WHCN

[hmglaz@webtv.net (Howard Glazer)]

I've also been listening to the new WHCN. The music mix sounds almost
the same as that of Clear Channel's Albany-market "River," WRVE (99.5),
but with not as much current music. Of course, I haven't been to Albany
since last summer, so maybe this is their mix now, too.

Once the jocks return, I think this station will find a niche, like it
or not. WTIC-FM plays hardly anything pre-'90s, with the exception of
the '80s lunch hour. WDRC-FM plays oldies from the '50s through the
'70s, but the only '80s songs are retro tunes like Billy Joel's "The
Longest Time," and its playlist has little classic rock overlap and no
current (or even '90s) content. 

I can see WHCN taking a fairly big bite out of TIC's numbers (CC's
revenge for what Infinity's WZMX has done to its WKSS?), a smaller one
out of DRC's. I think CC has determined, correctly, that classic rock
isn't going to work on a Hartford signal, not with WAQY Springfield
grabbing ears in the northern part of the market and, to a lesser
extent, WPLR New Haven doing the same in the southern. Do you suppose
DRC will respond by adding more classic rock, or TIC by putting the '80s
songs in regular rotation?

And, in the long run, HCN might not be as tiresome a listen as you might
think, especially if new current music is added weekly. It being a CC
operation, though, I wouldn't expect anything too daring on either the
current or oldie side of the playlist, but that's radio today, and it's
not just CC.

I do agree about the modulation, though. CC puts the same kind of
compression on country WWYZ. The difference is quite noticeable when you
switch from either CC signal to WDRC-FM, which is much less punchy. I
prefer DRC's cleaner sound, but I'm sure the CC folks have research
numbers to back up their approach.

Howard