Like many people I’m a long time listener to FM Radio. But as time progressed music on radio took a sharp turn some where that has lead us into today’s current state of music being played on the radio on what seems to be every single channel which in my opinion is hurting radio and the music industry. But that’s a whole completely different issue and might be covered in another post. Instead I’m going to talk about two radio stations in the NY/NJ Tri-State area z100 New York and 92.3 Now (formerly K-Rock).
This is simply a review of both stations, winner is noted at the bottom, there are 6 categories covered and suggestions are made. I know people from 92.3 Now are reading this. So I hope you guys consider my suggestions, as for z100 I haven’t heard anything from them on twitter. Hopefully they read this and also take my suggestions. Please feel free to leave comments good or bad.
::The Good and The Bad::
Morning Show:
One of the great things about z100 is The Morning Show. I honestly haven’t found a station in our area that has a Morning Show as funny or interesting theirs. They also seem to have a very down to earth team (at least based on what I hear on the radio) all though they can be quite crazy (in a good way!). The phone taps are executed really well and it’s always interesting to hear the different ways people respond. Plus when they take calls they never seem to just hang up on people like some other stations do and also do seem to care about their listeners.
My biggest issue though with The Morning Show is Mr. Moviefone who comes on at least every Friday. Whenever I hear him talk about new releases it always appears that he does nothing but trash highly anticipated movies. Perfect example would be Fast & Furious, Mr. Moviefone claims that the movie is a turd. Now I can’t help but feel (and many others) but to disagree with him. Yes the movie in it’s self is not a “OMG YOU MUST GO AND SEE THIS!!!1!!!11!!!1111″ kind of film, but it definitely is a movie you go to see and have fun. The action sequence’s aren’t top notch but it is pretty damn good for what it is. Also his complaint was the story, I’m not sure if he realizes this or not but The Fast and The Furious series was never about the story because guess what the story was never really any good. It has always been about the cars, girls, and the actors in the film nothing more. So some slack really need’s to be cut on this film because it’s not terrible.
Score: +1
Interviews:
They also have the artist, advertising, music label and fan support which contributes to their success. When I do hear interviews on the station, I generally think they are organized but they can be quite uninteresting sometimes. However this is just my opinion and I’m sure the interviews help them out but I do find myself changing the channel if they can’t grab my attention with in 15 – 20 seconds.Also Ryan Seacrest is not the best when it comes to interviews he sounds fake, and uninterested. How am I suppose to be interested when the interviewer doesn’t sound the slightest bit interested? I’m not counting The Morning Show interviews this only has to do with the general interviews through out the day.
Some work needs to be done in this area, but I think they can pull it off.
Score: 0
Contests:
Your contests are great, and I like the fact that if you ask people to call in on something (more specifically during The Morning Show) you guys give them the opportunity to win something. Sometimes you guys just even give out money when there is no contest. Your contest’s are a hit, keep them up. Keep paying peoples bills, asking for caller experiences and they win something.
Score: +1
DJ’s and Guest’s:
The DJ’s are clear (no trouble hearing them) when they speak though Chunky Radio disagrees (more on this in 92.3 Now) and can be quite funny when taking calls. I really have no quarrels with them, but I do have issue’s with one specific person that is on for majority of the day. Yep Ryan Seacrest.
I’m sorry but his voice in my opinion is annoying. He doesn’t sound natural or comfortable when on the air, and when he starts talking I change stations because it’s that bad. He needs to stick to doing American Idol, there’s a huge difference in the way he sounds on TV then he does on the radio. z100 needs to get rid of him and put a real DJ behind the wheel of the station during those hours.
Also guest’s aren’t too bad. However they need to learn to tell them what to say and what not to say. For example the whole Lindsay Lohan eHarmony video. They had some one come on and just blabber about how funny the video was, about how she makes fun of herself and in all honesty hearing that just made me not want to check it out because he ruined it. Also the guest really did not need to explain what funnyordie.com is. I think everyone can figure out on their own that it is a site for comedic videos similar to youtube were not idiots. Simply put guest’s need to keep what they say as short as possible and say something along the lines
“On funnyordie.com there is a eHarmony Parody video that Lindsay Lohan has put together. Check it out it’s hysterical.”
Was that too hard?!
Ryan Seacrest and the Guest’s is what really hurt them in this Category.
Score: 0
Commercials:
Way too long guys! I can turn to 103.5 and 92.3, and experience less commercials on both of these stations. Start introducing more commercial free hours. Keep them relevant and keep them short! I know you guys need to pay the bills (no relation to the contest) but you’ll get less of a bad rap if you were to seriously cut down on the amount/length.
Score: 0
Music:
Ok so the music isn’t terrible. There are quite a few songs that I enjoy hearing, but after hearing “Please Don’t Stop The Music” for the 20th time every single day for a year straight and now more recently “Poker Face” and “Gives You Hell” I want to throw my Scions head unit out the window. I really am sick and tired of hearing the same song every 5 – 10 minutes, come on let’s mix it up a bit.
Now ever since the demise of K-Rock a void has been left behind. There are no stations that play the same kind of music like the true old K-Rock format did. Right here is an opportunity for z100 to swipe in and gain new listeners. Start throwing in a mix of pop/rap and alternative/modern rock songs and your listener base will increase more. I’m surprised no one has done this by now.
So does z100 get a point in this category? Yes simply because there are a few times where I hear something new and I’ll keep hearing one good song after another.
Score: +1
Suggestions:
So z100 here is my suggestions for you guys.
1. Do away with Mr. Moviefone or inform him that the reviews need to be more on target and fair.
2. Interviews are organized but need to be more interesting. If you can’t get my interest with in 20 seconds ok let’s make that 30 to be more fair, then I’m sure I’m not the only one.
