Both. Hard to make assumptions anymore based on popular taste.
So you hope you'll attract younger listeners by playing music they like, but how do you get their attention?
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"The new sound of Rock 100.5 - starts Friday at 10AM!"
- Thread starter MarkW
- Start date
Both. Hard to make assumptions anymore based on popular taste.
So you hope you'll attract younger listeners by playing music they like, but how do you get their attention?
I noticed they started playing music throughout Bailey and Southside this morning. Didn’t ever play any music during the morning show in the past. Really don’t care for this. I listen to Bailey and Southside daily and it just ruins the show when you throw in a random song once or twice an hour.
Axel clearly is imposing his will on the station. We'll see how it all plays out.
The song selection is a bit too much on the timid side, IMO.
How about some old school Metallica (mid to late 80's stuff) as part of the regular playlist? Deeper/harder cuts from Alice in Chains? Haven't heard any Slipknot, which is stunning considering they have a new album coming out and have one of the higher charting singles in the format right now. They do play the new Tool single, but why not any library cuts from Tool? Also haven't heard any RATM, System of a Down, and I've only heard the latest single from Korn (no library cuts).
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How about some old school Metallica (mid to late 80's stuff) as part of the regular playlist? Deeper/harder cuts from Alice in Chains? Haven't heard any Slipknot, which is stunning considering they have a new album coming out and have one of the higher charting singles in the format right now. They do play the new Tool single, but why not any library cuts from Tool? Also haven't heard any RATM, System of a Down, and I've only heard the latest single from Korn (no library cuts).
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Probably because they’re trying to strike a balance between the older and (now) younger demos along with other factors.
100.5 has tried that before; it is a suboptimal strategy.
There are a lot of men in their 30s and even 40s who enjoy the heavier side of the rock format on occasion.
I also cannot standing the imaging voiceovers on 100.5. I realize it's the same voice Cumulus uses on most of its rock stations (including a number of their successful properties), but the production values are incredibly mediocre in 100.5's case!!! One boring dry read by the fake synthesized voice after another...after another. Lame.
Also, it would be great if the Cumulus IT department could fix the broken music log widget on 100.5's web site. It's been malfunctioning for many weeks. Not a good look.
There are a lot of men in their 30s and even 40s who enjoy the heavier side of the rock format on occasion.
I also cannot standing the imaging voiceovers on 100.5. I realize it's the same voice Cumulus uses on most of its rock stations (including a number of their successful properties), but the production values are incredibly mediocre in 100.5's case!!! One boring dry read by the fake synthesized voice after another...after another. Lame.
Also, it would be great if the Cumulus IT department could fix the broken music log widget on 100.5's web site. It's been malfunctioning for many weeks. Not a good look.
I agree with you that Jesse Kage was a real personality, and Axel is just a "standard" jock.
Yes. Social media is blowing up with everyone’s displeasure over music being played during Bailey and Southside. I don’t care for it either. I personally don’t listen to Rock 100.5 outside of the morning show so I don’t really care to listen to the rock that is played during the show. Jesse Kage was good and I agree it was a mistake to let him go.
I won't comment about Jesse Kage because I didn't listen to him often. I turn Rock 100.5 off at 10AM, the 2 songs an hour are not going to change that. They are annoying and break up the continuity of the show. If they continue to play music during the morning show much longer I'm just going to stop listening then as well. I understand what Axel is trying to accomplish but it isn't working and it needs to change. My girlfriend has stopped listening to the station so I know it's not just me.
Cumulus always has a way to ruin things.
I'm not terribly impressed by Axel's programming abilities so far.
He's burning his powers to a crisp. One would think "Are You Ready?" by Disturbed is the band's first ever single. That song is a decent song, but it certainly doesn't deserve multiple daily spins for nearly two months straight! Good grief. And why does Axel seldom if ever play any of Disturbed's older (and much better) material? Same question also applies to Tool.
As a whole, the station doesn't sound terrible. But there is plenty of room for improvement. Would be nice if Axel would heed the advice of the loyal listeners of his morning show and stop interrupting the flow of the show by forcing them to play two songs hourly. Either he or a Cumulus corporate programmer view listener opinions disdainfully, I guess.
He's burning his powers to a crisp. One would think "Are You Ready?" by Disturbed is the band's first ever single. That song is a decent song, but it certainly doesn't deserve multiple daily spins for nearly two months straight! Good grief. And why does Axel seldom if ever play any of Disturbed's older (and much better) material? Same question also applies to Tool.
As a whole, the station doesn't sound terrible. But there is plenty of room for improvement. Would be nice if Axel would heed the advice of the loyal listeners of his morning show and stop interrupting the flow of the show by forcing them to play two songs hourly. Either he or a Cumulus corporate programmer view listener opinions disdainfully, I guess.
They are professionals, the listeners are not. If research, conducted scientifically, determines that some aspect of the format isn't working, then it will be tweaked.
Give me a break. I doubt the decision to begin playing two songs an hour during the morning show was based on scientifically conducted research.
Axel or Troy-I ran 94.9 Zeta into the ground-Hanson probably thought it would be a good way to expose morning show listeners to the station's revamped music playlist. Instead, all it appears to have done is tick off most of the folks who enjoy the morning show.
Is Cumulus' wonderful "research" also responsible for Kicks 101.5's awesome ratings over the last year?
Axel or Troy-I ran 94.9 Zeta into the ground-Hanson probably thought it would be a good way to expose morning show listeners to the station's revamped music playlist. Instead, all it appears to have done is tick off most of the folks who enjoy the morning show.
