Posted by Allan Sniffen on August 02, 2007 at 11:14:44:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Polarizing Music posted by Barry on August 02, 2007 at 09:25:46:
>>>I am confused about your suggestions for Jack. Here you're saying it should have basically been an oldies station.
On NYRMB, you have indicated that their current rock oriented format is viable and may be suitable for 92.3 FM if K-Rock doesn't work out.
Could you clarify this? <<<
When JACK was introduced, it was stated by CBS-Radio (then Infinity) management that it was essentially the "next generation oldies station". From what I knew about JACK at that time and from these statements, it appeared that management was trying to capture the next generation oldies radio listener. I believe that had the station actually lived up to that by being a broadbased music station it would have done better. Taking CBS-FM out of the mix and replacing it with something somewhat compatible would have had a chance to hold on to younger oldies listeners and also expand its base.
Unfortunately, that's not what it was. From the day it started until the day it departed, JACK was top heavy 80's rock. The niche that it needed to fill in a market without CBS-FM was not to be a rock station.
Today CBS-FM exists. Therefore the need for a broadbased station to fill that void is not there. If JACK were to be programmed on 92.3 the way I thought it should have been programmed on 101.1, it would overlap too much with the current CBS-FM. The circumstances are now different.
If K-Rock is removed, the market void will be for some form of rock. That's what JACK was (and still is on HD2). While that might have been wrong given the circumstances two years ago, it would be a better fit now.
You can't look at these formats in a vacuum. It has a lot to do with what other stations in the market are doing... both sister stations (you don't want to canabilize them) and competitors.