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You Pick the Liar: Sunny 104.5 PD Brian Check vs. Our Very Own Magnum

E

eGillCVI

Guest
Magnum sent an e-mail to Sunny PD Brian Check who apparently replied that the format would be tweaked a bit toward what Magnum was interested in. Naturally, I found the whole idea absurd. More likely than not, they're leaving everything just the way it was. But of course Brian told Magnum what he/she wanted to hear because Brian didn't want to disappoint a listener. Of course, that listener has probably already realized that the whole thing was a sham!

Sunny dumped Christmas music at midnight with "Here Comes the Sun" (a no-longer-cute idea, by the way) and absolutely nothing has changed. None of the ballads or slower songs have been taken out; nothing more upbeat has been added. It's the exact same format it was in the beginning of November! Now I like Sunny just the way it was (not as much as I like Christmas music, but I digress) so I have no real concerns there. I just don't like how Brian told Magnum an obvious lie.

One could argue that Magnum is the liar and that Brian never actually sent that e-mail...but no one here is stupid enough to fake an e-mail from a PD and post it on this message board so I have used my crack (pipe) investigation skills to determine that the liar is none other than Mr. Brian Check!

By the way, why was the first song out of the Beatles a Gloria Estefan song (from 1995, no less)? The song right before the Beatles was a Gloria Estefan song too! Didn't anyone notice that on the computer?!

Also by the way, why does Sunny play the God-damned Carpenters so often? They just played "Merry Christmas, Darling" 800,000 times over the course of six weeks and then they went and played a Carpenters tune less than two hours into the regular format!

And why am I not in bed?!
 
Regardless of whether or not the e-mails actually exist, there is an important issue here. If Sunny were to tweak the format, it would hardly have been done in a short time. The PD and music consultant did not get up at 12:01 Christmas morning and spend the next 48 hours re-doing the playlist. To expect a change that soon is totally unrealistic. To expect any changes at all this week is more than likely out of the question.

> Magnum sent an e-mail to Sunny PD Brian Check who apparently
> replied that the format would be tweaked a bit toward what
> Magnum was interested in. Naturally, I found the whole idea
> absurd. More likely than not, they're leaving everything
> just the way it was. But of course Brian told Magnum what
> he/she wanted to hear because Brian didn't want to
> disappoint a listener. Of course, that listener has
> probably already realized that the whole thing was a sham!
>
> Sunny dumped Christmas music at midnight with "Here Comes
> the Sun" (a no-longer-cute idea, by the way) and absolutely
> nothing has changed. None of the ballads or slower songs
> have been taken out; nothing more upbeat has been added.
> It's the exact same format it was in the beginning of
> November! Now I like Sunny just the way it was (not as much
> as I like Christmas music, but I digress) so I have no real
> concerns there. I just don't like how Brian told Magnum an
> obvious lie.
>
> One could argue that Magnum is the liar and that Brian never
> actually sent that e-mail...but no one here is stupid enough
> to fake an e-mail from a PD and post it on this message
> board so I have used my crack (pipe) investigation skills to
> determine that the liar is none other than Mr. Brian Check!
>
>
> By the way, why was the first song out of the Beatles a
> Gloria Estefan song (from 1995, no less)? The song right
> before the Beatles was a Gloria Estefan song too! Didn't
> anyone notice that on the computer?!
>
> Also by the way, why does Sunny play the God-damned
> Carpenters so often? They just played "Merry Christmas,
> Darling" 800,000 times over the course of six weeks and then
> they went and played a Carpenters tune less than two hours
> into the regular format!
>
> And why am I not in bed?!
>
 
> Regardless of whether or not the e-mails actually exist,
> there is an important issue here. If Sunny were to tweak
> the format, it would hardly have been done in a short time.
> The PD and music consultant did not get up at 12:01
> Christmas morning and spend the next 48 hours re-doing the
> playlist. To expect a change that soon is totally
> unrealistic. To expect any changes at all this week is more
> than likely out of the question.


