WRFF-Thoughts..

[DToTheJ]

... its a bit safe...

Remember: Safety = $$$

 

[SoulCrusher]

Remember: Safety = $$$

Safety also can`equal low ratings. That's what happened to K-Rock in NYC despite being the only station that played newer Rock titles. They apparently haven't learned their lesson, since now that they have brought it back to 92.3, not a single change has been made.

Playing it real safe can be a good short-term investment, but if the ratings falter, so will the potential for ad revenue.

Right now, WRFF is just playing way too many titles that we can already hear on other stations.

The other mistake that CC is making is by having Females (in particular the "soccer mom" demo) as their target. How many stations target Females within at least a segment of the 25-54 demo? My 106.1, Ben, Wired, B 101, Q 102, XTU (Country is Female-leaning) ... I'm sure there's others that I forgot. On the other side of the coin, how many stations target Males? WMMR and WMGK (many listen by default, because there's nothing else), and WYSP which practically no one listens to. CC is making a huge mistake by trying to be more appealing to Females by having all this soft pop/rock like Lifehouse and Evanescence and all of these light ballads in their rotation, and almost completely shunning the post-punk and heavier Alternative artists.

Clearly CC is hoping the Males will put up with all the blatant Female pandering. But sooner or later CBS is going to flip the sinking ship known as Free FM, and CC better be prepared for free fall when Radio 104.5 loses a good percentage of their audience. The time will come when CC will have to become less AC sounding if they have any hope of staying afloat - they're going to be in a losing battle with the likes of B and Ben.

 

[Captain Obvious]

I think something else thats missing is they need to play a few more girl rockers. (Besides Evanessence). I did hear the Breeders the other day. That was nice. But how about Julianna Hatfield, Liz Phair, Belly, Letters to Cleo to name a few. JMO...

 

[RunWithScissors]

They have been playing stuff from Hole. Also, they finally played Oasis today at 2:30PM. I wrote to them late last night asking them to play Oasis and why they were ignoring them. I would say they do read the emails and play the songs they think line up with the format that we request.

 

[hykos104.5]

I just heard Elvis Costello's Radio Radio. It is a sad irony that this new 104.5 would play the song about their parent company. (Read the lyrics! Who are they kidding!) I also think there are more train wrecks on 104.5 than on any philly station, ever. (Dave Matthews to Elvis Costello to The Killers??)

They're either incredibly smart, or incredibly stupid, to quote Gene Hackman. I heard a "live" voice in there today, but I wonder how much human interaction goes on at a station that plays Elvis Costello and the Killers on the same dial, let alone in the same mix. I think there's an A list and a B list, and the variety they are claiming for has only resulted in mishmash.

 

[carnyfeet]

You can certainly tell that it's a computer running the show there, as these playlists are bereft of any human touch that'll make them tight, flowing, and unique to listener's ears. At least stations like WMMR, although they might talk a little much, still have someone with a pulse making sure things have a pattern and a flow to them. With WRFF on autopilot, it's like playing darts blindfolded. If they get two in a row in the spots they want them, it was totally by accident.

When I emailed them the day they started, I told them they had to get a human being on the air ASAP. Doesn't even matter if it was a janitor, some executive's 14-year old kid, or a stranger they pulled in off the street - it would work better than automation running things until they found some real DJs that would know what Philly wants to hear. RFF responded by inserting voicetracking. Efficient move, but still a poor one.

 

[RunWithScissors]

All I can say is, 1045 is a refreshing spot on the Philly dial, all I had before was MMR, which played decent music at times, interrupted by a heavy commercial load and talkative jocks like PR, yakking about his Grateful Dead days and his useless jargon. Last Sunday, he preemptied the House of Hair with his ongoing rants and specials, that is the only time I listen to MMR now is for Dee Snider, and for the rest of the dial, what can I say. I tune to the radio for music, not alot of talk or presentation, the days of WIBBAGE are far gone.

 

[rk6781]

I must say that living in the Lehigh Valley it is nice to finally get a decent pseudo-alternative signal out of some media outlet on 104.5. WZZO is bearable but doesn't tend to all of my rock appetite. WRFF, if they could get a human being to spin some tunes has great potential. I'm also in listening range of a weak WBSX 97.9 in Scranton and a weak WXRK 92.3 in NYC and those are some stations that I wish Philadelphia had the opportunity to hear daily. I know they aren't really Alt. rock, more Active/Modern. But why not rebrand WYSP as 94.1 K-Rock? CBS has the opportunity and otherwiselook at things this way... At least things are looking up for rock in Philly. MMR is rockin, RFF is rockin, YSP?? ...better then the days when MMR sucked, WSP turned to FREE-FM, and PLY went urban. Still bitter about Radio One for that one, although I got a bad signal up here due to WHTZ in NYC.

