You are right, BigA. Having done the sandbox radio concept and invested (and spent) quite a lot of $ to make very little (if any) with a similar rock format - trust me - it is not fun for ANYBODY. I took over a 100kw station back in the mid-90's with a similar format to what radiodx10 suggested in his post. Don't get me wrong - that music was great, the format was classic rock with a psychedelic lean and it was on the beach. On paper, it was a perfect combination that should have been well received. It was programmed out from the Midwest somewhere near Chicago, but I don't recall who it was. The station did not do well in the ratings. Remotes were disasters, but everybody you talked to LOVED the station. They just did not listen or respond. Revenues were minimal. Less than $10k a month. We started taking requests and promised to play anything and everything one weekend. As expected, 95% of the requests were for all the well known songs we all talk about being played into the ground. The other 5% did not fit the format. It was a brutal test. We kept our word. Within a week, I started going more mainstream. Fairly quickly, the revenues went through the roof, we had no turnover on staff and even the live air team became inspired because they became local stars that people came to see and events went well. We were #2 in "the" ratings and I considered it a great success until a hurricane came through. My point is this - it is not as much fun to play those "cool" off-the-beaten path songs to two listeners and wonder if, man, you're gonna get a paycheck that clears, dude. Everyone on that team was awesome and pretty dang happy. We did play a few wild songs still. We made sure we fully explained them and why they were different. I had jocks telling me we needed to play LESS and LESS of those songs. It was not a surprise to know that, but it was inspiring to see people who did not want to be "that" station that played all the same ole stuff see both sides of the coin and all of them became strong leaders and managers over the years. Even today, in a similar radio situation, you can pretty much ONLY take the hits to the bank. Now, it is about playing the songs that local advertisers prefer to buy ads around. They see the success every day, too.
Not blastin' ya at all radiodx. I wouldn't be where I am today if it were not for all those great psychedelic songs teaching us all a thing or too. Happy New Year to you. I am stilled mixed about sand.