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WRAT: Too Much Chicken Rock?

S

SoulCrusher

I haven't listened to WRAT much in the last few months due to the improvement in G Rock's programming. I also started listening a lot less after they played Hinder's "Lips Of An Angel" more times than any decent person should ever be subjected to. While I'm definitely happy to see that they have maintained pretty much the same entire airstaff for their entire run thus far, it should be noted that WRAT's programming quality has headed downhill as of late.

You could possible chalk it up to Greater Media placing their chicken rock template on the station ever since they acquired it - the station did offer a good deal of surprises under the previous ownership. Another issue is the fact that the playlist has been stuck in the rut of playing so many of the same acts in fairly heavy rotation ever since they signed on - Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Rush, the token hair rockers, etc. I mean, nothing against these acts, but one can only hear the same songs over and over again before they tune out.

I would say the main problem is in the category of new music. A very limited selection of Currents (about 20, and that's being generous) combined with a lot of acts that hardly qualify as rock. The other night I actually heard them playing the new Santana song. Yes, the same Santana that collaborates with whatever lame pop tarts are real popular right now. Amazing guitarist, but his best work is at least 30 years behind him. ... In addition, they're still playing Daughtry's "It's Not Over" (a song that's a year old) 14 times a week. Yeah, that's right, Daughtry - the guy that was on American Idol, probably hoping to become the next Justin Timberlake before Clive Davis decided to mold him into the next Nickelback instead. Wuss rock at its worst, and it receives more spins on the Lites and Magics of the world than any rock stations anyway. Not to mention that it's an exact clone of Fuel's "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" with new lyrics. I thought Rock music was supposed to be dangerous - this guy actually manages to make Michael Bolton look tough. ... They're still playing Nickelback and Hinder (also toothless pop rock acts) incessantly. ... Linkin Park's "What I've Done" still gets 14 spins a week (Daughtry, Hinder, Nickelback, Linkin Park - who exactly is WRAT targeting anyway? For a Rock station, they are way too female friendly.). ... There's other songs that have been in the rotation for 9 months that still receive heavy spins (Finger Eleven, Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach's "Forever", etc.) ... They're finally playing Atreyu for the first time now that they've put out a song with no screaming that sounds like a cross between Def Leppard and Papa Roach. ... What I find just as disappointing is what they're not playing. They won't touch anything on the heavier side of rock (Killswitch Engage and Five Finger Death Punch are both big, why not play them? Oh yeah - wouldn't want to scare away the Daughtry and Nickelback fans. Never mind the fact that nearly every other station in Monmouth/Ocean already plays them.). They aren't playing Hurt, a band with two members from New Jersey who aren't receiving spins anywhere else. No Drowning Pool, Mudvayne, Sevendust... WRAT has just turned into a very soft Rock station. I would even say that it's softer than WMMR, who have been leaning a little heavier in order to stay on top of WYSP.

I'm not trying to be negative in any way - this is all just constructive criticism. I just think the station is playing it too safe. WRAT markets itself as edgy with its station IDs, but the majority of the music they play is the antithesis of edgy. There's nothing wrong with playing a good amount of familiar material, but after a while the same old thing becomes stale and causes people to tune out, and I think that's why WRAT always fluctuates in the ratings as much as it does. And would anyone honestly be upset if they played less of the soccer mom fluff in favor of some edgier acts that no one else is playing? This is what would help return WRAT to their former glory (routinely receiving 4 shares even with its modest signal). Let's face it, this market needs a Rock station, and rather than trying to compete with all these Adult Contemporary stations by playing so many crossover titles, WRAT should just focus on being a good Rock station - that includes living up to their claim of "playing it all" and not being afraid of spinning some heavier titles.
 
i think The Rat is decent, i listen past Trenton where i can pull it in, and in levittown when it Tropo skips over 20 more miles than usual.

i do however agree, get lips of an angel off of there...as well as like songs
 
My big issue w/ WRAT is that the signal sucks! I'm in their listening range and it is always static.... We should be able to get it on Exit 120 of the Parkway!

On another note I do wish WRAT would go slightly heavier... I think they used to sound great a couple of years ago - do they classify themselves as Rock or Active Rock??... because if its the latter i really don't know where the "Active" is coming from.....
 
