Will new york get another alt station once it is flipped to news/talk?

[hotpatrick2004]

It sounds like it is a done deal very sad that both new york and chicago will lose there alternative stations And we peeps that like the format have randy michaels to blame. Well that may not be fair if they are not doing well as the old saying goes keep doing what your doing you will keep getting what your getting. Why not try and tinker with the existing stations instead of blowing them up.

K rock that now is a sad tale of a once decent alternative station. They should have just made it kroq east instaed of the crap they programmed on it.

A sad day in my opinion

 

[TimeIsTight]

If you're into Alternative, give "The Alternate Side" a shot.

You can hear it Monday to Friday 6-AM until Noon on WNYE 91.5. It's a good signal in the NYC area and a valiant effort by listener supported WFUV to get more Alternative music on the air, by renting a second main channel signal that may even provide better coverage than WFUV has itself.

Given the WRXP problems it is unlikely any other commercial station will try Alternative any time soon.

 

[Barry]

Also, let's not forget that G Rock in NJ was recently taken off the air, and replaced by a Top 40 format. So apparently, even in the outreaches of the New York metro area, which are presumably more into rock, an alternative station was flipped.
Yet the area has a whole bunch of stations with narrow, boring classic rock formats. It is clear what advertisers prefer.
With regard to the Alternate Side on WFUV, it should also be mentioned that this excellent station is available 24/7 on WFUV HD3 (90.7).

 

[hotpatrick2004]

G rock n jersey is now country i believe they tried top 40 but i think the market is over saturated with top 40 and who wants to here piped in top 40. Very sad what has happened to 106.3 on the jersey shore. A sad tale of a bunch of clueless radio peeps.

 

[nd2023]

Maybe alternative rock could be the eventual format of the new translator

 

[DToTheJ]

... provided it gets back on the air, of course...

Wouldn't that be an interesting turn of events: The translator on 106.3, originally intended as a country station, but blown out by 106.3 in Eatontown, returns with a format similar to 106.3 in Eatontown's old format!

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Unfortunately commercial FM radio is no longer a place for active music fans or new music discovery. It's about mindless familiarity entirely driven by the few remaining major labels which themselves are becoming arguably irrelevant.

That's why Randy Michaels would be smart to flip his new stations to talk. And let's give credit where due, he's no dummy when it comes to the business of radio so I'm sure that's WRXP's fate.

Fortunately there are good alternative sources for rock and alternative music, they're just not FM radio stations any more. Let's start with YouTube -- who said the presentation even needs to resemble radio any more? The Internet is where the music is now, and the continuing disappearance of FM stations that cater to younger listeners ensures that's where more and more of them are ending up.

It sure doesn't bode well for the future of radio when you alienate everyone under 40, but then the music and radio industries aren't known for planning ahead beyond the next quarter. In that respect FM talk seems like a great plan for the present.

 

[Steve_Green]

WRXP also had been picking up some improved suburban numbers in recent report cards. Perhaps a country format would fare even better.

We keep hearing about WPLJ printing their own money with ratings lower than the last few outgoing presidents. What makes their sales staff so efficient and different from the rest?

One thing that makes me go 'shrug' is the recent lemminglike trend to envision the once-heralded FM spectrum as the next dial for anything but music. If Randy Michaels' blueprint causes some substantial commotion, expect the usual mudslide of copycats who will turn FM into the next short wave dial. With WFME and WBAI, a foundation already has been established. But the chief suspcion here is that the whole concept of non music spreading to FM is not pioneering. It's reaction. Same emporers ; same flunkies; new wardrobes. Taking more music away from FM cannot be a good thing. Moreover, this gesture is not new product.

The huge markets, New York especially, have been in need of a real china-shop bull since Scott Shannon's ideas came to town at 100.3. But his station was music. Talk radio/sports-talk/Hot talk/news-talk is not a new idea. Not for a dial that has been looking quite some time for young blood to replenish the older listeners the way AM and FM had done for decades -- through music. Well, some philosophy really screwed up THAT supply line, didn't it?

