Red 104.1 St. Louis is Dead

[mikebatchelor]

Monday will reportedly be the last day of standards programming on Emmis' WRDA [email protected], with its "new standards" format that over the past couple of years has failed to crack a 2.0 in any demo. Emmis has sold off the turkey 104.1 stick to Radio One, who will reportedly take control of the station next week via LMA, and flip the format to CHR/Rhythmic.

 

[mwebster]

It was a noble experiment - a combination of standards with a bit of edge and smooth jazz vocals. But somehow listening online, I could never quite warm up to it. I'm not sure why.

I'm outside the money demos. They didn't do well even with the older demos to which the nostalgia/standards/MOR format traditionally appeals. Maybe I wasn't the only one who didn't warm up. And maybe trying to build a format based on Tony Bennett developing a following among Gen-Y types was just strething things too much.

I've been noticing the 12+ numbers. I'm surprised they waited this long to pull the plug. I give the company points for hanging in.

 

[RMarino]

I agree 100% with everything you just said. I could never warm up to the station either. They kept this format longer than anyone could have expected them to with those low numbers.


> It was a noble experiment - a combination of standards with
> a bit of edge and smooth jazz vocals. But somehow listening
> online, I could never quite warm up to it. I'm not sure
> why.
>
> I'm outside the money demos. They didn't do well even with
> the older demos to which the nostalgia/standards/MOR format
> traditionally appeals. Maybe I wasn't the only one who
> didn't warm up. And maybe trying to build a format based on
> Tony Bennett developing a following among Gen-Y types was
> just strething things too much.
>
> I've been noticing the 12+ numbers. I'm surprised they
> waited this long to pull the plug. I give the company
> points for hanging in.
>

 

[mikebatchelor]

I guess Emmis finally figured out after five formats (CHR, Modern AC, Active Rock, 80s, & Standards) in less than ten years that Emmis has owned the station, that they weren't ever going to find a format that would work well on the signally challenged 104.1 stick. Too bad. St. Louis needs another Urban station like it needs a hole in the head. Sorry to see it go to Radio One.

> I agree 100% with everything you just said. I could never
> warm up to the station either. They kept this format longer
> than anyone could have expected them to with those low
> numbers.
>
>
> > It was a noble experiment - a combination of standards
> with
> > a bit of edge and smooth jazz vocals. But somehow
> listening
> > online, I could never quite warm up to it. I'm not sure
> > why.
> >
> > I'm outside the money demos. They didn't do well even
> with
> > the older demos to which the nostalgia/standards/MOR
> format
> > traditionally appeals. Maybe I wasn't the only one who
> > didn't warm up. And maybe trying to build a format based
> on
> > Tony Bennett developing a following among Gen-Y types was
> > just strething things too much.
> >
> > I've been noticing the 12+ numbers. I'm surprised they
> > waited this long to pull the plug. I give the company
> > points for hanging in.
> >
>

 

[317C50KW]

Ouch...I had their strem on for a few hours
Saturday evening. I loved the station. I congratulate Red for trying to be different. They were much beter than Sirus Standard Time, and anything the bird delivers to local stations.

Time for that last martini I guess!

 

[BlueHen]

> I agree 100% with everything you just said. I could never
> warm up to the station either.

Same here. Never listened to it online because I didn't care for it when I heard it while visiting the St Louis area. Not being able to "warm up" to it is an accurate assessment. My short sampling experience wasn't enough to judge, but I found it droning and monotonous. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I don't recall it having any human element. Too mechanized. Did they have announcers?

Another factor seemed to be an overabundance of fast-tempo upbeat songs. This might account for its lack of appeal to the older demographic, as suggested in a previous post.

Maybe the marketing was all wrong for such a station. "Standards with a bit of edge and smooth jazz vocals" was described in that previous post. Inasmuch as that sounds new and trendy, to whom were they going after as their target? As much a fan of the standards format as I am - although it's my opinion it needs to be called something else - that probably wouldn't attract me as a steady listener either. I don't want "edge" and I've come to expect smooth jazz vocals to mean Toni Braxton and Luther Vandross.

Some good issues have been raised by the posters here, and this is just my attempt to answer the question why I couldn't warm up to a station I thought would appeal to me. On the other hand, as posted below, 317C50KW liked the station, so it might be interesting to hear some of the positives.

