Radio 106.7

[CBusDave]

- Still no commercials or on air talent. Just music. I wonder how long this will continue
- No Call Sign change. I know these things take awhile but could CCC be thinking about keeping WMRN for WModernRockN
- I take back what I said about lack of Beastie Boys... I've heard plenty
- And there is even less DMB... is JbC passing along our comments from here?

 

[xiradiodotcom]

My guess is Monday seeing how the holiday fell this year. All we can hope is they open the playlist up a bit. 'Mr. Jones' and 'Runaround' get old REAL fast.

 

[late1]

I had great hopes for this channel.
They had me with the tag line:
"Its about the music"
Light commercial load and no DJ's.... Xcellent!

But... The play list is too tight.
I keep hearing the same rotation of songs when I turn it on.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

Even though I'd personally prefer something like Radio 94.1 in Cincy (much unlike late, xir & Dave, no doubt), I like 106.7 more each day.  One of the few major tune-outs for me is some of the edgiest Beastie Boys songs. 

I'm probably at the fringes of the demo, but then I'm also at the fringes of the demo for most of my favorite U.S. stations, many of which of are extremely successful.  Wish there were more female posters here; I may be wrong, but I get the impression women are part of the target.  Of course, we still wouldn't be a market-representative sample.

BTW, late1, I don't know if you were a Channel Z fan, but they had a super-tight rotation.

 

[OnlyTheBestMusic]

- Still no commercials or on air talent. Just music. I wonder how long this will continue
- No Call Sign change. I know these things take awhile but could CCC be thinking about keeping WMRN for WModernRockN
is JbC passing along our comments from here?

Eventually the commercials will come because they need the income from them. I hope the on air talent is soon because I want to know what the station has to offer. Will this be my new station to listen to or..???

 

[alans613]

94.9 The Sound in Cincinnati used to play the heck out of the Beastie Boys in the 7 O' Clock AM hour daily about six months ago. Is it just me, or are the Beastie Boys alternative? I say no.
From what I've read here, Radio 106.7 sounds pretty tightly programmed. I can't pick it up where I live. If that's what they call Alternative, I've heard more Alternative stuff on Fly 92.9 in Dayton LOL...They play "Run-Around" and "Mr. Jones" quite a bit...and they're an Adult Hits station.
I'm surprised no one has tried a 90s-based Alternative station yet, with very few if any currents mixed in...I saw a station in Canada is trying this (Fuel 90.3). Yes, it is a commercial station...Canada didn't follow our lead here in the U.S. to make all stations from 87.5 to 91.9 non-comm.

 

[V.Riley]

I had great hopes for this channel.
They had me with the tag line:
"Its about the music"
Light commercial load and no DJ's.... Xcellent!

But... The play list is too tight.
I keep hearing the same rotation of songs when I turn it on.

That reminds me of TED FM. They had variety that span decades, but they didn't have any depth to it. It was like they only had 5 songs per year, and once you heard a days programing you heard the entire library. They also had no DJs which I felt was actually a negative as there were no personal contacts at the station that you could relate to. It was like they took their iPod with limited memory, put it on shuffle play and walked away.

 

[CBusDave]

I'm surprised no one has tried a 90s-based Alternative station yet, with very few if any currents mixed in...I saw a station in Canada is trying this (Fuel 90.3). Yes, it is a commercial station...Canada didn't follow our lead here in the U.S. to make all stations from 87.5 to 91.9 non-comm.

That would be fairly niche with not much of an audience to market to advertisers I think. Radio 106.7 plays a lot of what Channel Z used to play back in the 90's.

 

[enzytebob]

That would be fairly niche with not much of an audience to market to advertisers I think. Radio 106.7 plays a lot of what Channel Z used to play back in the 90's.

I thought it sounded a lot like Channel Z when I first tuned in. I was pleasantly surprised to hear songs from that era. But part of what made Channel Z "sing" for me was it had some pretty good imaging. It was as if they were proud of being kind of and embraced what they were, which was basically Alternative Top 40. I kind of like things a little upbeat -- I think most people do. Radio 106.7 sounds too sleepy, like they are trying too hard to be cool -- kind of like CD101 but in a not as snooty way.

