Country radio (was WNSH 1570 back on (again!))

["Dan Billings" <dib9@gwi.net>]

The problem is that nearly all country stations today are, in effect, CHR
country stations.  There are hardly any stations that you could call AC
country stations that mix the old and the new.  For example, WMGX is very
successful in Portland mixing today's hits with older music from the 70s,
80s, and 90s.  There is nothing comparable in country radio.

The "Real Country" format is not country oldies.  I would compare it to a
pop music AC station.  They mix in some real old stuff for special weekends
and request shows, but most of what they play is from the 80s and 90s, with
today's hits.

I understand why the few country stations in urban areas stick to a tightly
formatted hit country format.  I don't understand why in a more rural market
where country is successful that there is not more diversity in the format.
For example, in Portland, WTHT plays pretty much the same music as WPOR.
For years, they have been unsuccessfully attempting to compete with one of
the top stations in the market by imitating their format.  Why not try
something a little different instead of continuing to get beat badly doing
the same old thing?   (By the way, WTHT is not part of one of the large
corporate operations that everyone likes to blame for bad programming.  I
think the company owns stations in this one market and they are still
capable of running their stations poorly.)

I also find it interesting how narrow country radio is in terms of new
music.  I see lots of videos of new artists on CMT that I never hear on the
radio.

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Nelson...WMWM" <bobonradio@yahoo.com>
To: "Dan Billings" <dib9@gwi.net>; <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2001 4:28 PM
Subject: Re: Re: WNSH 1570 back on (again!)

> And by the way, maybe it's not too surprising that
> country stations don't play the old songs; after all,
> would a CHR station play Frank Sinatra, Little
> Richard, or Lesley Gore? Could you picture them
> seguing Eminem with "Fly Me To The Moon"? So maybe
> it's not surprising that country stations don't want
> to mix Dixie Chicks with Merle Haggard or Loretta
> Lynn (though maybe country-oldies would be slightly
> more compatible to contemporary country than
> pop oldies would be to CHR...) Now, I wouldn't _mind_
> hearing the old with the new, but most stations
> wouldn't want to take that chance.