Altoona area radio f*&king sucks!

[grimmbass]

Dudes and dudettes,

If someone already posted this topic, I appologize.

It's been a long time since I've been on, but here's my question for you all: Does Forever Broadcasting own stock in either XM or Sirius? I'm starting to believe that they have waged an intentional campaign to force Central PA listeners to pay for decent radio. How many damned classic rock or country radio stations do we need in this town? Between Pittsburgh and Harrisburgh, we now have ONE station that plays new rock.

We already have a GREAT classic rock station. We didn't need two more, and we certainly didn't need another Froggy station.

If Forever Broadcasting reads these forums (hardly likely): Your key advertising demographic, namely 18-30 year old males, is getting a little tired of Skynrd!

My response: I'm buying Sirius radio next paycheck and I'm not looking back. Other than Q-94 for my classic rock urges, to hell with Altoona-area radio!

[ToonaRockGuy]

Surprise, Kent. At least one Forever Broadcasting employee is on the forums...me.

Believe me, there's been some outright verbal beatdowns going on on the Rocky phone lines, but all I can do is keep saying the same thing to our listeners (or former ones...)

1. Don't take it out on the jocks, we just work there.

2. In the world of corporate radio, what you (the listener) wants does not matter one tiny bit. It's all about sales. If the station salespeople can't sell advertising on the station, changes get made. And unfortunately, what I felt was the best thing to happen to radio in Altoona in 10 years bit the dust. I was physically ill, since for the first time, I had really put my heart and soul into my job, including blowing up Mandatory Metal into the monster that it became.

Yes, it sucks balls. But there's nothing that you or I can do about it. That's just the way it is. Money is the root of radio, the days of the listener actually mattering are long over.

I hate it, cause I'm still getting people calling me and blaming me for the change to classic rock. Fucking idiots.

[Blain]

We already have a GREAT classic rock station. We didn't need two more, and we certainly didn't need another Froggy station.

I almost agree, except for one thing - we already have a classic rock station - I wouldn't call it great. Q94 could be so much better if the library was wider and deeper. This isn't a shot a JP, because he isn't responsible for that, and I'll bet he agrees.

For some great radio streams, visit clearchannelmusic.com/hdradio
Clear Channel streams their HD2 signals and some of them are great "deep tracks" stations. There are a couple of good Classic Alternative stations as well.

I've noticed that since Forever initially made the changes to Rocky, they've continued to tweak it and it sounds better than when they first made the move. They have added some current stuff and stopped playing some of the older music. It is still a far cry from what it was, though.

105.9 isn't owned by Forever, so we can't blame them for that station flipping to Country.

I had a Sirius receiver installed on Saturday and haven't looked back. Way better than terrestrial radio in Altoona, Johnstown, or State College. Plus, their Alternative station is actually Alternative, and not an Active Rock station in disguise, like the Buzz has been for the last six or eight months. Plus the have a great Active Rock channel as well.

[grimmbass]

ToonaRock,

I know it's not the jocks fault....and I'm sorry you guys are taking so much abuse. One of my friends was (i repeat WAS) a Rocky jock, and he made it very clear that station management made the decision. You guys made a great run at a good radio mix!

I really think that in the long run this change in format will cause local radio to implode. Clear Channel is facing the same thing in a larger scale; the fact that they own so much of the market has created a "homoginization" of many radio markets. The consistency is boring people to death.

The old formats will not appeal to new listeners beneath the age of 30. Based on Altoona playlists, you'd swear that new music stopped being produced in 1985.

Does Altoona really need four classic rock stations?

I really was glad that we finally had a rock station back in town, and it pissed me off when the format changed. I deleted the preset from my radio and I refuse to listen to the new "Sucky" 104.9.

[RamRod 1]

"There Goes the Last DJ". In the old days DJ's mattered and could make a difference. Now I guess they just go to work like the rest of us. At least the Professor can still break the mold.

[rickw]

I was also surprised to hear the 104 format had changed. My son, as well as Flytrap and the Deathmaster keep me listening to new music which I am grateful for. Rocky was my other source of "keeping up to date". I know that radio is driven by advertising dollars, so I wonder why there were so little dollars coming in to finance Rocky 104. Or is it maybe that Forever's suits are just plain clueless and were tired of listenig to their old rich friends at the cocktail parties bitching about all that "noise" on the radio. Who knows? But, I won't pay a fee for radio. Long live Q94!

