The station now says that it will be playing a more diverse selection of music from the 1980s to the present as well as more classic rock. Many listeners lashed out yesterday on the station's official Facebook page, which has since been deleted.
If you're a regular 96Rock listener, let us know what you think of the change by leaving comment. Personally, we still miss the pre-Rooster, pre-Rush Limbaugh 106.1 WRDU.
10 comments:
I WAS a 96 Rock listener, but for a long time now I have just been surfing the stations, when I'm not listening to WUNC, WCPE, or the college radio stations, or what seems best yet, slipping in cds and listening to my own mix of tunes.
At home I stream music from places like Comboland Radio, and hear the music I'd never hear on the radio in my car. :-(
Unfortunately, there is very little on the radio anymore (beyond the stations I mentioned above) that seems worth listening to anymore.
iUnheartRadio 96.1...
I'm a local musician from the Raleigh area and I feel that this is a horrible decision on 96 Rock's part (or should I say Radio 96.1's part). First they disregard and sever ties with Raleigh's own rock scene by canning their Sunday night "Locals Only" show, (which was in a HORRIBLE time slot to begin with btw) and now they completely trash the name and almost all DJ personalities? My guess is that the Program Director doesn't quite get it.
What sets FM stations apart from iHeartRadio, Pandora and Satellite is PERSONALITY. What they need is a "non-canned" LOCAL radio show with with some entertaining DJ's to make you laugh your ass off in between the songs to and from work. This is how it has worked in radio for over 50 years.
They didn't really change the format at all either. It's still technically "everything that rocks" just with a more generic name and virtually no DJ's. Here's my question about their current format though: why would someone someone go from listening to Nirvana to Stevie Ray Vaughn? (Nothing against Stevie Ray - I love the guy) but when I'm in car-banging mode (aka headbanging in my car) and suddenly a slow ass blues tune comes on, I change the station! I cannot switch listening styles on the fly like that. And I think that's where 96's problem lies. They need to realize that FM Radio is not JUST about music. It's about capturing people's attention. Whether it's in those precious 30 min in the car or as a distraction while they're at work. THE STATION NEEDS TO PICK A GENRE AND STICK TO IT. You can't play Allman Bros and Boston followed by Five Finger Death Punch and Chevelle. It's simple math. Fans who listen to classic rock will listen for those 2 songs, then when FFDP and a newer band comes on they change the station...and vice versa! I know you're trying to appeal to the masses but be assured: people are switching away from 96.1 because your station is so freaking sporadic with it's playlist!
It kinda leaves you thinking: what's next? They got rid of the "rock" part in their name... so does that mean they'll start playing pop induced hip-hop next? Maybe they'll buy Jay-Z's canned satellite radio show and re-name it "Got 96 problems but a radio ain't one..."
That is all! :]
It's funny to hear people complaining about this since there is no possible way that this (or any other radio station) could get any worse. 96.1 had the WORST mix of music I've ever heard on a single station. I understand trying to keep your format open to all types of music (well...as open as you can be as a radio station who only plays mainstream music), but sometimes the shifts in direction from song to song were too obvious; too much "look at us we're diverse" and not enough "we care about this music." Until they drop the butt-rock and find a little more cohesion in their playlist, 96.1 will not be the radio station I listen to when I'm forced to listen to the radio.
The format change on Radio 96.1 came as a nasty shock to me on Monday morning. Their "diverse" selection of music truly sucks. I've deleted them from the preset on my car radio, and I'm searching for a worthwhile replacement.
Traditional rock radio is a dead media format that is breathing its last gasps. Unless you've got a top 40, country or sports talk format you're days in traditional radio are numbered.
Hopefully this will encourage people in the Triangle to realize that there are several better radio options. You can get a lot more variety of music through online radio like Slacker or Pandora, get more music off of services like Spotify, listen to satellite radio stations or even those stations on your satellite TV system. Either way, you can get a better rock variety off of those (or at least listen to country music that is actually country music or sports talk that doesn't involve people hating on their hometown teams all the time no matter how good they are)
This goes back to ownership which I believe is Clear Channel and is a cost-cutting measure. I was living in the Boston area a few years ago when the same thing happened - this is what these big radio companies do. WBCN Boston was one of the best, most historic rock radio stations in the country.
At WBCN, it first started in the morning where they saved money by moving the afternoon guys in the slot and getting rid of Opie and Anthony. 96.1 did the same thing with Bob the Blade. Eventually, they changed formats altogether, just as 96.1 has. They could care less about their listeners. It's more about saving money by getting rid of the djs. And someone has made a "business" decision that the different format might work better in the area and attract better advertising. They probably did a few surveys to determine the Raleigh area was more suited for more 80's music (less hip), that they can get more listeners by appealing to an older crowd.
I hate it because I used to listen to 96.1 when I could pick it up in Greensboro. I liked the station pretty good.
I don't mind the change to remove the deejays....in fact, it's kind of a nice change. I don't listen to FM to hear the commercials and paid endorsements, I listen for the music. That being said, I don't love the music format either. It's the best out of almost no choices for rock in Raleigh, but I do tune to Rock92 out of Greensboro whenever I'm driving in an area where I can pick it up.
I liked the DJs and sorry to see them go. I remember back in the 80s when there was something called album rock that played 60, 70 and 80s music. The DJs had control over what was played. Evetything from Beatles, Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Bob Segar, Motley Crue, Prince and even Michael Jackon. Fast forward 25 years. I love the music from 90s and 2010s. The old 96 rock really had a good mix of hard rock from 70s through 90s with a bit of 2000s. The new 96.1 seems to have a heavy concentration of 80s music including pop with a bit of other decades. My ideal station would play rock and metal from mid 60s through the present. I would also do something like more heavier stuff at night. And diffently bring back the DJs.
96 rock sucks. they play all old crap that no one likes. they play crap like rush and led zep. all the time. they need to play music that really rock or is good. they are a bunch of tools dj as well. 95.3 or 95x is a new station in raleigh that is going to hopefully put 96 rock out of business. its about time that we have a solid radio station in our area. thank God for 95x.
I was a 96 rocker until I move to Colorado I came back home and the radio station as I know it changed and I can't say I'm very happy with it sure there's less commercials but I want my Metallica my disturbed Buckcherry the eighties were okay but I want my modern rock I want the music that makes me wake up in the morning and get ready to go to work on the drive there and that's unfortunate but there's no alternative for everything's classic where do I get my news i which concerts are coming where do I get to hear the new releases of the new bands nowhere that's wherewe have so many country stations and religious stations and her Pete's sake rap / R&B which I just can't stand I need my morning metal I need my rock and roll and it sucks that I can't get the buzz out here looks like I'm going to have to try to find an alternative myself go I'm not entirely sure what that's going to besure I can buy a lot of new CDs and keep up as I try to but money's tight and I can't afford all the new CDsI just miss my rock and roll station my 96Rock
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