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lack of radio posts

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
Frosty
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:20 pm

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by Frosty » Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:40 am

MWmetalhead wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:39 am
In what used to be PREMIER radio market, a no-talent hack such as Jade Springhart now handles middays at WRIF. Abrasive voice with zero inflection when she speaks. She just "drones" when she talks. Dry, boring content, too.

Instead of on-air capability being the most important consideration when making a hire it is now secondary or even tertiary. If you can do something else at the station (social media, marketing, music scheduling), you'll be handed an air shift even if you suck at it.

'Nuff said.

Former WKQI jock "Stick" is another individual who never would've been able to work on-air weekdays in this market 20 years ago.
,,,,,,And that really burns my groin. My dream in the '80s and early '90s was to be on Detroit radio. Almost made it. Wasn't good enough, apparently, for that time. Now? Hacks that I wouldn't have hired for part-time in Muskegon are now full-time in Grand Rapids, even Detroit. :x



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ZenithCKLW
Posts: 833
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2004 11:21 am
Location: Livonia, MI

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by ZenithCKLW » Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:16 am

My post is a mish-mash of varying thoughts about Detroit radio.

As a field trip in middle school around 1997, we visited Q95. I thought a radio station was the coolest thing. I attended CMU majoring in Broadcast Arts and Cinema, but I changed majors after 3 years of it. A bit heartbreaking, because I truly wanted to be in radio, but I didn't see a great future in it. Now, I am mostly a radio enthusiast, and a bit of a nostalgic one, romanticizing about what Detroit radio could be.

I remember when I couldn't fit all of the exciting radio stations into my presets. I miss Classic Gold CFCO in AM Stereo, Kool 107, and the Honey Radio resurrection from Ann Arbor (I'm not old enough to remember Honey Radio on 560). I wish we had a version of KNX-FM, which is currently a popular online-only station playing mellow rock popular in Southern California in the 70's and 80's (think deep cuts of Steely Dan, Toto, Jefferson Starship, etc). If you prefer harder rock, you won't like this.


My car has 15 FM and 15 AM presets available. Each preset is assigned a station that I might listen to, but that was a struggle to fill them all. When in the car and I am choosing broadcast radio, the stations I am actually interested in enough to listen to for a period of time (and not just keep scrolling past, or listen for one song then change it) are either:

580 CKWW - it's oldies which is an old format, but with the H*** playlist and not following the boring Classic Hits playlist, it's very refreshing. I enjoy some of the special shows too, even if they are not live and local.

740 CFZM (at night) - this oldies station has live, local, knowledgeable DJ's and a wide variety of shows. I'd call it variety. This is what I really wish musicradio could be today.

760 WJR - I listen for local shows and opinions if I am in the mood for that. I admittedly am turned off by angry old man radio, so I don't listen as much as I used to.

800 CKLW - Canadian talk, so the talk about government or civic issues isn't applicable, but many general topics and shows are still relevant to Americans. I also find the perspective of another country interesting. I liked listening to Into Tomorrow (tech show) on weekends but I haven't heard it in a while.

91.7 WUOM - Not the liberal propaganda some may believe it is. I hear lots of opposing viewpoints on this.

100.3-HD2 WNIC - More reminiscent of the old WNIC Detroit's Nicest Rock from the 90's. Just needs Gene Maxwell as announcer.

104.3-HD2 WOMC - More reminiscent of the music on the old Oldies 104.3. Just needs Tom Ryan, Don Phillips and Jeff Jennings.



BKRPDM
Posts: 212
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:40 pm

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by BKRPDM » Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:27 pm

ZenithCKLW wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 11:16 am
My post is a mish-mash of varying thoughts about Detroit radio.

As a field trip in middle school around 1997, we visited Q95. I thought a radio station was the coolest thing. I attended CMU majoring in Broadcast Arts and Cinema, but I changed majors after 3 years of it. A bit heartbreaking, because I truly wanted to be in radio, but I didn't see a great future in it. Now, I am mostly a radio enthusiast, and a bit of a nostalgic one, romanticizing about what Detroit radio could be.

