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You like what?

D

Dan Shoe

Guest
Sadly, we tend to live in the negative on message boards. But maybe we could try a positive chain of conversation?

Simply put, who do you like? Let's try to limit it to current options, or at least within recent memory.

Favorite Station and/or DJ in Central PA?
 
In many ways, radio is much better for the listener than 15-20 years. We know far more today about what is wanted by the masses then back then. Much of the clutter has been eliminated. And corporate control keeps the programming steady when a PD change is made, unlike the old indy days when a new PD could blow up a successful station just because he felt like it. There are really more different formats today than before when it was every independent owners dream to be #1. Or many times the indy owners felt they had to bend to clients whims, rather than program solely to the listeners. For those reason in those days, you ended up 4 or 5 ACs or Top 40s in a market.

Today, though, it's truly not better for those producing radio. Fewer jobs. Lower pay. Less room to be creative or the chance to put there own signature on programming. Hard to believe there was a time not that long ago when an individual jock had at least the ability to play a request or select a gold or recurrent. And most times, the kind of radio that jocks like or think is good, is NOT what is needed to achieve ratings success. I'm guessing that the vast majority of posters to this board fit into the "radio insider" category. So naturally, there is to be more negative than positive. Many radio folks tend to be very opinionated and a bit of a cynic.
 
RockofHBG said:
In many ways, radio is much better for the listener than 15-20 years. We know far more today about what is wanted by the masses then back then. Much of the clutter has been eliminated. And corporate control keeps the programming steady when a PD change is made, unlike the old indy days when a new PD could blow up a successful station just because he felt like it. There are really more different formats today than before when it was every independent owners dream to be #1. Or many times the indy owners felt they had to bend to clients whims, rather than program solely to the listeners. For those reason in those days, you ended up 4 or 5 ACs or Top 40s in a market.

Today, though, it's truly not better for those producing radio. Fewer jobs. Lower pay. Less room to be creative or the chance to put there own signature on programming. Hard to believe there was a time not that long ago when an individual jock had at least the ability to play a request or select a gold or recurrent. And most times, the kind of radio that jocks like or think is good, is NOT what is needed to achieve ratings success. I'm guessing that the vast majority of posters to this board fit into the "radio insider" category. So naturally, there is to be more negative than positive. Many radio folks tend to be very opinionated and a bit of a cynic.
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WOW!! Somebody's been in the business TOOOO long!!!
What was the question again??
 
RockofHBG said:
In many ways, radio is much better for the listener than 15-20 years.
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RockofHBG said:
There are really more different formats today than before...
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Hmmmm. I don't have the slightest clue how to respond to either of those statements without being negative (which would defeat the original purpose of this thread), and I frankly don't know where to begin anyway. So to play it safe, I "pass the buck" to someone else.
 
I know its an in-house Clear Channel satellite service, but I love the Oldies format that WLAN-AM carries. (It is also heard on WRAW in Reading) You hear lots of variety and some interesting seldom-heard titles. The same can be said for Scott Shannon's Oldies format heard locally on WCHA. Scott does a great job and also plays a big variety. It is hard to believe this format has passed its "sell-by" date to the point that its demos are so old that a powerhouse FM will no longer touch it. I still miss the former KOOL 99.3, programmed very well for years by R. J. Harris. Its nice that someone keeps this music alive...
 
I'm not a huge fan of the new WKZL, it's just a little old for my tastes. I prefer some of songs from the 90's and early 2000's and that's just not them. For rock stations I find myself gravitating towards 'TPA most of the time. Good balance of new and older songs, plus i usually tune in for football games on the weekend. Luckily i saw everyone complaining on here about their move to 92.1 so i knew where to tune in.

I always enjoy RJ in the morning as well.
 
Dan Shoe said:
I'm not a huge fan of the new WKZL, it's just a little old for my tastes. I prefer some of songs from the 90's and early 2000's and that's just not them. For rock stations I find myself gravitating towards 'TPA most of the time. Good balance of new and older songs, plus i usually tune in for football games on the weekend. Luckily i saw everyone complaining on here about their move to 92.1 so i knew where to tune in.

