Globe: Met Opera out at WBOQ

[Bob Nelson]

--- Brian Vita <brian_vita@cssinc.com> wrote:
 
> What justification to they need?  They own the
> station.  They can do
> whatever they want, regardless of marketablility. 
> Until they sell, or
> otherwise lose the license, they could broadcast
> dialtone and be within
> their rights.

I've mentioned the first episode of "WKRP in
Cincinnati" before. IIRC, the second episode featured
a man who was upset that the station changed from
beautiful music to raucous rock, and he brought in
some protestors-- who looked like they were from a
nearby rest home-- with picket signs. I'm sure WBOQ
got many emails and phone calls of protest but that
won't do any good now.

I just got an email from someone who must have read
one of my posts and thought I worked for WBOQ. (Maybe
the one where I looked up their phone numbers...)
Nope, I don't work for them (though their studios
and my house are both in Beverly!)...I did respond
to the man's concerns and said that I approach it
from two viewpoints:

As a listener, it's sad to note that they changed a
unique format to something that's pretty similar
to what's heard on WODS, WROR, and WMJX. I personally
DO like _some_ of what they're playing now (in that
they've played some cuts the other stations don't
play) and I am right in their age demo...but it's
still regrettable that they've changed. But if you
look at it from a business standpoint, you might say
that they felt they could "serve the community better"
(read: Make More Money) with 60s/70s pop.

Then again, I'm sure a station like WOCN down on the
Cape can do well with jazzy standards (then again,
you wonder if that's because many older people are
living on the Cape, retired folks like my Dad,
who loves the station. I think it's pretty good as a
change of pace.) Could WBOQ do as well with that here,
if it's presented well? (Or does WOCN work because
of the older demo down on Olde Cape Cod...)

> A common misconceived thread on this list is that
> stations have some
> obligation to serve a particular audience.  The days
> of the FCC considering
> that a license is "held in the public trust" are
> gone.  Radio is strictly a
> commodity at this point. 

Remember when there was a big fuss to put country
music back on the dial when WCOP dumped it? Somehow
a court settlement led to some "brokered time"
country on WDLW. And then there was Grandbanke
which challenged WV-as-in-Victor, WVCA, saying they
weren't doing enough public service, IIRC...
That was THEN...


> I personally don't think that the switch was a good
> idea either and I think
> that the idea of local focus is ridiculous.  How
> many folks on the North
> Shore listened to them anyway and how many more will
> they gain with the
> format switch.  At least with the old format, they
> had a niche in the
> background clutter of the other commercial stations.

True. As for the local focus, the one thing in their
defense is the fact that the signal pretty much IS
confined to the North Shore... Who knows, they may
gain SOME listeners, though. You could say, "the
old WBOQ had a niche, giving people something
different". But you could also say that (I hate to
say "lowest common denominator) the new format
might attract at least a few more new listeners--
and maybe more advertisers. It could be that they
will pick up _slightly_ more of both, but who knows
if this will REALLY make a difference in the
_business_ of radio...