 

[jakej]

I think it's funny how often 106.7 plays "Shadowplay" by The Killers but absolutely nothing by the incredible band that wrote and recorded the song in 1979, Joy Division. Anyone see "Control" at the Drexel Gateway, a film about JD's singer, Ian Curtis? It recently completed about a six-week run out there.

Yeah, forget what I posted earlier about hearing lots of different songs by lots of different bands on the station. That was my impression after its first 3-4 days, but not long after that I realized that unless you're talking about a very select number of groups, the variety of tunes just ain't there. And along with Joy Division, they're leaving a huge number of other great '80s/late '70s alternative bands completely out in the cold. Like about a hundred of 'em.

As bad as their analysis is of early alternative music, things get even worse from there. Sorry I didn't post it when the topic got started, but my "radio wish" for 2008 is that some broadcasting company does more thorough research than CC did and finds out how interested many of today's teenagers and young adults are in the Sixties. And I'm not talking about greatest hits '60s, but rather the real music of the '60s. Geez, you talk about a segment of the music-listening population that's "underserved"! And of course, it's not just those age groups being shortchanged, as probably the majority of any and every age group in the country feels a special connection to the wonderful pioneering bands of that decade! Ah, if only 106.7 would've gone with me, taken their '77-'92 starting point, beefed it up a lot, and then went backwards fifteen years in a way that no other frequency has gone before ... instead of proceeding ahead fifteen years in basically the same way that other stations have in our market.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

To put this discussion in context, I think its important to recall how JbC described the new format to the Dispatch on 12-14:  

"The playlist, he said, will include groups such as the Killers, the Dave Matthews Band, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2 -- "in a sort of 'pop-rock-alternative' combination."  

I think what they're doing now fits that description.

This isn't intended as either approval or disapproval of the format or execution, just an observation that it seems pretty consistent with what was described upfront.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

As bad as their analysis is of early alternative music, things get even worse from there. Sorry I didn't post it when the topic got started, but my "radio wish" for 2008 is that some broadcasting company does more thorough research than CC did and finds out how interested many of today's teenagers and young adults are in the Sixties. And I'm not talking about greatest hits '60s, but rather the real music of the '60s. Geez, you talk about a segment of the music-listening population that's "underserved"!

Have you seen the movie Juno? I thought it was interesting that 16-year-old Juno and her 40-year-old friend were talking about how the Carpenters were actually a great band. The cut they cited was Superstar. It does amaze me how many young people are into music that was recorded long before they were born. It sure wasn't like that when I was a kid. Sure, you've had young men enjoying Led Zepelin continually since the early 70's, but this goes way beyond that.

 

[xmusicmatt]

I listened to Radio 106.7 for about an hour earlier today (even added it to a preset in my car) I tend to like the format, reminds me a lot of Channel Z minus the imaging and commercials and jocks.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

I had great hopes for this channel.
They had me with the tag line:
"Its about the music"
Light commercial load and no DJ's.... Xcellent!

But... The play list is too tight.
I keep hearing the same rotation of songs when I turn it on.

That reminds me of TED FM.  They had variety that span decades, but they didn't have any depth to it.  It was like they only had 5 songs per year, and once you heard a days programing you heard the entire library.  They also had no DJs which I felt was actually a negative as there were no personal contacts at the station that you could relate to.  It was like they took their iPod with limited memory, put it on shuffle play and walked away.

But remember that the format TED did is called Adult HITS, for a reason.  This is a format that is *supposed* to be a mile wide and an inch deep.  TED had a far longer list than any of the other hit-oriented Columbus stations (which is most of them).  Who else could segue from Stevie Wonder's Sir Duke to Harvey Danger's Flagpole Sitta?  I miss Ted.  The format had no chance to survive here on that signal.  The talk format that replaced it is doing no better 12+. 

