WHY NOT COUNTRY THUNDER 106.3 & 106.5?

[KEV830]

HIT 106.3 & 5 AFTER 1 YEAR IS GOING NOWHERE IN THE RATINGS! WHY NOT GIVE ALL OF MONMOUTH & OCEAN IT'S OWN COUNTRY STATION? IF SOLD AS A COUNTRY/SOUTHERN ROCK VERSION OF THE BREEZE WITH THE 9A TO 5P NO REPEAT WORKWEEK! IT MIGHT WORK! WHAT DO YA=ALL THINK N.J.? YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A HEE=HAW TO ENJOY COUNTRY YA=ALL!

 

[nd2023]

Or how about G-Rock? Hit 106 is a failure compared to G-Rock.

 

[UncleBozzle]

I would tend to agree with putting Thunder on 106.3/106.5. The station would cover a large chunk of Central/South Jersey. The Hits could easily move to 98.5. I visit the area frequently but live on the Delmarva Peninsula and must say that Thunder sounds more Country than the cookie cutter Clear Channel country stations here. I know there are the haters out there, but this little country station is something unique and deserves the bigger signals.

 

[Matt Knight]

I love when people on this board quote "ratings" when all you ever see is the 12+ number. Unless you're in the business, those are the ONLY ones you see...and advertisers don't buy on 12+, there's these little things called "target demographics." While we're not allowed to repost those numbers, all of you constantly saying that this station is a "failure", well...you're misinformed.

But please, pine away as to how bad we're doing. It's quite entertaining to watch the fountains of misinformation spew. You guys know more than us right?

If you don't like the station, sorry. Either you like it or you don't.

Hit 106 is a failure in comparison to G-Rock? I'd love to hear that explanation. I guess cume being up, across the board ratings increases and a little thing called making money is a failure.

Don't speak on something you don't know about, it makes you look foolish to those who DO know. You don't like the sound of the station? That's fine, criticism is always welcome and in fact encouraged. But don't talk about the "inner workings" that everyone swears to know unless you want to come out from behind your internet handles. I'm not hiding am I?

Thanks to those who support the station. For the rest, well we've been down this road before haven't we?

 

[Big Jay]

AMEN.
BE BIG!
Jay

 

[d21ofnj]

Matt,

With all due respect, you are doing what you and Press needs to do. Survive out there, feed your wife and or kids, put a roof over yur head, and returning to work. You know how much I supported B98.5, and slowly getting the hang on Hit. Now, from a business point of view, yes, you get more ad dollars on the fact that your advertiser sees your performance, and who you're targeting, and let's not forget that the reason more revenur is coming to your CHR is because they could afford this market. But from a fan's perspective, and a resident of Monmouth County, it's another CHR clogging the dial. I'm not going to argue with you that nobody in NJ listens to Top 40, but I don't see that much CHR fanatics dropping Z to Hit. In all fairness, I believe 106.5 is dominating more than 106.3, since Hit is the true CHR that Atlantic City and Southern Ocean enjoys, while AYV, SoJo go to a Hot AC direction, and Kiss goes to a rhythmic direction. 106.3, is where it gets some bumps. You have NOW, Z, and even KTU for that matter, and what is on rotation, sounds repitive. We are not hating or I'm not saying Hit is a failure, I'm just pointing out that Press is a little late in the game to bring back CHR to the shore and having a close to 5 year hiatus to do so.

 

[Matt Knight]

Or how about G-Rock? Hit 106 is a failure compared to G-Rock.

D21 -

This looks like someone saying it's a failure to me. Just saying, and I know it wasn't YOU saying it. But you mentioned "we aren't hating or it's a failure." This particular poster DOES say it.


And for the record, without getting into specifics...we did really well in Monmouth County. Z and Now aren't Monmouth/Ocean, New Jersey based radio stations. Hit is. And sure, I don't expect people to just up and leave, maybe people who like the format would sample us and stick with us. We've been around for a YEAR. Z has been here for 27. Let's be realistic.

