Posted by Steve Green on February 06, 2008 at 11:20:12:
In Reply to: Re: Re: 101.9 RXP: Where Is The Audience? posted by Allan Sniffen on February 06, 2008 at 09:49:19:
There has to be some concern as well for the available number of people, as well as their age, in the Velvet Underground demo. It seems that an emphasis (true or for 'show'?) on a form of radio that initially got overwhelmed by the more pop approach of AoR thirty years ago might be on a fool's errand because those listeners, not to mention subsequent generations, have moved on. I mean, they have moved so far off the marketing screen that they're not even in the same boroughs anymore, let alone on the same page.
We've all read about a half dozen stories of diminishing returns once a name or a format is taken away and brought back. But my chief concern is that the lack of any true social upheaval or evolution among the college-age crowd may blunt much of the initial renegade response on the younger end. That initial protest eruption, vivid and everyday reality, is decided history.
Add to that missing younger crowd the stigma of the OLDER end and you wind up with a noisier beatnik station thirty years too late -- and one that's programmed from across the street from the old Home Office with enough of the old trophies and banners and posters brandished at whomever's still left to care. In other words, these programmers ought to snotcan any 'progressive' imagery and get to their real emphasis as soon as possible. Those old folks are GONE. The thought here is that the invocation of the Velvet Underground as a cornerstone of the new format is like the way WCBS-FM's return gave us a whiff of suntan lotion with the Beach Boys and a whiff of Brylcreem with the Four Seasons and then quickly aimed at what their REAL goal was : Listen at work, not at your leisure.
Can't say I don't like the notion of it all, though! You have to drop a gauntlet *someplace* in order to get that ink and that commotion. WCBS-FM certainly did so in a cocky way.
And maybe in their more serene moments 101.9 can cadge a few female listeners as well.