The Eagle / Annoying Sweepers

[JohnRadioFan]

Every once in a while I have a radio accident and tune into 96.9 The Eagle. First off, the loud and I think poorly written sweepers are way over used and make me not want to listen for longer periods of time. And how long will Eagle continue to call itself new? Enough already. While I recognize that stations need to make impressions on the listeners for those important mentions with Arbitron etc., a line is often crossed that no longer makes listening enjoyable.
No matter what sweepers say about how much music is played per hour, the fact is two five minute commercial breaks per hour can lead to turning the radio off and subbing a CD. I do it and my friends do it. I'm sure others do it as well.

While on the subject of commercials, Eagle flat out brags about how they do that 96 commercial free flight every day starting at 8:30 AM. Like it or not, they feed the concept to the public that commercials are a bad thing. For revenue-obsessed Cox Broadcasting, I don't understand their strategy in effect slamming the advertisers. I think there are far more advertiser-friendly ways they could pull that off - concentrate more on X# of songs played in a row or call it a music marathon etc.

Finally, whenever talent is on the air, they spend half their allotted speak time repeating the very sweepers we hear over and over again. DULL. It's gotten to the point that if someone is on live or not - it really doesn't matter. This is no slam to Don Garrard as I'm sure he is doing what he is told -but the morning show is so devoid of any personality. This is what it is coming to. If anyone thinks the station sounds better now than it did when it was COOL is living in a dream world. Dave and Heather were great to listen to and Doc Brock made me feel like I was listening to "Boss" radio again. I really do miss that line-up and no one did the Cool Cafe better than Pat Garrett.

Back to the reality of today. I suggest the powers at Eagle look at their sister station, The Point. The sweepers flow with the music and there is a distinctive personality on that station - even when it is jockless.

 

[noyfb]

Commercials are bad. Didn't you know that? I know because Cox tells me they are. I love the screeching station ID's. Hell, I turn the volume up to get the full ear piercing effect! I crave hearing the same songs over and over again. Especially anything by a certain band from Cowford. I really like how all the DJ's say the same things and say almost nothing. I want a dull predictable radio station with long commercial breaks.

 

[djtommyr]

Oh yeah, I knew that from day one with the jocks.

EVERY break begins with...
"The new 96.9 The Eagle, Jacksonville's Classic Hits Station, with at least 50 minutes of commercial-free classic hits every hour."

EVERY break ends with...
"From the new 96.9 The Eagle, Jacksonville's Classic Hits Station."

(I have not found a need for the word "from," but it's always said.)

THEN at least once an hour that leads into an image promo that says the exact same thing, except in the old WGN voice.

Yes, most listeners can be idiots about not knowing which station they're listening to, but telling them no fewer than 4 times in the span of 60 seconds is just too much...especially when the station has been around for the better part of a year.

But ratings are up, so I may be wrong.