New Article Mentions Steve
Dec 28, 2005 7:59:23 GMT -5
Post by perrynow on Dec 28, 2005 7:59:23 GMT -5
., DEC 28, 2005 - 12:05 AM
Alesia: Expect same old tunes with format switch
Wisconsin State Journal
Two days before Christmas, WMAD- FM (96.3) dumped its alternative-rock format and became a country radio station. Anyone interested in having Madison listeners hear a wide variety of rock music now feels as helpless as a tied-up rodeo calf.
WMAD struggled in the ratings - the iPod Effect seeping into young-adult listening habits? - but the station played a pivotal role in the city's commercial radio scene. On the week of its demise, WMAD's most-played songs were from acclaimed artists given passive attention by other outlets. A partial list included My Chemical Romance, Gorillaz, Matisyahu, the Strokes, Coheed and Cambria, Yellowcard, O.A.R., Franz Ferdinand and Hard-Fi.
True, they're not household names. A band such as Hard-Fi hasn't managed to crack the soundtrack of a WB series where great-looking teens share flossing woes with other great-looking teens.
Still, O.A.R. plays Overture Hall in February, and the No. 1 song on WMAD's final playlist was the latest single from Foo Fighters. No other Madison station had the Foo Fighters' tune among its top 40 songs that week.
What's left on commercial radio stations? WJJO-FM (94.1) will continue to serve a snarling audience that wants to rawk hard; Triple M (105.5) - bless 'em - favors an appetizing selection of fine singer- songwriters; and top-rated Z104 delivers aerobic hip-hop and prom- ready ballads. Z104 thrives on repetition: Lifehouse's dreary "You and Me," for instance, got played last week nearly 10 times daily. (Is that even legal?)
8-)Many other Madison rock or pop stations court audiences whose taste for new music ended when Steve Perry left Journey.
But back to WMAD, owned by everyone's favorite punching bag, Clear Channel. It sent out a news release touting its new "Star Country" station, promising to play "Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Big & Rich, Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood and Gretchen Wilson."
In other words, Q106's playlist.
Q106, currently the second-rated station among all area listeners, offers an entertaining morning team, veteran DJs, ample support for local live concerts and backing of some artists on mainstream country's fringe.
Now Clear Channel will flex its industry muscle to give Madison more of the same. Star Country will probably try to peck away at Q106's sizable audience. Country listeners are faithful, and during the genre's 1990s heyday, Q106 whipped another country competitor, Y105.
Odds are, Star Country and Q106 will force each other to become more conservative in programming. It's also possible each station could avoid playing an artist coming to town because the other country outlet is presenting the show. No one will bother with the wealth of vintage country hits or the onslaught of talented newcomers on small labels, except at odd hours.
And, yawn, they may even start poking jabs at each other on the air.
Meanwhile, a progressive city with 40,000-plus college students, most of whom are eager to sample new tunes, lose out because Clear Channel wants a piece of the demographic that can tell Brooks from Dunn.
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Steve's name and radio, always synonymous!
Alesia: Expect same old tunes with format switch
Wisconsin State Journal
Two days before Christmas, WMAD- FM (96.3) dumped its alternative-rock format and became a country radio station. Anyone interested in having Madison listeners hear a wide variety of rock music now feels as helpless as a tied-up rodeo calf.
WMAD struggled in the ratings - the iPod Effect seeping into young-adult listening habits? - but the station played a pivotal role in the city's commercial radio scene. On the week of its demise, WMAD's most-played songs were from acclaimed artists given passive attention by other outlets. A partial list included My Chemical Romance, Gorillaz, Matisyahu, the Strokes, Coheed and Cambria, Yellowcard, O.A.R., Franz Ferdinand and Hard-Fi.
True, they're not household names. A band such as Hard-Fi hasn't managed to crack the soundtrack of a WB series where great-looking teens share flossing woes with other great-looking teens.
Still, O.A.R. plays Overture Hall in February, and the No. 1 song on WMAD's final playlist was the latest single from Foo Fighters. No other Madison station had the Foo Fighters' tune among its top 40 songs that week.
What's left on commercial radio stations? WJJO-FM (94.1) will continue to serve a snarling audience that wants to rawk hard; Triple M (105.5) - bless 'em - favors an appetizing selection of fine singer- songwriters; and top-rated Z104 delivers aerobic hip-hop and prom- ready ballads. Z104 thrives on repetition: Lifehouse's dreary "You and Me," for instance, got played last week nearly 10 times daily. (Is that even legal?)
8-)Many other Madison rock or pop stations court audiences whose taste for new music ended when Steve Perry left Journey.
But back to WMAD, owned by everyone's favorite punching bag, Clear Channel. It sent out a news release touting its new "Star Country" station, promising to play "Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Big & Rich, Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood and Gretchen Wilson."
In other words, Q106's playlist.
Q106, currently the second-rated station among all area listeners, offers an entertaining morning team, veteran DJs, ample support for local live concerts and backing of some artists on mainstream country's fringe.
Now Clear Channel will flex its industry muscle to give Madison more of the same. Star Country will probably try to peck away at Q106's sizable audience. Country listeners are faithful, and during the genre's 1990s heyday, Q106 whipped another country competitor, Y105.
Odds are, Star Country and Q106 will force each other to become more conservative in programming. It's also possible each station could avoid playing an artist coming to town because the other country outlet is presenting the show. No one will bother with the wealth of vintage country hits or the onslaught of talented newcomers on small labels, except at odd hours.
And, yawn, they may even start poking jabs at each other on the air.
Meanwhile, a progressive city with 40,000-plus college students, most of whom are eager to sample new tunes, lose out because Clear Channel wants a piece of the demographic that can tell Brooks from Dunn.
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Steve's name and radio, always synonymous!
