Wednesday, January 9, 2013

1.9.12 Bee-otch of the Day: Real Rock 105/95-5



Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com.


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Name: WGFM/WJZJ "Real Rock 105/95-5"
Age: 3
Occupation: rock station
Last Seen: Cheboygan/Traverse City, MI
Bee-otched For: being another radio station not being true to their name
 
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Only in northern Michigan can there be four rock stations playing the same shit, different time.

There’s top-rated WKLT (97.5/98.9) which plays classic rock with a touch of new rock from classic artists, The Bear (98.1/107.1/94.5/93.9) which is pure classic rock, 99.3 The Wolf which is supposed to play new and classic rock and Real Rock 105 and 95-5, which is supposed to be mostly new rock with a dash of well-respected classics.

But a few weeks ago, fans of Real Rock noticed some slight changes to the station’s playlist, and it ain’t pleasant.

While the station still plays a lot of new and post-1990 rock, they have been playing a lot of awful 1970’s butt rock that doesn’t belong on a station that’s supposed to play a lot of Disturbed, Tool and Metallica. Real Rock is now playing a lot of *ahem* Really Lame Butt Rock from Boston, Styx and Kansas just to name a few.

The station, which is in the middle of a sale from Northern Star Broadcasting to Del Reynolds hasn’t explained the changes, although its ratings are considered mid-pack per last Spring’s Arbitron book. Real Rock is tied with sister Big Country 102.9 with a 3.5.

However, there might be speculation that Real Rock’s other sister, The Bear, might be on the way out. That station is at a 2.0 in the ratings – near the bottom – and two of the frequencies are being traded off with the recently-signed-on WYPV 106.3 in Onaway, a Tea Party-leaning talk station.

One reason for the trade-off is due to Reynolds already owning 97.7 WQEZ in Cheboygan, which would have put him over FCC ownership caps.

Nonetheless, the butt rock invasion at Real Rock is a sad one, and I’m not alone on this. Yeah, this might be a way to siphon at KLT’s success, but I think it’s an insult to fans of new rock. It’s like listening to a top 40 station and having to sit through Frank Sinatra to get to Katy Perry. Real Rock has turned into a real trainwreck and it shows.

If they want ratings, IMO, Real Rock should have canned the irritating Cartman a long, long time ago. He sounds like a crappy top 40 jock and his style doesn’t fit on a rock station. Plus the fact that his morning show bombed when it was The Zone doesn’t help much. Smitty, OTOH, isn’t bad at all. I do wish, though that they had a local jock for nights instead of piping former Twin Cities jock Jay Roberts in from another town.
Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to copy WGRD’s playlist. Some might think that JT is some old dude, but he’s doing something right.

I’ve always felt sorry for those living up north when it comes to rock radio. It might not be as corporate, but it still BLOOOOOOWS! But thanks to too many choices in the digital realm like Sirius, Pandora and Slacker, why would anybody want to sit through “Carry On Wayward Son” just to hear Halestorm? Now, that’s just not right. Hell, even my 60-year-old dad had to change the station when his local rock station in Kentucky started to play “Tush” by ZZ Top! “I like the song, but they play it too much”, he told me.

Real Rock 105 and 95-5: a station that now sucks so bad that it makes Darren Arriens a programming God.

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