 

[nd2023]

I'm not too into alternative rock myself, I like CHR better (and I do like the Hit Mix at 5), but there's something wrong about 7 different CHR stations on the dial and no alternative rock station that sounded like G-Rock.

 

[Matt Knight]

but there's something wrong about 7 different CHR stations on the dial and no alternative rock station that sounded like G-Rock.

Just because stations reach into New Jersey doesn't mean they're NEW JERSEY stations.  We're fully aware of the stations that are coming out of New York and Philadelphia.  However, New Jersey has ONE CHR station. Hit 106 doesn't "compete" with Z100, Now, Q102, SOJO, or WAYV. It competes with The Point, The Hawk, WOBM, The Rat....MONMOUTH/OCEAN STATIONS.

So no, nothing is wrong.  The PERCEPTION of all these stations being New Jersey stations coming into the market from out of market because of their MONSTER signals doesn't make it so.  Are businesses in Monmouth/Ocean going to buy time on a station based in New York or Philly or MONMOUTH/OCEAN?  Radio isn't a charity, it's a big money business.  As I'm sure everyone has noticed, this country is in one of the worst recessions in history.  Unemployment is at an all-time high.  Alternative, no matter HOW you look at it, is a NICHE format from a business standpoint.

Pretend you're a business owner for five seconds.  You have a strict budget for radio commercials.  Do you want your advertising to reach that concentrated audience or as MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE without spending as much money as you would in say a NYC or Philly?  The CHR format allows the latter to happen,which is why you see rock station after rock station across the country going down.  Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an alternative rock fan first and foremost.  G wasn't the only rock station across the country go fall.  Stations in MAJOR markets (NYC, Boston, etc.) all saw their demise in 2009. 

It was very sad to see G go down for staff AND listeners and just like everyone else, I had a period of anger.  Of course we did, it was something that we loved.  But, it's gone.  The decision was made and this is what our station is, and right now...it's doing much better than anyone reading a 12+ number would notice.

Maybe as the economy turns, you'll see rock stations coming back around the country.  There's no indication that this country is out of the woods in that aspect.  Mass appeal stations reach the highest amount of people at any given time.  Bad economy + wanting to reach biggest audience + low budgets = mass appeal.  It's a simpleton's business model but it is what it is, isn't it?

To get back to my original point, being angry about G Rock is one thing.  Criticizing Hit 106 because you're angry about G Rock being gone is completely unfair.  But, like I've said...everyone's got an opinion and I'm completely accepting of that.  I don't expect someone who doesn't listen to the Top 40 format to be satisfied with this station.  So you're going to hate it either way, and that also...is fine.  You're not the person we're trying to reach.  Ask fans of the format what they think.  Those people are who matter most to us, and THOSE people seem to be pretty pleased with the way the station sounds.  Even the haters are listening because for people to post SPECIFIC quotes/liners/songs/jock breaks...you have to be listening to hear that and then post on these boards right?

 

[nd2023]

but there's something wrong about 7 different CHR stations on the dial and no alternative rock station that sounded like G-Rock.

Just because stations reach into New Jersey doesn't mean they're NEW JERSEY stations. We're fully aware of the stations that are coming out of New York and Philadelphia. However, New Jersey has ONE CHR station. Hit 106 doesn't "compete" with Z100, Now, Q102, SOJO, or WAYV. It competes with The Point, The Hawk, WOBM, The Rat....MONMOUTH/OCEAN STATIONS.

So no, nothing is wrong. The PERCEPTION of all these stations being New Jersey stations coming into the market from out of market because of their MONSTER signals doesn't make it so. Are businesses in Monmouth/Ocean going to buy time on a station based in New York or Philly or MONMOUTH/OCEAN? Radio isn't a charity, it's a big money business. As I'm sure everyone has noticed, this country is in one of the worst recessions in history. Unemployment is at an all-time high. Alternative, no matter HOW you look at it, is a NICHE format from a business standpoint.

