"TWO-FER" WEEKENDS

[Pete Tauriello]

Just listening to WZXL as I write. First of all, I like ZXL. It's one of the stations that is a must-listen for me when I'm down in Wildwood Crest in the summer. Being able to listen on line makes me feel like I'm down the shore. Anyway..they are doing a "two-fre" weekend. Nothing new...not a hard concept..two songs by the same artist/group back to back. Do you think this workd from a programming standpoint? Does it attract or hold listeners? For me, if it's an artist I like or two songs that I like, it's fine. If it's an artist that I don't like...I might punch out depending on how much I'm bothered by it.

BTW I am actually listening on an FM radio. I send the output of my computer sound card to a Part 15 FM transmitter and listen anywhere in the house or yard. I even use the actual station frequency if I can. Just one of my little quirks. ZXL could actually use a little processing on their stream..the levels are all over the place.

 

[Ned Braden]

For me, when it came to 'two-fers' or 'double shots', it had a few purposes. It was a chance for you to 'air out' your library, giving you the chance to play a gold cut and a deeper, album cut. Or it gave you a chance to expose your audience to newer music from newer bands or newer music from one of your power artists. As far as tuning out, I guess that's the chance that you're taking when you deligate one of your weekends or days of the week to this programming.

It could also have to do with a 'two-fer' package being sold for that particular weekend or it being a benchmark of WZXL, which, with this being the first weekend of Spring, I'm sure that's exactly what it is. The weather is nice, a lot of people are probably going to come in from out of town to take advantage of the weather and maybe throw some $$$ down on a rental house. What a perfect time for WZXL to showcase the station for people to remember, come June, July and August...

 

[mjb1124]

For me, when it came to 'two-fers' or 'double shots', it had a few purposes. It was a chance for you to 'air out' your library, giving you the chance to play a gold cut and a deeper, album cut. Or it gave you a chance to expose your audience to newer music from newer bands or newer music from one of your power artists.

That's what I like about these types of blocks - the potential opportunity to hear songs by certain artists that I wouldn't normally hear on the radio. Of course it doesn't always work out that way, but when it does, I appreciate it.

WFNX in Boston has a nice twist on this with their "Attention Deficit Weekends" - they pick a song by an artist, then they take a request for another song by the same artist.

 

[Who Cares]

ZXL does the same thing, occasionally. They call it "Youfer Twofers." Usually happens during the week, however.

 

[GSP163]

Just listening to WZXL as I write. First of all, I like ZXL. It's one of the stations that is a must-listen for me when I'm down in Wildwood Crest in the summer. Being able to listen on line makes me feel like I'm down the shore

Funny that I always felt the same way....I go down to Wildwood Crest every Aug and when I hear 'ZXL on the air @ 100.7 I know I'm down there (unless there a strong enough tropo for WZXL to takeover WHUD in Northern Bergen Country which is rare).

The problem with WZXL these days is that they have become way too predictable and play same songs over and over (which most stations are like these days)….They no way sound like they did 10+ years ago when I could listen for much longer periods…..Moreover, I don’t like how they speed up the songs slightly…..They sound like a CHR playing AOR Rock and since most rock stations don’t speed up the music, it is much easier to point it out when a station like WZXL does.

Do you think this workd from a programming standpoint? Does it attract or hold listeners? For me, if it's an artist I like or two songs that I like, it's fine. If it's an artist that I don't like...I might punch out depending on how much I'm bothered by it.

I enjoy two-fers as long as the second song is a deeper cut.....Stations like WDHA (Wed) & WAXQ (Tue) have been doing them for years but often just play two tired out songs from the same artist.....For example I used to work for a place where they used to play Q-104.3 and we used to laugh because we often knew what the next song was going to be.....If The Kinks were playing and "All Day and All of the Night" was on, there was a 95% chance the next song would be "You Really Got Me" or "Lola".....It gets boring when you hear the same tired songs from the same artist twice (especially if you are not a fan of the artist playing)…..If feel the same way about rock blocks which are often used on special/holiday weekends…..There are some stations out there that still do it right but most just play the hits.

BTW I am actually listening on an FM radio. I send the output of my computer sound card to a Part 15 FM transmitter and listen anywhere in the house or yard. I even use the actual station frequency if I can. Just one of my little quirks

Hey I do the same think when I listen to WKXW through the internet….I set my C Crane transmitter to 101.5 and listen from other areas of the house since up here 101.5 is unlistenable because of WPDH and area pirates.

One last thing Pete...I enjoy listening to your traffic reports on the area stations…..Every weekday morning I hear you on WINS & WXPK and if have to drive south I hear you on WKXW….You are my guide to traffic avoidance in the morning….Thank You and keep up the great work!

 

[bigtom101]

BTW I am actually listening on an FM radio. I send the output of my computer sound card to a Part 15 FM transmitter and listen anywhere in the house or yard. I even use the actual station frequency if I can. Just one of my little quirks. ZXL could actually use a little processing on their stream..the levels are all over the place.

Acquire the Omnia A/X processing software and a copy of virtual audio cable and make the audio sing like a mob informant. It's what I do to "fix" errant audio streams...hell I have a netbook in the car with it to run the iPod thru to fix the wild audio swings (and add a touch of reverb).

 

[Pete Tauriello]

Thank you for your kind comments about my work. Lord knows, I try my best.
The Part 15 FM trasnmitter is fun to play with and probably the closest I'll ever be to station ownership LOL.
I noticed that when I listen to ZXL on line there's something in the neighborhood of a 6dB difference between one song and the next. It's amost as if the music were played from "A" and "B" sources, with one of the sources several dB behind the other. The sweepers and buffers often blast me out of the water. Some processing on their stream would be nice.
Perhaps I'll look into that processing software.