Fresh 1027

[Jeffrey]

What's with all the Blink bashing?  I happened to like blink.  I thought it was a great attempt at an up-beat variety station.  I thought it was  quite creative attempting to combine Z100 top-40,  KTu dance from the 80's and 90's and PLJ.  I also liked that little artist profiles they would do in the middle of song segments.  But i guess no one else was receptive to this different approach to radio, i must have been 1 of the 10 in the entire tri-state area that listened.  I used to tune into them quite often, then when they took the AC  approach, I turned them off.  How is this "fresh"  creative? Many say its like Lite, some say its like PLJ.   Blink was unique, they should have given it time.

Agreed 100%. I liked Blink too. It was one of the only 2 attempts any New York fm station did to do something outside the box. The other attempt was when WQCD did their chill format which in my opinion could have worked had they stopped mixing in Stevie Wonder type hits with cutting edge lounge music.

[TheBootlegger]

Thank God someone did this!  WLTW is such a horrific excuse for a New York radio station.  Let's face it, the only reason that CBS didn't dump the calls is that they seem to be married to them for wall street's sake. It
certainly cannot be for the listeners.  WLTW has crappy local jocks, topped off with Delilah.  The best talent on
the station lives in Seattle!

[robaustin]

Don't forget that what's between the songs matters as much as the songs themselves.  The DJs (or lack of them) can make or break the station.

The music mix is almost identical to WPLJ.  However, PLJ is personality heavy, which helps them do as well as they do.  Lack of personalities could be key.

As for sounding like Lite - or trying to take shares away - that's gonna take a LOT of promotion, something CBS has traditionally not been very good at.  Lite is an office staple, and getting people to change their office station is a tall order.

Overall it shows CBS is still not willing to take chances after being burned by Blink.  They chose a safe format that their advertisers will hopefully like.  They can sell this and Jack together.

Personally, it would have been nice to see someone take a chance on something different.  Country, which at least would have had a niche they could have possibly carved out.  Straight ahead rock a la WMMR's "everything that rocks" approach could have challenged Q 104.3 and done decently.

Oh well, so much for creativity in radio.  Back to my podcasts and iPod now....

--*Rob

[Jeffrey]

Don't forget that what's between the songs matters as much as the songs themselves.  The DJs (or lack of them) can make or break the station.

The music mix is almost identical to WPLJ.  However, PLJ is personality heavy, which helps them do as well as they do.  Lack of personalities could be key.

As for sounding like Lite - or trying to take shares away - that's gonna take a LOT of promotion, something CBS has traditionally not been very good at.  Lite is an office staple, and getting people to change their office station is a tall order.

Overall it shows CBS is still not willing to take chances after being burned by Blink.  They chose a safe format that their advertisers will hopefully like.  They can sell this and Jack together.

Personally, it would have been nice to see someone take a chance on something different.  Country, which at least would have had a niche they could have possibly carved out.  Straight ahead rock a la WMMR's "everything that rocks" approach could have challenged Q 104.3 and done decently.

Oh well, so much for creativity in radio.  Back to my podcasts and iPod now....

--*Rob

wnew will be adding talent. Let us hope they will be from New York and not Omaha.

[neo11]

I'd venture to guess that CBS has reached out to some of the former Lite FM jocks.  Perhaps we might see them on 102.7 when their non-compete clauses expire.  Time will tell, but according to the PD, jocks will be on 102.7.

[Lee Anderson]

I am sitting here in the dark naked.  This station does nothing for me.  Bill Plaxx production sounds good. 

EEEEEWWWWWW... WRONG!!!!

[neo11]

What's with all the Blink bashing?  I happened to like blink.  I thought it was a great attempt at an up-beat variety station.  I thought it was  quite creative attempting to combine Z100 top-40,  KTu dance from the 80's and 90's and PLJ.  I also liked that little artist profiles they would do in the middle of song segments.  But i guess no one else was receptive to this different approach to radio, i must have been 1 of the 10 in the entire tri-state area that listened.  I used to tune into them quite often, then when they took the AC  approach, I turned them off.  How is this "fresh"  creative? Many say its like Lite, some say its like PLJ.   Blink was unique, they should have given it time.

Agreed 100%. I liked Blink too. It was one of the only 2 attempts any New York fm station did to do something outside the box. The other attempt was when WQCD did their chill format which in my opinion could have worked had they stopped mixing in Stevie Wonder type hits with cutting edge lounge music.

Count me in as someone that also liked Blink (I also like the music on Jack FM so I guess that makes me part of a tiny minority).  It certainly was different and it did sound pretty lively. 

Chill...there's another format that didn't get a fair shake.  How long did Emmis give it...six months?  Funny thing is I don't recall WQCD's numbers even dropping during that span.  I don't see anyone else picking up that concept in NYC though, unfortunately.

[TowerBuzz]

By the way all of the comparisons to PLJ, or the idea that they're going after PLJ?

 PLJ has no numbers so assume they're not going after PLJ

 

[Justin Case]

Fresh's general age target of their music isn't old enough to really be going after Lite head on, as offices tend to skew a bit older than women just wanting the 90's and now, which is the core of what I've heard so far on Fresh.   Being a Hot AC PLJ is in the firing range...  I'm sure they'd love to pick up some of the "older" Z100 listeners too!   

All a tall order without jocks and interaction of the content they supply to woo in the listeners and customize the station for NYC.  Otherwise like several have said in posts above, it sounds like other stations in small markets like Bridgeport...

Obviously CBS hasn't learned from Jack or Free (though Free has bad talent on all day and nothing at night/weekends); that JOCKLESS in NYC doesn't seem to help ratings or draw attention to your station. 

[neo11]

I would disagree and say that even with the newer mix of music, they are still staying within very "safe" realms and certainly are going after the Lite FM crowd.  Lets not forget that while Lite does play a lot of older stuff, especially older disco cuts from the 70s, they also play newer stuff....Coldplay, Maroon 5, Avril Lavigne, Nickleback, etc. and that strategy doesn't seem to have hurt them much.

I'd say that these are the stations Fresh is targeting, in order:

1. Lite
2. PLJ
3. KTU
4. Z100

As far as PLJ is concerned, yes, their numbers are bad, but their billing is awesome by comparison.  That's kept the station afloat for many years since it's really been awhile since they really lit the ratings world on fire.  I'm sure CBS Radio wouldn't mind a piece of that billing pie as well.