Anything less musical is an outright admission by the programmers of the "For Music' dial that their own reactive, niched shortsighedness wasn't any incredible vision, or copyright, or 'happening', or breakthrough. Collectively it's been one big, over-leveraged series of corks jammed into the hull of a quite serviceable cruiseliner.

The uprising probably will be good inasmuch as it takes Camping out of the radio headlines for four months. It's been halfway through the year and his likeness was virtually being bronzed for the Broadcasting Hall of Fame for his 2011 programming exploits.

 

[DToTheJ]

Just as Scott Shannon was an innovator of "hit radio" on New York FM twenty-eight years ago, Randy Michaels could be the innovator of talk radio on New York FM, if the stars that are out indeed align to form the spoken-word dipper on 101.9...

Always good to read your colorful posts here and on the NYRMB, Steve!

 

[BobSmolarek]

I think that rock fans are too picky and it makes their universe small. For instance I hear some posters on these boards knock Nickelback, saying that they are not rocky enough. Then they complain about old rock. This rock is too alternative, that rock is too much for soccer moms. That rock is pop music. They've cut the pie so small that they can't support a full power station. That's why the G-Rocks and K-Rocks are gone.

 

[TheBigA]

Unfortunately commercial FM radio is no longer a place for active music fans or new music discovery.

Actually, in other formats, commercial FM is a great place for new music discovery. Country, Urban, and pop formats are driven by a high percentage of new music and new artists. But rock has really splintered into a format that really has no center any more. Just a lot of edges and fringes. This is the fault of the music itself, not radio.

 

[oldradiohand]

I agree with TheBigA and BobSmolarek that rock really has splintered into too many genres and subgenres. We had many great AOR stations in the 70s & 80s, but I am not sure today's audience would react well to stations like WNEW or WMMS (Cleveland) if they programmed today's music in the same accessable, entertaining manner that the stations did back in the day. Of course I am an old man, but to me, many of today's rock listeners seem to be more closed minded than the audiences of the 70s, 80s and early 90s. When I can get it, I find WDHA in Morristown is a commercial station doing a good 21st century version of AOR, but I don't know its demos or ratings. I can't go as far as saying the fault is totally the music and its followers, because stations like WMMR and KROQ do well. If we want a successful active rock or alternative station in New York, it will need great personalities, a creative programmer and rock fans willing to be opened minded

Perhaps in New York, current rock needs to be taken up by the noncommercial stations so money and ratings pressures aren't an issue. WSOU does a good job with the metal format and finding new music. The simultcast of WFUV's HD3 "The Alternative" on WNYE has yet to appeal to me or my young adult kids, but they could make it work and it does give voice to new artists. They could never get rid of Phil, but with it's coverage, WKCR would probably get WRXP like numbers if it flipped to alternative.

 

[Brooklyndon]

New York has not had any real alternative cread since Danny stopped working as the music director for the stream that shall remain nameless. In less than 3 months it went from playing Cold War Kids and Kaiser Chiefs to Nickelback and Shinedown. Disgraceful.

Someone please, give me an NYC based stream that either a. Kurt Cobain would be proud to listen to
b. avoids trying to pick whats cool now because of its ineptitude and sticks to playing deep grunge cuts from 91 to 96 that other people have told them are cool
c. plays 90s style hip hop free of autotune and singalong raps

 

[Barry]

K Rock on 92.3 HD2 and online sounds good to me. It is one of the few local HD stations that has dj's.
And it airs B Local, a program devoted to local alternative bands.
The original poster indicates he does not like it, but did not offer any reason.

 

[RockTheGlobe]

K Rock on 92.3 HD2 and online sounds good to me. It is one of the few local HD stations that has dj's.
And it airs B Local, a program devoted to local alternative bands.
The original poster indicates he does not like it, but did not offer any reason.

Having DJs doesn't automatically make a station good -- especially not in this case, where the DJs are absolutely horrible.

It might be a moot point anyway, who knows what they'll do with K-Rock HD2 once Bill Fitzpatrick rolls out. If they really want to make it halfway decent, they'll blow out the airstaff and either run jockless or get some people in there who actually sound even a little entertaining or knowledgeable.

