Bring Alternative Rock to NYC!

[mrbrightside]

I think you're confusing FCC rules and Arbitron markets. Northern Jersey and Long Island are each their own Arbitron ratings markets.

No, I don't think so. Northern NJ is part of NYC Arbitron market (Bergen/Passaic). The New York dial pretty much takes up the entire spectrum there. This is getting off topic.

 

[Jersey Maiden]

There is a reason why there are multiple radio stations for rhythmic, urban, and tropical music, and it has to do with the population base in the five boroughs. Meanwhile, rock does very well in NJ, LI, and Westchester.

Actually, Hot 97 does better in the suburbs (Middlesex-Somerset-Union at least). A 3.6 share vs 3.1 for the overall New York market (which as a reminder, doesn't only include the five boroughs). Maybe it's because WWPR has the most useless traffic reports (seriously, there's more places that could get backed up than the bridges and tunnels). That's something that the car dependent suburbanite needs more than the urban dweller. Still, WWPR's 2.7 share for the suburbs isn't a failing number. The point is that many young suburbanites (myself included) listen to hip hop. Those in the five boroughs are not the only ones demanding it. And let's just say you're lucky that Tony Santiago isn't pouncing on you for saying that rhythmic stations exist in the city.

RXP did a good job with the alternative, however, I did not not want to hear classic rock along with it. That's what Q is for. The whole RXP thing was mostly just bad luck, with them being sold just as they were gaining ground.

I think there was room for improvement with RXP, but it was still one of the better stations in the area. I would like it better if they played classic rock in smaller portions like WRFF. Maybe then, they would have more room for other artists (the list would take too long to name). Or they could have emphasized New Wavers that don't get played on the Q if they wanted to include classics (Steve Craig was good about playing Psychedelic Furs and other such bands in the morning).

 

[mjb1124]

All press reports stated that RXP's final book, after it added classic rock, was its format high.

Did you listen to WRXP at all? IIRC, they had diminished the classic rock greatly since sign-on. Last time I listened, it was mostly alternative, with fewer classic rock songs. I have no problem with classic rock, it just did not belong on WRXP.

Did you listen during the final two months?

I listened to WRXP regularly, and the only real difference in the last two months compared to the year or so before was the currents. MarcR is right - by the end of their run, WRXP was largely an Alternative station (albeit a very safe, gold-heavy one), with only a handful of classic rock artists that presumably tested well with their audience. They played lots of AC/DC, GNR, and Tom Petty, plus they played one or two songs each by Van Halen ("Running With The Devil" and "Why Can't This Be Love"), Bruce Springsteen ("Born To Run"), The Who ("You Better You Bet"), and the Grateful Dead ("Touch of Grey"). Maybe they increased airplay of those particular songs, but the overall number of classic rock artists and titles decreased to a greater extent than the number of Alternative artists/titles. In their earlier days, they played just about every artist that classic rocker Q104.3 played, even artists like Elton John and Billy Joel.

Of course, they also went deeper with Alternative artists back then - generally, for a while they were throwing everything to the wall to see what stuck. And it turned out that most of what stuck was in the Alternative genre (albeit mostly the safe, familiar bands) plus the artists/tracks mentioned above. Their ratings started rising after they streamlined the format, not because of an increase in classic rock. Believe me, WRXP was far from my personal ideal modern rock format, and I would have loved it if they kept the deeper Alternative cuts while dropping the classic rock. But towards the end, it was becoming evident that they found a formula that worked. I think they could have continued their ratings gains and maybe even caught up with their sister station WRKS if they had continued the rock format, but I guess Merlin made an offer that couldn't be refused.