Why?

if they were going to do some tweaking it should have been done over the course of the last month and a half of Christmas monotony, and it should have been ready to roll at 12:01 when "regular" Sunny music returned. Y-100 went from Alt Rock to Rythmic in a matter of hours, not a whole week. WYSP went from rock after Howard to talk after Howard in hours, not a week. With the technology in use today, Sunny would have been ready to make some minor changes in a matter of hours, if that, if they wante dto actually change anything in the first place.
 
Put down that pipe! LOL. If they were planning to tweak the library, they probably would have started doing it when Christmas music started; not right after he sent Magnum an e-mail! It's not like Magnum gave him the idea!

> Regardless of whether or not the e-mails actually exist,
> there is an important issue here. If Sunny were to tweak
> the format, it would hardly have been done in a short time.
> The PD and music consultant did not get up at 12:01
> Christmas morning and spend the next 48 hours re-doing the
> playlist. To expect a change that soon is totally
> unrealistic. To expect any changes at all this week is more
> than likely out of the question.
>
> > Magnum sent an e-mail to Sunny PD Brian Check who
> apparently
> > replied that the format would be tweaked a bit toward what
>
> > Magnum was interested in. Naturally, I found the whole
> idea
> > absurd. More likely than not, they're leaving everything
> > just the way it was. But of course Brian told Magnum what
>
> > he/she wanted to hear because Brian didn't want to
> > disappoint a listener. Of course, that listener has
> > probably already realized that the whole thing was a sham!
>
> >
> > Sunny dumped Christmas music at midnight with "Here Comes
> > the Sun" (a no-longer-cute idea, by the way) and
> absolutely
> > nothing has changed. None of the ballads or slower songs
> > have been taken out; nothing more upbeat has been added.
> > It's the exact same format it was in the beginning of
> > November! Now I like Sunny just the way it was (not as
> much
> > as I like Christmas music, but I digress) so I have no
> real
> > concerns there. I just don't like how Brian told Magnum
> an
> > obvious lie.
> >
> > One could argue that Magnum is the liar and that Brian
> never
> > actually sent that e-mail...but no one here is stupid
> enough
> > to fake an e-mail from a PD and post it on this message
> > board so I have used my crack (pipe) investigation skills
> to
> > determine that the liar is none other than Mr. Brian
> Check!
> >
> >
> > By the way, why was the first song out of the Beatles a
> > Gloria Estefan song (from 1995, no less)? The song right
> > before the Beatles was a Gloria Estefan song too! Didn't
> > anyone notice that on the computer?!
> >
> > Also by the way, why does Sunny play the God-damned
> > Carpenters so often? They just played "Merry Christmas,
> > Darling" 800,000 times over the course of six weeks and
> then
> > they went and played a Carpenters tune less than two hours
>
> > into the regular format!
> >
> > And why am I not in bed?!
> >
>
 
Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

Sunny is the closest thing we have to a classic Adult Contemporary Format...It's not horrible, but in my opinion it needs tweaking...

I think it would do better in the ratings if it dumped the odd-ball records it features within the regular rotation.

They feature "songs you haven't heard in years," and most of the time there is a reason these songs haven't been played in years. These records are dead. Let them rest in peace.

Don't misunderstand, I like Sunny. But dump the disco and the odd-ball stuff, replace it with familiar classics of the era, and watch the ratings increase.

I know, I know, repetition, no one understands that better than I. But, familiarity sells!
 
