Something is missing from boston radio

[DavidZ]

I find myself listening to out-of-town stations like the Classic WLNG/92.1 from Sag Harbor, NY, WDRC-FM/102.9 in Hartford and on-line stations like the retro version of Philadelphia's "95/PEN" ( http://173.193.20.157:7020/listen.pls ) and WXRB/95.1 (Dudley, MA).

What about WORC-FM 98.9? Not only do they play oldies aka classic hits or as they state in their liners, "The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s, and now the 80s" but they do have some good variety for a corporate owned station. I haven't listened in a while but they also had (have) "Oh Wow Wednesday's" featuring some fairly obscure songs.

 

[raccoonradio]

WBOQ 104.9 Gloucester, good time favorites...slight signal move recently. (Also carries the Sox;
a place on FM in the Boston area for those times when 93.7 bumps the Sox to 850 due to C's...)

There is XM for those who don't mind buying one of their radios and paying 50 cents a day or so...
heard Association "Goodbye Columbus" last night on 60s on 6 (peaked at #80 pop but #22 adult
contemp)*... Variety...

*--maybe not as catchy as their other songs hence why it's rarely heard, but good to hear a bit of
variety. WBOQ is also a bit more wide-reaching than the old WODS playlist

 

[pqgeorge]

I find myself listening to out-of-town stations like the Classic WLNG/92.1 from Sag Harbor, NY, WDRC-FM/102.9 in Hartford and on-line stations like the retro version of Philadelphia's "95/PEN" ( http://173.193.20.157:7020/listen.pls ) and WXRB/95.1 (Dudley, MA).

What about WORC-FM 98.9? Not only do they play oldies aka classic hits or as they state in their liners, "The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s, and now the 80s" but they do have some good variety for a corporate owned station. I haven't listened in a while but they also had (have) "Oh Wow Wednesday's" featuring some fairly obscure songs.

No doubt, 'ORC-FM is great sounding Oldies/Classic Hits station as is WBOQ ("North Shore 104.9") as well. Unfortunately, both stations don't sound cover the entire Boston Metro area. These two stations DO cover the local areas that they are intended to. Downtown Boston? Not a chance. But that's the way it is. I used to get 104.9 pretty well, south of Boston. But since they moved their transmitter site more inland, I don't get it anymore. And 98.9 is usually overrun by some Haitian pirate. So, unless you have satellite, on-line or phone app, you are out of luck.

 

[pariho2013]

Hey, I feel bad that entertainment options on the radio are limited for that 55+ crowd, but I totally understand it. The sheer amount of money it would cost to influence the 55+ buyer is completely prohibitive.

Tampa's an exception... Florida is where America goes to die.

I think there's a second exception...

Demographic studies have shown that Rhode Island is one of the most heavily populated (by percentage) "elderly" states in the country.

RI (and by extension....The South Coast)....appears to be the place to die if you can't get away to Florida.

In fact, New England is getting older quicker than the rest of the Country! Maine (YES, Maine) is the OLDEST State in the USA with NH #2 and VT #4 (WV #3; FL actually #5). If MA didn't have so many Colleges, it would be right there as well.

PS: I am 55 and I wish there was a station that would play Foster the People, George Strait, Heat Wave, Avicii, Led Zepplin, Florence and the Machine, and Ray Charles for a set!!!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE.....

 

[CTListener]

Hey, I feel bad that entertainment options on the radio are limited for that 55+ crowd, but I totally understand it. The sheer amount of money it would cost to influence the 55+ buyer is completely prohibitive.

Tampa's an exception... Florida is where America goes to die.

I think there's a second exception...

Demographic studies have shown that Rhode Island is one of the most heavily populated (by percentage) "elderly" states in the country.

RI (and by extension....The South Coast)....appears to be the place to die if you can't get away to Florida.

In fact, New England is getting older quicker than the rest of the Country! Maine (YES, Maine) is the OLDEST State in the USA with NH #2 and VT #4 (WV #3; FL actually #5). If MA didn't have so many Colleges, it would be right there as well.

PS: I am 55 and I wish there was a station that would play Foster the People, George Strait, Heat Wave, Avicii, Led Zepplin, Florence and the Machine, and Ray Charles for a set!!!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE.....

For you, very. For any sort of mass audience, not very. There's a newfangled device called the iPod calling your name.

 

[Joe_NE]

Almost like Cable TV was - Hundreds of channels but nothing to watch

IMHO what's missing in Boston is something good to listen to. Obviously somebody listens but for me I rely more on bringing my music with me but I get tired of my rotation. I don't have time to be a music director. The talk shows I used to enjoy have all gone away too. I try recording podcasts of some of the talk shows that aren't on-air around here but do stream but that gets to be a chore. Music is a constant push of the buttons. For me it literally is to the point where I can hear lots of stations but can't find much to listen to for any length of time. I never thought I'd say it but I find I listen to WJIB (720 AM) longer than I do other stations. Too bad the signal isn't better.