They call themselves Active Rock, which bugs me since they are so far off from that label. No station that calls themselves Active that I know plays Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Rush, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty et al, while pretty much distancing themselves from anything heavier than, say, Godsmack (and they still get fairly minor airplay compared to the likes of Nickelback and their ilk). Again, nothing against the acts in the first category, but they can all be heard in so many other places.

WRAT definitely used to be more aggressive at one time, while still playing the aforementioned artists and other classic rock acts. Why the shift to MOR rock occurred, I don't know, but it's been there at least since Greater Media took over, if not even before that. With WRAT sharing so much of its library with other stations both in and out of the market, it's foolish of them not to move a little heavier. It would make them more unique and fit the station's edgy image much better.
 
Well, however you feel about WRAT, two things are true: First, WRAT doesn't have a sound that stands out from other stations. They're basically a composite of the classic rocker, the alternative, and the Hot AC, and a very small amount of acts that they own in the market (Metallica, Disturbed, Godsmack - I think that's it). Second, there really is a need for an edgier rocker in the market. We have a softer than average "Active Rocker" and an Alternative that, while admittedly good, leans soft enough to target the wedding expo crowd (and subjects us to more Linkin Park than any decent person should be subjected to - just had to say it), and a safe as milk classic rocker. There are several bands out here with Gold and Platinum albums to their names that NO ONE plays around here. I've traveled to many different parts of the country, and most places have a station that plays the harder rock acts like Static-X, Sevendust, Mudvayne, Slipknot, etc. that WRAT shies away from because they don't put out cheesy soap opera anthems like Nickelback, Daughtry and 3 Doors Down. Part of the problem is that people glance at the ratings book and see a station referring to themselves as "Active Rock" and cross that off the list of formats to try. Please - WRAT sounds more like WPLJ than any Active Rocker I've ever heard. The other problem of course is the 1996 Telecommunications Act. That explains why we have three companies operating every single commercial FM in Monmouth/Ocean.

I'm not trying to be overly critical or insulting. I just think the station's very safe, timid sound provides a strange contrast to the station's attitude as heard in the IDs. Hearing the station's programming really makes you think the station should ditch their current voice for a female one and change their name to "The Teddy Bear" or "The Mouse". What's more, we can hear almost everything they play somewhere else. Greater Media, notorious for their chicken rock empire of radio stations, could be held responsible, but even WMMR is sounding slightly more aggressive than usual, and certainly edgier than both DHA and The Rat. If they could at least make an attempt to enhance their sound and evolve with the times, it would be for the better. And that would include not being afraid of heavier rock (why they are not on Killswitch Engage's cover of "Holy Diver", a Top 20 hit, we'll never know) as well as leaving wussies like Hinder and Daughtry to the soccer mom outlets.

P.S.: Daughtry's "It's Not Over" got 20 (that's right, 20) spins last week. Enough is enough with this American Idol wuss rocker.
 
MMR & YSP & 107 The Bone, are playing pink floyd, rush, tom petty, pink floyd & zeppelin, and they are ACTIVE rock...but then again, they are all over Killswitch Tool SOAD RATM Korn, etc
 
The thing that gets me about WRAT is hearing all the station IDs ("we rock harder than anyone else", "everything The Rat plays rocks", etc.) and then having it followed up with some toothless 3 Doors Down ballad, or something else of that ilk. I've heard it happen so many times, hence the reason for starting the thread. Rather than actually giving Monmouth/Ocean what it needs, WRAT is content to just sit back and play an endless procession of chicken rock. Not one selection on the playlist is really inspired, and nothing is making me raise an eyebrow. This is definitely the light side of rock being represented here in all degrees. And when they could be playing acts like Killswitch Engage, Sevendust, Nonpoint, etc., what do they choose to play instead? Sebastian Bach (yeah, the guy from the hair metal band Skid Row - that's right), Santana & Chad Kroeger (Hot AC song! No rock station plays this crap except for you!) and continued heavy airplay for older titles by Daughtry, Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, Finger Eleven and others. And even when they do play something like Five Finger Death Punch on one of their special features, it's a weak no-screaming edit of the song. That's fine for a Top 40 station, but completely unacceptable for a station that tries so hard to position itself as edgy.

