Soooooo...how are all those format changes going?

Last year a number of radio stations, in their never ending pursuit of ratings, abandoned the alternaive rock format in several large markets.

KWOD Sacramento became KBCZ (all 90's)
WSWD Cincinatti switches with WYGY then becomes WREW (80's and other retro)at 94.9
WSWD Cincinatti becomes WYGY (country) at 97.3
KTNI Denver-Boulder switches to talk
WMFS Memphis switches to Sports talk
WHTG Monmouth Co. NJ swtiches to CHR

KBCZ is flopping
The WSWD station swtich was a disaster for both stations, only to be salvaged by thw swtich to WREW (I guess they like their 80's hits in Cincy)
WYGY is tanking
Switching to talk has not helped KTNI's ratings one iota
WMFS's audience has gone from miniscule to microscopic
WHTG's once solid if unspectacular ratings has belly flopped.

Maybe the problem wasn't with the format, but with the execution. Maybe talk isn't the wave of the future on FM. Maybe a format switch isn't a cure all for a weak signal.

Program directors take heed and beware.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I spent a week in the Outer Banks in North Carolina and I had the opportunity to hear a station that I almost completely missed the first time I was there two weeks ago. I only found the station after I got back on the mainland driving away. Just got to hear them play "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson and then a station break came on and the station announced itself as the "Outer Banks Alternative" I was looking for a decent station all week while I was staying in Corrola. How did I miss it.

Anyway, this time the family rented a house in Kill Devil Hills, so I got to listen to it for a whole week. It's more adult alternative than alternative, but they play a lot of interesting stuff.

Here's a small sample of what they were playing last night:

One Love -- Bob Marley and the Wailers
A Dustland Fairytale -- The Killers
Girlfriend -- Matthew Sweet
Let Me Be--Xavier Rudd
Down to the Wire -- Son Volt
Beautiful Day -- U2
Solsbury Hill -- Peter Gabriel
Man in the Sand -- Gordon Gano
Candy -- Iggy Pop
Red Light -- Johnny Lang
Circle -- Edie Brickell
Little Pieces -- Gomez
Rock the Casbah -- The Clash

I didn't even know Gordon Gano had an album out.

If that sounds good to you here's the link to the station