 

[8638]

Now once a local human gets in there to actually program the thing and eliminate the Chris Issac, Blues Travler, Rusted Root, Bodeans, Violent Fems, Train, David Gray, New Order, Counting Crows...etc...clunkers that de-rail any sort of rocking momentum and make me want to throw my radio out of the window, this station could do something.

Again, it depends on who they are aiming for. My sister is 26, and loves 104.5 because it's the music she grew up on DRE and Y100. I'm the same way, plus the mix of currents they have thrown in are a solid sound. A lot of people I talk to have sampled 104.5 and like what they hear so far because it's a walk back through yesteryear.

What I like about WRFF is that it's different from anything else on the Philly FM dial...and that's a good thing! I'm at the older end of the demo, or a hair beyond (47) and I like many of the songs some posters hate. Conversely, some of the songs that sound 'rap-like' do nothing for me, but I usually sit through them, because ya never know what will play next.

It's interesting how many are bitching about this station. Funny, before the flip, many of the same people were bemoaning the lack of anything alternative. Now you have it, yet some still piss and moan. Kudos to CC for doing something right for a change! Now...let's address that abortion at 106.1 MHz!

 

[carnyfeet]

What I like about WRFF is that it's different from anything else on the Philly FM dial...and that's a good thing! I'm at the older end of the demo, or a hair beyond (47) and I like many of the songs some posters hate. Conversely, some of the songs that sound 'rap-like' do nothing for me, but I usually sit through them, because ya never know what will play next.

It's interesting how many are bitching about this station. Funny, before the flip, many of the same people were bemoaning the lack of anything alternative. Now you have it, yet some still piss and moan. Kudos to CC for doing something right for a change! Now...let's address that abortion at 106.1 MHz!

You just don't get it, old man! This station is, for all intents and purposes, a carbon copy of late nineties Y-100 and WMMR. It's not like listening to anything different at all. It's like listening to their old airchecks with the liners changed, that's all.

There's a whole sh*tload of independent bands, DIY acts, local bands and indie artists that aren't getting airplay because this station is crapping up another frequency on the dial with Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2. Anyone who says this station is "different" or "an alternative" just doesn't have any awareness or appreciation for music outside of the narrow scope of commercial radio. Just because they say it's alternative doesn't mean that it actually is an alternative.

 

[raydofan]

Now once a local human gets in there to actually program the thing and eliminate the Chris Issac, Blues Travler, Rusted Root, Bodeans, Violent Fems, Train, David Gray, New Order, Counting Crows...etc...clunkers that de-rail any sort of rocking momentum and make me want to throw my radio out of the window, this station could do something.

'Rocking' momentum? Besides RHCP, who would you put in that category?

 

[Wexler]

Now once a local human gets in there to actually program the thing and eliminate the Chris Issac, Blues Travler, Rusted Root, Bodeans, Violent Fems, Train, David Gray, New Order, Counting Crows...etc...clunkers that de-rail any sort of rocking momentum and make me want to throw my radio out of the window, this station could do something.

'Rocking' momentum? Besides RHCP, who would you put in that category?

Well, that's sort of arbitrary, right? I mean one man's "rockin'" might be something that a music snob might look down his nose at. Sebadoh's "Sforzando!" is a rockin tune...I like PJ's "Lukin", I like System of a Down's "Science"...none that you will ever hear on commercial radio.

How about this; for commercial, safe, "pop-rock", it had a moment...a series of steering wheel tappers that didn't make me want to turn the dial.

 

[RunWithScissors]

1045 has a huge playlist, today they shocked me with the Clash I Fought the Law, also, all the New Order tunes sound great, I never knew this band until I heard and saw them on VH1 Classic and the Tube. Many selections that are being played on WRFF have never been played in this area, Y-100 never touched New Order. This station is opening up a whole new brand of music that was never tapped in this one-sided city, when most markets played these bands and titles, the Philly market ignored them. That is why I enjoy this station, you never know whats coming on next.

 

[Irishfl]

104.5 has had some complaints on here, but outside the world of radio geeks, it seems to be getting postive reviews. I found this topic on the eagles messageboard.

http://boards.philadelphiaeagles.com/index.php?showtopic=439684&

Some of the comments...

"Yeh i just heard of this over the past weekend. I havent listened to it enough yet but from what ive heard ive liked it. i dont listen to the radio enough to justify buying satelite. so when i do it'll be a good alternative. At least its not another Top 40/Rap station."

"I have only listened to XM for a few years(until my recent albeit temporary cancellation) so i've been out of touch as far as the awful philly radio scene. I checked it out some this weekend, Its not as good as DRE in its heyday, but its way better than other crap out there"

"It's already the best music station on the dial by far. They also play quite a bit of 80's underground stuff."