The demand is here for a real rock station, not some chicken rock/moldy oldies hybrid. WRAT could go back to their roots in having an edge and not being afraid to play some heavier bands, or they could continue to be content with fair-to-middling ratings with their doctor's office approved "rock" sound. I'm assuming the latter will be the case, so I definitely hope someone will give this format a shot. It is very reasonable to expect WRAT to play heavier rock bands, since there are stations all around the country doing it. These are not obscure bands or polarizing acts like Cannibal Corpse that they are ignoring - many of these bands have Gold and Platinum albums to their names, and no one in the market plays them! WRAT could, but instead they choose to support wannabe American Idol pop star Daughtry, Nickelback, Hinder and other spineless soccer mom garbage that appears on countless other stations. It's a really disappointing direction the station has taken. I enjoy the airstaff at WRAT and tip my hat to them for their longevity, but at the end of the day, The Rat is a music station - the quality of the programming has to improve drastically in order to keep this station afloat. The fluctuating ratings at the station are an indication that the same old thing combined with white bread pop/rock wears thin with a lot of listeners. Here's hoping that whoever's calling the shots at WRAT can rectify the problems before it's too late.
 
What the hell kind of rock station is WRAT anyway? Santana & Chad Kroeger's (yes, Chad Kroeger, frontman of Nickelback - the poster boy of tame, toothless Mom Rock) "Into The Night" - a song that NEVER went for adds at any Rock format - was spun 18 TIMES this past week on WRAT. You know, Nickelback once every couple of hours is more than enough. I think that everyone who likes them has their albums by now - that leaves the rest of us, who think they're generic, unintelligent, and absolutely worthless. American Idol's (the show that searches for the next POP superstar - let's make that perfectly clear) Daughtry and his Adult Contemporary staple "It's Not Over" also logged 18 spins at The Mouse. You read that right - a soft rock song that's over a year old by an American Idol contestant is still in heavy rotation over at WRAT. I get to thinking we would sooner hear Kelly Clarkson on this station than real rock bands like Shadows Fall or Killswitch Engage. They also added another Adult Contemporary cheese rocker to their playlist in Lenny Kravitz, who hasn't written a decent song in about 10 years now (I mean, have you heard the audio abomination that is "Lady"?). Really, it's sad when you turn on a station hoping to hear rock music and you wonder if you accidentally landed on Fresh, PLJ, or The Point ... but that's what a lot of WRAT's musical programming reminds me of. In the lite-rock wasteland that is the Monmouth/Ocean radio dial, this is the last thing we need.

Just had to get it off my chest. If anyone ever wonders why WRAT fluctuates in ratings so much, it's because people get bored with the same old thing and all the spineless soft rock that can be heard on any other station in the market. Instead of trying to fight for a segment of the soccer mom audience, WRAT should focus on being a rock station for the male listener. Enough of the cheesy Nickelback / Hinder / Daughtry / Creed junk. That's why you aren't pulling 4 shares any more. Good luck articulating that to the brain trust over at Greater Media - you would sooner achieve success in getting an elephant to fly.
 
Why is WRAT struggling in the ratings?

I'm restarting this thread and opening it up for discussion. WRAT is a station that should be doing better than it is. When it launched, it had a very good sound - it mixed lots of new titles in with classic rock acts and actually built quite a following. They even played many tracks that FM 106.3 slept on, like Failure's "Stuck On You".

Fast forward 12 years, an acquisition by Greater Media later, and this station is just lost. I can commend WRAT on having a good airstaff and maintaining it over the years, but that's only the accoutrements, as it were - at the end of the day, they're a music station, and a very weak one at that. These days, it sounds like WMMR's toothless sister station.

The mix has slanted very much toward the old guard, which is unfortunate because many people are getting tired of the same old songs time and time again (hey, WRAT - ever think maybe that is why your audience has eroded?).

The list of "Currents" that they play features quite a few songs that are a full year old or more.

They claim to be "the station that plays it all", yet I could name a ridiculous amount of acts that they should be playing but aren't (Hurt, Five Finger Death Punch, Red, Mudvayne, Bullet For My Valentine, Ashes Divide - nowhere to be found on WRAT's playlist).