> Magnum sent an e-mail to Sunny PD Brian Check who apparently
> replied that the format would be tweaked a bit toward what
> Magnum was interested in. Naturally, I found the whole idea
> absurd. More likely than not, they're leaving everything
> just the way it was. But of course Brian told Magnum what
> he/she wanted to hear because Brian didn't want to
> disappoint a listener. Of course, that listener has
> probably already realized that the whole thing was a sham!
>
> Sunny dumped Christmas music at midnight with "Here Comes
> the Sun" (a no-longer-cute idea, by the way) and absolutely
> nothing has changed. None of the ballads or slower songs
> have been taken out; nothing more upbeat has been added.
> It's the exact same format it was in the beginning of
> November! Now I like Sunny just the way it was (not as much
> as I like Christmas music, but I digress) so I have no real
> concerns there. I just don't like how Brian told Magnum an
> obvious lie.
>
> One could argue that Magnum is the liar and that Brian never
> actually sent that e-mail...but no one here is stupid enough
> to fake an e-mail from a PD and post it on this message
> board so I have used my crack (pipe) investigation skills to
> determine that the liar is none other than Mr. Brian Check!
>
>
> By the way, why was the first song out of the Beatles a
> Gloria Estefan song (from 1995, no less)? The song right
> before the Beatles was a Gloria Estefan song too! Didn't
> anyone notice that on the computer?!
>
> Also by the way, why does Sunny play the God-damned
> Carpenters so often? They just played "Merry Christmas,
> Darling" 800,000 times over the course of six weeks and then
> they went and played a Carpenters tune less than two hours
> into the regular format!
>
> And why am I not in bed?!
>
I can assure you that the e-mail from Brian Check was legit. When I posted the reply that Brian sent, I wasn't implying that he was making changes based on just my suggestions. If anything, I thought that they had already made plans on becoming more upbeat, and he was just telling me that. I also thought that maybe he was just saying that so that I'd like what I heard. In any case, you are correct. Sunny does sound the same as they did at the beginning of November. However, I have noticed that they've been using the liner "brightening your day" which is a good liner to use considering their name is Sunny. One could imply that means being more upbeat. Also, this evening, I heard them use the liner "digging deeper into the music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s". But, overall, I don't notice the station being more upbeat. In any case, I'm glad that Sunny is back to regular programming. They're still one of my favorite stations in Philly (even if they are the lowest rated FM station in the 12+ ratings) :)
 
Re: Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

> Sunny is the closest thing we have to a classic Adult
> Contemporary Format...It's not horrible, but in my opinion
> it needs tweaking...
>
> I think it would do better in the ratings if it dumped the
> odd-ball records it features within the regular rotation.
>
> They feature "songs you haven't heard in years," and most of
> the time there is a reason these songs haven't been played
> in years. These records are dead. Let them rest in peace.
>
> Don't misunderstand, I like Sunny. But dump the disco and
> the odd-ball stuff, replace it with familiar classics of the
> era, and watch the ratings increase.
>
> I know, I know, repetition, no one understands that better
> than I. But, familiarity sells!
>

For us radio fans, its interesting to hear "songs we haven't heard in years", but I guess regular listeners prefer hearing more thamiliar classics.<P ID="signature">______________
Happy Holidays</P>
 
I came across "E. Gill's" post after posting a response/question higher up in the board to Magnum. I too was a little taken aback today after listening to Sunny and noticing NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever. Where's the upbeat part of the programming Brian talked about in his email response to Magnum? Hmmm...who the hell knows what happened but it sounds like the same ole Sunny to me.
 
Re: Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

Give some examples of the "odd-ball" records please. I'm interested to know which ones you think are causing a problem.

Now...to get rid of disco, this town would need the audience tweaked; not the stations. It's gonna be a long time before disco is phased out of Philadelphia's adult contemporary scene. The target loves it too much.

> Sunny is the closest thing we have to a classic Adult
> Contemporary Format...It's not horrible, but in my opinion
> it needs tweaking...
>
> I think it would do better in the ratings if it dumped the
> odd-ball records it features within the regular rotation.
>
> They feature "songs you haven't heard in years," and most of
> the time there is a reason these songs haven't been played
> in years. These records are dead. Let them rest in peace.
>
> Don't misunderstand, I like Sunny. But dump the disco and
> the odd-ball stuff, replace it with familiar classics of the
> era, and watch the ratings increase.
>
> I know, I know, repetition, no one understands that better
> than I. But, familiarity sells!
>
 
Re: Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

Give some examples of the "odd-ball" records please. I'm interested to know which ones you think are causing a problem.

