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What's Next for WNEW?

Apparently Content we are missing the point...lol. In my thought on switching to Country we should apparently look at old billing numbers for a station that has been gone for many years. The last incarnation of country in NYC didn't bill well some here say. Your thought on Alternative Rock is a valid one as well, yet they will say that because K-Rock was not executed properly that type of station will never come back. It's easier I guess to fight over the crumbs left over from an already eaten pie than to have a piece of the pie that is all yours and will always be yours. Lighter than Lite would flop in a major way, losing CBS even more than it already has. I hear you Content, Alternative Rock makes sense for WNEW, but if it is not that than why not country? Maybe Citadel will follow our lead when they take over WPLJ....then CBS will have missed the boat again.
 
I think Modern Rock might work, but what you might be missing is...the history of 92.7 FM out of Long Island. WLIR was one of the first Modern Rock stations in the country, yet it never attained the kind of ratings 106.7 K-Rock got in the early to mid 80s, or KROQ's huge showing since the mid 90s. In the 90s 92.7 was known as WDRE, and in the mid 90s faced some competition from Z-100 and then 92.3 K-Rock. Still, its ratings in the Nassau-Suffolk book should have been higher. It was even networked to other cities.
Since Long Island is NYC's version of Orange County in California (where K-Rock does exceptionally well), and since a local Modern Rocker has never done as well as expected in Nassau-Suffolk, NYC stations might be reluctant to launch a full blown/true-blue Modern Rock station on a metro-wide signal.
 
UncleBozzle said:
Why would it be so absurd to switch WNEW to Country? It actually makes quite a bit of sense if you think about the NYC cluster that CBS Radio has. Free FM caters to males 18-35, Jack FM caters to the older male, the AM's all lean towards males as well, so with Country you still hold on to your more affluent, educated male, plus pick up a nice chunk of the soccer mom crowd. Nobody will ever take them on as a competitor, and more than likely the station would indeed pick some listeners up from WPLJ and Lite FM. You can argue Country does not play well in NYC, and that might be true, but it does exceptionally well in the NY/NJ/Connecticut/PA suburbs, and that is who you would sell this to and aim it at. If done right and made to sound like a Top 40 or Hot AC station this could be huge. I'd not rule it out to be frank. What does CBS really have to lose? They have tried and failed with all the other incarnations of this frequency. For you naysayers it seems that country does quite well in Boston, Providence, Hartford, Albany, Philadelphia, Allentown, Atlantic City, Ocean County NJ, Baltimore...no need to prove the point anymore.

here we go again....making comparisons with cities with complete different demographics to NYC.
...so you're saying even though country has been tried many times in this market and failed they should do it yet again...?
Finally on my last point I will quoted poster "Ciao" who said:
"And the only people suggesting country for this station MUST be from out of town."
 
Thanks for your thoughts. I certainly understand a reluctance to launch a format which has a history of less than stellar ratings. However, the strategic approach and execution of these stations has frequently come into question.
So, if we can set aside specific 'format' definitions for a moment, it seems to me that NY does not have a format for 18-34 rock/alternative minded persons. Not sure exactly what the formatic boundries would be, but I have to believe the market has enough of this demo to be viable.
 
NCRadioGuy2009 said:
My guess is either Alternative (WBAB is active rock) or country. KROCK had a big audience when Stern was on, and former KROCK listeners are probably sick and tired of just an Internet stream and part-time rock on WFNY. Country can work only if its advertised to the other boroughs and tristate suburbs. And there are country music fans in NYC, somewhere, and CBS might want to cater to them as well. And oldies will probably NOT happen because of the fact why CBS-FM was flipped to Jack in the first place, the catering demographics CBS-FM had didn't work for them or their advertisers and the fact that the fans who want this on the air will be saying "It's just not the same, " after it flips. Even with this, I bet some CBS-FM fans have some hope right now that 102.7 flips to their format, not that I'm one of them. However, they might have to spend money to buy an HD Radio reciever or subscribe to Sirius in order to get their CBS-FM or something like it, it will probably take a miracle for CBS-FM to return. But, we'll see what happens. It's either Country or Alternative. I can't think of any other format to flip to, other than putting an AMer on the FM dial, which I doubt could work. 102.7 hasn't worked very well with any other format, from Hot Talk to now Mix so lets hope that CBS has thought of a plan to help this frequency get better ratings than with its other incarnations. I'm suprised it didn't change after it flipped from Hot Talk with the whole "Sex for Sam" incident which should have made CBS change the calls if they wanted to move the station in an entirely new direction.