Pretend you're a business owner for five seconds. You have a strict budget for radio commercials. Do you want your advertising to reach that concentrated audience or as MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE without spending as much money as you would in say a NYC or Philly? The CHR format allows the latter to happen,which is why you see rock station after rock station across the country going down. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an alternative rock fan first and foremost. G wasn't the only rock station across the country go fall. Stations in MAJOR markets (NYC, Boston, etc.) all saw their demise in 2009.

It was very sad to see G go down for staff AND listeners and just like everyone else, I had a period of anger. Of course we did, it was something that we loved. But, it's gone. The decision was made and this is what our station is, and right now...it's doing much better than anyone reading a 12+ number would notice.

Maybe as the economy turns, you'll see rock stations coming back around the country. There's no indication that this country is out of the woods in that aspect. Mass appeal stations reach the highest amount of people at any given time. Bad economy + wanting to reach biggest audience + low budgets = mass appeal. It's a simpleton's business model but it is what it is, isn't it?

To get back to my original point, being angry about G Rock is one thing. Criticizing Hit 106 because you're angry about G Rock being gone is completely unfair. But, like I've said...everyone's got an opinion and I'm completely accepting of that. I don't expect someone who doesn't listen to the Top 40 format to be satisfied with this station. So you're going to hate it either way, and that also...is fine. You're not the person we're trying to reach. Ask fans of the format what they think. Those people are who matter most to us, and THOSE people seem to be pretty pleased with the way the station sounds. Even the haters are listening because for people to post SPECIFIC quotes/liners/songs/jock breaks...you have to be listening to hear that and then post on these boards right?

Most of Hit 106's listeners are button pushers by the nature of the CHR format. I'm sure G-Rock had a higher percentage of P1s.
A niche format can be successful. Take for example Pulse 87, which was billing over a million dollars a year and had a 1 million cume with a niche format of current dance. It only went off the air because the company was millions in debt from before Pulse launched. It didn't need to copy the same CHR format of Z and NOW. It was also way cheaper to advertise on 87.7 than on other stations, and it did have a lot of local advertisers.

Press seems to be more committed to Hit 106, judging by the amount of promotion I've seen. They weren't that committed to G-Rock.

The only difference I notice about Hit 106 is more golds and a less rhythmic lean than most of the CHRs.

New Jersey has 3 CHRs, 94.5 PST, 99.3 Kiss FM, and Hit 106. Monmouth-Ocean may have a CHR of its own, but there's no wall to keep the surrounding CHR stations out of the market.

Anyways, there's no use getting into a pissing contest about the lack of variety on the radio dial in NJ. I wonder why people are abandoning radio.

 

[JerseyShor]

Matt,
Your argument makes sense for 106.3 but not at all for 106.5.

You wrote:
"advertising to reach that concentrated audience or as MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE without spending as much money as you would in say a NYC or Philly".

Why would more people in Ocean County listen to 106.5 than the other three local NJ CHR stations, WAYV, WSJO and WZBZ? All three are equally as strong as 106.5 and play the same music. 106.5 doesn't sound any more "local" than WAYV or WSJO or WZBZ, especially with all its commercials for businesses in Monmouth and Middlesex Counties, and the traffic reports talking about th Turnpike and NYC bridges make it sound even less local.

You wrote:
"However, New Jersey has ONE CHR station.<<

How about WPST, WAYV, WSJO and WZBZ? You could probably even argue that WJLK is a CHR...

>> Hit 106 doesn't "compete" with Z100, Now, Q102, SOJO, or WAYV. It competes with The Point, The Hawk, WOBM, The Rat....MONMOUTH/OCEAN STATIONS."<<

In most of Ocean County you need a 10 foot long antenna atop a 100 foot tower to get "The Point" or "The Rat" but stations like SoJo and WAYV are so strong that they come in not just on 95.1 and 104.9 but also on adjacent channels such as 94.9 or 104.7!

If you're just concerned about the areas that are served by The Point and The Rat you may as well turn off 106.5 right now.

I have to admit, I have checked out Hot 106.5 quite a bit.

I am a fan of the CHR format and I live in Ocean County, but I primarily listen to Q102 or WAYV.

