A weak willed attempt at changes at Blunder 107.3?

[MWmetalhead]

I'm seeing a ton more 90s and early 00s songs in the playlist this week, which is welcomed! I also heard dreary audio processing on Tuesday, as if the station is trying to sound small town or "vintage."

Dynamic range was hampered, audio levels were on the low side, and it wouldn't shock me if they're not even broadcasting in stereo.

The same crappy syndicated morning and evening shows as before are still on the air. The music in the evening is still current based, which makes that daypart stick out like a sore thumb.

[sholmes031105]

They are never going to be B93 so why try. Be a different type of Country Station. Focus on songs from the 70's to 2000. Have a local morning show and at least local drive time until 7pm.

Even do old school contests, not these scrappy national contests. Do small prize local only. Get back to they way radio used to be, go to a store and get an entry. Draw names several times a day. May just be a $25 gift card to one of the businesses but you have better chances than this national contest crap.

I would listen to a station like this.

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[MWmetalhead]

The station is now positioning itself as "All Time Country Favorites."

One sweeper touted "80s, 90s and today."

I heard one mention "West Michigan's Best and Most Country," which is a liner WMUS used frequently in the early 90s.

Scott Fisher, former Nash FM 94.5 imaging voice, is now doing VO work for Thunder.

I heard no DJ at all in the 40 minutes I listened in the 10a hour. There was one rather short commercial break.

The current audio processing settings seem designed for a Soft AC station. Audio levels are too low. Rhythm sections sound very squashed. Solo piano and acoustic guitar each sound good with those settings; that's about it. They are going to ruin any chance at success with those horrible audio settings. Whoever selected those settings is a dumbass.

The station when I checked earlier in the week made zero mention of the significant programming changes on its Facebook page and website. If a radio station cannot promote itself effectively, why on earth should any business trust that same radio station to create an effective advertising solution?

The music sounds good, but the supporting elements are severely lacking right now.

[Realist]

It’s Cumulus and especially the GR cluster - did you expect anything less?

Their Flint cluster is almost as bad. CK 105 has NO live personalities - just syndicated or voice tracking all day . I swear - just simulcast WHEELZ or Z93 and you’ll do better ratings wise

[MWmetalhead]

I was actually surprised Cumulus made a significant music shift at 107.3. The playlist shift is actually the exact type of shift I've been recommending for at least a few years.

I'm not the least bit surprised by the crappy rollout.

96.9 and 94.5 seem to be the favored stations locally; the other brands get treated like bastard children. 94.5 is surprisingly well programmed. Fantastic audio processing to boot.

[GnashManDu]

Their processing is some of the worst in the market. None of the stations sound good. Everything seems compressed on WLAV and Thunder. WHTS is slightly better, but still behind Star and WSNX.

[MWmetalhead]

The processing during music on 107.3 WTNR actually sounded decent when I was in town last week. It was a major improvement from what I heard in early October.

The V/O production quality, though...yikes. The processing applied to Scott Fisher's voice sounds awful. Some doofus actually thought those settings sounded good? They are doing a great job making a talented V/O guy sound like crap.

The audio processing settings on WHTS are complete trash; I agree. That station has the worst sounding audio of any full power FM in the area. Heavy clipping is being used; too much detail is missing from the music. The audio is harsh and fatiguing. I've got to say it; some dumbass actually thinks those settings sound good?!!!!

On top of all that, the station continues to use a truly awful V/O artist. His material might've been a good fit for a CHR maybe twenty years ago. They should've never, ever dumped who they were using a decade ago. It is no coincidence that 2015 was when WHTS saw its greatest ratings success.

The stations with the best processing are WCSG, WYCE, B93, the various public radio stations (WGVU, WBLU, WVGR), and Townsquare's stations. WKLQ also sounds aurally good whenever I listen; I did not listen on my most recent trip to town.