I always enjoy RJ in the morning as well.
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Well enjoy it for now. The station is in a trust along with 102.3 in Carlisle. Once they're sold to new owners, there's no guarantee that either station will survive in their present formats.
 
Seltzer said:
Dan Shoe said:
I'm not a huge fan of the new WKZL, it's just a little old for my tastes. I prefer some of songs from the 90's and early 2000's and that's just not them. For rock stations I find myself gravitating towards 'TPA most of the time. Good balance of new and older songs, plus i usually tune in for football games on the weekend. Luckily i saw everyone complaining on here about their move to 92.1 so i knew where to tune in.

I always enjoy RJ in the morning as well.
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Well enjoy it for now. The station is in a trust along with 102.3 in Carlisle. Once they're sold to new owners, there's no guarantee that either station will survive in their present formats.
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You're supposed to be saying positive things.
Mine is that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pick up 92.1 from my place in Lancaster, but it comes in very strong so if I need to catch the Steelers on radio, I can listen to 92.1.
 
SteelRocker said:
Seltzer said:
Dan Shoe said:
I'm not a huge fan of the new WKZL, it's just a little old for my tastes. I prefer some of songs from the 90's and early 2000's and that's just not them. For rock stations I find myself gravitating towards 'TPA most of the time. Good balance of new and older songs, plus i usually tune in for football games on the weekend. Luckily i saw everyone complaining on here about their move to 92.1 so i knew where to tune in.

I always enjoy RJ in the morning as well.
Click to expand...

Well enjoy it for now. The station is in a trust along with 102.3 in Carlisle. Once they're sold to new owners, there's no guarantee that either station will survive in their present formats.
Click to expand...
You're supposed to be saying positive things.
Mine is that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pick up 92.1 from my place in Lancaster, but it comes in very strong so if I need to catch the Steelers on radio, I can listen to 92.1.
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Sorry. I didn't need to be negative. Here's something positive, especially if you're a Steelers fan. Wanna bet that the Steelers will land on WQXA for next season? Cumulus in Central PA values sports properties. The Steelers will be glad to move to a better signal.
 
You have to think that the X will take on more of the WTPA music. It seems like the X has been sliding in the ratings over the last few years anyway. Moving to a little more mainstream rock position would be the smart move. But again, this is Cumulus we're talking about.
 
Dan Shoe said:
You have to think that the X will take on more of the WTPA music. It seems like the X has been sliding in the ratings over the last few years anyway. Moving to a little more mainstream rock position would be the smart move. But again, this is Cumulus we're talking about.
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When I left this area they were The Edge, over the years they became more active rock and The X. I challenge them to either go back to The Edge, or become like a 104.5 in Philly.

Seltzer - that is positive if the Steelers ended up on WQXA, much stronger signal than now.
 
Oh I forgot- I like WMSS a lot, not because I like every single song they play, but because they play plenty of great songs that I haven't heard in years and can't hear anywhere else on the radio. It is also fun to actually discover songs that I've never heard before through their station, since the potential of "discovering" songs is extremely limited on other stations. This takes me back to the time when you could actually hear a new song every once in a while on a commercial station. In particular, I like WMSS' morning "adult contemporary" programming- I wish they would play less of the "campy" 90s easy listening and more 60s/70s/80s easy listening, but I realize that is my personal taste and I don't expect them to cater exactly to what I want. The fact that they have plenty of variety is what matters. I also think their true oldies shows on Saturday (and some Sunday) mornings are very good.

As far as commercial stations, I think the Peak is doing a very good job. Again, it is their variety that makes me say this. I have heard plenty of songs that I wouldn't expect to hear on that station like "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" "Summer in the City" "Happy Together" "Classical Gas" "Operator" "Isn't She Lovely"(!!!) "Right Down the Line" "Breakfast in America", etc...this is what gives a station personality, IMO. I also like the fact that they incorporate newer songs like "Little Lies" "It Must Have Been Love" "Losing My Religion" "I'll Stand By You" - this adds to the variety. One way to look at it is that these are all "classic hits", and the format does not have to be restricted to the narrow interpretation that you see on most stations.
 