When I listen to your station it sounds like it is from New York City and not local by any stretch of the imagination.

I shop at the Hamilton Mall, Cherry Hill Mall and Ocean County Mall.
I am a Flyers/Eagles/Sixers/Phillies Fan and do go to their games. (I hate the Yankees, Mets, Jets, Giants, Devils and Nets)
I read the Press of Atlantic City and Philadelphia Inquirer.
I go to the Electric Factory, The Borgata, Wachovia Center and Tweeter Center for concerts. (The Meadowlands is 100 miles away, Wachovia is only 65!)
My home phone and cell phone are both area code 609 (all 732 phone numbers are toll calls on my landline)
I drive on Rt. 72, Rt. 70, Rt. 539, GS Parkway, Rt. 73, Rt. 206, Rt. 30 and Rt. 40

Hit 106 does not fit my Ocean County lifestyle at all. I doubt that I am the only person in this county of 500,000+ that feels the same way.

 

[matt murray]

G-Rock was killed because ownership wanted a "mass appeal" station G's 12+ numbers were not good enough. And since when does top 40 break down demos???? its top 40 the 12+ number is everything and its what national buys on. You can shine a turd....but its still a turd.

 

[UncleBozzle]

I totally get the flipping of "G Rock". For a good year or two it was becoming a watered down version of what it once was. I would grant Press the fact that they gave it ample time to gain traction. Business is business, and Matt Knight is right, in this current economy everyone is trying to capture as many listeners(in radio), customers (in retail) as they possible can, so at some point someone will inevitably be unhappy. Tough economic times bring tough economic decisions, and sadly G-Rock going the way of history was one of those decisions. I admit that while driving around with my 13 year old daughter we listen to "Hit 106". The presentation is good, the mix is edgy and upbeat, and you have some good personality on it, really what can anyone ask for? When we head north of Wall/Howell we listen to "Hit 106", anything south is "Thunder 98.5". I think if you look at the demographics Press has the younger kids and adults covered with "Hit", the parents covered with "Thunder", and the grandparents covered with "The Breeze". It makes sense to me. Give them credit for truly being live and local, at least to my knowledge. Many places are voice tracked. In the end someone will bring the Alternative back, but again I agree with Matt, the economy has to change for the better.

 

[Matt Knight]

G-Rock was killed because ownership wanted a "mass appeal" station G's 12+ numbers were not good enough. And since when does top 40 break down demos???? its top 40 the 12+ number is everything and its what national buys on. You can shine a turd....but its still a turd.

Go to any radio station and ask their sales department in this day and age how much of their revenue is generated by "national buys." Being in this market for 10 years, and at G Rock for 5 of them, I've come to learn about the uniqueness of Monmouth/Ocean. Local business drives revenue around here, not just in radio...but in every aspect of economic growth.

12+ may mean alot more in say, a top 10 market...but here, owning the target demographic is much more important, and you know that Matt. You worked here for a period of time and you know that everything within our time together at G-Rock was based on 21-44, with a 70/30 male to female skew. Nobody ever talked about 12+, so to say that 12+ matters so much NOW? Come on. EVERY single station in every single format looks at ALL demographics. Contrary to what you may believe, the 12+ is NOT everything.

Again, everyone is going to have their opinions and as I've said time and time again...I welcome them. Critiques, suggestions, comments. I don't toss them aside as if they don't matter. I read everything on this board and as the PD, it's always good to hear feedback from those who listen.

JerseyShor, your comments about feeling that it's not Ocean County lifestyle based enough are duly noted. See everyone? That's simple right? He made his point and it's been read by the PD and replied to.

