New WRXP Positioner: Just "Rock"

[MarkW]

Nah, mullet rock in my view is the crap WYSP in Philly plays.

Most mullet wearers likely despise Linkin Park.

"Plenty" of Metallica?   They play 'em maybe twice a day, and the only songs I've seen are the safest songs off the black album.

[lalumia]

plenty of people want to hear Blondie and Joan Jett;
and The Clash and The Sex Pistols;
and Mink De Ville and Patti Smith;
and The New York Dolls and Iggy & The Stooges;
and Lou Reed and David Bowie;
and Cherry Vanilla and Wayne County;
and Billy Idol's Generation X and Adam & the Ants;
and The Jam and The Damned;
and the hundreds of other attractions that would make a 'classic NY rock scene' station the talk of town....
or you can continue banging your head against the wall...
(did I mention The Psychotic Frogs?)

[MarkW]

Niche crap is not going to get the station cume.

Emmis has done a fairly good job rebuilding Q101 in Chicago during the past 12 months.  They moved Sherman & Tingle to AM Drive, hired Tim Virgin for PM Drive, and dissolved the god awful "Manno Brothers" show.  Holy crap did they blow.  The playlist has been expanded while remaining centerd on hard rock alternative.

Q101 was pulling a 1.2 or 1.3 share at its low point during the PPM era; they are now up to a 2.4.  Their cume has also grown nicely.  Not monster ratings by any means, but they are now probably doing well enough to be sustainable.

It looks as if RXP is Emmis' latest fixer-upper.

[Macker]

Niche crap is not going to get the station cume.

Emmis has done a fairly good job rebuilding Q101 in Chicago during the past 12 months.  They moved Sherman & Tingle to AM Drive, hired Tim Virgin for PM Drive, and dissolved the god awful "Manno Brothers" show.  Holy crap did they blow.  The playlist has been expanded while remaining centerd on hard rock alternative.

Q101 was pulling a 1.2 or 1.3 share at its low point during the PPM era; they are now up to a 2.4.  Their cume has also grown nicely.  Not monster ratings by any means, but they are now probably doing well enough to be sustainable.

It looks as if RXP is Emmis' latest fixer-upper.

The playlist of Q101 is the "niche crap" that I'm suggesting - well-known alternative hits. WKRK Radio 92.3 in Cleveland went from high 1's to mid 4's in cume after switching to alternative.

[JimmyJames]

"The playlist has been expanded while remaining centerd on hard rock alternative."

There used to be two formats. Active Rock and Alternative/Modern. The fact there's so little of a difference now is part of the problem.

[DToTheJ]

plenty of people want to hear Blondie and Joan Jett;
and The Clash and The Sex Pistols;
and Mink De Ville and Patti Smith;
and The New York Dolls and Iggy & The Stooges;
and Lou Reed and David Bowie;
and Cherry Vanilla and Wayne County;
and Billy Idol's Generation X and Adam & the Ants;
and The Jam and The Damned;
and the hundreds of other attractions that would make a 'classic NY rock scene' station the talk of town....
or you can continue banging your head against the wall...
(did I mention The Psychotic Frogs?)

And only lalumia wants to hear the bands in boldfaced above. 

[MarkW]

WKRK Radio 92.3 in Cleveland went from high 1's to mid 4's in cume after switching to alternative.

You are citing AQH share, not cume.

Radio 92-3 is doing VERY well.  They have pulled ahead of WMMS in the ratings.  Very different sounding station, though, than Q101 with somewhat different demo targets.   Either approach, though, would be a VAST improvement over the current sound of RXP.

[DToTheJ]

[In Cleveland] Radio 92-3 is doing VERY well.  They have pulled ahead of WMMS in the ratings.

Is that right? I guess every dog has his day - except when the dog's name is Rover...

[DToTheJ]

Meanwhile, looks like the likes of Springsteen and Guns N' Roses are still part of the WRXP playlist:
http://www.1019rxp.com/broadcasthistory.aspx

Recent music set:
8:45 AM    "JUST LIKE HEAVEN" - THE CURE
8:49 AM    "YOU AND YOUR HEART" - JACK JOHNSON
8:52 AM    "BORN TO RUN" - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
8:56 AM     "BURNING THE BOWERY" - JESSE MALIN

By the way, I noticed that there's a break in the music between 9 and 10 AM... Public affairs shows? Infomercials? Hmmm...

[TheBigA]

This is a fascinating thread.  To me, it explains why rock as a radio format is dying.  It can never satisfy enough people to get the size audience it needs to survive.  The compromises it needs to make to attract an audience hurts its ability to keep the audience it once had.  Everyone wants to hear what they want to hear, and they can't agree on what that is.  Radio's caught in the middle between the music and the people.