WRAT Just Played...

[SoulCrusher]

..."Broken" by Seether & Amy Lee. From Evanescence.

It's disappointing to hear that our "Rock" station is playing utter fluff like this. This is a song that could have been recorded by Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt (remember "Don't Know Much"? I couldn't help being reminded of it by this song). It doesn't belong on a station that presents itself as edgy.

I like WRAT, but the thing that prevents it from posting consistently strong ratings is the fact that too much of what they play can be heard elsewhere, on stations that have stronger signals or have been around longer. There are a lot of great bands that receive little or no air time on the station, and at the same time they play the hell out of the same bands that G Rock Radio also plays the hell out of (Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Audioslave, etc). Also, do they think that their audience wants to hear all this softer music with practically no heavier bands thrown in at all? Where's Slipknot, Sevendust, System Of A Down, and non-remixed Korn? Is this Greater Media's influence at play? I remember the station going deeper and playing more currents under its previous owners. WRAT inches ever closer to sounding like sister station WMMR in Philly.

There's a station ID that says "Everything The Rat Plays Rocks". But when they're playing mush like "Broken" and sappy schmaltz by the likes of 3 Doors Down and Finger Eleven among others, it becomes increasingly more difficult to believe it. Come on WRAT, start living up to your words!

 

[tom]

Please stop the nit-picking. Remember the old adage "variety is the spice of life" ...
We don't need a song by song whinefest for every station.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Yes, I have the tendency to nit-pick. I was spoiled by the great stations in South Jersey and elsewhere whenever we get a DX opening, that I expect our stations to follow suit. But is it wrong to expect a Rock station to play, well, Rock? I personally think the song "Broken" belongs there as much as Cannibal Corpse belongs on Lite-FM, but there's a lot of people who disagree with me. Even more shocking was the Hoobastank song "The Reason" getting Active/Alternative Rock airplay and doing well on top of that. You could chalk that up to the artist being hot on the formats at the time. It basically sounded like a Phil Collins song - would they have played it if it was Collins who recorded it? I think not.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Listening to WRAT right now. They claim that "Everything The Rat Plays Rocks". Meanwhile, we go on to hear songs like "So Far Away" by Staind and "Be Like That" by 3 Doors Down that owe more to Bread and Air Supply than any Rock band I have ever heard.

Then I turn on G Rock Radio, and they play AFI's "Miss Murder", with this awful edit after the second chorus that ruins the whole song. The slow part with the screaming was the best part of the entire song, and now they replace it with some lame part where Davey Havok repeats the phrase "my heart". Is this AFI or Nick Lachey? It's disappointing to see an Alternative station play the Hot AC/CHR edit of a song.

That's the problem with Monmouth/Ocean - everything sounds way too safe and boring over here. Whether we talk about having Rock stations with an extra X chromosome thrown in, or the myriad Christian LPFMs in the market, it's a barren wasteland for those seeking exciting radio. It's very disappointing that this is all we have to choose from. Why can't somebody get it right, like 102.7 The Ace (WJSE) in Atlantic City? I wish someone in this market would start taking notes - this is how it's done.

I'm not making the jump to XM or Sirius - at least not yet. It's a known fact that these companies are struggling, hence making me question whether such an investment would be a wise one.

 

[Herb999]

SC, there are 2.1 reasons why no one will duplicate the ace.

 

[SoulCrusher]

SC, there are 2.1 reasons why no one will duplicate the ace.

Herb, may I direct you to the "98.5, midnight, Sunday-Monday" thread? The conversation has taken a turn toward WJSE and how pitiful their signal is - that is what is truly holding the station back, not the format. It's only, what, a few tenths of a point behind that flamethrower that covers the entire market, WSJO (SoJo 104.9)? Not bad for a station that maybe covers half the market, if that. All things considered, between losing Stern, format/lineup adjustments and low overhead, the station is doing respectable with all those strikes against it. Now think of how well that format would do if it had a signal, or better yet, was in Monmouth/Ocean. Unfortunately, it will be nothing more than a thought, because these media conglomerates see Monmouth/Ocean as a haven for retirees (it's become much more than that).

 

[Herb999]

To be honest with you, jse's signal is a bit better in the city than sojo, it is also better south too. Sojo dominates the west part of Atlantic County. Jse used to get great ratings with that signal, while it is an issue I see their signal as a minor one.

The problem with many rock listeners is that they could be in love with a band but once they hear one song from them on the radio, they will no longer listen to the band ever again. You may not be like that, your friends may not be like that too, but far too many are all about being anti-society and only want to listen to music that no one else is listening to. It makes them feel cool for whatever reason. It is the main reason why terrestrial radio has problems playing new rock. Look at KROQ, they spent years being too hip for the room so they now are cool enough to get the support of these types of people. It is almost impossible to build the reputation that a station like that has. It is the #1 billing station in the nation for a reason, too bad that the negative mindset of so many rock listeners make that success almost impossible to duplicate.