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Recapping recent WCTK changes

R

Runrigger

For the 2.5 country listeners here:
New morning show
New jingles
Jock shouts
New (ballsy) station voice
Now instead of "Today's Country Hits" it's "Today's Country Hits & Your All-Time Favorites"
More 80s gold (Judds, Milsap, Hank Jr to name a few)
The last time nature called at 3AM & I checked, it sounded like Bob Madman Maddox is live on the all-nighter
On the bad side:
Big John's gone
Nascar's back (shake & bake baby)
 
Well, looks like Cat Country 98.1 finally changed the slogan "Today's Country Hits" they stubbornly held onto (not to mention totally living up to it in the format), and it took WKLB moving to 102.5 for them to do it. I can tell they are still reluctant to play songs before the 90's as you have to wait through five or more new songs to hear them. This station hates classic country and does not care at all about classic country fans. If KLB didn't move to 102.5 this station would not have changed. You might as well have had that slogan etched in stone if KLB stayed on 99.5 When I want to hear country, I listen to WKLB. They have GOOD variety, almost every other song is a gold song. Plus, KLB has Sunday Morning Country Oldies. Cat Country go chase a mouse.
 
When it comes to country music. WCTK-FM owns it.. Sure classic country is fine and dandy. And the mix of old & new that WCTK plays is great. I've heard Ronnie Milsap, Hank JR. The Judds, Dwight Yoakum on WCTK. I have no doubt radiojay, that Cat Country will 'crush' anything in its path. Props to todays country hits!
 
In response to truthandjustice's post and a message to all classic country fans

truthandjustice,
Do you mean that "Cat Country" will crush anything in its path because it tweaked its format in response to WKLB? Or do you mean that "Cat Country" would crush anything in its path even if it did not tweak its format? Face it, "Cat Country" will lose listeners to WKLB. I did not say all listeners. Fans of REAL COUNTRY MUSIC will now have a new home, 102.5 WKLB!

Also to all the classic country fans out there who are up late at night listening in the car or at home on a good AM radio, tune into 650 WSM from Nashville. You can also listen online at www.wsmonline.com Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Crystal Gayle, Geogle Jones, Walylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, need I say more? Now that's REAL country music.
 
As I wrote above. Classic country music is fine. And there are plenty of places on the internet. For those
looking to hear Marty Robbins, Cal Smith, Bille Joe Spears & Billy Crash Craddock. And any other classic country
artist that you make like. WCTK-FM has proved itself with its listeners. So they gotta be doing something right!
 
jeffryan said:
Runrigger said:
On the bad side:
Nascar's back (shake & bake baby)
Click to expand...

I don't get NASCAR either, but the sales department at most country radio stations hardly ever have a problem selling it.
Click to expand...

Well NASCAR works. I wouldnt normally tune to Cat Country, but Sunday afternoons, if I am on the road, I'll listen to the racing.

Jazzy
 
Robby Bridges notwithstanding, WCTK has a small-market feel. The playlist on the Cat has historically been too tight, and today's jocks are bland. WKLB is like a breath of fresh air; the jocks all sound great and high-energy, and their playlist features an unbelievable amount of variety. I find myself simply wondering what they will play next. WKLB often even plays songs from 10 years ago that I haven't heard since. That, to me, is an example of how radio can still be great.
 
A playlist of wide variety does not usually translate into huge ratings. CTK has a well-researched tight playlist that has brought them to #1 in Providence. WKLB has a list that could probably be cut by 200 titles... thus their position in the ratings.

As far as country music goes in 2007 - CTK is a far superior product to KLB.
 
Exactly. I like classic country too but complaining that WCTK doesn't play more of it is like complaining that B101 doesn't play Fats Domino anymore. When you play today's music, you also have to worry about any gold or classic stuff that doesn't clash with the currents. As far as sounding small market, I don't agree. It's all about creating an atmosphere for the station & WCTK has done it. There's a comfort level there missing from some other stations including some with jocks who do sound major market. I don't think Jay & Scott are wrong in saying what they want to hear. It's more a matter of what they want to hear vs what a station should be doing so neither is wrong in that respect.
 
This is a good discussion. There is no question that WCTK is looking over it's shoulder at WKLB. I am a 51 year old country music fan and I have to say that given the choice I will listen to WKLB over WCTK. I understand that WCTK has had things pretty much their own way since the demise of WHIM in 1998, and they have done a good job of it. That said, the fact that they made no effort to please fans of classic country until they were pushed into it by the arrival of WKLB's new stronger frequency is something that doesn't sit well with many country radio listeners of my generation. Is that something that will bother or affect WCTK ? Maybe not, but I don't think it would hurt them at all to devote 2 or 3 hours on a Saturday night or a Sunday morning to the older stuff.
 
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