What is the status with K-Rock in NYC?

http://krockradio.com/

This is rather sudden.

Hope we get one of these in Philly.

FROM ROCK TO ROCK

The big meeting wasn't to fire anyone but to announce that our station in NY, WXRK, was changing formats. Instead of playing new rock, the station is now going to play all rock. In fact, the new slogan at the station is "KROCK. Great Rock, period". Cabbie and Booker were trying to explain to Howard exactly what the format change was but they were having a hard time doing it. Howard said that must have been some meeting since the jocks can't even explain what was gong on. So radio programer Rob Cross, aka Chuck Roast, came on the air to explain. He said they are premiering a new internet radio channel called KROCK 2 which will play a lot of newer rock and alternative music and the actual radio station will play just a broad array of rock, from Led Zeppelin to AC/DC to Pearl Jam. Howard said he didn't really care about any of this though since he was leaving and wished the station luck with their new format change.

Somebody Told Me
Killing In The Name
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Cherub Rock
Like A Stone
I Predict A Riot (Kaiser Chiefs)
Another Brick In The Wall (Korn)
Californication
Judith
Little Sister
Nice To Know You
Walking Dead (that linkin park remix thing)
Enter Sandman
Cold (Crossfade)
American Idiot
Give It Up (that shitty ska song)
Wicked Garden
L'Via L'Viaquez (Mars Volta)
Black Hole Sun
Fell In Love With A Girl

And now, the new K-Rock, as of 10:30AM...

Hell's Bells
For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
Cum On Feel The Noize
American Idiot
Bohemian Rhapsody
You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party
You Got Another Thing comin'
Higher Ground
Kashmir
You Give Love A Bad Name
Are You Gonna Go My Way
Tom Sawyer
Drain You
Roxanne
That Hand That Feeds
Panama
Them Bones
Cult Of Personality
Seven Nation Army
Rock You Like A Hurricane

Hell's Bells
For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
Cum On Feel The Noize
American Idiot
Bohemian Rhapsody
You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party
You Got Another Thing comin'
Higher Ground
Kashmir
You Give Love A Bad Name
Are You Gonna Go My Way
Tom Sawyer
Drain You
Roxanne
That Hand That Feeds
Panama
Them Bones
Cult Of Personality
Seven Nation Army
Rock You Like A Hurricane

Oh God.

K-Rock Is "Great Rock. Period."
April 4, 2005

WXRK (K-Rock)/New York is the latest in a wave of stations to widen its music library to the "best Rock music from the '80s, '90s and today," changing its moniker to "K-Rock. Great Rock. Period."

Krockradio.com touts the station's new playlist as "bigger" and challenges listeners to fill out an online survey about their musical preferences, stating "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Help us help you." The station has also started streaming an online version, dubbed K-Rock 2.

Immediately after Howard Stern was finished with today's program, the new format kicked off with the opening chords of AC/DC "Hell's Bells" before launching into a montage of song clips that carried a statement of "Now, More Rock Than Ever Before." K-Rock will remain jockless for the rest of the week.

Guns 'N Roses "Welcome To The Jungle" was the first song to follow the montage, followed by AC/DC "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)," Quiet Riot "Cum On Feel The Noize," Green Day "American Idiot," Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody," Beastie Boys "Fight For Your Right," Judas Priest "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Featured artists on WXRK will include Guns 'N Roses, Nirvana, AC/DC, Green Day, Alice In Chains, Metallica and Audioslave, among many others. Bands from the '70s, including Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, will also have a presence on the station’s playlist.

The K-Rock 2 webstream will be dedicated to playing the latest music offerings from today’s new artists, including bands such as My Chemical Romance, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, The Mars Volta, Arcade Fire, Taking Back Sunday and Interpol.

The online outlet, dubbed "the evil twin" with a "godless bloodlust for weird new music" will stream 24/7 and can be accessed via the WXRK Web site.

