Seriously?

Sigh.

Earlier today, first snowfall / snow dusting in Southie:

Why WBOS Changed and Flipped to Radio 92.9

When I was in Arizona at the Super Bowl, 92.9 WBOS, one of my favorite local stations, flipped to a 90's-based rock format.

I am a bit late to the party in discussing this (I have been following the links and comments on Universal Hub and the sites to which it linked about this), but since I worked in radio for 15 years, many of them on the air for an alternative station, and many more as a researcher / consultant for all formats, I thought I would offer my two cents.

This is a huge mistake.

And I'm not simply in "complaint mode" because I did indeed enjoy the old WBOS. I believe it is a mistake because of many logical reasons.

Greater Media did this because WBOS had terrible ratings, and they are in anticipation of the arrival of a new ratings measurement mechanism to Boston - Arbitron's Personal People Meter.

In both of the PPM test markets - Philly and Houston - early returns showed rock stations being underrepresented in the way ratings had been collected with written diaries submitted through snail mail. After the PPM ratings were released, all of a sudden operators saw better ratings for rock stations with a Grunge-to-today focus. Not great ratings, but much better than they had been.

With the PPM rolling out nationwide in the next year or so, operators recently began flipping underperforming stations to rock stations that sound very similar to what "Radio 92.9" sounds like right now.

But still, even with this information, I just don't understand why this was necessary - a FOURTH rock station in Boston playing this era rock music (modern / alternative rock, however it's labeled).

WFNX, WBCN, and WAAF are fighting over a 6 share of Boston radio listening. (Share is determined by number of listeners and length of listening - so a 6 share is 6 percent of all radio listening done in a market). Add up the 12+ (people 12 and older) shares of these three stations combined, and the triumvirate would lose to either Jam'n 94.5, WBZ, Kiss 108, or WEEI.

The pie isn't that big to start, and it's not exactly growing. But, just for kicks, let's say that the PPM ratings show that there are 8 or 9 shares for this type of music in Boston, instead of 6. Now there's a fourth player in this arena, going up against three stations with fairly loyal followings, stations that have been consistently sticking to their respective corners of the rock market for many years.

Will those "new" shares uncovered by PPM simply all go to the fourth one to the party?

Of course not.

There's no reason for the FNX/BCN/AAF listener to ever convert to being a favorite of this station. Not without a morning show. Not without good, local content. Not without something different.

The future of radio in 2008 and beyond is custom local content - not a jukebox on autoplay. This type of radio will never work again. Ever.

Right on their new website - http://www.bostonradio929.com/ (a horrible URL), their brand statement is there in blue text - "Want more music and less talk? Then 92.9 is the only place on the dial to get exactly that!"

More music / less talk? Yeah, that positioner worked in the past. But today, the world of entertainment consumption is far different. It's immediate. It's on-demand. It's personalized and customized.

More music / less talk = my ipod.

Those who enjoy this brand of music are exactly the folks who own ipods, and can build their own custom stations as playlists on their ipods. These stations will play their personal favorite songs much more regularly and precisely than any radio station can.

If people who like this era of music are irritated at Toucher & Rich, or The Sandbox, or Opie & Anthony, or The Hill-Man Morning Show, they are probably either ipod only, or listening to XM or Sirius. They have not been longing and waiting for Radio 92.9.

The "more music, no chatty DJ's" position got you to a 1.5 share in the first place, WBOS. So now, Radio 92.9 is hanging its hat on this same irrelevant position, but playing music that is readily available elsewhere (unlike a format with much greater passion, such as the old WBOS).

When I returned from the Super Bowl, I wanted to listen to WEEI to hear their opinions on the game. When I tune to NPR or WBZ, I want to hear news, traffic, and weather. When I listen to Kiss 108, I want to hear the acerbic wit of Matty in the Morning and his crew.

I pulled a monitor of WBOS from Wed night 7pm-9pm. Here's what they played:


GREEN DAY - Brain Stew
LINKIN PARK - Bleed It Out
BODEANS - Closer To Free
NO DOUBT - Don't Speak
JET - Look What You've Done
SMASHING PUMPKINS - Landslide
JACK JOHNSON - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
RADIOHEAD - Bodysnatchers
BEASTIE BOYS - Intergalactic
TALKING HEADS - And She Was
NIRVANA - Come As You Are
AUDIOSLAVE - I Am The Highway
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND - Stay (Wasting Time)
EDDIE VEDDER - Hard Sun
BLINK 182 - Dammit
BETTER THAN EZRA - Good
STEREO MC'S - Connected
FOO FIGHTERS - Long Road To Ruin
HOUSE OF PAIN - Jump Around
RAMONES - Blitzkrieg Bop
LIVE - I Alone
FUEL - Shimmer
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - Otherside
TONIC - Open Up Your Eyes
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - Plush
MUSE - Starlight
GREEN DAY - She
MODEST MOUSE - Dashboard
BOB MARLEY & WAILERS - Jamming

A solid list with a few surprises. I get what the station wants to be.

