Philadelphia Radio Listeners,
I don't post often, so here goes. WIOQ appears to be in serious need of an overhaul or fear of a flip. Being an avid radio listener of radio for over 25 years, I need to make some comments about the current state of the station compared to Top-40 in other markets.
(1) Widen The Playlist - WIOQ appears to be ignoring tracks that are not being playing by rival WRDW. Stations such as Z-100 (NYC), Kiss 108 (Boston) and KDWB (Minneapolis) have openly embraced dance tracks from artists such as Cascada and David Guetta and teen pop artists such as Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and Ashley Tisdale. Listening to other stations streaming audio clearly shows that the playlist at Q-102 is extremely limited and safe, leaning more towards the upper end of the 12-35 demographic.
(2) Pitch and Speed Control - I never understood the concept of increasing the speed and pitch of on-air music. Is it supposed to sound better? Is it supposed to make rival WRDW (Wired) sound slow when playing the same song and turn off listeners to the competition so they'll listen to Q102? Is it supposed to save 15 seconds per track to add more ad time to the hour? I don't think listeners are dumb. They own Ipods and know when a track is sped up. Q102 has done it to the point of sounding like every song is sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks. I have had at least three opportunities to flip my presets between WIOQ and WRDW while the same track is playing on-air. I have actually heard as the Q-102 track catches up the WRDW track and passes it within the time it airs. There is a difference between pitching up a track slightly to make it more listenable but not to the extreme we are getting with Q-102. Turn down the pitching please.
(3) Station Presence - Some of the great Top-40 stations do a fantastic job at making their sponsors part of the station's sound with direct tie-ins. So much so that the product identifies with the station and those that listen know the product. It becomes a brotherhood. The listeners may actually hang around during the commercials rather than flip around when the station itself is involved with the product.
(4) Commercial Spot Times - There is nothing worse than surfing the presets in your car radio and finding that everyone is running their ads at the same part of the hour. If Q102 wants more listeners, they should be seeing where in the hour the competition is playing their ads and purposely play a popular track at that time. I have seen in another city where the station will tell their listeners that the competition is playing commercials right now while they are still playing music. Sometimes even tell them to check and come back.
(5) Scandals - We had the Lane/Booker issue in NY and now it appears an alleged issue with two other staff members at a Pennsauken nightclub. Is this another nail in the coffin?
(6) Saturday Night - Seems like Philly's in-house DJ has moved to 106.1 (most likely due to point #5), leaving Philly with no immediate option for Saturday night mixing. This was a mainstay at Q-102 for years with the live feeds from the now defunct Egypt On The Waterfront and later the pre-recorded mixing. Q-102 quickly needs a mixing Saturday night. If they can't get that, then at least pick up the syndicated "John Garabedian's Open House Party". It used to air on WSTW Wilmington and now can only be heard in the area on 104.1 Allentown. It's been a great show for years and the NYC and Philly markets don't carry it.
(7) Ratings - I've seen the ratings nosedive recently. The last ratings I see put Q102 even or even slightly below WRDW and WBEN. None of these three stations are in the top 5 in the market. Other markets Top-40 stations are top 5.
OK, enough of my soapbox. Do others agree that this station is bleeding?
LibertyOne
Avid Radio Listener
I don't post often, so here goes. WIOQ appears to be in serious need of an overhaul or fear of a flip. Being an avid radio listener of radio for over 25 years, I need to make some comments about the current state of the station compared to Top-40 in other markets.
(1) Widen The Playlist - WIOQ appears to be ignoring tracks that are not being playing by rival WRDW. Stations such as Z-100 (NYC), Kiss 108 (Boston) and KDWB (Minneapolis) have openly embraced dance tracks from artists such as Cascada and David Guetta and teen pop artists such as Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift and Ashley Tisdale. Listening to other stations streaming audio clearly shows that the playlist at Q-102 is extremely limited and safe, leaning more towards the upper end of the 12-35 demographic.
(2) Pitch and Speed Control - I never understood the concept of increasing the speed and pitch of on-air music. Is it supposed to sound better? Is it supposed to make rival WRDW (Wired) sound slow when playing the same song and turn off listeners to the competition so they'll listen to Q102? Is it supposed to save 15 seconds per track to add more ad time to the hour? I don't think listeners are dumb. They own Ipods and know when a track is sped up. Q102 has done it to the point of sounding like every song is sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks. I have had at least three opportunities to flip my presets between WIOQ and WRDW while the same track is playing on-air. I have actually heard as the Q-102 track catches up the WRDW track and passes it within the time it airs. There is a difference between pitching up a track slightly to make it more listenable but not to the extreme we are getting with Q-102. Turn down the pitching please.
(3) Station Presence - Some of the great Top-40 stations do a fantastic job at making their sponsors part of the station's sound with direct tie-ins. So much so that the product identifies with the station and those that listen know the product. It becomes a brotherhood. The listeners may actually hang around during the commercials rather than flip around when the station itself is involved with the product.
(4) Commercial Spot Times - There is nothing worse than surfing the presets in your car radio and finding that everyone is running their ads at the same part of the hour. If Q102 wants more listeners, they should be seeing where in the hour the competition is playing their ads and purposely play a popular track at that time. I have seen in another city where the station will tell their listeners that the competition is playing commercials right now while they are still playing music. Sometimes even tell them to check and come back.
(5) Scandals - We had the Lane/Booker issue in NY and now it appears an alleged issue with two other staff members at a Pennsauken nightclub. Is this another nail in the coffin?
(6) Saturday Night - Seems like Philly's in-house DJ has moved to 106.1 (most likely due to point #5), leaving Philly with no immediate option for Saturday night mixing. This was a mainstay at Q-102 for years with the live feeds from the now defunct Egypt On The Waterfront and later the pre-recorded mixing. Q-102 quickly needs a mixing Saturday night. If they can't get that, then at least pick up the syndicated "John Garabedian's Open House Party". It used to air on WSTW Wilmington and now can only be heard in the area on 104.1 Allentown. It's been a great show for years and the NYC and Philly markets don't carry it.
(7) Ratings - I've seen the ratings nosedive recently. The last ratings I see put Q102 even or even slightly below WRDW and WBEN. None of these three stations are in the top 5 in the market. Other markets Top-40 stations are top 5.
OK, enough of my soapbox. Do others agree that this station is bleeding?
LibertyOne
Avid Radio Listener
Nowadays, it's nowhere NEAR as ridiculous as it used to be.