I've said what I feel on this, and I'll be leaving the thread alone. Again, thanks to all who support the station.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Hit 106 is going nowhere. The Press spin doctors can try to make lemon out of lemonade, but eventually people are going to catch on and it will happen sooner rather than later. No disrespect to Matt Knight, he's doing the best he can with a very restrictive format. It's just that we have Top 40 stations all over the place. Top 40 and Soft Rock stations account for a good 2/3 of the FM dial here in Ocean County. I understand we're in a recession and conventional wisdom says to go with "safe" formats. But by opting to do that, Press alienated tens of thousands of alternative rock fans, many of whom have not found an adequate substitute for G Rock. The last thing in the world these people want to listen to is Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, and all the other kiddie pop fluff acts, so all they could hope for was to take away listeners from their established competitors (who they like to pretend don't exist, what with the "Finally!" advertising and station IDs). With one year passing and a small fortune spent on promotion and advertising, the ratings have been a good deal smaller, and they're coming from listeners who are a lot less loyal than the G Rock fans. See, Top 40 fans have much to choose from - 92.3 Now, WPLJ, Q102, Wired 96.5, WAYV, SoJo 104.9, 99.3 Kiss FM, WBLI (actually comes in surprisingly good out here!), and of course Z-100 and 94.3 The Point which both dominate Hit 106 in the ratings. G Rock fans, they have nothing ... especially here in Ocean County, where there's nary an alternative rock station to be found.

As for Country Thunder, the jury's still out. The Spring book may have just been a fluke. We'll see if bringing in Chris Van Zant (with that name, he sounds like he was born to host a country music show) will help them out when the Spring '10 book rolls around. If it does, a move to reach Monmouth County with the format would make sense. If not, I'd say put something on 106.3/106.5 that will bring in the ratings that Hit 106 has failed to attain. These frequencies need a format that appeals to adults, plain and simple - the adults who don't want to hear Top 40, soft rock or Neanderthal rock (and there are MANY of them, believe me). Either G Rock, an 'RXP-esque Adult Alternative station, Talk (either local or syndicated, or a combination), or even an '80s or '90s station would be better ideas. One of these formats can go on 98.5 if Country Thunder performs well and warrants a move to two frequencies. But I would definitely advise Press to give up on Hit 106 and move on to something else - it's rating poorly, it's not hitting the desirable demos, and we already have plenty of other hit music stations to choose from. It's had a whole year and it's been easily the most advertised/promoted FM station in the area, yet it still puts up dismal numbers. If it were to flip, I guarantee there wouldn't be anywhere near the uproar that occurred over the decision to drop G Rock.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Press seems to be more committed to Hit 106, judging by the amount of promotion I've seen. They weren't that committed to G-Rock.

That's the comment that pretty much sums it all up. From the way they took liberties with the format in the first few years (playing the likes of John Mayer, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, Five For Fighting, Pink, and Maroon 5 ... even making a brief switch to Hot AC in early '04 while keeping the G 106.3 branding) to the way they abruptly fired morning show hosts without explanation (the GM at the time deciding to replace Brian Phillips & Jen Ursillo with his friend Kramer) tells you that Press was really dropping the ball with G Rock. So does the way they switched their Ocean County simulcast from 98.5 to 106.5 and did little to publicize it - I had to tell some people I knew who thought G Rock "went country" to turn on 106.5. So does the way G Rock got little to nothing in the way of promotion and advertising despite a new PD & MD (Terrie Carr & Matt Murray), a new tagline (Jersey's Rock Alternative), and a new sound that would have brought back all the listeners who were turned off by all the dabbling with adult contemporary artists. So does the way G Rock was abruptly flipped with no warning to listeners and only 2 hours notice to staff. And so does the way that Press didn't at least make G Rock an online station, unlike so many of the other alternative rockers that flipped in the past year or so (Indie, WOXY, WBCN, etc.).

Conversely, Press is doing everything possible to make Hit 106 work. Advertising, both in print and on billboards. Remotes can be found everywhere - I've seen them at the Ocean County Fair, a McDonald's grand opening, Hemingway's Cafe in Seaside, and Jenks Club in Point Pleasant Beach ... they have been all over the place! I didn't watch Jersey Shore (just like everything else on MTV, not my cup of tea), but it wouldn't surprise me if they did some kind of cross-promotion with the show, since they play the kind of music that crowd eats up like hotcakes. Finally, the big one: they got creative with their advertising. I'm hearing 10 second spots, and I'm also hearing Press actively soliciting businesses by talking up the upsides of radio commercials and telling them to contact their sales department. This is something I NEVER heard on G Rock, and I listened often.