Instead, the style of "rock" that they seem to be pushing the most is the lame inane corporate hack pop/rock favored by the Journey, Foreigner and REO Speedwagon of today - the unbearably cheesy Nickelback, Hinder and Daughtry. They also still play the equally terrible 3 Doors Down and Creed (yes, that's right - Creed. Never mind the fact that they're laughingstocks by now). There's a place for this style of "rock" music - it's called the Hot AC station. Combine that with the heavy classic rock slant, and you can get the same effect by shuffling between 105.7 The Hawk and 94.3 The Point. This station brings absolutely nothing unique to the table. They claim that you will find "no lightweight kiddie pop" on the station. Well, if this music doesn't fit that category, I don't know what does.

Compounding this is the fact that they insist on playing songs that are getting played almost exclusively on Hot AC stations. You already know about Santana & Chad Kroeger's "Into The Night", a song that WRAT is pushing like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread (Good call here - I'm sure the fans of a so-called "Rock" station are just chomping at the bit to hear some washed-up recording artist who has been reduced to recording with Rob Thomas, Dido, Michelle Branch ... and Chad Kroeger.). Now they're playing Buckcherry's absolutely dreadful, sickening ballad "Sorry" (yes, you read that correctly). I don't know any other station that calls themselves "Rock" that is playing this one. (Note to skeptics: Go back to the paragraph that states what WRAT is not playing and come back to this one. Think about it. You'll see that there is good reason to be critical).

The problem with WRAT can be summed up in one sentence: WRAT is a chick rock station. Which would be fine in an area with a heavy proliferation of Rock stations, i.e. Boston or Phoenix. But this is a market with only one other station that plays current rock titles, and it's a station that plays Fall Out Boy. This is also a market where the Female radio listener is very well served. WRAT should go back to its previous sound, one that mixes better with its imaging: No cheesy soft rock, none of the corny soccer mom rock that just about every other station plays ... instead, target the Male listener (Wow! Now THERE'S an idea!). Play Metallica, Disturbed, Godsmack, Korn (and not lame remixes, either), System Of A Down, Mudvayne, Slipknot, etc. You could even keep playing some classic rock acts (time to ditch some of them, though - I for one could live without those corporate cupcakes Aerosmith). Stick with the acts that will make your station different from all the rest. With G Rock playing its share of twee pop acts (but still sounding very good right now, IMO), it makes all the sense in the world for WRAT to regain their edge. Or they could follow CBS's lead with K-Rock and be content treading water with mediocre ratings by continuing to be out of touch with their audience. The best thing that could happen to this station would be Greater Media selling it. I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
 
They're supposed to be a Rock station, but they're missing essential songs for their format and playing cheesy soccer mom ballads that aren't even meant for Rock formats instead. I felt that a post was necessary because, of the minimal adds they have made this month, one of them was Buckcherry's "Sorry". Top Ten on Hot AC, but not on ANY of the Rock charts. What are they going to play next? Lifehouse? The Fray? Maybe they'll go back to the American Idol well and start playing Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. When you play "Sorry" and Daughtry and that awful Santana / Chad Kroeger song, you may as well hand in your license as a rock station, change your imaging so that it features a female voice, drop the "dude talk" featured during certain shifts in favor of celebrity gossip, and start calling yourself "Jersey's Adult Hit Music Station, 95.9 The Mouse!".
 
No, I just look at WRAT's playlist to see what they are playing and how frequently they are playing it. I only post because they are doing a terrible job of serving rock fans in this area. Making lame corporate rock hacks the epicenter of your playlist is a huge mistake - stations like WPLJ and The Point own all these bands, so why try to compete with them? I know Nickelback and Daughtry sell a lot of albums, but no one I know will admit to buying an album of theirs. Just like Creed a few years ago. In fact, most of my friends share my opinion and think they're worthless fluff. I really think the only people that buy albums from these bands are rednecks, teenyboppers and soccer moms. WRAT reports as an Active Rock station - it's time for them to start sounding like one, instead of whatever you call what they're doing right now.

G Rock actually has improved quite a bit, mainly due to the addition of new features (such as Radio Kaos and The Punkyard), going a little deeper with classic titles, and doing a better job cycling currents in and out. I can do without the nearly once-an-hour playing of Linkin Park and Red Hot Chili Peppers (and nothing from the first three albums either - those were the best ones, too), and they shouldn't be playing bubblegum popsters Fall Out Boy at all, but there's enough good things about G Rock that it's easier to overlook their weak areas.
 
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