Posted by Allan Sniffen on July 21, 2007 at 07:55:31:
In Reply to: Was This So Hard To Do? posted by Paul on July 20, 2007 at 22:06:47:
>>>Why was'nt the station made to sound like it is today with more variety and 80's hits. <<<
Hindsight is 20/20. Everyone looks smart looking backwards. But let's keep a few things in mind:
1. CBS-FM was successful for a long time. There was not a lot of incentive to change anything so the inertia was either to change nothing or to change slowly.
2. Listeners to the station flipped out over even the most minor changes. That's not true now. There so much euphoria over having it back that things that are being applauded now would have been attacked five years ago.
3. The jury is out as to whether the current station is going to do well. Hopefully it will work. BUT... you can't "assume facts not in evidence". It will be a while.
What I can say is that there were some of us who were arguing for an upgrade to CBS-FM's music mix for a long time. And I can tell you that it resulted in a lot of argument from the regulars on the NYRMB.
CBS-FM should have been upgrading its sound slowly over a period of years. That would have avoided the abrupt changes that started in the early 2000's. It was a mistake to leave the station on cruise control for so long. But, again... hindsight is 20/20 and the listeners objected to anything even a little different.
Finally... CBS-FM's biggest strength was always office listening. The fans focus on the specialty shows, the DJ's, jingles and other format elements. For better or worse, those things were not as important as keeping the station turned on in offices. Clearly that was part of the thinking at the station with respect to its very AC'ish sound in its last few years. The 80's music that was added then was incredibly boring. We'll see how successfully the station gets itself turned back on in offices and stores. We don't know yet whether this music mix (which I *agree* sounds better) will work in that environment. Ultimately that's where CBS-FM is going to make it... or not.