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WBOS

Another great showing for Rock 92.9!

Congrats, guys, on your 1.7 share. Great work!

They really had narrowed their playlist down to mostly 80's hairbands in recent weeks. That's as tight of a playlist as it gets in terrestrial. Plus, ZLX has been kicking their a** pretty consistently.
 
They promoted the fact that the new owners, Meruelo Media, were investing in programming and research, and making the station "bigger and better" to attract more listeners. This was well received by time buyers, who had seen the previous owner selling assets, cutting back on staff and promotion and giving poor service.

Sounds like that messaging had more to do with touting the change in ownership and investment than nuances in song selection.
 
well now that Ron Robin has sold his Cape Cod FM that was broadcasting to fish, whales, and nesting Piping Plovers... along with the seals and occasional Great White Shark, he can come back to 92.9 and do Disco again.
 
I think Rock 92.9 needs to play "The Final Countdown" by Europe three or four times a day; hearing it once or twice a day just isn't enough! (Sarcasm)

Seriously, why does that crappy station play what arguably amounts to a novelty song (I realize it wasn't regarded as such at time of release) many times a week for months on end?

It's a coin toss between the PD / Brand Manager of Chicago's Rock 95.5 and Boston's Rock 92.9 for the ineptitude award. I wish I could be as terrible at my job and achieve as poor of results as each of them yet still get paid handsomely.
 
I think Rock 92.9 needs to play "The Final Countdown" by Europe three or four times a day; hearing it once or twice a day just isn't enough! (Sarcasm)

Seriously, why does that crappy station play what arguably amounts to a novelty song (I realize it wasn't regarded as such at time of release) many times a week for months on end?

It's a coin toss between the PD / Brand Manager of Chicago's Rock 95.5 and Boston's Rock 92.9 for the ineptitude award. I wish I could be as terrible at my job and achieve as poor of results as each of them yet still get paid handsomely.
Now while I cannot say this for sure, but I thought that I had read somewhere the song tested well.
 
I think Rock 92.9 needs to play "The Final Countdown" by Europe three or four times a day; hearing it once or twice a day just isn't enough! (Sarcasm)

Seriously, why does that crappy station play what arguably amounts to a novelty song (I realize it wasn't regarded as such at time of release) many times a week for months on end?

It's a coin toss between the PD / Brand Manager of Chicago's Rock 95.5 and Boston's Rock 92.9 for the ineptitude award. I wish I could be as terrible at my job and achieve as poor of results as each of them yet still get paid handsomely.

Well, you can take solace in the fact that you're terrible with the English language. "As poor of results?"
 
It's a discussion board, not a college entrance exam. For the record, I do not believe there was anything grammatically incorrect with my earlier phrasing.

If you wish, please scratch "as poor of results" and replace it with "results as poor."

Why would I want to take solace in being terrible at anything?

Some of you radio guys sure get flustered when your brethren are criticized. I know air talent and especially programmers hate being critiqued. This explains why programming staff & air talent seldom interact with their stations' own audiences on station-branded social media.

Rock 92.9's playlist composition needs to be reworked. What worked two years ago no longer works. Hopefully, Beasley doesn't allow this station to fall off a cliff. I'm worried their attitude is "who cares?" considering 98.5 is posting phenomenally strong numbers.
 
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At some point, I'd prefer to see a new rock format introduced, and WZLX has classic rock down. WBOS could keep some of their DJs, the morning show, and even the name with a flip. Regarding its low numbers, hasn't this "tightening of the playlist" been an ingredient in its ultimate demise in every format that it had?

As I said in discussions a year ago, my belief is that part of the reason for poor numbers in rock is that it relies too heavily on overplayed aged songs. Kind of hard to have a "new generation of classic rock" when most of the "active rock" and "modern rock" stations are playing the same songs. That's the thing with CHR, it's current. In order for rock to gain any traction, it needs stations to focus on current songs to allow the 90s songs to officially become classic.
 
