - heck, even the so-called "rock" stations blend in with these categories in some way with G Rock Radio's estrogen-infused take on Modern Rock and WRAT mix of 75% Classic / 25% Current with nothing edgier than, say, Metallica. But that's another rant, and that's been covered. WJRZ change in format confuses me, especially in a market with so many senior citizens. I understand the re-imaging, but why try to fix what wasn't broken?