In order to respond...I must speak out of school. I try not to do that because it leaves me open for legitimate opposing points of view. But I will do my best.

I cannot give you multiple examples of "records that are causing a problem" because I don't listen to the station often enough. But a few months ago while in the car, they introduced a "song I haven't heard in years," and it was a Jackson Five song that I actually remembered. I remembered it not because I had heard it on the radio...but because it was the flip side of a particular 45 I own. It may have been the flip of "The Love You Save," I don't know for sure. But it was definitely a flip because I only have two or three Jackson 5 records, and the song they played certainly was not the "A" side of any of my records.

The point is that the song may have received some local airplay on a Saturday Night disco show in the 70's, but it had no mass audience appeal in 2005. It wasn't a song with which most people would asscociate a memory or even "sing along." Some songs are "hits," and some are not.

I enjoy hearing songs that aren't played on the radio...that is why I have a mass collection of records and CD's, for my own entertainment. But stations don't have the ability to satisfy a mass audience with "odd-ball" songs.

You could argue that Holiday has a succesful street corner harmony show and the doo-wops he plays aren't top 40 hits. That is true, but to the doo-woppers, the songs he plays are hits...and he doesn't experiment outside of the box. To do so would be suicide. He sticks to the commonplace hits by The Duprees, Skyliners, Teenagers, etc. Anything else would not meet the requirements of a mass audience appeal. I think the same rule applies to Sunny...which is a contributing factor toward their lower ratings.


You say, "Now...to get rid of disco, this town would need the audience tweaked; not the stations. It's gonna be a long time before disco is phased out of Philadelphia's adult contemporary scene. The target loves it too much."

Do they? Maybe so, but if that is the case it is my contention that the disco audience is better served by WOGL. Again, I am speaking out of school because I don't have the playlist of either station at my disposal. But in my own listening experience I have heard more disco on 98.1 than on Sunny.

WOGL, like them or not, has earned a reputation for being more upbeat than Sunny. They never play more than one slow song in a row...in fact they hardly play slow songs at all anymore. But on Sunny, you can expect to hear The Carpenters followed by Manilow or Croce. These are examples of their core artists, and I think if they focused more their core and less on "The Four Tops," or "Donna Summer," they would do better in the ratings.

We have 98.1 for The Temps, Tops, and Spinners. Sunny...please, HITS and "A" sides, and 70's SOFT ROCK...stop trying to compete with WOGL, you can't beat them with the current playlist. It is too broad for the masses.

This is just my opinion.
 
Re: Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

Some would call them "odd-ball" records; others would call them "Wow" records. So it's kind-of a crapshoot there. Either way, I'm sure they're not being added without at least some research. You know how it goes, especially with Clear Channel. They're surely researching the hell out of everything.

Regarding the other half of the discussion, I don't think everyone has quite the right grasp on what Sunny is apparently trying to do here. They aren't trying to beat B101, nor are they trying to beat WOGL. They are, however, trying to get a nice chunk of audience from both B101 and WOGL. And they're doing it well enough to be successful, especially with that low overhead. And of course, we must also remember that the "low ratings" we see are only meaningless 12+ numbers.

Good discussion.