Press staff can talk about their increased revenue, but it's only because they actually give a damn now. If they had with G Rock, there's no doubt that the outcome would have been the same. I also find it amusing that 12+ mattered so much when G Rock was on the air (they were cited as the reason for the flip, were they not?), but they suddenly don't with Hit 106. Maybe if they used outside-the-box tactics like they are today, they could have sold more advertising. The audience was there, and there's plenty of evidence to prove that. It's just that sales/management/ownership clearly lacked the passion to make G Rock work, so they moved on to something that they were passionate about: bubblegum fluff like Miley Cyrus, AutoTuned hacks like Akon, caveman rubbish like Nickelback, easy listen dreck like Colbie Caillat, and mental midget rappers like Soulja Boy Tell Em. It all lacks substance, and has little appeal to the adults that businesses truly want to reach with their advertising.

Just because stations reach into New Jersey doesn't mean they're NEW JERSEY stations. We're fully aware of the stations that are coming out of New York and Philadelphia. However, New Jersey has ONE CHR station. Hit 106 doesn't "compete" with Z100, Now, Q102, SOJO, or WAYV. It competes with The Point, The Hawk, WOBM, The Rat....MONMOUTH/OCEAN STATIONS.

Hit 106 may not compete with them, but it's losing to them big time: WHTZ and WKTU share a bunch of acts, and they're winning. The Point, despite its Hot AC billing, plays almost all of the same acts that your station plays (including some Urban acts ... they are on Jason Derulo and IYAZ, among others), and it's not even close between the two of you - they're winning handily with inferior coverage. Ditto for other so-called Hot ACs WPLJ, WAYV, WSJO, etc. Hence, they are competitors in the eyes of your listeners. Those who wanted to hear Top 40 tuned in to all of those stations. You are one of the Johnny-come-latelys to the format (along with 92.3 Now), so you have to convince everyone that yours is the best of a crowded field. I have a lot of respect for you and think you're a capable personality/programmer, but that's a lot tougher than providing the market with a format that it lacks, and the ratings clearly prove that. It's going to take more than simply playing a couple of dance hits from years ago per hour to convince people to listen, when 90% or more of what you play can be heard on at least half a dozen other stations anywhere in the market. And it also doesn't help that the morning show is comparable to vultures squawking directly into your ear when you're hung over.

 

[hubcity]

Disclaimer: The following comments are worth no more than the paper they're printed on.

I think Hit 106 is doing a good job, and I think it doesn't particularly matter what their 12+ numbers are relative to G-Rock's numbers. That's because I think a well-imaged, well-programmed top 40 station pulls more income per ratings point than alternative rock does. The fact that Hit 106 is better imaged and better programmed in its genre than G-Rock was for most of its existence just goes to show that a station without a committed ownership cannot thrive; if it reaches a point where it does sound decent, it does so in spite of its ownership, and that's a state of affairs that can't last long.

Which is why I really don't get why people want to force Press to bring back G-Rock. It's not like they did such a great job the first time, Terrie Carr notwithstanding, so I don't know why we'd think they'd do such a good job now.

Simply put, this is what they always wanted to do. They should have done it in 2000 when they bought the station. They're way better at hit radio than they are at alternative.

In the meantime, not for nothing, but there's a few people that are pretty good at alternative radio trying to do just that...didja get the Altrok Radio iPhone app, yet?

 

[d21ofnj]

And for the record, without getting into specifics...we did really well in Monmouth County. Z and Now aren't Monmouth/Ocean, New Jersey based radio stations. Hit is. And sure, I don't expect people to just up and leave, maybe people who like the format would sample us and stick with us. We've been around for a YEAR. Z has been here for 27. Let's be realistic.