 

[TheBigA]

I can't go as far as saying the fault is totally the music and its followers, because stations like WMMR and KROQ do well.

I think heritage plays a big part in why those stations continue to do well. When you have heritage, people cut you slack. But if you start from scratch, the way this station did, you're seen as a vulture. Had WNEW-FM stayed on the air in some way, with some of the same talent, they might have found a way to wrangle through the musical minefield. But any station that starts in a format from scratch operates at a disadvantage, unless it's MUCH BETTER than what was there before. Because you'll always be compared. If you're not better, no one will cut you slack, and you end up like David Lee Roth. Had he hosted a music show instead of a talk show, it might have worked. It still would not have equalled Howard. But it would not have been the total failure that it became.

 

[Barry]

There are several stations in nearby Connecticut and Long Island with similar classic rock programming-WBAB, WRKI, WFOX, WRCN, and WPLR. Some of these may play the occasional current, but they are basically dinosaur rock. Would it make sense for at least one of them to go alternative or some other form of modern rock? Perhaps alternative is more appropriate for a suburban or nearby medium market station than for a Class B in New York City.
While G Rock was recently taken off the air in NJ, WRRV in Middletown NY continues to do well as an alternative rock station.

 

[RockTheGlobe]

There are several stations in nearby Connecticut and Long Island with similar classic rock programming-WBAB, WRKI, WFOX, WRCN, and WPLR. Some of these may play the occasional current, but they are basically dinosaur rock. Would it make sense for at least one of them to go alternative or some other form of modern rock? Perhaps alternative is more appropriate for a suburban or nearby medium market station than for a Class B in New York City.
While G Rock was recently taken off the air in NJ, WRRV in Middletown NY continues to do well as an alternative rock station.

Not so much, at least for the Connecticut stations. The format is already being served by WMRQ (Radio 104.1)/Hartford, which has a pretty good signal over most of the state, so those stations in Fairfield and New Haven would be jumping into a format war in Connecticut that they may not want to engage in, especially a station like WPLR that's firmly entrenched in the market and recently celebrated its 40th anniversary... doubt they want to give up their position. Plus, do any of those signals actually make it into the New York metro area? It's been a while since I've lived in the area, but I seem to recall that none of those signals actually made it into New York City proper.

 

[Brooklyndon]

The original poster indicates he does not like it, but did not offer any reason.

I don't like it because Shinedown and Nickleback are not alternative. Not even a little bit.

Do you think the K-Rock2 stream, as it is currently programmed, is anything near relevant to alternative music?
Was it relevant to alternative music back in 2008?

The jocks are awful. Be local is good for the 2 hours a week it on.

The stream is waste. I hope they learn from their successes and their failures and undo the damage of 2010 and 2011.

 

[RockTheGlobe]

The original poster indicates he does not like it, but did not offer any reason.

I don't like it because Shinedown and Nickleback are not alternative. Not even a little bit.

Do you think the K-Rock2 stream, as it is currently programmed, is anything near relevant to alternative music?
Was it relevant to alternative music back in 2008?

The jocks are awful. Be local is good for the 2 hours a week it on.

The stream is waste. I hope they learn from their successes and their failures and undo the damage of 2010 and 2011.

Brooklyndon, have you listened to K-Rock2 at all recently? Nickelback is not a part of the playlist. Yes, the stream as it's currently programmed is relevant to Alternative music and the radio format as it's broadcast across the nation. Artists like Florence + The Machine, The Kaiser Chiefs, Mumford & Sons, The Boxer Rebellion and The Arcade Fire are played often on K-Rock2 alongside format staples like Bush, The Foo Fighters and Nirvana, and they also do go into the harder-edged side of things with artists like Three Days Grace and Shinedown -- which are also getting airplay on Alternative FM stations. KTBZ/Houston, which is one of the highest-rated Alt stations in the country, has both Shinedown and Three Days Grace in their top 20 right now.

I actually like K-Rock2's music selection. But I do think the jocks are horrible.