> Give some examples of the "odd-ball" records please. I'm
> interested to know which ones you think are causing a
> problem.
>
> In order to respond...I must speak out of school. I try not
> to do that because it leaves me open for legitimate opposing
> points of view. But I will do my best.
>
> I cannot give you multiple examples of "records that are
> causing a problem" because I don't listen to the station
> often enough. But a few months ago while in the car, they
> introduced a "song I haven't heard in years," and it was a
> Jackson Five song that I actually remembered. I remembered
> it not because I had heard it on the radio...but because it
> was the flip side of a particular 45 I own. It may have
> been the flip of "The Love You Save," I don't know for sure.
> But it was definitely a flip because I only have two or
> three Jackson 5 records, and the song they played certainly
> was not the "A" side of any of my records.
>
> The point is that the song may have received some local
> airplay on a Saturday Night disco show in the 70's, but it
> had no mass audience appeal in 2005. It wasn't a song
> with which most people would asscociate a memory or even
> "sing along." Some songs are "hits," and some are not.
>
> I enjoy hearing songs that aren't played on the radio...that
> is why I have a mass collection of records and CD's, for my
> own entertainment. But stations don't have the ability to
> satisfy a mass audience with "odd-ball" songs.
>
> You could argue that Holiday has a succesful street corner
> harmony show and the doo-wops he plays aren't top 40 hits.
> That is true, but to the doo-woppers, the songs he plays are
> hits...and he doesn't experiment outside of the box. To do
> so would be suicide. He sticks to the commonplace hits by
> The Duprees, Skyliners, Teenagers, etc. Anything else would
> not meet the requirements of a mass audience appeal. I
> think the same rule applies to Sunny...which is a
> contributing factor toward their lower ratings.
>
>
> You say, "Now...to get rid of disco, this town would need
> the audience tweaked; not the stations. It's gonna be a long
> time before disco is phased out of Philadelphia's adult
> contemporary scene. The target loves it too much."
>
> Do they? Maybe so, but if that is the case it is my
> contention that the disco audience is better served by WOGL.
> Again, I am speaking out of school because I don't have the
> playlist of either station at my disposal. But in my own
> listening experience I have heard more disco on 98.1 than on
> Sunny.
>
> WOGL, like them or not, has earned a reputation for being
> more upbeat than Sunny. They never play more than one slow
> song in a row...in fact they hardly play slow songs at all
> anymore. But on Sunny, you can expect to hear The
> Carpenters followed by Manilow or Croce. These are examples
> of their core artists, and I think if they focused more
> their core and less on "The Four Tops," or "Donna Summer,"
> they would do better in the ratings.
>
> We have 98.1 for The Temps, Tops, and Spinners.
> Sunny...please, HITS and "A" sides, and 70's SOFT
> ROCK...stop trying to compete with WOGL, you can't beat them
> with the current playlist. It is too broad for the masses.
>
>
> This is just my opinion.
>
 
Sunny Is Programmed To Appeal To Women.

Most of you (if not ALL of you) posting here about 104.5 are coming at it from a very male standpoint. Try if you can, to think about this as if you were a 40 year old woman. Not an easy task, unless of course, you've had the opportunity to actually ask a whole bunch of 40-something women what they'd like to hear. I think you'd be rather surprised to learn that what they like and what you like are two very different animals.
 
Re: Sunny Is Programmed To Appeal To Women.

I'm not! The only stations I approach from a male standpoint are Rock (not Alt Rock and not Classic Rock) and obviously-male-skewing Hot Talk formats. Even country stations are only geared toward guys when that ridiculously pointless NASCAR broadcast fires up! (NASCAR's not pointless; I just think airing it on the radio is.) Seems just about everything else on the dial is trying to grab women!

> Most of you (if not ALL of you) posting here about 104.5 are
> coming at it from a very male standpoint. Try if you can, to
> think about this as if you were a 40 year old woman. Not an
> easy task, unless of course, you've had the opportunity to
> actually ask a whole bunch of 40-something women what they'd
> like to hear. I think you'd be rather surprised to learn
> that what they like and what you like are two very different
> animals.
>
 
Re: Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

> Some would call them "odd-ball" records; others would call
> them "Wow" records. So it's kind-of a crapshoot there.
> Either way, I'm sure they're not being added without at
> least some research. You know how it goes, especially with
> Clear Channel. They're surely researching the hell out of
> everything.
>
> Regarding the other half of the discussion, I don't think
> everyone has quite the right grasp on what Sunny is
> apparently trying to do here. They aren't trying to beat
> B101, nor are they trying to beat WOGL. They are, however,
> trying to get a nice chunk of audience from both B101 and
> WOGL. And they're doing it well enough to be successful,
> especially with that low overhead. And of course, we must
> also remember that the "low ratings" we see are only
> meaningless 12+ numbers.
>
> Good discussion.
>
>
Great points and perspective. It's all about how well you serve your niche (and how little money you have to spend doing it.)