I often check WBZ but after 10 or 20 minutes I move on. Sam Kopper is trying real hard to give the area something better to hear but I don't get it in my car where I do most of my radio (audio) listening.

I hope something changes soon. I miss looking forward to a nice drive so I can hear _______. I just don't enjoy local radio stations any more.

 

[CTListener]

I've got Sirius XM, but when I'm in Boston, I tend to spend most of my radio listening time on the left side of the FM dial, with WUMB or WERS, switching to WBOQ when I get closer to the North Shore, where I have family. WBZ-FM and WEEI-FM only attract my ears when there's a game on. So there's plenty still to listen to on Boston radio for me -- much more than there is here in central Connecticut -- just nothing that's likely to please the major players in the market. I suppose folks in the more advertiser-friendly demos would find the Boston dial just as appealing in a media-conglomerate-friendly way.

 

[pariho2013]

Hey, I feel bad that entertainment options on the radio are limited for that 55+ crowd, but I totally understand it. The sheer amount of money it would cost to influence the 55+ buyer is completely prohibitive.

Tampa's an exception... Florida is where America goes to die.

I think there's a second exception...

Demographic studies have shown that Rhode Island is one of the most heavily populated (by percentage) "elderly" states in the country.

RI (and by extension....The South Coast)....appears to be the place to die if you can't get away to Florida.

In fact, New England is getting older quicker than the rest of the Country! Maine (YES, Maine) is the OLDEST State in the USA with NH #2 and VT #4 (WV #3; FL actually #5). If MA didn't have so many Colleges, it would be right there as well.

PS: I am 55 and I wish there was a station that would play Foster the People, George Strait, Heat Wave, Avicii, Led Zepplin, Florence and the Machine, and Ray Charles for a set!!!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE.....

For you, very. For any sort of mass audience, not very. There's a newfangled device called the iPod calling your name.

Clearly I know that, but with the crap on many of the stations, something like that could live on a 101.7 type signal (It is my Pandora mix)

 

[CTListener]

Hey, I feel bad that entertainment options on the radio are limited for that 55+ crowd, but I totally understand it. The sheer amount of money it would cost to influence the 55+ buyer is completely prohibitive.

Tampa's an exception... Florida is where America goes to die.

I think there's a second exception...

Demographic studies have shown that Rhode Island is one of the most heavily populated (by percentage) "elderly" states in the country.

RI (and by extension....The South Coast)....appears to be the place to die if you can't get away to Florida.

In fact, New England is getting older quicker than the rest of the Country! Maine (YES, Maine) is the OLDEST State in the USA with NH #2 and VT #4 (WV #3; FL actually #5). If MA didn't have so many Colleges, it would be right there as well.

PS: I am 55 and I wish there was a station that would play Foster the People, George Strait, Heat Wave, Avicii, Led Zepplin, Florence and the Machine, and Ray Charles for a set!!!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE.....

For you, very. For any sort of mass audience, not very. There's a newfangled device called the iPod calling your name.

Clearly I know that, but with the crap on many of the stations, something like that could live on a 101.7 type signal (It is my Pandora mix)

No, it couldn't. It's your mix, nobody else's. Nobody would pay $14 million for a radio station just to put one person's Pandora mix on it. If I had a radio station, I'd have the Marshall Tucker Band, Fairport Convention, Kathy Mattea, Clarence Carter, the Four Tops and ELO in power rotation and I'd be in hog heaven but nobody else would listen to it, not even my closest friends! All those "we play everything/anything" stations that popped up about 10 years ago were thoroughly researched, just like CHR and AC formatted stations. If you heard ABBA and Green Day back-to-back, you can be sure that it wasn't an "oh wow" random moment -- the research numbers indicated that there were enough potential listeners who would enjoy tracks from both acts and not change the station.

 

[pariho2013]

Hey, I feel bad that entertainment options on the radio are limited for that 55+ crowd, but I totally understand it. The sheer amount of money it would cost to influence the 55+ buyer is completely prohibitive.

Tampa's an exception... Florida is where America goes to die.

I think there's a second exception...

Demographic studies have shown that Rhode Island is one of the most heavily populated (by percentage) "elderly" states in the country.

RI (and by extension....The South Coast)....appears to be the place to die if you can't get away to Florida.

In fact, New England is getting older quicker than the rest of the Country! Maine (YES, Maine) is the OLDEST State in the USA with NH #2 and VT #4 (WV #3; FL actually #5). If MA didn't have so many Colleges, it would be right there as well.