3. Get rid of Ryan Seacrest and get a real DJ in there. Also keep your guest’s from rambling on and on for long periods of time. Enough said.
4. Cut back on Commercials and the length of them. This really hurts the station a lot and it’s no wonder why many people are jumping ship.
5. Mix it up more, stop playing the same song every 5 – 10 minutes for a year straight. Throw some rock in and your gold!
z100: 3 Points out of 6
::The Good and The Bad::
Morning Show:
None existent from what I can tell. Grant it you guys just started the new format, but still this should have been thought of! If you guys can come up with something to directly compete against The Morning Show then do it! You’ll get many people to switch that way.
Score: 0
Interviews:
I’ve been listening for a few weeks now and I haven’t heard any. So I’m going out on a limb and saying they haven’t happened, again I know you guys just started the new format a month ago. But still this could really help you guys out. Get artist’s that we the listeners care about, make the interviews interesting and organized. I already mentioned that z100 struggles a bit with this, so fix their mistakes and make 92.3 Now known for the best interviews.
Score: 0
Contests:
So you guys are lacking a bit here. BUT that’s not to say you aren’t doing it. You guys went out and gave away Yankee Tickets in person, that says a lot about reaching out to your audience. Keep it up and you’ll do fine. One piece of advice though when asking people to call in about certain things offer to give stuff away. For example the girl who has a guy with the worst temper. Ok well why are you guys looking for them? What do they get for calling in? Give these callers a reward for coming forward and being upfront cause I’m sure it’s got to be a bit of a struggle.
Score: +1
DJ’s and Guest’s:
I haven’t heard guest’s yet so I’ll cut some slack there, but definitely get them! As for the DJ’s, Lisa Paige and TicTak are awesome no quarrels with them at all. They keep everything interesting, and sound enthusiastic about their job. So this to me is a big plus and helps them out a lot in this category.
However I do have an issue with Chunky Radio.
Honestly he’s annoying. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but he doesn’t do the station justice at all. He always talks with an echo on the mic which is what makes him annoying as hell. I purposely switch to another station and check back every minute or two to see when a song is starting to play. Now my opinion on him would certainly change a bit if you guys got rid of the echo on the mic’s all together. I even heard the echo on during the day some times. Please just do away with the echo it doesn’t sound good at all.
He is also a bit of a hypocrite on the 92.3 Now website it says the following.
Well let’s take a step back and address his dislike for Rock music. Ok fine I can respect you for not liking Rock music. But I’d rather have a DJ and listen to a DJ who is open to all types of music. I remember when I personally refused to listen to pop/rap. Then one year I chose to open up and give it a shot. What I realized was that I was missing out on some good music and that there are some decent pop/rap artists. It’s a small personal gripe I have with him because it is what I grew up listening to. But I can deal with it.
Ok now the hypocritical part. Chunky you make me laugh, you claim and I quote “Their music sucks”. If I’m not mistaken you are playing the SAME EXACT music that z100 plays. So how can you say that their music sucks when your playing the same stuff? You in the end are essentially saying that your own stations music sucks because it’s the same stuff. Seriously just delete that portion off your profile, your making yourself and 92.3 Now look bad.
Also the whole talking to fast thing, personally I disagree but to each his own. Hey you got one thing right though they are an old station.
+1 for this category simply because of the other two DJ’s.
Score: +1
Commercials:
Plenty of Commercial Free hours and your commercials seem to be short. I don’t really listen to them as I do switch back and forth between the station. But I’ve found the commercials to be much shorter than z100. However I did find it a little immature with the personal attacks against z100. I was actually really turned off by this and against it, but hey if it worked then maybe I’m just the outcast on this one. Also I question the Chris Brown ad saying z100 supports him. Do you guys have proof of this? I haven’t heard them play Chris Brown in a long time.
+1 because of the Commercial Free hours and because the commercials are shorter than z100
Score: +1
Music:
Alright so first before I judge I just want the 92.3 Now crew to know that this is not a “BRING BACK K-ROCK” kind of thing at all. While I am disappointed I am impressed with the station so far. So here it goes.
The music is pretty decent but I feel like the station is suffering from the same thing z100 is which is playing the same song every so often during the day. Now you guys haven’t played the same song every 5 – 10 minutes, but try introducing more new music. I’ve heard some great new songs first hand because of you guys. Kick it up a notch by mixing it up with new stuff. Now I’m going to suggest the same thing as I did to the z100 crew earlier in this post. Throw in some Alternative/Modern rock music with that playlist. You guys will end up filling that void that was left behind while keeping the Top 40 format. In fact even dedicating an hour to Top 40 and an hour to Rock isn’t such a bad idea either.
Again this is NOT a call for K-Rock to come back, I’m simply looking at how this could benefit your listeners. It couldn’t hurt to try it out, if enough people don’t like it then go back to just being only Top 40.
Score: +1
Suggestions:
So 92.3 Now here is my suggestions for you guys.
1. A morning show is needed. If you guys implement one, I’ll certainly take a listen as long as it’s good and is on par with The Morning Show.
2. Interviews are needed. But again you guys are still new a bit.
3. No more echoing on the mic’s. It really is annoying, just use the standard settings it’s more enjoyable.
4. Fix Chunky Radio’s page. He’s being a bit of a hypocrite and making the station look bad with the “their music sucks” thing. Oh and Chunky open up to rock music there are some great bands like the Chili Peppers.
5. Contest’s need some work. But in a few months I think you’ll be on par with z100.
6. This is just a personal gripe. But who designed your logo? I kinda feel like it was designed back in the 90’s or something.
92.3 Now: 4 Points out of 6
The winner is:
