Re: WDRC / Big D (Was Re: Censorship at WTKK)

[hmglaz@webtv.net (Howard Glazer)]

Martin Waters writes:

>Yes, they have gone digital lately in their
> liners and jingles, but I still hear Big D
> used. One of the breaks is "102.9,
> WDRC -- Big D, 103." They seem to use
> both.

It does seem to be a work in progress. The jocks, and even the traffic
reporters, all seem to be using "Oldies 102.9, DRC-FM" almost
exclusively, but the jingle package still includes plenty of those using
the old slogan.

The station has been promoting the upcoming week as its 40th birthday
celebration, with guest appearances by many of the station's old
personalities. Since both DRC-FM and its AM counterpart are way older
than 40, I presume the reference is to the station's switch to a pop
format. Maybe the "Big D" stuff will be kept around for this week of
nostalgia, then dropped. Let's hope the station's new look doesn't
involve playlist tightening.
 
>                Also, the use of "Big
D" goes
> way back past about 20 years, when the
> FM flipped to oldies and went heavy
> calling itself Big D 103.

You're right. I've only been in Connecticut since the early '80s, but I
do recall reading about this on the excellent www.wdrcobg.com Web site.

>                So, if the slogan is
being
> dropped it is the end of a real long-time
> tradition. Maybe it is being dropped as
> part of their overall updating.

Maybe audience research found that the average listener has thrown out
his/her last analog radio.

>It may be getting thrown out along with
> most of their '50s music :) I think the
> '50s section of their music library now
> consists of Presley's greatest hits and
> Berry's greatest hits, with most cuts
> crossed out :) 

That music is 40 to 45 years old and has about as much of a connection
to late '70s hits like Samantha Sang's "Emotion" and the Raspberries'
"Go All the Way" (both heard recently on Oldies 102.9/Big D) as the
music of Rudy Vallee had to Berry and Presley's hits. If the target
demographic is 34-55, why not drop all but the biggest '50s hits, since
few of your listeners have anything but early-childhood memories of
them? WDRC-FM is a commercial radio station, not a museum.

Since it is now either the 21st century or the cusp of the 21st century,
I'd imagine it won't be too long before we start hearing early '80s hits
on 'DRC-FM. Get ready for the inevitable Aussie segue from the
Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind" into Men at Work's "Down Under"!

Howard