You like what?

[RockMustLive]

As far as whether there is something to "like" in Central PA radio, that basically comes down to whether stations in the area provide something that people actually want to listen to.

I second that! I'm sure those of you in the radio industry work hard for not enough reward. So, anything I say against what the stations around here do isn't personal. To me, it's just the fact that radio has become like McDonald's. They make a Big Mac in Omaha the same way they do in Harrisburg. The independent voice has very little place on the dial anymore and that's a shame. Of course that goes for TV and the newspaper as well.

I'm nowhere near an expert on the industry but it would seem to me that the consolidation of stations and the huge decline in record sales aren't a coincidence. There are certainly other factors, but I think radio leaves out a fairly sizable segment of the population with the way stations are programmed.

 

[Bob Waters]

It's amazing to me that every time I visit this board, someone is complaining about playlists being too tight, or that there isn't enough personality on the radio, or consolidation, or whatever. But look at what you all have right there in your backyard. In York, the top 2 stations are Mom & Pop shops that haven't changed hands in...well, forever. Local decisions are made at both GTY and The Peak/WHVR. Want more? Ray Thomas runs a pretty damned tight ship up there in Carlisle. Diggs brings home ratings not seen in York since The Ugly DJ. Tim Michaels wins awards for his shows on 'HVR, and I challenge anyone to show me someone who cares more about his product (radio or otherwise) than Tim. There is PLENTY of personality radio in York, Harrisburg, Lancaster. Crockman at The Peak, Scotty at GTY, The People's Morning Show at The X, The Morning Rush at 'LAN. Now, they may not be your favorites...your taste may be a bit different, whatever. But these people work hard at what they do, they treat the business with respect, their craft like an artform. And, if you don't like those choices, how about the bleed from Baltimore, DC, Frederick, Philly? That is a beautiful quirk about Central PA, and I think it makes everyone that much better. As far as playlists, look, The Peak's is wide, but the numbers say that's a good thing. Now, as a Radio Hanover alum, I'm admittedly biased. But, props where they are due, people! It's working...and has been since The Peak signed on in '04, when, as I recall, MANY on this board said it wouldn't. The LAST thing to do there is knee-jerk and wreck the train just because there's a new kid in town. Is Central PA the perfect radio landscape? Of course not. But it's pretty damned good! And if you don't believe me, I warmly invite you to jump on the 'net and check out some of the stations down here in Savannah/Hilton Head! (That's right, I said check it online. The radio sucks, but the beach is awesome! This time of year, we have it ALL to ourselves, and you're not invited to take that away).

 

[Seltzer]

It's amazing to me that every time I visit this board, someone is complaining about playlists being too tight, or that there isn't enough personality on the radio, or consolidation, or whatever. But look at what you all have right there in your backyard. In York, the top 2 stations are Mom & Pop shops that haven't changed hands in...well, forever. Local decisions are made at both GTY and The Peak/WHVR. Want more? Ray Thomas runs a pretty damned tight ship up there in Carlisle. Diggs brings home ratings not seen in York since The Ugly DJ. Tim Michaels wins awards for his shows on 'HVR, and I challenge anyone to show me someone who cares more about his product (radio or otherwise) than Tim. There is PLENTY of personality radio in York, Harrisburg, Lancaster. Crockman at The Peak, Scotty at GTY, The People's Morning Show at The X, The Morning Rush at 'LAN. Now, they may not be your favorites...your taste may be a bit different, whatever. But these people work hard at what they do, they treat the business with respect, their craft like an artform. And, if you don't like those choices, how about the bleed from Baltimore, DC, Frederick, Philly? That is a beautiful quirk about Central PA, and I think it makes everyone that much better. As far as playlists, look, The Peak's is wide, but the numbers say that's a good thing. Now, as a Radio Hanover alum, I'm admittedly biased. But, props where they are due, people! It's working...and has been since The Peak signed on in '04, when, as I recall, MANY on this board said it wouldn't. The LAST thing to do there is knee-jerk and wreck the train just because there's a new kid in town. Is Central PA the perfect radio landscape? Of course not. But it's pretty damned good! And if you don't believe me, I warmly invite you to jump on the 'net and check out some of the stations down here in Savannah/Hilton Head! (That's right, I said check it online. The radio sucks, but the beach is awesome! This time of year, we have it ALL to ourselves, and you're not invited to take that away).

