1.04.2007
The New Stale 102.7.
Where to begin... Has CBS really stooped so low as to model a radio station after laundry detergent or - worse, Massengill products? "Fresh 102.7"? The "soft music" station? That'll definitely take some getting used to.
I mean, you want to finally put together a station that can take a run at WLTW, whose vulnerability after the recent cutbacks and other changes (e.g. Delilah) has nowhere to go but up? Props to you. But with a few exceptions, it is never a good idea to position your station after an adjective. Just ask "Fickle 93.3" up in Rochester, or even the former WTFM here in New York - you know, "Mellow T"? Ironically, one of the songs you will probably never hear on Fresh 102.7? "Fresh" from Kool & The Gang, since his music is not "contemporary" enough, according to someone from CBS.
Actually, I think I see what CBS is trying to do here: They're trying to create a niche format with a certain set of songs from a certain generation, then wait for the ratings to go higher and effectively start putting it on other stations across the country. (See KCBS-FM aka Jack in L.A.)
But what they're really doing with this format is actually rewriting history - and I'm talking the dubious kind. See, New York already had this kinda format - and I'm not talking about back in the spring of 2003, pre-Blink. Raise your hand if you remember a "big" station with Danny Bonaduce in the morning? Right - "Big 105", whose soccer mom-geared playlist Fresh appears to be copying most, if not all, of. But wait, there's more: Remember when WRFM switched to WNSR - which stood for "New York's Soft Rock"? And it eventually evolved into "Mix 105" - which, you guessed it, was another brilliant format idea for 102.7?
You see what's happening here, folks: Every single format - fabled and failed - that had ever existed on 105.1 FM post-WRFM and pre-WWPR, is having a resurrection in some form on 102.7. We've heard "Mix", whose playlist was mostly similar to that of the old Jammin' 105; now we get a station pretty much modeled like Big 105, and in addition, pushing a playlist of "soft" songs, like the old WNSR. Really, how long until they bring back Abby & John for afternoons?
And your liners - yes, we know you're going after the already diluted female demographics, okay, we get it! Why should each liner sound like a Maybelline jingle? Granted, while I'm clearly out of 102.7's demos, to be fair, I should say that some of the older songs - just like Big before it - were ones that I "grew up" with. After all, why should I write that the station is the most emasculating frequency on your dial? Music is music. (Although I should add you will never find me caught dead listening to anything from Sylvester or Village People.)
Which brings me to the death of WNEW-FM. Yup, they're finally dropping the vaunted call letters - but they're parking them on a station in West Palm Beach, which has yet to be determined. How funny would it be if they quietly moved those calls to their station on 107.9 to replace WIRK? Yes, they stress their calls, but they also position themselves as "today's hot new country". Hey, all you radio know-it-alls, those of you who predicted country on WNEW-FM, your wish has come true!
So the new calls will be WWFS. Which, even if Fresh decomposes, would still be pretty good call letters if they ever did want to go country with "The Wolf" - although my proposal of country on 92.3 WFNY-FM would fit a little more - alas, there goes Opie & Anthony's shot at returning to 102.7.
Of course, country on WNEW would be even more ironic.
I mean, you want to finally put together a station that can take a run at WLTW, whose vulnerability after the recent cutbacks and other changes (e.g. Delilah) has nowhere to go but up? Props to you. But with a few exceptions, it is never a good idea to position your station after an adjective. Just ask "Fickle 93.3" up in Rochester, or even the former WTFM here in New York - you know, "Mellow T"? Ironically, one of the songs you will probably never hear on Fresh 102.7? "Fresh" from Kool & The Gang, since his music is not "contemporary" enough, according to someone from CBS.
Actually, I think I see what CBS is trying to do here: They're trying to create a niche format with a certain set of songs from a certain generation, then wait for the ratings to go higher and effectively start putting it on other stations across the country. (See KCBS-FM aka Jack in L.A.)
But what they're really doing with this format is actually rewriting history - and I'm talking the dubious kind. See, New York already had this kinda format - and I'm not talking about back in the spring of 2003, pre-Blink. Raise your hand if you remember a "big" station with Danny Bonaduce in the morning? Right - "Big 105", whose soccer mom-geared playlist Fresh appears to be copying most, if not all, of. But wait, there's more: Remember when WRFM switched to WNSR - which stood for "New York's Soft Rock"? And it eventually evolved into "Mix 105" - which, you guessed it, was another brilliant format idea for 102.7?
You see what's happening here, folks: Every single format - fabled and failed - that had ever existed on 105.1 FM post-WRFM and pre-WWPR, is having a resurrection in some form on 102.7. We've heard "Mix", whose playlist was mostly similar to that of the old Jammin' 105; now we get a station pretty much modeled like Big 105, and in addition, pushing a playlist of "soft" songs, like the old WNSR. Really, how long until they bring back Abby & John for afternoons?
And your liners - yes, we know you're going after the already diluted female demographics, okay, we get it! Why should each liner sound like a Maybelline jingle? Granted, while I'm clearly out of 102.7's demos, to be fair, I should say that some of the older songs - just like Big before it - were ones that I "grew up" with. After all, why should I write that the station is the most emasculating frequency on your dial? Music is music. (Although I should add you will never find me caught dead listening to anything from Sylvester or Village People.)
Which brings me to the death of WNEW-FM. Yup, they're finally dropping the vaunted call letters - but they're parking them on a station in West Palm Beach, which has yet to be determined. How funny would it be if they quietly moved those calls to their station on 107.9 to replace WIRK? Yes, they stress their calls, but they also position themselves as "today's hot new country". Hey, all you radio know-it-alls, those of you who predicted country on WNEW-FM, your wish has come true!
So the new calls will be WWFS. Which, even if Fresh decomposes, would still be pretty good call letters if they ever did want to go country with "The Wolf" - although my proposal of country on 92.3 WFNY-FM would fit a little more - alas, there goes Opie & Anthony's shot at returning to 102.7.
Of course, country on WNEW would be even more ironic.