I remember when I couldn't fit all of the exciting radio stations into my presets. I miss Classic Gold CFCO in AM Stereo, Kool 107, and the Honey Radio resurrection from Ann Arbor (I'm not old enough to remember Honey Radio on 560). I wish we had a version of KNX-FM, which is currently a popular online-only station playing mellow rock popular in Southern California in the 70's and 80's (think deep cuts of Steely Dan, Toto, Jefferson Starship, etc). If you prefer harder rock, you won't like this.


My car has 15 FM and 15 AM presets available. Each preset is assigned a station that I might listen to, but that was a struggle to fill them all. When in the car and I am choosing broadcast radio, the stations I am actually interested in enough to listen to for a period of time (and not just keep scrolling past, or listen for one song then change it) are either:

580 CKWW - it's oldies which is an old format, but with the H*** playlist and not following the boring Classic Hits playlist, it's very refreshing. I enjoy some of the special shows too, even if they are not live and local.

740 CFZM (at night) - this oldies station has live, local, knowledgeable DJ's and a wide variety of shows. I'd call it variety. This is what I really wish musicradio could be today.

760 WJR - I listen for local shows and opinions if I am in the mood for that. I admittedly am turned off by angry old man radio, so I don't listen as much as I used to.

800 CKLW - Canadian talk, so the talk about government or civic issues isn't applicable, but many general topics and shows are still relevant to Americans. I also find the perspective of another country interesting. I liked listening to Into Tomorrow (tech show) on weekends but I haven't heard it in a while.

91.7 WUOM - Not the liberal propaganda some may believe it is. I hear lots of opposing viewpoints on this.

100.3-HD2 WNIC - More reminiscent of the old WNIC Detroit's Nicest Rock from the 90's. Just needs Gene Maxwell as announcer.

104.3-HD2 WOMC - More reminiscent of the music on the old Oldies 104.3. Just needs Tom Ryan, Don Phillips and Jeff Jennings.
Good observations. Don Phillips passed several years ago - he was great. I wish WOMC HD2 would bring back some of the old imaging. The liners and production are poor.



Greg Buben
Posts: 131
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:52 am

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by Greg Buben » Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:39 pm

I'm glad some Detroit area participants have responded to my call for radio posts. Although I agree to an extent on
some of the posts there are still some good things about the Detroit area radio market:
1. WWJ-AM 950 still is a good all news station no matter who owns it.
2. WCSX-FM 94,7 is a much better sounding classic rock station than is WLAV-FM 97 in Grand Rapids.
3. WRIF-FM 101 is a much better sounding active rock station than is WGRD-FM 97,9 in Grand Rapids.
4. Detroit has a good public station WRCJ-FM 90.9 that plays classical during the day, jazz at night, and
a news hour in between.
5. You have the Canadians across the river in Windsor, ON who are always different and entertaining.
There still are some good things about radio in the Detroit area that makes it fun to visit.
Greg Buben



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MWmetalhead
Site Admin
Posts: 11870
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by MWmetalhead » Fri Sep 17, 2021 4:04 pm

Just my opinion, but I think CSX sounds no better than LAV (I actually prefer LAV), and I think WRIF is only a medium amount better than GRD.

WRIF's music took a minor step backward when the Lawn Gnome (Jerry Tarrants) left the building.



Mega Hertz
Posts: 4265
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:09 pm
Location: Brighton

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by Mega Hertz » Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:45 pm

If I'm being honest, I'm generally tuned into WRIF most of the time I'm not streaming. And even then, it's only for the 90s gold selections (nice that they've narrowed down the entire decade of the 90s down to a handful of bands/songs in favor of another spin of shit like Pretty Reckless). I was listening to Dave and Chuck and actually got nostalgic, not just for 89x, but how the show used to be before syndication. It's TOO formatted now and I can almost guess who is gonna say what next. I suppose that's the whole "familiarity" angle, but I miss shit like Andrew the Man Expert and Leon the sex coach. It was a little looser, a little more fun.