PS: I am 55 and I wish there was a station that would play Foster the People, George Strait, Heat Wave, Avicii, Led Zepplin, Florence and the Machine, and Ray Charles for a set!!!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE.....

For you, very. For any sort of mass audience, not very. There's a newfangled device called the iPod calling your name.

Clearly I know that, but with the crap on many of the stations, something like that could live on a 101.7 type signal (It is my Pandora mix)

No, it couldn't. It's your mix, nobody else's. Nobody would pay $14 million for a radio station just to put one person's Pandora mix on it. If I had a radio station, I'd have the Marshall Tucker Band, Fairport Convention, Kathy Mattea, Clarence Carter, the Four Tops and ELO in power rotation and I'd be in hog heaven but nobody else would listen to it, not even my closest friends! All those "we play everything/anything" stations that popped up about 10 years ago were thoroughly researched, just like CHR and AC formatted stations. If you heard ABBA and Green Day back-to-back, you can be sure that it wasn't an "oh wow" random moment -- the research numbers indicated that there were enough potential listeners who would enjoy tracks from both acts and not change the station.

I certainly have a much braoder taste than just the artists I mentioned, it was simply to make a point. (PS I would listen to your rotation as long as it is not JUST those artists). Research don't always work out as planned. But I get your point.

 

[radiorama1]

Hey, I feel bad that entertainment options on the radio are limited for that 55+ crowd, but I totally understand it. The sheer amount of money it would cost to influence the 55+ buyer is completely prohibitive.

Tampa's an exception... Florida is where America goes to die.

I think there's a second exception...

Demographic studies have shown that Rhode Island is one of the most heavily populated (by percentage) "elderly" states in the country.

RI (and by extension....The South Coast)....appears to be the place to die if you can't get away to Florida.

In fact, New England is getting older quicker than the rest of the Country! Maine (YES, Maine) is the OLDEST State in the USA with NH #2 and VT #4 (WV #3; FL actually #5). If MA didn't have so many Colleges, it would be right there as well.

PS: I am 55 and I wish there was a station that would play Foster the People, George Strait, Heat Wave, Avicii, Led Zepplin, Florence and the Machine, and Ray Charles for a set!!!!! HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE.....

For you, very. For any sort of mass audience, not very. There's a newfangled device called the iPod calling your name.

Clearly I know that, but with the crap on many of the stations, something like that could live on a 101.7 type signal (It is my Pandora mix)

No, it couldn't. It's your mix, nobody else's. Nobody would pay $14 million for a radio station just to put one person's Pandora mix on it. If I had a radio station, I'd have the Marshall Tucker Band, Fairport Convention, Kathy Mattea, Clarence Carter, the Four Tops and ELO in power rotation and I'd be in hog heaven but nobody else would listen to it, not even my closest friends! All those "we play everything/anything" stations that popped up about 10 years ago were thoroughly researched, just like CHR and AC formatted stations. If you heard ABBA and Green Day back-to-back, you can be sure that it wasn't an "oh wow" random moment -- the research numbers indicated that there were enough potential listeners who would enjoy tracks from both acts and not change the station.

I certainly have a much braoder taste than just the artists I mentioned, it was simply to make a point. (PS I would listen to your rotation as long as it is not JUST those artists). Research don't always work out as planned. But I get your point.

Remember the short-lived 101.7 "The Harbor"? "We play anything" (As long as it is from an 80's hair band! )

 

[tjolsen]

for better or worse--in the past 30 years, alternative stations have followed suit of the varieties of alternative which were getting crossover success and crafted stations around those sounds--in effect playing as a backbench to the alternative elements of top 40. In the mid 200s and late 90s, those were bands like Linkin Park, Papa Roach, etc. so heavy and compressed was the name of the game. Right now it's about the twangy/jangly indie rock and electronic stuff--so that's the direction any major alternative stations' going to take right now, with some gold from the hard rock days tossed in.

 

[RockRoll360]

Simple - What's missing is a great strong signel FM AAA - Progressive - a little freeform - a little eclectic , world class rock radio station serving southeastern Mass and most of RI radio station. That's whats missing - See playlist of WMMM - WDST - WTTS - WEHM - WRSI . The River in North of Boston ( Close but no cigar ) That my friends is what we need in Boston FM - Let Sam Kopper program the station !!!

 

[Jacko]

Southeastern Massachusetts, the Cape and Island, and parts of Rhode Island had 92.7 WMVY until recently. Through an LMA, the online continuation of WMVY, mvyradio, can be heard on 102.7 HD-2 and 96.5 FM in parts of southern Rhode Island.

Also, don't forget about non-comm 88.9 WERS/Boston. They run a triple-A eclectic format during daytime hours.

Jacko