"Yea I love the song choice in that station. A lot of 90's alternative and modern rock … there are very few commericials too .. The only beef I have is that it seems the sound quality is much poorer then 93.3 … but those 2 are on my first 2 pre-sets"

 

[SoulCrusher]

WRFF needs to:

- Eliminate the Hot AC stuff (Lifehouse, The Fray, Evanescence, Train, etc.)
- Play some more harder rock (They played Tool tonight - I was shocked!)
- Dig deeper into '90s rock (It doesn't stop and end with grunge, guys)
- Add on-air personalities that actually speak (Within reason - don't ramble on, we would turn on Free if we wanted to hear that)
- Most importantly, add more Currents

WRFF is a good station that's slowly but surely improving. Since it's still a work in progress, I have faith that it will improve in the areas that need it most.

 

[Magnum]

Overall, I like Radio 104.5. It will be interesting to see how the station evolves. They definitely need to add some personalities to the station, but keep the talk to a minimum. The station has made it clear that they are going to make the music the focus of the station. I agree with some earlier posts that said they need to drop "Wicked Games" Chris Isaak. How did that song end up in their playlist?? The station's imaging needs to be improved. There's not too much enthusiasm in the imaging right now. It needs some more energy and sound effects. I was listening to an old Y100 aircheck from 1997, and it puts Radio 104.5's imaging to shame. They also need to have a positioner. They don't really say anything about their format. How about "Philly's Alternative. Radio 104.5"? And they could refer to themselves as "Philly's 104.5" for short. ;D (I was joking). Anyhow, this station is refreshing and I'm glad CC decided to go with this format on 104.5. Hopefully, they will continue to take suggestions from the listeners, and I think this station could be a success.

 

[Wexler]

Here is an odd phenomenon...one from the diary days of radio...I know I heard "Glorified G" by Pearl Jam some time during the day over the past 2 days...but I don't remember if it was RFF or MMR...I am pretty sure it was RFF cause I was shocked to hear it.

Now that it's all about "exposure" who cares if you confuse the listener and or play the same exact songs as your competition? I would think that in today's PPM world you would want to have a very exclusive "niche" play lists and avoid as much cross over with your direct competitor as possible.

I was also pleasantly surprised by hearing RHCP's "My Friends", and seeing that RFF has played "Nothingman" by Pearl Jam. Someone is definitely reading the e-mails...they might be a little slow to react, but none the less they are making some adjustments. Amy Weinhouse, although not my cup of tea, was another add of note. Now if they could just get rid of those songs we all mentioned earlier...

On a side note, listening to RFF and then flipping to MMR there is an incredibly drastic difference that stands out, regardless of play list, and one that I am curious to see if it changes any time soon;

WMMR average hour seems like this:

song
song
song
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
song
song
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
song
song
song
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
SPOT
song
song

As a stand alone station in the format that was fine cause the listener didn't have a choice to turn to...but now with a direct competitor that is owning 40% of your play list, that could be trouble. When I am in the car if RFF is playing a song I am not digging it is not uncommon that I flip to MMR and find them in the middle of a commercial break. This will be interesting to watch.

 

[RunWithScissors]

Don't forget the constant chatter, which is just hot air and bragging, between 10AM and 3PM. RFF is a breath of fresh air, even though they don't play any hard metal, they are the best on the dial.

 

[raydofan]

Nice segue: a pop-punk song into INXS 'Don't Change'

Sore thumb: Police-'Don't Stand...' from whatever song (lot of the 90s 54173 sounds the same-sorry) with a truncated beginning.

MCM-what the...? They really have to decide what they wanna be when they grow up. They should be left off every playlist.

Here's an idea: How about taking the songs that are of a similar texture, save the 'best' one, and boning out the rest?

There was that STP song, then a sound-alike less than 5 songs later.

Weezer is genuine. They can stay.

Now a song that sounds like Linkin Park without a rap-almost the same cadance-same chords.

And they must have that one Marley's greatest package-come on, guys. Every alt does this same crap.

Either you play Reggae or your don't. Burning Spear? Lee 'Scratch' Perry?

eeeeeoyyyy.

"more of the music you want-less of the BS"

Hawhaw...

yeesh.

 

[raydofan]

Well, that's sort of arbitrary, right?  I mean one man's "rockin'" might be something that a music snob might look down his nose at.  Sebadoh's "Sforzando!" is a rockin tune...I like PJ's "Lukin", I like System of a Down's "Science"...none that you will ever hear on commercial radio.

How about this; for commercial, safe, "pop-rock", it had a moment...a series of steering wheel tappers that didn't make me want to turn the dial.

And what, in this grand pile, might those be (since you mention Sebadoh and PJ Harvey)? I am truly curious.

I've heard that SOAD song on the radio-ah, NYC...