The formats I like always seems to fail to show up here, or show up on marginal signals, or are done terribly (e.g., AC).  Meanwhile, I see the opposite situation everywhere else; it's just a long-running Columbus curse.  E.g.s:  Slightly-smaller Indianapolis has TWO Adult Hits stations, both on big signals, with both doing pretty well despite the nearly-direct competition.  Dayton gets an Adult Hits (on a big signal).  Dayton and Cleveland have great, gold-based Hot AC's on big signals (using somewhat different appoaches, but both great).  Cincy gets the version of 'Radio xx.x" that I personally would have liked -- and on a big signal.  And on and on.

 

[jakej]

Hi, Nu! I have not seen "Juno", but I do see evidence just about every day of the strong interest and fascination that all generations seem to have with all things Sixties. Maybe I'll start making a list and post it in a month or two! Tom Brokaw's recent thing that appeared on television, "1968", I thought was very well done.

I believe that a "deep music playlist" was also promised in the 106.7 press release that was posted somewhere on radio-info.com's Columbus board, and I guess that's primarily what is at issue here. Sorry, I know I have a tendency to fly off the handle and go off on tangents, but I think the original gripe under this topic was what someone perceived as a tight playlist at the station.

 

[gabigley1]

- Still no commercials or on air talent. Just music. I wonder how long this will continue
- No Call Sign change. I know these things take awhile but could CCC be thinking about keeping WMRN for WModernRockN
is JbC passing along our comments from here?

Eventually the commercials will come because they need the income from them. I hope the on air talent is soon because I want to know what the station has to offer. Will this be my new station to listen to or..???

CC's new Modern Rock WRFF in Philadelphia didn't hire it's first on air personality until
the new format had been on the air for over four months. So, I don't expect to hear
any on-air talent on Radio 106.7 until April or so of this year...

From the Philadelphia Inquirer, November 18, 2007, Michael Klein; Inquirer Columnist:

"Upstart rock station WRFF (104.5) has hired its first on-air talent: Wendy Rollins, last in Charleston, S.C. Her time slot has not been announced."

 

[xiradiodotcom]

I believe that a "deep music playlist" was also promised in the 106.7 press release that was posted somewhere on radio-info.com's Columbus board, and I guess that's primarily what is at issue here. Sorry, I know I have a tendency to fly off the handle and go off on tangents, but I think the original gripe under this topic was what someone perceived as a tight playlist at the station.

From the press release:
"Clear Channel Radio Columbus today announced the newest station in the local radio group’s lineup will be Radio 106.7, a modern rock station promising a deep music playlist with minimal involvement of on-air talent and limited commercial advertising."

Let's hope the "deep" is still yet to come, because they aren't even close now.

 

[CBusDave]

And along with Joy Division, they're leaving a huge number of other great '80s/late '70s alternative bands completely out in the cold. Like about a hundred of 'em.

Well to be fair, it is a modern rock format

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

     I believe that a "deep music playlist" was also promised in the 106.7 press release that was posted somewhere on radio-info.com's Columbus board, and I guess that's primarily what is at issue here. Sorry, I know I have a tendency to fly off the handle and go off on tangents, but I think the original gripe under this topic was what someone perceived as a tight playlist at the station.     

From the press release:
"Clear Channel Radio Columbus today announced the newest station in the local radio group’s lineup will be Radio 106.7, a modern rock station promising a deep music playlist with minimal involvement of on-air talent and limited commercial advertising."

Let's hope the "deep" is still yet to come, because they aren't even close now.

Deep is a notoriously fuzzy term.  It can be defined relative to other stations.  Also, which is deeper:  A station that has a 15,000 song playlist but gives 90% of airtime to 500 of them, or one that plays 3000 songs and gives relatively equal play to each? Which is deeper: A station that plays 3000 songs, about half of which were big hits and half of which were secondary, "lost" hits; or one that plays only 1000 songs, all of which were obscure cuts?

BTW, anyone care to wager how many different songs the station has played thus far?  

 

[jakej]

I don't know, Nu, but if you reveal it be sure and let CBus know how many of them AREN'T modern! (It'd be over 75% of the total, if that term wasn't the most "notoriously fuzzy" one of them all!!!)