At some point, I'd prefer to see a new rock format introduced, and WZLX has classic rock down. WBOS could keep some of their DJs, the morning show, and even the name with a flip. Regarding its low numbers, hasn't this "tightening of the playlist" been an ingredient in its ultimate demise in every format that it had?
I thought conventional wisdom in radio is that the best way to bring down a competitor in any musical format is to do your research and play fewer songs.
 
I thought conventional wisdom in radio is that the best way to bring down a competitor in any musical format is to do your research and play fewer songs.
I was going to comment myself about that too, however the comment seemed to be targeted at WBOS's formatting choices specifically instead.
 
What Retro is saying. The issue is that WBOS usually seems to do much narrowing, with questionable choices in the narrowing. From what I read, it's a simular complaint with Rock 95.5 in Chicago. Many music formats have tight playlists, but WBOS seems to miss the mark. I guess we could question if their "Alt" iteration was figuring it out before the flip to classic rock.
 
WBOS-FM should add foreign language programming to their schedule. Bring back Italian and Polish shows weekdays, as well as Jewish programming and Latino music on the weekends. They can also add a live broadcast of the Latin Mass from Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Church in Newton on Sunday morning.
That would basically put them in a coffin. And nail it shut. But... thanks for calling, please call again
 
It's a discussion board, not a college entrance exam. For the record, I do not believe there was anything grammatically incorrect with my earlier phrasing.

If you wish, please scratch "as poor of results" and replace it with "results as poor."

Why would I want to take solace in being terrible at anything?

Some of you radio guys sure get flustered when your brethren are criticized. I know air talent and especially programmers hate being critiqued. This explains why programming staff & air talent seldom interact with their stations' own audiences on station-branded social media.

Rock 92.9's playlist composition needs to be reworked. What worked two years ago no longer works. Hopefully, Beasley doesn't allow this station to fall off a cliff. I'm worried their attitude is "who cares?" considering 98.5 is posting phenomenally strong numbers.
How should they " rework" the playlist
 
>>add foreign language programming to their schedule

Well, iHeart just did this week, at least
I always have a strange reaction when Spanish is considered a "foreign language".

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About 60% of what is the Continental US was territory of Spain "back in the day". So, maybe not in Massachusetts, but in a national sense, Spanish is hardly a "foreign" language and is, at least in one state, an "official" language (New Mexico).
 
>>add foreign language programming to their schedule

Well, iHeart just did this week, at least
Yes, but the station was so poorly programmed previously, that flipping to Spanish CHR or Spanish R&B, whatever it is officially being called. With the new format, the ratings (and perhaps the selling too) can only increase at this given juncture. It cannot do any worse!
 
How should they " rework" the playlist?

Great question.

I would scale back the 80's artists but go deeper on those that deserve to stay (Ozzy, AC/DC, Van Halen, Def Leppard, among others), add harder-rocking 90's alternative (Tool, RATM, Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie), add just a little more consensus classic rock from the 70's for flavor, and add 2 or 3 tracks an hour from 2001 onward. I'd even include some compatible currents & recurrents in the mix, albeit sparingly.

Add "Mandatory Metallica" nightly.

Add request hours and other specialty programming to build P1 loyalty.

The purpose of the above changes would be to undo the very stale sound of the station to encourage those who are already listening to listen longer (and more often) while making the station more accessible to listeners in their 30s and early 40s.

I am unsure how well the Detroit morning show is performing compared to the rest of the station, so I will withhold comment on mornings.
 
I would scale back the 80's artists but go deeper on those that deserve to stay (Ozzy, AC/DC, Van Halen, Def Leppard, among others), add harder-rocking 90's alternative (Tool, RATM, Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie), add just a little more consensus classic rock from the 70's for flavor, and add 2 or 3 tracks an hour from 2001 onward. I'd even include some compatible currents & recurrents in the mix, albeit sparingly.
I would do a deep music test of upwards of 1000 titles, including what might be considered "fringe" artists and songs. I would run cluster / factor anlysis on this to find the broadest acceptance range which would define the format.

I'd consider a perceptual, done with one-on-ones and definitely not focus groups to determine feelings on the music as a whole and to pick up how the audience defines the music and views the artists and the spectrum of songs as well as the station at that point in time.

I would not let my opinion play any part in selecting the music or the mix.
 
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