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"TODAY'S COUNTRY"

M

MR. JAROME_CALVIN

that's what "Country 102.5" is now saying?
It seems like they're playing more new/and recent music?
Your thoughts?
I'd rather hear New/Recent music
They sound alright. Not bad
 
Country, together with blues, jazz, and a whole bunch of other ingredients gave birth to rock in the late 40's. The two genres have always been closely related. Country is still alive and very distinct from rock.

Hank Williams died 60 years ago, it's time to move on.
 
LAUROJRM said:
They sound alright. Not bad
Click to expand...

Despite that pesky lack of new Urban AC songs. ;D
But seriously, "new country" sounds a lot like a CHR presentation with Country music. Seems to be a "thing" lately.
 
Whatever it is, it's working. Radio stations aren't music critics or educators. They're just trying to attract an audience. And this station does.

No one ever expected country music to work in a blue state. It used to be regional, just in the south and southwest. Reba used to talk about it when she released "Whoever's In New England." After that song, she discovered a whole new audience for her stuff. Today, Boston is a primary concert destination for country performers. At one time, it wasn't.
 
They seem to be focusing on that, yes, even on their HD2 I believe. And they're the #2
station in town consistently (or in the top 5) in 6 plus with a mostly female focus. If another
station in town tried country maybe the audience would be diluted...and in fact at one
point we had it on both 96.9 and 105.7

There are rimshotters from NH, RI, etc.

>>female and metrosexual based pop.
Again focus on female listeners and maybe some songs to attract male audience, but you can't
argue with their formula.
 
"...and up North nobody buys 'em and I said, but I will.
And it was Nashville Cats, playing cool as country water..."--J. Sebastian and Lovin' Spoonful
(spoofed as "Noshville Katz")

Is country doing well here? Artists like Kenny Chesney sell out Gillette Stadium in mere minutes.
 
A lot of people felt that was a longshot too. Really, it had been working long before that in Connecticut when WICH-FM flipped from MOR to country as WCTY in 1974. In fact, Hall Communications has been out in front when it comes to successful country on the east coast, particularly up here in New England. WCTY since '74, WCTK New Bedford Providence since '89, and WOKO Burlington, VT since around '90.

All successful, all made money, all bucked the "popular" notion.
 
reelyreal said:
A lot of people felt that was a longshot too. Really, it had been working long before that in Connecticut when WICH-FM flipped from MOR to country as WCTY in 1974.
Click to expand...

Norwich/New London was a far more likely market for country to work than Hartford/New Britain/Waterbury. Lots of very small towns with people living rural lifestyles in WCTY's coverage area. WWYZ's signal reaches several urban areas and a number of large bedroom suburbs. There hadn't been any country on a Hartford signal for nearly a decade -- unless you count weak-signaled WMLB (AM) in the early '80s (WSCR Hamden was audible in the southern portion of the market as well.) -- before WWYZ's flip. The immediate success of Country 92.5 was a real shocker at the time.
 
freqlost said:
buick59 said:
Today's Country is not Country, that is, it's Rock.
Click to expand...
I think it is female and metrosexual based pop.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid that sums it up pretty well... IMHO. Sounds like it all comes down the same assembly line, with someone slapping a "country music" sticker on one here and there before it goes out the factory door. Of course I'm going by what WKLB plays. Is their playlist representative of what's actually out there, or is it skewed to suburban New England soccer moms?
 
SixtiesGuy said:
Sounds like it all comes down the same assembly line, with someone slapping a "country music" sticker on one here and there before it goes out the factory door.
Click to expand...

How is that different from anything else? All music is product, and all listeners are consumers. TV & radio are marketing tools. Nothing wrong with any of that. We all have bills to pay.
 
With them now calling themselves "Today's Country" The only thing that will be great is if they look into putting on
"The Big Time" (Weeknights 7pm-Midnight) and "The Big Time Saturday Night" (Saturdays 7pm-Midnight) Whitney Allen is great!! The show is upbeat and very exciting sounding.
Other than that, they sound alright.
 
Boston doesn't need syndication for weekday evenings, period. Would WZLX put Alice Cooper or Nikki Sixx on weekday evenings? No way.

I've read in several places that 102.5 WKLB does skew its playlist to make it more "Northeast friendly," putting more emphasis on country music from more mass-appeal artists and ones that are more likely to cross over to mainstream. Artists and songs that are a bit more "twangy" and get airplay on more rural/Southern markets are not likely to get played on 'KLB, especially if the song stays below the top 20 on the country chart. IIRC, Big and Rich's "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" took a while to get played on 'KLB, although WCTK/New Bedford-Providence had it pretty early.

An observation -- as I work on the South Shore, it seems that, from the businesses I go into, the people I speak to, bumper stickers, etc., that WCTK seems to be the preferred country station over WKLB. This is in the Hanson/Hanover/Bridgewater area, where both signals seem to be about equal. I find this kind of interesting.

Jacko
 
LAUROJRM said:
With them now calling themselves "Today's Country" The only thing that will be great is if they look into putting on
"The Big Time" (Weeknights 7pm-Midnight) and "The Big Time Saturday Night" (Saturdays 7pm-Midnight) Whitney Allen is great!! The show is upbeat and very exciting sounding.
Other than that, they sound alright.
Click to expand...

Keith Stephens is great where he is. No need to fix what isn't broken from 7 -12. I just don't understand how no other company has started a country station to at least pull some listeners away.
 
A question for you, Lauro: you do know that replacing a local show with a syndicated show would probably mean that someone from the Boston area would lose his/her job, right? Do you think these shows are really so much better than local shows that it's worth it for someone to be out of a paycheck?

I know you get a lot of grief for your posting about syndicated shows, and I'm not trying to do that. I'm just genuinely curious. I personally like local shows that keep local people employed.

LAUROJRM said:
With them now calling themselves "Today's Country" The only thing that will be great is if they look into putting on
"The Big Time" (Weeknights 7pm-Midnight) and "The Big Time Saturday Night" (Saturdays 7pm-Midnight) Whitney Allen is great!! The show is upbeat and very exciting sounding.
Other than that, they sound alright.
Click to expand...
 
DavidCamb said:
You do know that replacing a local show with a syndicated show would probably mean that someone from the Boston area would lose his/her job, right?
Click to expand...

Not exactly true. What some stations do is have their Music Director or other Full Time person voice-track the evenings. That's what they do in Chicago. So it's the same number of employees spread out over more time.

The reality is that there's only so much payroll money to go around. It's not unlimited, and there's not much income from the evenings. Even less for overnights. They also run syndication from midnight to 5:30. It's not unusual for country stations. You'll find the same thing in Philadelphia and several other big cities. Times are tough in radio. Costs continue to rise, while revenues stay flat. So don't assume that the choice is only between syndication and hiring another local body. Technology offers many other options.
 
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