For being "Detroit Rock City", we haven't had a contemporary rock outlet since 97.1 eased into talk in 1999. 22 Goddamn years! And what does Riff give us? Foo Fighters (a 26 year old band) and this week's flavor of the week.

What is radio gonna do when those aging boomers are too old to hear More Than a Feeling 15 times a day (a song that is already 45 years old)? How many stations were playing Al Jolson or Bing Crosby in 1980?

It's almost like they're challenging us to just quit. They have all but lost me and people like me to streaming and satellite.

Now if you'll pardon me, I need to hear Bohemian Rhapsody. It HAS been a half hour!


"Internet is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining."
-TurkeyTop

User avatar
ZenithCKLW
Posts: 833
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2004 11:21 am
Location: Livonia, MI

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by ZenithCKLW » Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:44 pm

Mega Hertz wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:45 pm
I was listening to Dave and Chuck and actually got nostalgic, not just for 89x, but how the show used to be before syndication. It's TOO formatted now and I can almost guess who is gonna say what next. I suppose that's the whole "familiarity" angle, but I miss shit like Andrew the Man Expert and Leon the sex coach. It was a little looser, a little more fun.
Do you remember a frequent caller named Benita? Couldn’t tell if it was an act but that woman cracked me up with how she told her stories out of the hood.



Mega Hertz
Posts: 4265
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:09 pm
Location: Brighton

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by Mega Hertz » Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:13 pm

ZenithCKLW wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:44 pm
Mega Hertz wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:45 pm
I was listening to Dave and Chuck and actually got nostalgic, not just for 89x, but how the show used to be before syndication. It's TOO formatted now and I can almost guess who is gonna say what next. I suppose that's the whole "familiarity" angle, but I miss shit like Andrew the Man Expert and Leon the sex coach. It was a little looser, a little more fun.
Do you remember a frequent caller named Benita? Couldn’t tell if it was an act but that woman cracked me up with how she told her stories out of the hood.
I can't say that I do off the top of my head, but I bet hearing some would start joggin the noggin.


"Internet is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining."
-TurkeyTop

Bobbert
Posts: 3932
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 11:13 pm

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by Bobbert » Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:51 pm

Greg Buben wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:39 pm
I'm glad some Detroit area participants have responded to my call for radio posts. Although I agree to an extent on
some of the posts there are still some good things about the Detroit area radio market:
1. WWJ-AM 950 still is a good all news station no matter who owns it.
2. WCSX-FM 94,7 is a much better sounding classic rock station than is WLAV-FM 97 in Grand Rapids.
3. WRIF-FM 101 is a much better sounding active rock station than is WGRD-FM 97,9 in Grand Rapids.
4. Detroit has a good public station WRCJ-FM 90.9 that plays classical during the day, jazz at night, and
a news hour in between.
5. You have the Canadians across the river in Windsor, ON who are always different and entertaining.
There still are some good things about radio in the Detroit area that makes it fun to visit.
Greg Buben
I listen to a lot of that too, especially WRCJ.

Two other creative uses of radio in this area are the Saturday night music shows on WAAM and Al Kresta's religious/political talk show on weekday afternoons on 990 AM.



Frosty
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:20 pm

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by Frosty » Sat Sep 18, 2021 1:54 pm

Mega Hertz wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:45 pm
How many stations were playing Al Jolson or Bing Crosby in 1980?
Actually, the Music of Your Life format took off at about that time. I worked at one in Florida in 1984. It fizzled out shortly after that time. So, hang in there --- the burnt to a crisp classic rock may be reaching its crumbling point.



Truck451
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:13 pm

Re: lack of radio posts

Post by Truck451 » Sat Sep 18, 2021 5:57 pm

Indeed, this is very sad.



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