Watching old-fashioned terrestrial radio continue to kill itself is becoming tiresome. After Howard Stern left censored radio to become the star of satellite radio, the entire radio industry was shaken up. CBS Radio came out with a series of Free-FM channels that focused directly on talk. This turned out to be one of the dumbest moves in the history of the industry because long-time rock stations were being converted to talk stations. When it flipped from music to Free-FM, New York’s WXRK (better known as 92.3 K-Rock) went from the highest rated rock station in New York City to not even being ranked in the top 10. The dummies at CBS Radio finally realized the error of their ways and brought back the K-Rock station, but this was just one of a series of screw-ups by the company.
Some of you may remember when I blogged about CBS changing the format of 101.1 in New York City – the number one ranked oldies station. When CBS changed from the oldies format to some stupid “Jack-FM” concept (which was based on an iPod style – playing whatever they wanted to play), the station quickly tanked. Again, after realizing the error of their ways – and losing tons of advertising revenue – CBS Radio changed their minds and brought back the oldies format.
And now we have the latest blunder in the New Jersey/New York terrestrial radio meltdown. Press Communications, the owner of four stations in the Monmouth County/Ocean County area, have taken their G-Rock Radio Channel (106.3 FM) and changed it to now be called “Hit 106.” The name change isn’t the problem – it’s the format change. As described in the Asbury Park Press:
Less than a week after the Jersey Shore station WHTG (G-Rock) 106.3-FM switched from an alternative rock format to contemporary hits, a group calling itself “Bring Back G-Rock,” with a Facebook page, is planning a protest at noon Saturday outside the station’s studio at 2355 West Bangs Ave. in Neptune.
Press Communications, the owners of the station, made the switch at noon on Monday, to appeal to the 18 to 44 age range.
How stupid is this decision by Press Communications? If you live in the Jersey Shore area, you know that G-Rock was all over the place up and down the shore during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. They were a household name in terms of the radio world…and they’re rewarded for their excellent marketing and advertising by being taken off of the air? Who’s making these ridiculous decisions in the terrestrial radio world?!
I was glad to read that there is going to be a protest outside of the Press Communications building tomorrow. Though I can’t be there, I agree that G-Rock Radio should be brought back. Since I’ve picked up Sirius XM
Watch – taking G-Rock Radio off of the air will be one of the dumbest moves in Press Communications’ history.
How about that SIRIUS stock?
(OK I couldn’t resist…:))
Please…I’ve lost more money on Sirius than any other investment.
But as the ads all over this site (and in an upcoming post) prove – I still think there is something to this company!
Regular radio keeps making horrible decisions like this because it’s a business populated by people who are looking to make a quick dollar rather than do what’s right. It’s the same everywhere you go. If something seems like a hot concept, sooner or later everybody’s doing it. You mentioned Jack FM. The same thing happened in Canada. Rogers Communications launched a Jack station in Vancouver and then one in Toronto. Next thing you know, one company flips a bunch of their stations to the same IPod style play whatever format and calls it Bob. Another company calls it Dave. I think there’s even a Lloyd a Cam and a Fred floating around in various parts of the country. It’s completely ridiculous. And it’s not even like the expanded playlist format is a bad idea. it could have worked, but the problem is that just by listening for a little while you can tell that it’s still the same old radio, and that unlike anybody’s IPod, it still has a strict set of guidelines that it uses to set playlists. What good is playing stuff from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s if you’re not going to take the next logical step and play different things, the stuff that you never hear on radio? Seriously, have you ever met a person with an MP3 player filled with just singles from the bands that everybody else knows?
The good will that a station’s name has established means nothing to people in today’s radio business. They’re more than happy to gut staff and take away jobs from talented people and voicetrack everything. They’ll flip formats at a moments notice because it might make some money or because the competition did it. I can’t say it about absolutely everybody I’ve come across in radio, but for the most part, a kind or original thought would die of loneliness in what passes for the brains of these tools.
Good luck with the protest. I’ve never listened to this station, but I know well how much a good radio station means to a community, and I know how difficult it is to find one these days.