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Q107

TheBigA said:
You may be right, and that would explain why they didn't make the flip a few weeks ago when they did the national launch. But at some point, one of the existing formats will become too old, regardless of the ratings. It's inevitable. Time marches on.
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Unless, of course, they adjust the music to keep the audience in the target demos that they want. That's exactly what Q107 is doing, and was the original point of this discussion.
 
SirRoxalot said:
Unless, of course, they adjust the music to keep the audience in the target demos that they want. That's exactly what Q107 is doing, and was the original point of this discussion.
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I agree, but how do you do a classic rock station and not play Hendrix or Led Zepplin? And keep it distinct from Jack?
 
No idea what their talking about......

I just LOVE to read all the comments from people
who "have all the answers," they just don't know
the questions and they don't live anywhere near
the area of discussion...........
 
It doesn't have to be "either/or". As others have stated, 18-24s understand musical legacy. It's a question of degree, and playing the artists who were inspired by Hendrix and Zeppelin. Q107 is doing just that, and the ratings response so far is positive.
 
SirRoxalot said:
It doesn't have to be "either/or". As others have stated, 18-24s understand musical legacy. It's a question of degree, and playing the artists who were inspired by Hendrix and Zeppelin. Q107 is doing just that, and the ratings response so far is positive.
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Saying you were inspired by Hendrix & Zepplin (everybody does) and being classic rock are two different things.

My question about Q107 is how do they do that and maintain the Canadian content?
 
Maybe you should tune them in. They're on-line. Then perhaps you'd be able to comment on the topic that started this thread.
 
Canadian content doesn't deter most listeners here because border stations along the "north coast" have often played Canadian music that didn't chart well in the rest of the country. Of course, most of that is now off the playlists except on "special weekends", or as "deep cuts" because corporate programmers aren't familiar with (or don't care about) regional differences. For Q107 is simply adds a little more variety, and "aha" moments to their programming. Steady listeners are as familiar with most Can-con as Canadian listeners. Young listeners discovering the music don't know that it's Can-con - they just know that it sounds like it fits the format. Defining the format by sound, rather than by era, would seem bold to the stilted programmers working with short playlists handed down by corporate these days. As the largest Canadian market, the folks at Q107 apparently have a bit more leeway.
 
SirRoxalot said:
Defining the format by sound, rather than by era, would seem bold to the stilted programmers working with short playlists handed down by corporate these days. As the largest Canadian market, the folks at Q107 apparently have a bit more leeway.
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Good for them. To be honest, I don't think anyone at corporate cares how you define your playlist as long as you hit your numbers. If you do that, you can play whatever you want. For me, I would never program my only three stations in a market this way. It may have made sense when they had the Bills, but not any more.

I don't understand this concern you have about "corporate," as though they have the time to listen and check every thing a station in Buffalo does. It's been my experience that they don't listen. All they look at is results. If the results are a problem, then corporate gets involved. But until then, there is no reason to worry. If you're going to get fired, it's going to happen regardless of what music you play.
 
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Your "experience" (which has varied, depending on what point you're espousing) may no longer be applicable. There are consolidators like Cumulus who have very tight reins on local stations, including determining playlists and rotatations. Not all corporations work the same way. Cumulus is VERY "top-down" and "systems" oriented. Townsquare is leaning more and more toward that model. Entercom gives local management a bit more leeway - as long as they hit targets. Guess which of the three is performing best on the street?

As I said before, Q107 is in Canada's biggest market. They are the top, and Corus is likely to give them more leeway than other stations in their chain.
 
It's always interesting how people who have never lived in an area or ever
been to an area have such incredible insight. They argue for the sake of
arguing. They have all the answers, they just don't know the questions....
 
SirRoxalot said:
There are consolidators like Cumulus who have very tight reins on local stations, including determining playlists and rotatations. Not all corporations work the same way. Cumulus is VERY "top-down" and "systems" oriented.
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I know a PD at a Cumulus station, and he tells me he has full local control over his playlist. Cumulus stations that play current music and report to trade magazines like Billboard have their playlists published and available to the public, so you can view their playlists and compare them market by market. Billboard has a policy that they will revoke reporting status of a station if it sees that their playlists are controlled by a central agent rather than locally.
 
The people who are "discovering" new music via Radio must be
listening to Country, Urban, AC or Top 40 formats.
If Q107 is adding some 90s artists, that's not "new" music.
It's only new to someone who has existed exclusively in the
Classic Rock Radio Museum.

Younger listeners probably like music from many different genres...
 
Classic Rock stations created the prison they are now in.
Sales departments can cry about the old age of the audience, but
They knew the road they were on...
 
For those of you unfamiliar with "TheBigA", he will never admit that he's wrong, misinformed, or simply doesn't know the local landscape. "A", your "friend" is having a different experience in his format in whatever market he's in than we're seeing here. Let's just say that "suggested" playlists are fed from the top, and you deviate at your peril. Considering the job market these days, it's like having a gun to your head.

"Bolt", I did say the music discovery on Classic Rock stations by younger listeners is really "new to them", not new. Considering the dearth of 25 year old music on most "Active Rock" stations, "new to them" is for all practical purposes "new" for 25-34s. That's the direction that Classic Rock stations ultimately will take if they want to survive, and Q107 is leading the way.
 
SirRoxalot said:
Let's just say that "suggested" playlists are fed from the top, and you deviate at your peril. Considering the job market these days, it's like having a gun to your head.
Click to expand...

That doesn't respond to the points I made. It just repeats your unsubstantiated opinion that gives no sources.

Just because a station doesn't do what you want doesn't mean they can't. Since you say you know the local landscape, show me some proof of what you say.
 
Q107 has done what alot of now former classic rockers did in Canada, they no longer call themselves "classic rock" and instead use "world class rock". Also they don't just focus on 60's and 70's rock. Both Q and Ottawa's CHEZ 106 are in the format and play not only 80's and 90's rock but also music from the past 10 years. They have a "sound" and there were a LOT of Canadian bands that fit that sound. They may not be known in the U.S. (except the border regions) but they were popular to the Canadian audiences. You don't even need to play Rush or Neil Young. Instead they can play bands like Honeymoon Suite, Streetheart, the Headpins, Tragically Hip, 54-40, Blue Rodeo, Helix, etc. All these bands have different sounds, but they fit into the eras that Q plays. Some of these bands are and were Q listeners during their heyday and got aired on Q. Both stations even have specialty shows. Unlike in the 80's when they could only play album cuts, today they can play the hits from that era. Teens will still tune in because it's all new to them, or they were exposed to this music by an older sibling, cool uncle or their parents..and they recognise the music. Some teens will even hear music from their own time period from time to time.
 
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