And the only people suggesting country for this station MUST be from out of town.
 
L.A. has a higher population of "Hispanics" ( of which at least 80 percent are of Mexican origin, and I think the rest are mainly from other parts of Central America like Nicaragua and Honduras, as well as South America), and a higher population of Asians (especially Japanese, Fillipino, and Korean, but also Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese).

I agree that a Modern Rocker can work if executed properly. The thing is, "executed properly" doesn't seem to be something CBS Radio is all that good at these days when you look at their "stellar" ratings success wih Free FM, Jack, and Mix :-\
 
CHRles said:
L.A. has a higher population of "Hispanics" ( of which at least 80 percent are of Mexican origin, and I think the rest are mainly from other parts of Central America like Nicaragua and Honduras, as well as South America), and a higher population of Asians (especially Japanese, Fillipino, and Korean, but also Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese).

The largest Asian population in LA is Korean, followed by Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Filipino, Cambodian and Japanese.

The LA Hispanic population is 92% Mexican and Mexican American. It is 4% Salvadoran, and Honduran and Guatemalan are about 2%. There are hardly any Nicaraguans in LA, and the total from all other countries outside of Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras is about 2% in total.

The real difference is that the percentage of Spoanish dominant in LA is much higher than NY, where the Puerto Rican migration stopped in the late 60's and the second and third generation Newyoricans don't speak much or any Spanish.

[/quote]I agree that a Modern Rocker can work if executed properly. The thing is, "executed properly" doesn't seem to be something CBS Radio is all that good at these days when you look at their "stellar" ratings success wih Free FM, Jack, and Mix :-\
[/quote]

Yet the most successful modern rock / alternative rock station in the world, KROQ, is a CBS property.
 
David, I stand corrected. Are those figures for metro L.A., or just for the city?
And I agree with Marko's last statement there ;)
 
I've always wondered why New York is not a very good Rock town.

As legendary as WNEW was, their numbers were never close to L.A.'s KMET or KROQ. WPLJ did ok, but again never as good as the L.A. or Chicago rock stations.
 
I have lived in los angeles up until recently and i can tell you i would love to see(at 102.7) a alt station like www.indie1031.com in new york the station was written up in rolling stone last year as one of the top 5 alt stations in the country. It is an awesome station and it is owned by entravisions a hispanic broadcasting(go figure) company but if not a true alt station like that then one like 91x in sandiego a former clear channel station a another well programmed alt station.Kroq has something specail to it and they play very little active rock.You never here stained or nickelback once in a while metallica.It doesn't get good numbers but it does get good press and its signal is not very good.Why not try do it right and you never know!!!
 
hotpatrick2004 said:
I have lived in los angeles up until recently and i can tell you i would love to see(at 102.7) a alt station like www.indie1031.com in new york the station was written up in rolling stone last year as one of the top 5 alt stations in the country. It is an awesome station and it is owned by entravisions a hispanic broadcasting(go figure) company but if not a true alt station like that then one like 91x in sandiego a former clear channel station a another well programmed alt station.Kroq has something specail to it and they play very little active rock.You never here stained or nickelback once in a while metallica.It doesn't get good numbers but it does get good press and its signal is not very good.Why not try do it right and you never know!!!

