What has happened to Gen X Radio?

100.5 FM has evolved a lot since it has become Gen X radio, but lately it has become almost unrecognizable as outside of station identifications that make it clear that it is still Gen X radio. Almost everything you hear on there lately is a top 40 song from the past couple of years (or even right now), including Lorde, Aloe Blac, Passenger, Bastille, Ed Sheeran and Pharrell Williams. In fact, a quick look at their playlist on their website only shows less than 10 songs from the 90s in their top 100 for the week.

Is it really fair to call it Gen X radio anymore? I remember not too long ago when it was all 90s and even some late 80s stuff. I mean, I suppose some Gen X-ers like that stuff, but they've really gone off the deep end by now... and mostly, I can't help but to wonder if this is a last gasp before something new is tried out over at 100.5.

Could be moving in a Adult CHR direction. Kinda like 104.1 in New Orleans which started out Gen X and is now Adult CHR.

They've been getting quite an earful from listeners on their Facebook page, most saying that 100.5 has suddenly become a DJX or Radio Now clone (which I sort of understand since I've been hearing "Dark Horse" and/or "Happy" at least once every hour). They're saying that they've just made "minor tweaks," but that is far from the truth as anybody listening for an hour can tell. It seems that this may have been a quick response to the most recent Arbitron numbers, where it appears that that WLGX's numbers have fallen yet again.

I completely agree. I removed them from my presets last week because I couldn't handle it anymore. Might as well be a regular top-40 station now, cause they're certainly not a "90s" station anymore. The Gen-X name is completely irrelevant now.

I thought of a possible reason for the Gen-X change. Maybe the powers that be at CC think that whoever takes over 93.9 will try this format and CC wants to do it before they can?
I remember when WDJX added "Hits" to their name thinking that 105.9 would call their station "hits" when they changed to the WHTE call letters.

radiofan502 said:

I thought of a possible reason for the Gen-X change. Maybe the powers that be at CC think that whoever takes over 93.9 will try this format and CC wants to do it before they can?
I remember when WDJX added "Hits" to their name thinking that 105.9 would call their station "hits" when they changed to the WHTE call letters.

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That's certainly possible, although to me, the change seems to be dramatic enough to warrant a complete relaunch and rebranding of 100.5. The whole "Gen-X" branding just doesn't seem to fit anymore, as it suggest 90s, which is becoming rare on Gen-X. It'll be interesting to see how the numbers go for this though. I have no clue if it is going to work, but if it doesn't and Gen-X is second from the bottom in the next round (let's face it, we all know that even though the Main Line stations aren't included in the most recent numbers, Gen-X is probably at least able to count on Easy Rock 105.1 being below it), I could see them going in a totally different direction.

Just like lite 106.9 isnt lite rock anymore they should also be rebranded. Maybe this will be the year everyone has been waiting for when gen x goes gen xmas this year they come back as a different station.

They should never have moved the fox from 100.5 in 2005. Hey that rhymes

I'm wondering if Gen-X will stick around through Christmas even. Is 100.5 the only ClearChannel Gen-X station in existence now? The format was almost an instant disaster in other cities, typically lasting months, it is simply astonishing here that it is still going (at least in name only) five years later.

106.9 probably should have been rebranded, but as far as they're concerned, I almost have to say that everything sort of fell together OK in the end. A lot of the music that they play is still "lite" (even though it sounds nothing like the previous "lite" lineup), and honestly considering that it has been "Lite 106.9" for over two decades, it just wouldn't feel right at this point thinking of it as anything other than "Lite 106.9." Gen-X, on the other hand, is very much disposable and doesn't fit at all now.

As for The Fox on 100.5, maybe this is the perfect time for them to move back "home." After all, when they first moved to 93.1, Radio One had WLRS (which wasn't exactly going strong, but still provided competition). The Fox moved in 2005, and the flavor of LRS that competed most directly with The Fox was gone by early 2008. They've been the lone station in their format for six years now and I wouldn't anticipate anybody coming in to compete with them any time in the foreseeable future.

I doubt 100.5 will last till gen xmas but ya got a point about 106.9 but still nickelback arent light rock.

It seems that they've changed out their morning show now. No longer is Mathew Blades being piped in from Phoenix, now it is Valentine in the Morning from 104.3 MyFM in LA.

I noticed today that they are now calling the station "My 100.5 Gen-X Radio". Huh? I guess they don't want to give up the Gen-X name.

Interestingly, the domain names my1005fm.com and 1005myfm.com were both registered by markmonitor.com (they seem to handle these things for ClearChannel) on March 31st... I feel like "Gen X" is about to be dumped from the name.

What's the point of having both 98.9 and 100.5 now?

Sounds like the max is about to get a competitor. Probably will hurt the max since 100.5 has a better signal. My Fm104.3 is the hot ac in los angeles and has valentine in the morning. I say the ville needs another current rock station. My opinion.

hotpatrick2004 said:

Sounds like the max is about to get a competitor. Probably will hurt the max since 100.5 has a better signal. My Fm104.3 is the hot ac in los angeles and has valentine in the morning. I say the ville needs another current rock station. My opinion.

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I wouldn't just say "about," I think it has already arrived with this new 100.5 even without the name change. One thing 102.3 has going for it is that they're still keeping things mostly local. 100.5 has very little to offer that makes it a "Louisville" station. But how that translates into ratings, who knows.

I would love to see a new current rock station here, but you almost have to wonder if the market can support it and who would do it. I think Clear Channel is out since they've already got their share of that. Maybe L&L (the new owners of the Main Line stations) will get in on it, though the only place they could really put it is at 105.1 and we've seen how well current rock (and virtually any other format you can imagine) has worked there.

I think the max will hold its own. I mean lambert and lindsey have a good following along with sarah jordan in middays. So they got something going for them. I bet when new owners take over mainline easy rock will become something else. And back in march of 2005 i remember lrs 105 getting 4 shares so that station can do something but radio one just said eff it who cares we will just write it off.

The funny thing about Easy Rock is that in other hands, I think it could have been successful. Essentially, Easy Rock's playlist is Lite 106.9's old playlist, and it worked for them. But Main Line decided to just jump into it by putting a playlist on the air and no on-air talent... and when they finally did get an on-air talent, it was just a shuffle from 102.3 (Tommy Lee) in the afternoon and nothing else to fill the rest of the day. It isn't a matter of if it'll get a new format, but how long it'll take.

I would like to somebody to come in and try out an AAA formatted station. WFPK is a great station (one of my favorites, to be precise), but they skew away from the slightly more mainstream artists that an AAA station often airs. That's not necessarily a bad thing that WFPK does (in fact that is what makes them so great, and they've really got things going well), but it suggests that there is room for a commercial radio station that does things a bit differently.

I know what you mean about wfpk i called them up and wanted to here dashboard confessional and they wouldnt play them they said to commercial. They kinda act like there to cool for the room. When does L and L takeover? Why dont you think talk worked on 105.1? I think because they didnt market it very well. The problem is and the common theme is they dont want to put the work in reguardless of format for a successful station. Its gonna take a bit of money and effort. You just cant ad water and not nuture it.

I think the problem talk radio on 105.1 (and anywhere, really) is that it is, simply put, dying. There will be (for quite some time) the big names that keep the big stations alive and viable, and that is why it still works for the big guys like WHAS, but generally speaking, the audiences are getting older and older and not being replaced with younger listeners. The younger people who actually do listen to the talk radio are opting to listen to the podcast versions instead now, taking the radio stations out of the whole game.