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WDRC-FM: Method to its madness?

C

CTListener

Everybody (at least everybody who isn't critiquing the audio) seems to be focused on DRC-FM slide in overall, 12+ numbers. I'm just a fan, not a radio pro, but aren't strong numbers in advertiser-desirable demographics more important than 12+?

Might DRC have succeeded in driving off most of the 55+ crowd by dumping all the early Four Seasons/Elvis/Gene Pitney stuff while adding all that Huey Lewis/Billy Joel/Cars stuff, thus maintaining or even strengthening its 25-44 numbers? Or is the new music mix a failure all around?

(By the way, yesterday, on the morning show, John Saville apparently noted that it was the 50th anniversary of the release of Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel" but played one of Presley's MOR-ish '70s hits afterward. I didn't actually hear the bit, but I did hear him playing a phone call from a listener complaining that "I know you can't play '50s songs anymore, but you really should have played 'Heartbreak Hotel' instead of that wimpy song you played." Saville agreed and, with Beth Bradley giggling in the background, announced, "OK. We're putting our jobs on the line here!" ... and played "Heartbreak Hotel." I have no idea what demographic poking fun at the playlist and breaking format for a 50-year-old song was intended to appeal to, but I can't believe that too many 20- and 30-somethings resisted the urge to switch the station at that point. I'm 50, and I like old Elvis recordings, but I don't think DRC-FM particularly wants me listening.)
 
It's madness alright, but I have my doubts about the method. From what I understand, John Seville is doing the music. He was chosen to do this because he has a week-end part-time business as a DJ doing a lot of weddings, etc. This puts him in a position to "know what people want to hear."
 
Or, more likely, John's many years as a Music Director at WWYZ put him in a position where he's qualified to run the music.
 
> Or, more likely, John's many years as a Music Director at
> WWYZ put him in a position where he's qualified to run the
> music.

All I'm doing is giving you the general feeling from WITHIN the station. It's not my opinion...it's scuttlebutt from DRC-FM.
 
> Or, more likely, John's many years as a Music Director at
> WWYZ put him in a position where he's qualified to run the
> music.
>

Well, that would explain the presence of Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors," John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" on the playlist.

As for Saville bringing his DJ's "feel" for the public's musical preferences to his radio gig, all I can say is that John must DJ at some pretty odd gatherings. I can't conceive of a DJing situation in which the attendees are asking the DJ to play things like the theme from "The Rockford Files," ELO's "Telephone Line" or Bread's "If."
 
> Well, that would explain the presence of Charlie Rich's
> "Behind Closed Doors," John Denver's "Thank God I'm a
> Country Boy" and Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown
> Eyes Blue" on the playlist.

To be fair, those were all Top 40 hits as well as Country. I can remember "Brown Eyes Blue" playing about every 14 minutes on the original "96 Ticks" TIC-FM!

> As for Saville bringing his DJ's "feel" for the public's
> musical preferences to his radio gig, all I can say is that
> John must DJ at some pretty odd gatherings. I can't conceive
> of a DJing situation in which the attendees are asking the
> DJ to play things like the theme from "The Rockford Files,"
> ELO's "Telephone Line" or Bread's "If."

I don't work for DRC, so I won't speculate on the method, and there are certainly some head-scratching mixes, especially the 80's New Wave right next to 60's Pop sets. BUT... look on any region on this website and you'll see people complaining about "homogenized McRadio overconsulted blah blah blah." DRC is certainly giving Hartford music that hasn't been heard since the songs were hits the first time, so they deserve credit for trying something different.

Would you rather hear "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" yet again? I'll happily take "Ah Leah" instead once in awhile if they're willing to serve it up!
 
> look on any region on this website and you'll see
> people complaining about "homogenized McRadio overconsulted
> blah blah blah." DRC is certainly giving Hartford music
> that hasn't been heard since the songs were hits the first
> time, so they deserve credit for trying something different.
>
>
> Would you rather hear "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" yet again?
> I'll happily take "Ah Leah" instead once in awhile if
> they're willing to serve it up!

THANK YOU!

Enjoy it while it lasts.
 
>Would you rather hear "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" yet again? I'll happily take "Ah Leah" instead once in awhile if they're willing to serve it up!<

I'd rather have them fix the friggin audio processing. It's been mentioned many times on this board but aparently Buckley doesn't give a crap. It's the worst-sounding station on the Connecticut dial, and it has been for years. Stop it already, and fix the goddamm thing.

The format, though, isn't bad at all. I'd call it Jack with human intervention. If the audio wasn't so atrocious, I'd be a regular listener. I really think it's a good compromise, compared with what Infinity did to WCBS-FM. I do hear songs nobody else plays on the "new" DRC-FM. Too bad I can't stand to listen to it for more than three minutes.

Again-- PLEASE!!! FIX THE AUDIO!!!! It ain't rocket science. I'll come up there and do it for you free of charge, for crying out loud...

-A<P ID="signature">______________
"...How can you be deaf, with ears like that??"</P>
 
> I'd rather have them fix the friggin audio processing. It's
> been mentioned many times on this board but aparently
> Buckley doesn't give a crap. It's the worst-sounding station
> on the Connecticut dial, and it has been for years.
> Again-- PLEASE!!! FIX THE AUDIO!!!! It ain't rocket science.
> I'll come up there and do it for you free of charge, for
> crying out loud...