But, I already own every one of these songs. Lots of people in Boston do. I can put them on my ipod in this order, and not have to listen to the commercials. Or, I could flip around among the AAF, BCN, and FNX and hear things that sounded quite similar to this.

Nothing differentiates this station from what is already available, or from what I already own.

It's unfortunate that Greater Media did this. They had a loyal (albeit not-so-big) audience, a great brand, a great signal, and probably great qualitative metrics on its former audience. I am guessing they were relatively affluent, active, and socially conscious.

WBOS' old format worked elsewhere in the U.S., notably in Denver (KBCO) and Minneapolis (KTCZ). Both of those stations have been around for many years, have stuck to their respective brands, have built personality, events, and unique content around their stations, and have built strong local followings. (Unfortunately, both of their websites are stuck with the awful Clear Channel web templates - but trust me, they are both good listens).

WBOS had all of this - Studio 7 music, Earth Fest, Copley Summer Concerts, Sunday morning Over Easy - but had poor ratings. It's weird, I truly don't believe the ratings ever accurately reflected WBOS' actual audience.

Perhaps they never did accurately reflect the true audience, and never were going to either. And unfortunately, when it comes down to it, commercial stations sell their ratings first and foremost.
When it comes to branding, they had it. Now, they are a faceless format, fourth in the race, playing the ratings game in anticipation of the Personal People Meter.

Any research company that advised WBOS to do this has done them a disservice. If they were looking for a new format, there were no other format holes? You're kidding. Smooth Jazz? Urban AC (older R&B)? You wanted a 25-39 format, and picked a very crowded lane on the highway.

The radio industry needs brands like WBOS to survive and remain relevant well into the future. It's a good thing the WEEI's, Z100's, KROQ's, Magic 106.7's, and Jam'n 94.5's of the world still exist. These stations fill a need, understand their audiences, and are RELEVANT. People care about them. Their audiences hear programming and content that they can't get elsewhere (sure, Jam'n plays the same 80 songs all week long, but they always play new music, do tons of mixing, and have a great morning show in Ramiro & Pebbles that deliver unique content every weekday).

There appear to be far more loyal, angry "old WBOS" listeners than thrilled new listeners to Radio 92.9.

This posting is not designed to be a rant. I am attempting to think about this logically, something I would imagine Greater Media also attempted to do.

But Radio 92.9 is irrelevant. It never will be relevant. Greater Media should be smarter than this.

Veto List - The Publick House in Brookline

Never in my life have I walked out of a restaurant without leaving a tip. Until tonight.

As a direct result of this evening's events at The Publick House in Brookline, my party of five walked out having paid five cents above our $128.05 bill, simply because none of us had anything smaller than a dime.

I was with four friends this evening, and we thought we would check out The Publick House's trivia night tonight, as we enjoy trivia nights and, up until now, also enjoyed The Publick House.

Around 6:15, I arrived to find Tom and Brian at the bar, already having downed two rounds. Soon thereafter, Gilbert and Kelly arrived, and we shifted over to a table in the back corner. For those of us in the group who have kicked around local trivia nights on occasion, we always arrived early to eat dinner, grab a table, and stay for trivia (all the while continuing to drink through the whole evening).

This is exactly what we have done at every other trivia night in the city.

Trivia began between 8:15 and 8:30. After the first question, we were informed by our server that since there was a long wait, they needed the table, as we were finished with dinner.

Our table had been cleared just about five or ten minutes prior, and we still had beer in our glasses.

Never did they ask if we wanted dessert, after dinner drinks, coffee, more beer - nothing. Basically, we were handed the bill and recommended that if we wished to stay for trivia and keep drinking, we could do so at the bar.

Up until this point, it was a pleasant evening. Everyone was happy, polite, and undemanding.

We all agreed that this just wasn't right, and I went to speak with the host, who promptly dispatched me to manager. I explained to the manager where we were sitting, when we arrived, what we had been consuming and that we planned to continue consuming.