"K-Rock is always looking for opportunities to further connect with our listeners," said K-Rock OM Rob Cross. "Enhancing our playlist, while simultaneously launching a web stream whose sole purpose is to feature breaking music, enables us to serve a wider audience with the music most frequently requested without changing the fabric of the radio station."

Cross added, "K-Rock 2 will be the perfect destination for listeners who want to stay up on the cutting edge of new music."

and isn't wmmr doing the same format these days -- only w/ djs? such is what i've been told.

Perhaps this is the future of classic rock radio. I give them some amount of credit for attempting to expand on it, since classic rock is one of the dullest formats - even less exciting than adult contemporary - at least they get to add new songs once in a while.

The DOUG format resembles a format other stations across the country have switched over to in recent weeks. WRQX-FM in Washington, D.C., KCBS-FM in Los Angeles and WMWX-FM in Philadelphia have recently switched over to the format, which is popular in Canada and carries names like "Jack" and "Bob."

shit, i leave princeton for good and all hell breaks loose!

the last radio station i felt any personal attachment to was 103.9 WDRE and they went off the air when i was a college freshman at Saint Joe's - somehow i couldn't get a signal there, but could back home (if i turned the clock radio on its side or something). otherwise, none of these stations are worth crying over. after all, wkdu plays a death metal breakfast hour!

In other radio programming news Billboard offered the following:
* Modern KDLD/KDLE (Indie 103.1) Los Angeles is in danger of switching formats in April when its LMA with Clear Channel expires.

"I don't think that modern rock radio is going to its grave, but I do think it could use another revolution," Morrison's partner Preston Elliot says. "If there were another Nirvana or someone to step up and give a breath of fresh air to it, it could explode all over again."

As Goldstein says, "Everything is cyclical."

"At the moment," he continues, "the format's in trouble. I'm doubtful that it's a permanent thing and that rock is going to disappear from the landscape. I do think that until we have the next-generation artists or some releases that relaunch interest in current rock music, we're definitely in a lull. It makes me crazy that radio has been criticized widely over the past year or so for not exposing new music. Active rock has been one of the better formats in new-music exposure, and the audience is rejecting it."

Hang the DJ hang the DJ hang the DJ, Hang the DJ.

So then how exactly did bands like Depeche Mode and New Order get played on MTV in the 80's? They didn't have a "Nirvana" and yet they still got airplay.

http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/News/Alternative_News.asp

When Indie Goes Indie, It Will Stay Indie

As Clear Channel prepares to relinquish sales control of KDLD & KDLE (Indie 103.1)/Los Angeles at the end of the month (March), the early rumors of a format flip appear to be false. The Entravision-owned station is ending its joint sales agreement with Clear Channel as of April 1 due to FCC regulations, and a memo to advertisers from Radio Division President Jeffrey Liberman declares that Indy will soon have its own sales staff in place with no changes in programming.

"We at Entravision Communications Corporation and Clear Channel/Los Angeles would like to thank you for your support of Indie 103.1," the memo says. "Because of the support for Indie 103.1 from our listeners and clients like you, Indie 103.1 will continue on the air as it has been since the end of 2003. The only changes that you will see are a few new faces on the sales end.... We thank you for your continued support of Indie 103.1, and we will be contacting you soon!"

Maybe it's because they knew the flip was coming and just didn't care as much, but since about last November, it seemed they were heading in a very good direction - "Float On" was their most played song of 2004, and just as this flip came it seemed they were on the verge of breaking stuff like Arcade Fire and Kaiser Chiefs into heavy rotation. And it seemed they were just about to place one of the 11-minute Mars Volta songs into rotation as well (as you can see from the pre-6AM playlist sampling). NYC needs a "classic alternative" station a lot more than it needs an "all things rock" station.

Currant ratings for L.A.:

1. KFI-AM Talk 4.4 4.6
2. KPWR-FM CHR/Rhymathic 4.9 4.6
3. KROQ-FM Modern 4.1 4.5
^ (Indie 103.1) Modern 0.6 0.8