WRXP's imaging is so.....

[ROCKTHEMIC]

...............Sorry I dosed off.... No passion, no brand awareness, no life! Some dude off the street? Yawn! NY stations no matter who they are should be the ruler by which all other markets are measured... I'm tuning out...

 

[neo11]

It's bland, dry and soulless, even by AAA standards (and they're not even a triple-A station, not with Aerosmith and AC/DC and Led Zep on the playlist)

 

[p_herring]

It's bland, dry and soulless, even by AAA standards (and they're not even a triple-A station, not with Aerosmith and AC/DC and Led Zep on the playlist)

Yeah, that's the problem. If you're going to play the "hawd rawk" music, you can't have a station sounding like it's being broadcast from a funeral home. There's no high-energy bumpers/sweepers, no beds the DJ's talk under, it just sounds so....sleepy.

But, the bigger problem is the playlist is so sporadic (as previously mentioned they played Alice In Chains in to Rod Stewart recently). Rock may be a niche product but there is a way to do it (as proved by, you know, OTHER markets in the country). Looks like we'll just see them to continue to put the nail in the coffin...

 

[icybluelake]

Noticed this on WXRT's web site when I was going there to listen:

"If XRT didn't exist in Chicago, I never would have heard of most of America's best songwriters and bands. I'm from New York, and that big ole' city has nothing like it."
-- Joe K., Crystal Lake, IL

Mere propaganda, or good advice?

 

[robbadobba]

The imaging is the least of their problems...but as someone who's produced radio imaging for about 10 years now, I can say the "sonic wallpaper" approach never works. It needs...something. Or, nothing. Maybe just eliminate the imaging all together. Now that will make them sound different.

 

[gabba2]

I was in NYC for a few days last week and tuned in to 'RXP for many hours. It's not a horrible station, but it just doesn't flow very well. A good triple A (like WRNR-FM in the Baltimore area) plays a good mix of music, everything from the Buzzcocks to Cream to Wilco to The Cure, etc., and knows how to match it up and have fun with it. WRXP had too much of a classic rock lean and so much so that the Elvis Costello and Cure songs sounded just out of place. The jocks sounded like they were just going through the motions, and the imaging was bland. In Washington DC, 94.7 WTGB "The Globe" tried this as well, and just went straight to classic rock after a while. I wouldn't be too surprised if WRXP does the same thing. AAA is a good money maker, but it has to be done correctly. It rarely gets big numbers, but has a great TSL with affluent listeners which means that people with money are listening through the breaks. The way that WRXP is, I would bet that not only are their numbers low, but the TSL (Time Spent Listening) is short too. People can hear AC/DC and Led Zep on K-Rock and Q104.3, so why stick around when the commercials start. A truely unique station will keep them hanging around to see what's next.

 

[neo11]

I'm pretty sure RXP's TSL is very low. Their cume is fairly high, compared to other stations in the 1.0 range, and they rank much higher overall in cume than in the shares, which leads me to believe that a lot of people are tuning in but listening only for a very short time. That is not a surprise, seeing how all over the place their music is.

 

[kevinsealy]

NEO11,

Stations with a high CUME but low TSL may find it difficult to get high ad rates, because if your audience only listens for a short time (pending on how short the TSL is) there is a high turnover of listens.

For radio ads to be effective, a station needs a high TSL. The average listener needs to hear a commercial more than once before they respond.



Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

 

[neo11]

NEO11,

Stations with a high CUME but low TSL may find it difficult to get high ad rates, because if your audience only listens for a short time (pending on how short the TSL is) there is a high turnover of listens.

For radio ads to be effective, a station needs a high TSL. The average listener needs to hear a commercial more than once before they respond.



Thanks,
Kevin L. Sealy

Yes, that's exactly my point. A lot of people are tuning in to RXP, but they are quickly tuning out, which lowers the station's share as a result. As an example, I think one or two trends ago, RXP was #20, 12+, in TSL, and #27, 12+ in its actual share, which indicates low TSL.

The low TSL is undoubtedly because of the station's completely unfocused playlist. They don't have to stick to a 300 song playlist to be successful, but the music they do select absolutely has to "mesh" well together. When you hear the Gorillaz followed by some classic rock (as I did the other day), it's inevitable that there's going to be a high turnover of listeners.