We all know if someone thinks there's a bigger pot of gold at the end of the latest rainbow/fad, there's not a sacred station in the country to be spared from a flip. That said, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the research shows that, right now, there's not a gaping hole Sunny could fill that would boost their profit margins. If there's another shake up that could have a domino effect, who knows...but I wouldn't bet on Sunny being the one to set off that chain reaction.

And now that I've jinxed it, expect the Sun to set by 6 am tomorrow morning....
 
Re: Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

> I wouldn't be at all surprised if the research shows that,
> right now, there's not a gaping hole Sunny could fill that
> would boost their profit margins.

Neither would I. For all the talk about format flips, there are exactly two format holes in Philadelphia right now: Alt. Rock and a contemporary Spanish-language music format, and neither one is going to instantly set the world on fire.

CC won't flip 104.5 to Alt. Rock. They're moving away from that format nationwide, and it doesn't fit their cluster. Sunny, for all its faults, hits a lucrative demo, and one that complements the other CC stations. Sunny will only flip if the ratings crater completely (they're close now) AND there's a viable alternative (not Alternative).

The only way Sunny flips is if CC gets serious about putting FM Talk or Spanish-language programming in every market. In that unlikely scenario, Sunny probably gets the boot instead of Q based on current trends.
 
Nascar

(NASCAR's not
> pointless; I just think airing it on the radio is.)

I disagree. If there are nascar fans on the road (travelling, whatever), the only source for live racing coverage is on the radio, although I think it shouldn't be on music stations.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
Happy Holidays</P>
 
Think About It This Way

Point well taken but...once again, if you look at the numbers 25-54 Women
which is the target, it's pretty sad that the sole reason for being is to knock down B101 from winning that demo consistently. Sunny's numbers in that money demo aren't that good...they are literally a skim off the top top of B101 and to a lesser extent, WOGL. Someone with a megaphone and a Carpenter's Greatest Hits album at the corner of Chestnut and 17th could do almost as well.
In my opinion, this is why any broadcasting company should not be allowed to own more than 2 properties in any market. Clear Channels only justification for their 104.5 frequency in the country's 6th largest radio market is to keep B101 from winning it all. Is that OK with you? What does that say about the state of radio here in almost 2006?

I don't think
> > everyone has quite the right grasp on what Sunny is
> > apparently trying to do here. They aren't trying to beat
> > B101, nor are they trying to beat WOGL. They are,
> however,
> > trying to get a nice chunk of audience from both B101 and
> > WOGL. And they're doing it well enough to be successful,
> > especially with that low overhead. And of course, we must
>
> > also remember that the "low ratings" we see are only
> > meaningless 12+ numbers.
> >
 
Re: Dead records, repetition, and Sunny

> > I wouldn't be at all surprised if the research shows that,
>
> > right now, there's not a gaping hole Sunny could fill that
>
> > would boost their profit margins.
>
> Neither would I. For all the talk about format flips, there
> are exactly two format holes in Philadelphia right now:
> Alt. Rock and a contemporary Spanish-language music format,
> and neither one is going to instantly set the world on fire.
>
>
> CC won't flip 104.5 to Alt. Rock. They're moving away from
> that format nationwide, and it doesn't fit their cluster.
> Sunny, for all its faults, hits a lucrative demo, and one
> that complements the other CC stations. Sunny will only
> flip if the ratings crater completely (they're close now)
> AND there's a viable alternative (not Alternative).
>
> The only way Sunny flips is if CC gets serious about putting
> FM Talk or Spanish-language programming in every market. In
> that unlikely scenario, Sunny probably gets the boot instead
> of Q based on current trends.
>

You all bring up very good points. I do email exchanges with another other radio folks sometimes and they have access to 25-54 numbers. According to them, they are saying Sunny is doing ok. They must be doing well enough to keep the format. We can't forget that Sunny is cheap to run and brings in good revenue.