[WitchChic]

Hey.... I work at walmart as some of you may well know, and The department Im in happens to be the one that sells XM and Sirius Radio...OUR SALES HAVE INCREASED GREATLY in the past few weeks...I had one customer tell me he was a HUGE Rocky fan and then they switched so he went to 105 the buzz who he said changed format to COUNRTY last week sometime, they are all coming in to get XM and Sirius, cuz they cant hear what they want to, this same customer also called Rocky Q104,lmao...

Well least I have job secruity, kinda,LMAO

[skipisode]

I find it strange/funny/odd that radio "sales" is what drives the formats.
I've always known this impacts radio programming. What I don't get is
if you have no listeners, how the f#$% are you supposed to sell anything?!!! I think maybe the "advertisers" need to look at who is listening (or not) to the stations. This area has always been behind the
times. The radio jocks can't control what the management does, but if
nobody listens to the station (hum........??????) maybe some formats will
change? I also wonder if the sales people are just targeting the wrong
people (or just the rich people who obviously have the money to advertise). I know how much it costs for a simple 30 second advertisement, and believe me it isn't cheap! Unfortunately, our area
only has a small portion of "elite/rich" folks as compared to the overall
population, and this (I suspect) drives them to advertise on the stations/
formats they like vs. what "we" want. I don't know for sure, but this is
just some food for thought.

[rreihart]

The only station I used to even listen to was 1430 WVAM, but after Rob Dibble left Dan Patrick for FSN, oh wait, I mean after they put Rich Dileo on everyday for 2 hours I quit listening.

I don't care what the other stations do, that's why they make iPods.

[AtoMikEnRtiA]

sounds like radio is going to shit.. up there - I usually listen to 105.9 when Im up there because 103.7 the "Revolution" out of Chambersburg all the sudden at midnight one night last year became "Hot 103" and plays nothing but mindless hip hop and rap.. screw that noise..

Im never in the market for a good country song - in fact I believe the only good country song, is one that is never written (no disrespect to the many country artists on this site.. it's just not my thing..)

Classic rock? eh - if i wanted to listen to 'Sweet Home Alabama' - i'd spend a weekend up at my mothers and listen to the dumb fucks next door..

to hear 105.9 go to country dissapointed the shit out of me, now.. when Im up in Huntingdon county.. i have one choice left - and every time I listen to it.. it takes me back to the days when I was in like 7th grade.. 103.5 Merf FM out of Lewistown/Huntingdon..

ah well, thank god for..

[BDR]

Radio as we use to know it has been dying a slow and painful death since the mid-90s.

The big problem is the FCC loosening its restrictions on the monopolizing of markets. Giant, fat-cat companies like Forever buy up everything within a 100-mile radius of their headquarters (they couldn't do that before, there was a cut-off on how many stations one corp. could own in any given market) and then they call all of the shots with no competition.

Forever bought up most everything in Huntingdon County ... now we can listen to Froggy all f#@king day long, wherever you go! Whooptey-farking-doo!

"Local radio" is sad, sad, sad ... this coming from a former jock in a time when stations actually gave a flying f#@k about the listeners' wants and needs.

No more ... now, icons like Terry Bittner (who had over 30 years in) get the axe because they have a f#@king automation system or satellite feed that can do the job cheaper. Screw those people ... every last one of them.

Sorry, but I'm very passionate about this topic, and Kevin, you shouldn't be so quick to apologize or defend yourself when these topics come up. You're collecting a pay check, just like most of the rest of us here. It's not your fault you work for the f#@king man. Just watch your back, bro. The man doesn't give a $hit about you, either.

r:>)

[drums=life]

no man it is this area, when i go to philly for my family visits, the radio there is the bomb, so many choices. i grew up there and we could get stations from philly and NY. when i moved here i was so blown away by the lack of radio choices, when i heard that q 94 used to go of air at midnight, i never heard of such a thing. fuck em, i got sirius

[Dragan Kalasa]

Hey.... I work at walmart as some of you may well know, and The department Im in happens to be the one that sells XM and Sirius Radio...OUR SALES HAVE INCREASED GREATLY in the past few weeks...I had one customer tell me he was a HUGE Rocky fan and then they switched so he went to 105 the buzz who he said changed format to COUNRTY last week sometime, they are all coming in to get XM and Sirius, cuz they cant hear what they want to, this same customer also called Rocky Q104,lmao...