I just don't hear what it is you're complaining about. Could you be a little more explicit about the processing that you find so offensive?

I'm the first to admit that my hearing is shot by too many years of wearing cranked up cans...but even so, I can still listen to and appreciate music on the radio. For a few days I've been punching through my car radio pre-sets between WHCN, WRCH, and WDRC-FM.

If anything, I find DRC-FM a little "tinny" but not unlistenable to the extent that you're complaining about. So just what is it about their processing?
 
>
> I don't work for DRC, so I won't speculate on the method,
> and there are certainly some head-scratching mixes,
> especially the 80's New Wave right next to 60's Pop sets.
> BUT... look on any region on this website and you'll see
> people complaining about "homogenized McRadio overconsulted
> blah blah blah." DRC is certainly giving Hartford music
> that hasn't been heard since the songs were hits the first
> time, so they deserve credit for trying something different.
>
>

I agree 100 percent. I'm not sure the numbers are there -- or ever will be there -- for a station that puts together sets of Barry Manilow/Swingin' Medallions/Staple Singers/Tracey Ullman(!), but it's definitely a different approach. Glad I have a bad left ear (no highs) and can't tell what stations have good audio and which don't.
 
> So just what is it about their processing?
>

The audio is low on the dial compared to others, not very competitive and it has no life, it's just laying there. The highs do not have shine and the bass is grungy, not warm or "phat" (to use an Omnia phrase). The midrange is too far up front when you consider the problems with the highs and lows (the grungy bass actually makes the mids seem more distorted than they probably are, an aural illusion).

Also, the processing does not have consistancy. Some songs are WAY too muddy and others actually shine thru and for a few minutes you think things are OK. A well adjusted processor will make up for these EQ differences. When you play "oldies" with lots of dynamic range and different quality sources, you need the processor to do more work than if you were playing CHR, where everything has already been normalized to death and all the EQ is more or less uniform.
 
I don't think I could have said it better. Very true that on some tracks and some spots, it sounds OK-- But most of the time it sounds dull and lifeless.

-A

> > So just what is it about their processing?
> >
>
> The audio is low on the dial compared to others, not very
> competitive and it has no life, it's just laying there. The
> highs do not have shine and the bass is grungy, not warm or
> "phat" (to use an Omnia phrase). The midrange is too far up
> front when you consider the problems with the highs and lows
> (the grungy bass actually makes the mids seem more distorted
> than they probably are, an aural illusion).
>
> Also, the processing does not have consistancy. Some songs
> are WAY too muddy and others actually shine thru and for a
> few minutes you think things are OK. A well adjusted
> processor will make up for these EQ differences. When you
> play "oldies" with lots of dynamic range and different
> quality sources, you need the processor to do more work than
> if you were playing CHR, where everything has already been
> normalized to death and all the EQ is more or less uniform.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"...How can you be deaf, with ears like that??"</P>
 
> Everybody (at least everybody who isn't critiquing the
> audio) seems to be focused on DRC-FM slide in overall, 12+
> numbers. I'm just a fan, not a radio pro, but aren't strong
> numbers in advertiser-desirable demographics more important
> than 12+?
>
> Might DRC have succeeded in driving off most of the 55+
> crowd by dumping all the early Four Seasons/Elvis/Gene
> Pitney stuff while adding all that Huey Lewis/Billy
> Joel/Cars stuff, thus maintaining or even strengthening its
> 25-44 numbers? Or is the new music mix a failure all around?
>
>
> (By the way, yesterday, on the morning show, John Saville
> apparently noted that it was the 50th anniversary of the
> release of Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel" but played one of
> Presley's MOR-ish '70s hits afterward. I didn't actually
> hear the bit, but I did hear him playing a phone call from a
> listener complaining that "I know you can't play '50s songs
> anymore, but you really should have played 'Heartbreak
> Hotel' instead of that wimpy song you played." Saville
> agreed and, with Beth Bradley giggling in the background,
> announced, "OK. We're putting our jobs on the line here!"
> ... and played "Heartbreak Hotel." I have no idea what
> demographic poking fun at the playlist and breaking format
> for a 50-year-old song was intended to appeal to, but I
> can't believe that too many 20- and 30-somethings resisted
> the urge to switch the station at that point. I'm 50, and I
> like old Elvis recordings, but I don't think DRC-FM
> particularly wants me listening.)
>


They should want a 50 year old like yourself. A good oldies station should be so strong in 45-54 that they make a good showing 25-54. The problem with an oldies station targeting a 35 year old is that FAR too many stations are also targeting the same demo, it get's so fragmented that an oldies station aiming older (45-54 NOT 55+) will do better 25-54 than one that leans younger.

When stations go down 12+ I often see people on these boards assume they are only losing audience in undesirable demos and are not going down in their target. This is what I call "leap of faith", sometimes it works out this way, but often times stations going down 12+ are also going down right where they don't want to.

That said, If I lived in CT, from the way you guys are describing WDRC-FM I think I would enjoy the station personally. I love "AH Leah" and I love "Behind Closed Doors" yet am burned out on many of the normal titles oldies stations play. This station sounds right up my alley (and I am in a dream demo for an oldies station), yet I don't think my personal tastes are very typical.
 
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