I think most of the comments here have been primarily about the music playlists. The Peak has been hugely successful since it arrived. The feeling is it has drifted from where it was and is now vulnerable to a more focused station which is KZF. The Peak has the better morning show (Hello Hall-----------Chris & Amy are sitting in a trust.........is anyone home.....) And I agree that you mentioned some really good talent in the area. As far as the Peak vs KZF goes....the voters will have their say. Glad to hear from you Bob...wondered what had happened to you....

 

[danwxman]

It's amazing to me that every time I visit this board, someone is complaining about playlists being too tight, or that there isn't enough personality on the radio, or consolidation, or whatever. But look at what you all have right there in your backyard. In York, the top 2 stations are Mom & Pop shops that haven't changed hands in...well, forever. Local decisions are made at both GTY and The Peak/WHVR. Want more? Ray Thomas runs a pretty damned tight ship up there in Carlisle. Diggs brings home ratings not seen in York since The Ugly DJ. Tim Michaels wins awards for his shows on 'HVR, and I challenge anyone to show me someone who cares more about his product (radio or otherwise) than Tim. There is PLENTY of personality radio in York, Harrisburg, Lancaster. Crockman at The Peak, Scotty at GTY, The People's Morning Show at The X, The Morning Rush at 'LAN. Now, they may not be your favorites...your taste may be a bit different, whatever. But these people work hard at what they do, they treat the business with respect, their craft like an artform. And, if you don't like those choices, how about the bleed from Baltimore, DC, Frederick, Philly? That is a beautiful quirk about Central PA, and I think it makes everyone that much better. As far as playlists, look, The Peak's is wide, but the numbers say that's a good thing. Now, as a Radio Hanover alum, I'm admittedly biased. But, props where they are due, people! It's working...and has been since The Peak signed on in '04, when, as I recall, MANY on this board said it wouldn't. The LAST thing to do there is knee-jerk and wreck the train just because there's a new kid in town. Is Central PA the perfect radio landscape? Of course not. But it's pretty damned good! And if you don't believe me, I warmly invite you to jump on the 'net and check out some of the stations down here in Savannah/Hilton Head! (That's right, I said check it online. The radio sucks, but the beach is awesome! This time of year, we have it ALL to ourselves, and you're not invited to take that away).

In Harrisburg you basically have four options for radio. Rock, AC, Country or CHR. How is that good radio? Central PA is pretty bad when it comes to radio. The only saving grace is WXPN.

 

[vinyltapecd]

In Harrisburg you basically have four options for radio. Rock, AC, Country or CHR. How is that good radio?

Haven't you heard, that is GREAT radio, the less options the better!!! You know what would be perfect? Just two formats: Rock for the men and AC for the women. Everyone likes EXACTLY THE SAME type of music...homogenization rules!

 

[pdgreatness]

It has been said before, you don't turn listeners off because you do not play a song they may like. You turn listeners off when you play songs a listener does NOT like. Sorry, but the morning show or the air staff is only a small part of the equation. With all of the programming and song choice BS aside, bottom line is that it MUST SELL locally. If the sales deparment cannot sell the format, it will be changed.

Smoothjazz on 92.7 was a great format. I understand that their streaming and smartphone apps brought in listeners from all over the globe. That said, it could not be sold locally in this economy. Listeners in Europe do not buy or spend any money in York, Harrisburg or Lancaster. So the format changed. If you do not understand those basics, you do not understand the radio BUSINESS, and yes, it is a BUSINESS like any Walmart, Lowes, Pizza Hut or McDonalds. You have to make some sort of reasonable profit, period! The local or small owners can accept less. The large owners reporting to the big investment bankers have to maximize the bottom line. That is the real world folks.

 

[DToTheJ]

I Love You Climax Blues Band 1981

I side with Rock Of Hbg. This is a real mess...

Agreed. A station passing itself off as a classic station that plays a Climax Blues Band song NOT named "Couldn't Get It Right"? And to have artists like The Cult and Katrina And The Waves in the same playlist? KXT in Austin, TX comes to mind.

 

[Dan Shoe]

To quote: In Harrisburg you basically have four options for radio. Rock, AC, Country or CHR. How is that good radio?

Haven't you heard, that is GREAT radio, the less options the better!!! You know what would be perfect? Just two formats: Rock for the men and AC for the women. Everyone likes EXACTLY THE SAME type of music...homogenization rules!



you seem to be casually omitting the sportstalk, newstalk, oldies, all-90's stations in the marketplace, plus some of the smaller AM's that do classic country, religion, etc. 'XPN is a great left-field station that is all over the place and very deep. Plus the fact that you've got an entire spectrum of rock stations, from classic to hits to modern. Until recently you also had urban and smooth jazz, which met their ends because of lack of listeners.