Well least I have job secruity, kinda,LMAO

I work at Wal-Mart too, and it's really sad, because it seems like everyone is ok with the 4 styles of radio airplay (pop, classic rock, country, and rap). We only sell XM's to truck drivers, and that's pretty much it. WitchChic, I'm sure you can vouch for this. How many hillbillies have you seen that dress like Eminem, or walk like another Tonya Harding victim? or think they can spit hot fire, and realize that all they spit is snuff and gingivitis in their Carharts. They're just lucky that the word "y'all" is universal. HAHAHA. I'm not banging on them believe it or not. I just want to see more metal hillbillies.

But I'm getting away from the subject. This is toward ToonaRockGuy. Is there a way where we, the fans, can write to any radio station's management and ask for a new format?

[DirtySanchez]

DirtySanchez is a metal hillbilly!!!

[ToonaRockGuy]

But I'm getting away from the subject. This is toward ToonaRockGuy. Is there a way where we, the fans, can write to any radio station's management and ask for a new format?

Sure. Write to this address:

Dave Davies, General Manager
Forever Broadcasting
1 Forever Drive
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648

e-mail: ddavies@foreverradio.com

I'm telling you right now, though, like I've been saying all along: It does not matter what you want. You, the listener, are not important. It's all about sales. You can write a million letters, send a million e-mails, and call for days and days. It won't change anything. And quite frankly, they don't care if you listen or not, as long as they can sell the advertising.

[BDR]

And quite frankly, they don't care if you listen or not, as long as they can sell the advertising.

... which goes against the basic concept of radio advertising. Ironic, ain't it?!?

Keep rockin', Kev.

r:>)

[DirtySanchez]

Short term solutions are the way of the lazy retarded business man.
Sell the ads while you can jerkoffs cuz when they being shouted out to nobody bcause that's who's listening and it brings in no new business for the places advertising then Iguess they'll stop paying to advertise and everyone will have learned this valuable lesson. HIRE OR TRAIN BETTER SALES PEOPLE!!! Who's buying fucking advertising, nursing homes?
Certainly not anyone targeting the younger age groups, which seems odd.
I mean, I know they don't have the most money but they are more willing to spend what they have.

[f.sciarrillo]

Not to bust on people or anything, but, I'm not really much for modern rock, in fact; I think a lot of the new stuff sucks. So not having a modern rock station isn't affecting me at all.

But with all that is going on and such, I do agree that local does suck. And satellite is the way to go. Pretty much all the stations play the same songs every half hour anyhow. It's like a single cd set to random repeat ..

[AtoMikEnRtiA]

Not to bust on people or anything, but, I'm not really much for modern rock, in fact; I think a lot of the new stuff sucks. So not having a modern rock station isn't affecting me at all.

But with all that is going on and such, I do agree that local does suck. And satellite is the way to go. Pretty much all the stations play the same songs every half hour anyhow. It's like a single cd set to random repeat ..

.. good point

[Blain]

Here's the deal: If you have good ratings but in a demographic that isn't really the first or second desireable demo, then the station is hard to sell for an average sales team. A great sales team overcomes that. When you are turning over sales people every month or so, you'll never have a great sales team.

[HarleyRo1]

Well...if it's all about those who advertise...WRITE the companies that advertise on those radio stations...tell them that their advertising bucks are going to waste because you just changed the station...

[bassist_25]

It sucks for me that The Buzz has switched formats. Since we mostly modern rock, The Buzz was what I listened to in order to stay hip that what was doing well in the genre.

[EyesOfAnguishbassist]

Sirius is defintely the way to go.........All kinds of good stations w/ all diffrent varieties of music, its worth the money

[AtoMikEnRtiA]

Sirius is defintely the way to go.........All kinds of good stations w/ all diffrent varieties of music, its worth the money

this coming from a man who has spent a collective 450 bucks on a cavalier and a hearse.. both in good running condition..

fuckin jew.. hahahaha j.k.

[HarleyRo1]

All that really matters is that is sounds good anyway LOL!