It can go either way with Sunny. Its doing well enough to stay, but if there is, as you said, a viable alternative format that CC really wants to put on the air in Philadelphia, Sunny may be a choice. Who knows.

Excellent Discussion<P ID="signature">______________
Happy Holidays</P>
 
Re: Think About It This Way

> Point well taken but...once again, if you look at the
> numbers 25-54 Women
> which is the target, it's pretty sad that the sole reason
> for being is to knock down B101 from winning that demo
> consistently. Sunny's numbers in that money demo aren't that
> good...they are literally a skim off the top top of B101 and
> to a lesser extent, WOGL. Someone with a megaphone and a
> Carpenter's Greatest Hits album at the corner of Chestnut
> and 17th could do almost as well.
> In my opinion, this is why any broadcasting company should
> not be allowed to own more than 2 properties in any market.
> Clear Channels only justification for their 104.5 frequency
> in the country's 6th largest radio market is to keep B101
> from winning it all. Is that OK with you? What does that say
> about the state of radio here in almost 2006?
>
It's always about the money! Afterall it is a business, right? As for WSNI numbers, I have a friend in philly radio who tells me the station is always top 4 (behind wdas-fm, kyw and wbeb) for women 25-54. Mornings are their problem, and I guess that is why Tesh is now on. Women 25-54 must be a demo that advertisers want.
 
Re: Think About It This Way

Very good points. As I look at it, I don't see "the good old days" when companies were so tightly limited as being all that much better. The years tend to amplify the good memories and blur the bad ones.

But let's go back a generation or so. Was it serving the public interest that much to have four adult contemporary stations in town fighting for the same audience? Sure, they played slightly different flavors of AC, but at the end of the day, they shared more than they differed. Is B101 today all that much worse than the stations were when there were four of them? I'd submit they aren't worse--they're playing the music for the target demo and doing very well at it.

Of course, "better" is subjective. I felt Eagle 106 was at its best when they had CHR all to themselves in the market, pre Q. Once WIOQ came along, they responded, and to this listener, made adjustments that made them nearly unlistenable save for Lander.

Is it Ok with me? Honestly, yes. It's not practical to look at radio today through the lens of what technology was 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Just because radio could do something back then doesn't mean it's practical or possible now. Personalization of content and portability of other media mean radio simply can't be what it was. I'm not saying it will go away entirely, but it has to adapt to reality, including the changing tastes of audiences. As a kid, I was a captive audience to my parents' choices in car listening. With portable DVD players and IPods, how many kids are now? (OK, maybe PARENTS are captives to Barney et al, but that's another debate.)

Besides my objections to government interference in commerce on free-market grounds, I don't see what going back to old ownership limits would do to suddenly "save" radio.

> Point well taken but...once again, if you look at the
> numbers 25-54 Women
> which is the target, it's pretty sad that the sole reason
> for being is to knock down B101 from winning that demo
> consistently. Sunny's numbers in that money demo aren't that
> good...they are literally a skim off the top top of B101 and
> to a lesser extent, WOGL. Someone with a megaphone and a
> Carpenter's Greatest Hits album at the corner of Chestnut
> and 17th could do almost as well.
> In my opinion, this is why any broadcasting company should
> not be allowed to own more than 2 properties in any market.
> Clear Channels only justification for their 104.5 frequency
> in the country's 6th largest radio market is to keep B101
> from winning it all. Is that OK with you? What does that say
> about the state of radio here in almost 2006?
>
>
 
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