You're right, Z & Now are NYC stations, but Z is getting a higher overall than The Point, and we all know Now isn't so hot here. Let's not forget, there were a couple of CHR stations that were broadcasted/simulcasted here, K94.3 in the mid 90's tried, K104 simulcasting on 107.1 also tried, and we all know where B98.5 went, which in my mind was a boneheaded decision to do. I'm not saying Hit will or is going to fail, but look at the history of CHR's that were Jersey Shore CHR's. But since Hit is doing well in ads, revenue, and ratings, then congrats to everyone at Hit. 8)

Hit 106 may not compete with them, but it's losing to them big time: WHTZ and WKTU share a bunch of acts, and they're winning. The Point, despite its Hot AC billing, plays almost all of the same acts that your station plays (including some Urban acts ... they are on Jason Derulo and IYAZ, among others), and it's not even close between the two of you - they're winning handily with inferior coverage.

I notice a tweak on rotation in 2008 with The Point, but ever since G-Rock went to Dial Global, The Point jumped on with their tag "The Jersey Shore's Hit Music Channel." If anything, Millennium was a johnny-come-lately on this one.

A niche format can be successful. Take for example Pulse 87, which was billing over a million dollars a year and had a 1 million cume with a niche format of current dance. It only went off the air because the company was millions in debt from before Pulse launched. It didn't need to copy the same CHR format of Z and NOW. It was also way cheaper to advertise on 87.7 than on other stations, and it did have a lot of local advertisers.

Remember Nick, Pulse was in NYC, and Pulse did prove NYC can fufill a dance station, but what about Monmouth/Ocean? Just because 967party.com had 2,000 presets, and most of them were from here, and did get attention to promoters and DJ's in nightclubs, doesn't mean that I would still have success if this were to land on terrestrial. I did have a lot of heat and issues with the stream with people either stuck on the "Disco Sucks" meme, and people that were involved with the "Benny Go Home" campaign. On the bright side, I did encounter a few sources who were tied to an advertiser that wanted to bill some ads for me, since they couldn't afford KTU. And to be honest, my main target was mass appeal. The biggest mission was going to a Sirius The Beat direction a.k.a. Dance Music 101. To let people know that dance is not about techno rave glowsticking, or just hear boom, boom, boom, boom all day. If you noticed, I had about 40% pop remixes on rotation. May not satisfy the core fans, but attracted the mainstream.

 

[oasisrulz]

CHR and this Hit Music fantasy is only another brand name for URBAN music. Thats what the suits make the top tunes, not like in the past when one could of heard country, soul, rock, folk on the same Hit Music station, CHR is over 90% urbanic. So in reality, its just another URBAN format which is in saturation in the jammed urban market already..... just call these phoney format titles Urban not CHR.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I notice a tweak on rotation in 2008 with The Point, but ever since G-Rock went to Dial Global, The Point jumped on with their tag "The Jersey Shore's Hit Music Channel." If anything, Millennium was a johnny-come-lately on this one.

The only thing that really changed at The Point was the branding. Musically, they have been the same ever since the evolution of Hot AC occurred. Since it's not a format I follow avidly, I couldn't tell you when that was. But since I wander the FM dial due to the lack of stations that I can even tolerate, I have noticed that stations with this format have changed from "'80s, '90s and Today" to being almost identical to a CHR. There may be some subtle difference to those who listen for more than an hour (a Gold title here and there, slightly less hip-hop), but other than that, they're almost exactly the same.

It's completely ridiculous. No joke - I can't even count how many stations there are that play Pink, Katy Perry, Akon, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, and all that other rubbish. Yet we can't even get one alternative rock station, one talk station (national issues, not just local ones like on New Jersey 101 Cheap 5), one REAL rock station (not just old tired classic rock and some station with a mouse logo that actually considers Bon Jovi rock), one station that is doing a little something different from the same tired dreck that can be heard all over the place. If there's a market out there that's even worse for radio than Monmouth/Ocean, I don't know about it. I've actually given up listening, that's how bad it is. I just check in with this board to see if anything new is happening. Until it does, radio is dead to me.