He reaffirmed that if we wished to stay, we could do so at the bar because of their two hour wait.

We did not wish to stay. We paid and walked out.

While I understand that turning tables is not only the recipe to clearing a two hour wait list, but also adding revenue for the evening, I feel that their decision was quite short-sighted by displacing customers that had spent over $30 at the bar, almost $130 (up until that point) at the table, and an undetermined amount of additional after-dinner drinking revenue, not to mention the now sacrificed good will inherent with keeping loyal customers happy.

Additionally, I find it odd to host a trivia night on a night that is, obviously, a busy one for a restaurant. Usually Sunday nights aren't packed (good for Publick House for attracting that kind of crowd), and usually trivia nights are strategically held on slower evenings to draw people to the restaurant.

Like us.

While I couldn't find a picture of the exterior sign for this posting, I found a picture of said manager (on the left) and the owner (on the right) on BeerAdvocate's excellent website.

So, Publick House management - I hope you pick up the 25 bucks for the tip on our $128.05 bill this evening (not to mention the tip on your lost revenue of the rounds of 8 dollar Belgian beers that we did not consume at your establishment thereafter).

Screw you, Publick House manager. And screw you, Publick House.

There are too many good restaurants in the Boston metro that would accept my hard-earned money and welcome me to stay and continue drinking during Trivia night.

Publick House, you are no longer one of them. Veto.

GQ blew it

I'm a cover-to-cover magazine reader. Rarely does the content of one of my selected magazines cause me to adversely judge its credibility.

And I subscribe to many periodicals. I just counted 12 of them off the top of my head, but it could be more.

In the latest issue, however, GQ blew it.

I don't read every word of every issue. But I do go in linear order, the way the publishers meant for us to read their works. Start at the front, work to the back. I enjoy processes and systems.

Sometimes a magazine takes a while to complete, as I don't usually read a complete one in a single sitting. I always use a subscription card as my book marker. If the issue has no subscription card, I dog ear the page to make my progress.

I received the latest issue of GQ a few days ago, and was working my way through the middle this morning during my ham and eggs. It's one of those year-end recap issues. I'm always interested at what songs, albums, movies, and cultural events each magazine deems "best" and "worst."

Page 226, of their eight songs on "The Hit List - the best party-starting singles of the year," was M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" (good choice), followed by Gym Class Heroes' "Cupid's Chokehold" (um...are you kidding? That's my vote for irritating song of the year).

On their list of "The Disappointments - surprisingly middling albums by perennial favorites" was Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky."

Nope. No way. Absolutely not. Wrong.

This was absolutely one of my favorite and most-played albums of the year.

Upon reading this page, the remainder of their issue became irrelevant to me. Page 226 was the final one I read. I put it into the recycling bin immediately, with half of the content unread.

My Civic Duty - Cancelled

The Jury Commissioner for the Commonwealth respectfully notified me over the weekend that I will not be needed for Jury Duty on Tuesday 12/4.

While this cancellation would cause excitement for many, I'm bummed out.

I served on a case once before, about five years ago in the same court that was calling for me again - Boston Municipal Court - West Roxbury Division in Jamaica Plain. I thought everybody there was courteous and respectful toward us jurors, and I found the process interesting.

Unfortunately, the dude on trial for a drug dealing charge got off on an evidence-gathering technicality. The judge even told us in the jury room after the case that we probably made the right verdict based on the evidence presented (as obvious as his criminal behavior was), and thought we would be happy to know that he was on trial for another separate drug offense soon thereafter.

I was hoping to put somebody away this time.

Drinking helps with the losses

I am a bit drained after yesterday's game (I'm referring to the Yankees latest playoff loss), and it is becoming evident to me that the Yanks of the 2000's simply cannot win in the playoffs. They were big game players and a big game team back from 1996-2000, but besides the ALCS against Boston where they actually won, the Yankees cannot get the job done. It's quite heartening to watch a team for 6 months fall apart during one final week, but I am getting used to it.

Part of me is tempted to burn my Yanks hat and shirt, because when I wear them, they never seem to win. But, I can't get myself to doing that. The 1980's were worse for them, and I was able to stomach through.

Even after last night's disappointment, I'm happy to be home for a weekend. Plus, it's nice to be back in Boston during a weekend AND be off the wagon (drinking makes the losses easier to take). Summer Lent is over, and the last time I had a sip of booze here in Boston during a weekend was eight weekends ago.

I'm glad we have some decent weather today - I might grab my camera again and head downtown.