Dave Barger said:
I read the posts regarding MIX94.7. Considering yesterday was our initial day to broadcast MIX94.7 and according to most posts we did not do badly.
I like the format. It appears to include a wide library and during the 70s-80s hour at 1pm there are some surprises from what most AC formats would spin. I heard a Poison record the other day. I'm back in Minneapolis now, so I didn't get a chance to listen as long as wanted; however, the automation seems smooth. I didn't notice any liners fireing in the wrong place or any poor network re-joins. Keep that up and it will sound more like a local station and less like a network. The Weather Channel is a great idea and that way it doesn't sound as out of place when a voice other than the jock is reading the wx forecast. I'm impressed and a few other people I know gave it a listen and enjoyed the variety. Many of those songs are not being played by the other area stations. Of couse, with Waly continuing to add newer music, that could change. If it was up to me, I would do all I could to get out in front of people, even if most of the programming is off the bird. There is enough of a staff with the other stations to represent Mix. You have Doug over at WRTA who is no stranger to the AC format--unless he already has too much on his plate. I would have Mix sponsor an 80s Prom this spring. Promote it on air, give away tickets, and then have a night of 80s music and dancing. That might help to create some listener loyalty and help people feel better connected with the station. Get some of the jocks at Jones to record a few promos for the 80s Prom.
I don't care for the calendar girl stuff. Way too much talk is devoted to that and I feel it is degrading. It was bad enough when one station did it. Now we have two stations doing it.
I did sample Q-94 and I really enjoyed the music mix. I can easily tell that it has been freshed up compared to a few years ago. Good job on the newer stuff. I know that both country and classic rock stations are playing the new Eagles song. I was happy to hear that on Q-94. I also heard U2's Mysterious Ways from the early 90s. That was good to hear. I think that they way to do classic rock is to mix the older classic rock with newer cuts by those same artists and similar sounding artists. U2, Counting Crows, newer Santana, Smash Mouth, etc. are all getting classic rock airplay now and sound much better mixed with the older cuts than the newer Active Rock cuts sound mixed in with the older tracks. At least I think so. There are also a lot of country stations that mix in classic rock. Clear Channel seems to be big into that idea right now.
A few other things I noticed while I was in town....
Majic 99 is not really a Jack format. The music library is really good and I enjoyed it, but with the exception of a few tracks that lean more rock or urban, this station is just a larger than usual mainstream AC libaray. Jacks usually focus on the rock side of the spectrum, although doing that in this case would kill QWK and WBUS. I like the AC approach and it should work because there is no other straight AC in State College. Majic seems to be in between WOWY and 3WZ. A lot of the liners seem cheesy. I could tell they were trying to copy Jack, but it wasn't working for me. Maybe I am just too used to hearing the Jack liners. Majic and Wowy get my votes for the best playlists in State College.
Waly sounds really good with all the 80s AC in rotation. I missed hearing the Real Deal during the weeknights. Waly would get my vote as the top station in Altoona. While I also like the music on Mix, nothing beats local radio.