KROQ is basically a CHR of alternative. Never hear Staind or Nickelback? Maybe not now, since they're no longer "cool" or "hip" to play but both Staind and Nickelback have played the station's Acoustic Christmas' and Weenie Roasts. Indie 103.1 probably only works in L.A. since most people there need to feel enlightened and have mass-media outlets feed them the "hippest" music (the station is also Clear-Channel owned).

New York would probably benefit from either a true Active Rocker or an alternative station that doesn't service frrat boys but one that balances the current crop of emo/punk acts like My Chemical Romance, AFI and Fall Out Boy with psuedo-indie acts like Muse, Death Cab and The Shins. Doubt it'll happen though...
 
From my perception of New York's music sensibilities, I would think that a "Rock" leaning Alternative, which serves a mainstream 18-34 rock audience broadly and serves the hits of each Alt Rock genre would have the best opportunity to succeed.

While Industry insiders appreciate station's like Indie, their music position is to far to the left of mainstream to attract a large audience. In LA, it works as a disadvantage signal serving as an alternative to KROQ in the zips where that programming would have most appeal.
 
content said:
From my perception of New York's music sensibilities, I would think that a "Rock" leaning Alternative, which serves a mainstream 18-34 rock audience broadly and serves the hits of each Alt Rock genre would have the best opportunity to succeed.

While Industry insiders appreciate station's like Indie, their music position is to far to the left of mainstream to attract a large audience. In LA, it works as a disadvantage signal serving as an alternative to KROQ in the zips where that programming would have most appeal.

Not to sound like a jerk, but isn't the "rock leaning alternative" you're talking about pertty similar to what was once in New York (WXRK)?
 
Yes, K-Rock could be called a rock-leaning alternative, or they could be called active rock depending on your definition. However, because they (sort of) fit the description, does not mean the format was balanced and executed as well as it could have been.
 
content said:
Yes, K-Rock could be called a rock-leaning alternative, or they could be called active rock depending on your definition. However, because they (sort of) fit the description, does not mean the format was balanced and executed as well as it could have been.

They were active rock from late 98-early 01 (still reported as alternative) They would play "retro rock" and then ocassionaly slide in Beastie Boys, Beck, Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Towards the end of their alternative years, I actually started enjoying them more. They would play My Chemical Romance, Garbage, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Morrisey, and those flashback weekends with 90's and 80's music were great.
 
Indie 1031 in los angeles is owned operated and sold by entravision when they first went on the air 3 years ago this month clear channel did handle all the advertising but i forget why but clear channel had to stop and now entravision sells the station also.Funny thing i believe the only reason it flipped to indie was because 103.1 use to be a dance station more techno dance calling itself the party station well it was hurting there beloved kiss fm at 102.7 before kiis went more rhythmic. At least that is what people believe why it flipped.Nothing on that frequency seems to get good numbers i am just thankful indie has survived!!! ;D
 
p_herring said:
content said:
Yes, K-Rock could be called a rock-leaning alternative, or they could be called active rock depending on your definition. However, because they (sort of) fit the description, does not mean the format was balanced and executed as well as it could have been.

They were active rock from late 98-early 01 (still reported as alternative) They would play "retro rock" and then ocassionaly slide in Beastie Boys, Beck, Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Towards the end of their alternative years, I actually started enjoying them more. They would play My Chemical Romance, Garbage, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Morrisey, and those flashback weekends with 90's and 80's music were great.

Not only did they sound at their best then, when they got off the frat boy kick, but it was beginning to even create a buzz among younger demos. A rock station like that may never make it to #1 or even Top 10 in NYC, but it would have solid young demos (18-35) looking for an alternative to Z100 or the hip-hop stations.
 
CHRles said:
David, I stand corrected. Are those figures for metro L.A., or just for the city?
And I agree with Marko's last statement there ;)

That's the LA Arbitron MSA: LA and Orange counties.
 
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