Tightens up the format, that is -- the reverb is gone, jingles down to just a couple an hour, DJ gab trimmed significantly. A post I read on a Facebook page from another listener says they're no longer reading the obits, either. Almost sounds like a standard classic hits station -- except the first song I heard today was the Eurythmics' "Missionary Man," a stiff.from 1985. The second was Honey Cone's "Want Ads," a No. 1 hit from 1971 but not played on most current classic hits stations, as it's both too old and not rock-oriented enough.
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WLNG does the Tighten Up
- Thread starter CTListener
- Start date
Backlash was pretty strong; they have already backtracked on some of the changes (like those awful Scott Shannon-voiced IDs and liners).
I listened to the station online, and yes, it sounds like it turned into a Jack FM clone. I've checked their playlist and they were playing songs that are considered rare. One day they played Shania Twain and the next, they played Boz Scaggs(and at the time of this writing, I've seen them playing Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men "One Sweet Day"). This is the weirdest type of a station I have ever listened to.
Time to call this 92.1 Jack FM: Playing What We Want!
Time to call this 92.1 Jack FM: Playing What We Want!
Amazing that some non-radio people would take the top billing station... and the highest rated... and blow it all away.
The couple that bought it is made up of a physical therapist and a long-time NYC weather-caster whose radio experience was in MS and AL more than a quarter century or so ago.
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Their online playlist shows that their library is all over the place. https://onlineradiobox.com/us/wlng/playlist/
Some of you were saying you wanted mom and pop owners back, and it would mean "radio the way it used to be?"
This particular mom and pop seem to be quite sensitive to criticism and are continually walking back the changes they made at the start of the month. Right now, it seems like the only two major changes that have stuck are the elimination of the obituaries (They're now being posted online instead.) and the introduction of more '80s and even '90s titles into the music mix while still retaining older songs, just not slotting as many plays per hour for them.
Management's (not sure if it was Mom or Pop) latest response to a Facebook poster who complained that the music wasn't the same was to tell him -- twice -- that the DJs were "still playing their own music." Is this absolutely true? The DJs have been making their own playlists all these years? Then how can the sudden addition of so many new songs at the beginning of the year, by the same DJs who weren't playing those songs three weeks ago, be explained? Suddenly, the whole staff decides that "Opposites Attract" and "Whoomp! There it Is!" were great songs and ought to be played on WLNG?
Well, here you have a mom and a pop messing around with something that "ain't broke".
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andreajesus
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and i just checked it - and yet, their "all over the place" is still miles AHEAD of what a certain NYC radio station (a LEGENDARY one, at that) is doing these days.....
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andreajesus
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andreajesus
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and that's the scariest thing of all...Paul Sidney must be turning over in his grave right now.....
Aparently "Sock Hop Saturday Night" has become a casualty of the new regime. 
Aparently "Sock Hop Saturday Night" has become a casualty of the new regime.
That seems like an absurd move.
We know that radio in general has minimal listening on weekend evenings, so any kind of a benchmark show that attracts a few listeners puts you ahead of the game.
While I have not heard that show, the name does explain the concept. And it sounds like a good small-community feature... so unless they added something better, not a good move.
Maybe instead, people shouldn't mess around with something that was already working. When people change things, is when you lose listeners and get the backlash. And that goes for all stations, not just WLNG. If it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT.
I will take radio, the way it used to be, over anything new today, ten times over. And you know the differences.
After 15 years on WLNG, Sock Hop Saturday Night's last show on 92.1 was February 16th. Without missing a beat, it was back on the air a week later February 23rd on NPR affiliate WPPB 88.3 in Southampton & streaming on the web. Unfortunately they quickly found some 'generic' old-sounding jingles to replace the classic WLNG jingles. The show on Feb. 16th was the last holdout on WLNG still using the 'chime time' between songs & the full library of WLNG classic jingles, but the music is the same.
What happened to Sock Hop was Mark was informed that his show was going to be moved to Sunday and for only two hours. While contacting others connected with the show and the station, he found out that there had already been concerns that things were deteriorating at WLNG, and that the folks at WPPB had been prepared for a possible new show. One call led to another, and instead of simply quitting and retiring from radio, he moved to that new home that had already been prepared for him. The show is essentially the same. Still 8-12 and the same music and features. Mark already had generic jingles lined up and used many on LNG, but all the branded stuff obviously is gone. He spent 10 years doing the show at WICC in Bridgeport and then 15 at WLNG. Sock Hop's 25th anniversary is in early April I heard him say. I listened to the whole show this past Saturday and he only said the WLNG calls once accidentally during the final minutes of the show. Like John1 mentioned, it went from one station to another without missing a beat. I'm glad he made the choice to keep going on when he could have just retired. They say he loves what he's doing. Best of luck!
Thanks for the explanation. "That Thing with Rich Appel" has now been axed too; I assume more syndicated shows will be cancelled soon. I'd've guessed most of those shows are barter so money can't be the reason.
And "American Standards by the Sea" is also gone, per their newly-updated schedule
http://www.wlng.com/pdfs/programschedule_3-5-19.pdf
http://www.wlng.com/pdfs/programschedule_3-5-19.pdf
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