vinyltapecd said:
Oh I forgot- I like WMSS a lot, not because I like every single song they play, but because they play plenty of great songs that I haven't heard in years and can't hear anywhere else on the radio. It is also fun to actually discover songs that I've never heard before through their station, since the potential of "discovering" songs is extremely limited on other stations. This takes me back to the time when you could actually hear a new song every once in a while on a commercial station. In particular, I like WMSS' morning "adult contemporary" programming- I wish they would play less of the "campy" 90s easy listening and more 60s/70s/80s easy listening, but I realize that is my personal taste and I don't expect them to cater exactly to what I want. The fact that they have plenty of variety is what matters. I also think their true oldies shows on Saturday (and some Sunday) mornings are very good.

As far as commercial stations, I think the Peak is doing a very good job. Again, it is their variety that makes me say this. I have heard plenty of songs that I wouldn't expect to hear on that station like "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" "Summer in the City" "Happy Together" "Classical Gas" "Operator" "Isn't She Lovely"(!!!) "Right Down the Line" "Breakfast in America", etc...this is what gives a station personality, IMO. I also like the fact that they incorporate newer songs like "Little Lies" "It Must Have Been Love" "Losing My Religion" "I'll Stand By You" - this adds to the variety. One way to look at it is that these are all "classic hits", and the format does not have to be restricted to the narrow interpretation that you see on most stations.
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Problem is KZF could force their hand. If I'm a guy, I want to hear Springsteen, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Supertramp, Zeppelin, etc. I don't want to hear "Classical Gas" or "Isn't She Lovely." Leave those songs to 96.1. The Peak is TOO WIDE in my opinion and will be hurt by KZF...mark my words.
 
Problem is KZF could force their hand. If I'm a guy, I want to hear Springsteen, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Supertramp, Zeppelin, etc. I don't want to hear "Classical Gas" or "Isn't She Lovely." Leave those songs to 96.1. The Peak is TOO WIDE in my opinion and will be hurt by KZF...mark my words.
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I agree. The Peak has jumped the shark and gone too far. This has been the case of YCR historically throughout the years. With discipline and focus, YCR could still have remained a CHR, ranking consistently top3 in York just like heritage PA Top 40s WAEB-FM in Allentown, WKRZ in Wilkes-Barre, and Star104 in Erie do in their respective markets. The difference is that those station have corporate oversight, Their programming is not just at the whim of the local guy who can screw things up, even with a consultant involved. It is the common plight of the independent station.
 
On top of what Seltzer was saying.....KZF is much better than I expected...a very tight well thought out Classic Rock playlist...will def hurt the Peak.
 
The Peak/KZF situation reminds me of another time in radio history when the teapot 92.7 frequency put a hurtin' to the 50,000 watts of WYCR. The year was 1983 and CHR was hot everywhere....except York and Harrisburg. 98YCR had been in the CHR format for 9 years when "92 Rock" signed on in August of that year and knocked 'em off in the ratings and right out of a Radio & records reportership. Why????? 98YCR was mixing in things like "Monday Monday" from the Mamas and Papas...... at night no less!!!! And they would play just about any current the labels dangled under their nose. 92 Rock just played the hits and kicked Radio Hanover's butt. I remember thinking how embarrassing !!! Could it happen again?
 
RockofHBG said:
The Peak/KZF situation reminds me of another time in radio history when the teapot 92.7 frequency put a hurtin' to the 50,000 watts of WYCR. The year was 1983 and CHR was hot everywhere....except York and Harrisburg. 98YCR had been in the CHR format for 9 years when "92 Rock" signed on in August of that year and knocked 'em off in the ratings and right out of a Radio & records reportership. Why????? 98YCR was mixing in things like "Monday Monday" from the Mamas and Papas...... at night no less!!!! And they would play just about any current the labels dangled under their nose. 92 Rock just played the hits and kicked Radio Hanover's butt. I remember thinking how embarrassing !!! Could it happen again?
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If I were the PD at the Peak, at the first inkling of KZF, I would have immediately tightened up the station. Starting running strong music image promos. Would never allowed for there to be so much of an opening. And with TPA now on a lesser frequency. KZF could gain even more.
 
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