TOM KENT NIGHTS ON B101

[Runrigger]

I don't know how long he's been on, but Tom Kent's syndicated show is now on nights on B101. I haven't listened & really don't think there was any hope in a local person on so it is what it is. By the way, I also noticed B101's RDS is promoting them as your at work station. I've listened a little more since the holiday music ended & think the station is going in the right direction. It's classic hits but doesn't seem to veer heavily in the direction of classic rock. It seems to me to be more of a classic top 40 which is a good move if they want to keep some of the female listeners they may have picked up during the Christmas season. The music may not be much different than WROR, but ROR's website has sample artists the station plays & they're all what would have been rockers during their heydey so the perception of the station is different. Obviously, Lite Rock 105 was their target during the Christmas season & they're continuing that battle. Now it remains to be seen if the ladies can go without Mariah & Shania at work, but regardless of personal taste I think B101 is headed in the right direction. They may stand a decent chance at taking a bite out of lite.

As far as Coast vs PRO-FM, I'm not into CHR but for those who want contemporary hit music without hearing the word "shawty" in every third song, Coast may be the answer.

I think everyone would like to give the out of town voicetrackers 24 hours to get out of town, but working with what they have I think both stations are getting more serious about competing.

 

[Moonstruck]

I agree the music is more focused on both B101 and Coast but now how do they let people know about it? The holiday flip on B101 might have served that purpose in bringing in some new people who might now stick around but calling Coast new ain't gonna do it because no one knows they're new except the ones who were already listening. Both stations are glorified jukeboxes after morning drive. It may rest on the morning shows to bring in and keep audiences. I think the B101 morning show is strong compared to the rest of the market but Coast's is weak through no fault of Tad who has absolutely nothing to work with.

 

[McRadio]

If B101's playlist on their website is accurate I see more 60's music than I've heard them play in the recent past. There are also 389 titles and they're probably all well tested songs. If I felt like it I'd like to find other Clear Channel stations with the same format to see if the same 389 songs appear on the website. There's more and more talk there about centralized programming. We already see the same market manager running both Boston and Providence now. As far as their being your at work radio station how long before Tony B complains that they're stealing Lite's branding again.

 

[McRadio]

I did actually go to the Clear Channel website and used "classic hits" as a search to check out other stations' playlists. I didn't find anything comparable to B101's. Many really seem to be classic rockers and while you'll still hear Boston and Kiss on B101 they would never position themselves as a classic rock station because of HJY.

 

[DToTheJ]

I'll take Tom Kent over Delilah any day!

 

[Holland Cooke]

From The Home of Rock & Roll

Tom Kent does his show in his den at home in Cleveland.
A VERY high-tech set-up, I'm told by a mutual acquaintance.
On-air this show does a pretty good job, compared to most, not-sounding-overtly-imported.
When I've listened, the tech interface was smooth, lots of local call letters, etc.