 

[BLewis]

I liked the concept of 'Red'. However, I must admit...after really talking them up shortly after their sign on, I found that I could only handle 'Red' in short doses. I could not imagine it as an 'at work' station. I could also imagine the 65+ crowd being turned off by the over-abundance of 'new standards' artists, as opposed to the music they grew up with. When the 'new standards' movement really went into full swing, my station started blending in more of them. We started getting calls from older listeners complaining about our replacing 'the originals' with new new singers. Though we still play them, we also still play SInatra, Bennett, and Como. Droning and monotonous, to quote an earlier post, describes my feeling after trying to listen for a long period of time. On the other hand, I found listening for 30 minutes quite enjoyable. I also though their imaging was really great! The sexy female voice used for the imagining was perfect for the sound. Hats off to them for taking a shot at something more innovative than the same 5-7 'proven' formats that are squeezed out on most cookie-cutter, idiot-proof radio stations. I think with some enhancement, it could have made a good niche format.

> Ouch...I had their strem on for a few hours
> Saturday evening. I loved the station. I congratulate Red
> for trying to be different. They were much beter than Sirus
> Standard Time, and anything the bird delivers to local
> stations.
>
> Time for that last martini I guess!
>

 

[Jim_Hicks]

I have long believed that a mixture of Contemporary Jazz and Standards will work. Like Frank Sinatra meets Kenny G (and he did, as a factor of fact!). Tony Bennett & K D Lang, Rod Stewart, etc. But it does not seem to work. While the music sells well, formats based on this concept just are not working, as seen with Red and Chill. Why? I don't really know.

> > I agree 100% with everything you just said. I could never
>
> > warm up to the station either.
>
> Same here. Never listened to it online because I didn't care
> for it when I heard it while visiting the St Louis area. Not
> being able to "warm up" to it is an accurate assessment. My
> short sampling experience wasn't enough to judge, but I
> found it droning and monotonous. Correct me if I'm mistaken,
> but I don't recall it having any human element. Too
> mechanized. Did they have announcers?
>
> Another factor seemed to be an overabundance of fast-tempo
> upbeat songs. This might account for its lack of appeal to
> the older demographic, as suggested in a previous post.
>
> Maybe the marketing was all wrong for such a station.
> "Standards with a bit of edge and smooth jazz vocals" was
> described in that previous post. Inasmuch as that sounds new
> and trendy, to whom were they going after as their target?
> As much a fan of the standards format as I am - although
> it's my opinion it needs to be called something else - that
> probably wouldn't attract me as a steady listener either. I
> don't want "edge" and I've come to expect smooth jazz vocals
> to mean Toni Braxton and Luther Vandross.
>
> Some good issues have been raised by the posters here, and
> this is just my attempt to answer the question why I
> couldn't warm up to a station I thought would appeal to me.
> On the other hand, as posted below, 317C50KW liked the
> station, so it might be interesting to hear some of the
> positives.
>

 

[BLewis]

Red not all-the-way dead

In addition to it's continuing webcast, the RED format is aired weekends on the Talk FM on 97.1 in St. Louis. http://www.971talk.com/

> I liked the concept of 'Red'. However, I must admit...after
> really talking them up shortly after their sign on, I found
> that I could only handle 'Red' in short doses. I could not
> imagine it as an 'at work' station. I could also imagine
> the 65+ crowd being turned off by the over-abundance of 'new
> standards' artists, as opposed to the music they grew up
> with. When the 'new standards' movement really went into
> full swing, my station started blending in more of them. We
> started getting calls from older listeners complaining about
> our replacing 'the originals' with new new singers. Though
> we still play them, we also still play SInatra, Bennett, and
> Como. Droning and monotonous, to quote an earlier post,
> describes my feeling after trying to listen for a long
> period of time. On the other hand, I found listening for 30
> minutes quite enjoyable. I also though their imaging was
> really great! The sexy female voice used for the imagining
> was perfect for the sound. Hats off to them for taking a
> shot at something more innovative than the same 5-7 'proven'
> formats that are squeezed out on most cookie-cutter,
> idiot-proof radio stations. I think with some enhancement,
> it could have made a good niche format.
>
> > Ouch...I had their strem on for a few hours
> > Saturday evening. I loved the station. I congratulate
> Red
> > for trying to be different. They were much beter than
> Sirus
> > Standard Time, and anything the bird delivers to local
> > stations.
> >
> > Time for that last martini I guess!
> >
>