The only major format hole in the market is a traditional AC station. Mix tried to fill that niche' for a few years, and they might end up back there once 106.7 dumps the 90's channel.


Your argument isn't really holding any water. What format do you think is actually strong enough to launch on one of these multi-million dollar signals? If you want a really odd, eclectic formats, then you've got the internet. That's the perfect place for formats that can't pull in enough listeners to survive as a traditional terrestrial station.

It's like you're saying "damn these restaurants for only serving food that people like! I want a restaurant that serves burnt toast and spam because i think it's cool! who cares if no one else eats it". One of the earlier posters was right on, it's a business.

Here you go. you have 106.7. You have a sales budget to hit, and the normal amount of resources for a format launch. What's your format? Don't say "AC" or "alternative" because those are too "homogenized". The pissed-off former board-ops on the internet message board will NEVER support those played-out corporate formats. What are you going to launch?

 

[RockMustLive]

The modern rock in this area is not very deep. The junk the X plays is more for the 12 year olds with anger management issues. The format seems kind of stuck in the "nu-metal" age of 1999.

I'm probably a bit more into indie rock but, if I had to pick a format I think may have a broader appeal, what about a AAA station? They seem to have a nice mix of different genres and could go really deep with their playlist. I think that would have a real following with adults and could make some money.

 

[RockofHBG]

Radio's strength is in it's vast number of people who tune in, referred to as it's cume or cumulative audience. There are a handful of formats that drive a a large cume: Top 40, AC, Hot AC, Country, Classic Rock, Classic hits/oldies, News, Talk. Sadly many formats just don't have the cume to drive the ratings. Current-based rock is one of them. When was the last time a rock format broke an act? Even as recent as 5 years ago, they were bringing acts such as Hinder & Buck Cherry to the mass appeal fold. Current based rock has become a niche and that's why almost every time news or talks expands to FM, the current-based rock station gets the ax! Somehow rock must get back to being mass-appeal like the 70s and 80s if it is to survive.

 

[Dan Shoe]

and i apologize if i sounded bitter in my posting. This has always been one of the things that just worked me up, i had to stop chatting on the Ohio board after a while, because people would just say things that made my skin crawl. I spent years inside a few stations and I've seen the realities of radio.

There's a small group of really hard working people who are busting their asses to make lemonade out of nothing, and yet "joe the internet commentator" thinks it's all the local person's fault that he doesn't like something. There's probably 20 TOTAL people in Central PA who actually determine the actual sound and direction of all these stations. They're PDs, GM's and morning show hosts. I guarantee that 90 percent of them obsess over it like it's life and death. To someone who hasn't been in those trenches, you have NO idea what those few people go through to make good radio, or at least make the best they can.

 

[RockMustLive]

There's a small group of really hard working people who are busting their asses to make lemonade out of nothing, and yet "joe the internet commentator" thinks it's all the local person's fault that he doesn't like something. There's probably 20 TOTAL people in Central PA who actually determine the actual sound and direction of all these stations. They're PDs, GM's and morning show hosts. I guarantee that 90 percent of them obsess over it like it's life and death. To someone who hasn't been in those trenches, you have NO idea what those few people go through to make good radio, or at least make the best they can.

IMO it's got nothing to do with the local folks. Those people catch hell for what the parent corporation wants. It's the fact that corporate ownership appears to handcuff stations in which music makes it on the air. Not saying that's the case for every single station, but I think that's why the formats are so vanilla in general.

 

[vinyltapecd]

IMO it's got nothing to do with the local folks. Those people catch hell for what the parent corporation wants. It's the fact that corporate ownership appears to handcuff stations in which music makes it on the air. Not saying that's the case for every single station, but I think that's why the formats are so vanilla in general.

Agreed. Almost all of us are directing our complaints about boring radio towards the corporate side of things that has made radio ridiculously homogenized, not at the local people, because they pretty much have no choice anyway. IMO, that is why a station like the Peak should receive more praise for its unique product, which has been doing fine with the numbers I might add.

 

[RockMustLive]

Really, the big complaint for me (this was supposed to be a positive topic, I know...) is that the ownership seems to give a father knows best mandate and not allow anything outside of it on the air.

 

[RockofHBG]

Wow....I was just checking out the seven day monitor on MMR for WYCR. Looks like some playlist[purging was done. Someone must read this board.

 

[Seltzer]

If Russ Murdock or whatever his name is at the Peak is monitoring this forum to program his station, his days better be numbered. I hope it's because he senses some momentum with KZF and he's beginning to protect his position. That would be the smart thing to do.