Is Cumulus' wonderful "research" also responsible for Kicks 101.5's awesome ratings over the last year?
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Axel Lowe doesn't have a clue. He's old, burnt out and needs to be replaced.
Playlist is overloaded with stiffs!!! He's still playing "Are You Ready?" by Disturbed as if it's the song of the decade. Ditto "Fear Innocolum" by Tool. Listeners want to hear the great stuff Tool put out in the 90's, not the aforementioned moribund single. Almost no one listening to 100.5 wants to hear Blink 182, Lit, or Twenty One Pilots. Those are all instant tune-out songs. On top of all that, he continues to interrupt the flow of the morning show.
I sense Mr. Lowe is super stubborn and will make zero changes to his approach despite lousy ratings.
P.S...why does Axel almost exclusively play Metallica from the Black, Load or Reload albums on his mediocre radio station?!?! Holy crap. Any true Metallica fan hardly wants to hear any songs off those latter two albums! Would it kill him to play material from Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, or Ride the Lightning? Almost every other Rock station in America that still does Mandatory Metallica understands this simple principle.
Axel Lowe doesn't have a clue. He's old, burnt out and needs to be replaced.
Playlist is overloaded with stiffs!!! He's still playing "Are You Ready?" by Disturbed as if it's the song of the decade. Ditto "Fear Innocolum" by Tool. Listeners want to hear the great stuff Tool put out in the 90's, not the aforementioned moribund single. Almost no one listening to 100.5 wants to hear Blink 182, Lit, or Twenty One Pilots. Those are all instant tune-out songs. On top of all that, he continues to interrupt the flow of the morning show.
I sense Mr. Lowe is super stubborn and will make zero changes to his approach despite lousy ratings.
P.S...why does Axel almost exclusively play Metallica from the Black, Load or Reload albums on his mediocre radio station?!?! Holy crap. Any true Metallica fan hardly wants to hear any songs off those latter two albums! Would it kill him to play material from Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, or Ride the Lightning? Almost every other Rock station in America that still does Mandatory Metallica understands this simple principle.
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Meanwhile, Rock 100.5's twin in Indianapolis (93.9 WNDX) is doing as well as it ever has. Well, except for a hot minute when it was airing "throwbacks" and zoomed to #1 for a single month.
Makes me wonder if the real problem is the market. Maybe the conventional wisdom is right about Atlanta. Rhythmic rules.
That's only part of the problem.
The other problem is poor programming execution. Project 96.1 was north of a 3 share in persons 6+ and seeing growth in key demos when the plug was pulled. Rock 100.5's numbers are no better at the moment than when both Project 96.1 and 92.9 Dave FM were still around! Think about that for a moment.
Cumulus disrupted a successful morning show by jamming in music. Dozens and dozens of posts on the station's Facebook page complained. ZERO response from the cowards who work at the radio station. Music wise, the station is all over the road, and some songs (that aren't that great) have been played in CURRENT rotation since last September!
93.9 in Indy sneaks some classic rock and a little bit of sissy alt into its playlist, but that station's song category rotation flows more cohesively than that of 100.5. That station's PD also does a better job of managing currents & recurrents. Songs are moved from current into recurrent rotation at the appropriate time (or are shelved entirely at the appropriate time), unlike 100.5.
Getting back to 100.5, the 80's & 90's heavy playlist (mixed with some music from the 70's and a little music from the 00's), the music-free morning show, and Jesse Kage in PM drive was a formula that generated very good male demo numbers. Then, some idiot from corporate decided to stick Braves baseball on 100.5 and fire the successful afternoon drive host. Mostly boomers and older listen to baseball on the radio in Atlanta. That's why no top shelf radio station has expressed interest in the Braves in many years. Numbers in multiple dayparts sank (as I predicted they would) as soon as 100.5 added the Braves. The station has been in the toilet ratings wise ever since. Every move Cumulus makes to attempt to "grow" the station seems to make matters worse, not better.
The other problem is poor programming execution. Project 96.1 was north of a 3 share in persons 6+ and seeing growth in key demos when the plug was pulled. Rock 100.5's numbers are no better at the moment than when both Project 96.1 and 92.9 Dave FM were still around! Think about that for a moment.
Cumulus disrupted a successful morning show by jamming in music. Dozens and dozens of posts on the station's Facebook page complained. ZERO response from the cowards who work at the radio station. Music wise, the station is all over the road, and some songs (that aren't that great) have been played in CURRENT rotation since last September!
93.9 in Indy sneaks some classic rock and a little bit of sissy alt into its playlist, but that station's song category rotation flows more cohesively than that of 100.5. That station's PD also does a better job of managing currents & recurrents. Songs are moved from current into recurrent rotation at the appropriate time (or are shelved entirely at the appropriate time), unlike 100.5.
Getting back to 100.5, the 80's & 90's heavy playlist (mixed with some music from the 70's and a little music from the 00's), the music-free morning show, and Jesse Kage in PM drive was a formula that generated very good male demo numbers. Then, some idiot from corporate decided to stick Braves baseball on 100.5 and fire the successful afternoon drive host. Mostly boomers and older listen to baseball on the radio in Atlanta. That's why no top shelf radio station has expressed interest in the Braves in many years. Numbers in multiple dayparts sank (as I predicted they would) as soon as 100.5 added the Braves. The station has been in the toilet ratings wise ever since. Every move Cumulus makes to attempt to "grow" the station seems to make matters worse, not better.
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