- Liz Aiello, VP programming at Merlin Media-NY, has left, along with 2 others
- Skip Cheatham’s New “Playground” – The Web
- Some Stations Catch Super Bowl Fever, While Others Will Sit Out The Big Game
- Jay Michaels Mixes Up KDMX, Khloe Kardashian Helps
- What is the value of your ads?
- NYC: Why Is Merlin's FM News Failing? - Discussion
- "Rock 100.5"/Atlanta is Once Again Music Free in the Morning: Discussion
- Tucson's 97.5 Flips Variety Hits "Bob" to CHR "i97.5"
- Walterboro, SC. Says Goodbye to WALI-FM
- Downsized by a RIF? Tell the Industry You're Looking for Work on Our Free Jobs Board
Newsletter: Ross On Radio
Listening to Radio. Listening to Music. Listening to You.
A twice-weekly analysis of radio programming and music from Sean Ross, who has the knowledge to relate the past, convey the present, and look to the future.
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Fresh Listen: New York's FM News 101.9
After overreaching in front of the industry during its first few months on the air, Merlin Media's WEMP (FM News 101.9) New York has gone for the "Plan B" that many anticipated. The female-lifestyle news is gone, replaced by a straight-ahead All-News approach and a harder-hitting delivery. So we take a "Fresh Listen."
From "Jump" To "Hump," Ten Good/Bad British-Only Hits
The musical differences between U.K. and U.S. Top 40 radio have worn down in recent years. That means there have been fewer of the British hits that are kind of good, kind of awful, and way too eccentric to make it here. But now there's a fast-rising U.K. pop/Hip-Hop hit called "Mama Do The Hump." And that's our excuse to dive back into four decades of unusual U.K. hits and their surprising commonalities.
Intriguing Stations Confound Question: "What Is Radio?"
Despite the public dust-up between pureplays and traditional broadcasters about what constituted "radio," there was a lot on new platforms in 2011 that cheerfully confused the issue, whether it was CBS and Clear Channel's personalized stations or Pandora and Spotify's playlisted options. Part two of the "Most Intriguing Stations Of 2011" is devoted to new platforms—ranging from stations that filled the new music void to stations that filled a market hole without a transmitter.
Intriguing Stations Of 2011, Part I
News and Sports stations moved to FM. New FM frequencies proliferated, thanks to a slew of new translators. The line between "our programmed radio station" and "your music collection" further eroded. And yet, like broadcasters' attempts to position user-generated stations as something other than radio, there was something a little reactionary about a year that began with a major-market Supersoft AC and ended with a Smooth Jazz relaunch.
New Country, New Country, And New Country
For years, KEEY (K102) Minneapolis has been one of Country's most musically aggressive stations. Now, it finds itself challenged by KMNB (Buz'n Country), which inhabits the same musical neighborhood, but has the possible advantage of its newness. At the same time, KTWI (Twister 93.3) Omaha, Neb., has dropped its truly new and different Active Country format after six months, giving us a chance to ponder "New Country, New Country, and New Country."
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- Detroit's translator-based Oasis & Bone are off; Tim Martz to exit the market
