In 1955, the world seemed to be a happy, clean, quiet place.
And then came Bill Haley and the Comets. Rock 'n Roll was officially born.
Over the past 65 years, rock has evolved. We've embraced the British Invasion, psychedelic rock, Motown, disco, punk, new wave, hair metal, alternative, grunge, boy bands, nu metal, EDM and so on. Many rock and top 40 stations have ended up being as legendary as the bands they've played: WLS, WCFL, WABC, KHJ and for the people of Detroit, CKLW.
Of course, CKLW was a driving force for CHR fans of the 60s and 70s. Led by programmer Rosalie Trombley, its tight playlist and boss jocks helped define them as one of the most-important stations in Detroit's history, even though they were over the border in Windsor. Sadly, like too many great radio stations, nothing lasts forever. After years of declining ratings brought on by the Canadian government rearing its ugly head over ownership and content, plus the fact that more and more people were tuning to top 40 radio on the FM band, The Big 8 was dead and gone in 1984, replaced by big band music for old people.
On Wednesday, news broke out that the same thing was happening to 89X, a sister station to CKLW, now a Canadian news-talker. On their website and in-between some songs, the legendary alternative rocker - which flipped to active rock a few years ago - announced that something major was going on Thursday at noon. On their website, they also claimed that "if you're into new rock, you'll probably hate this new format". Sadly, they were right.
The final song on 89X was the first tune they played on May 13, 1991:
"Stop!" by Jane's Addiction. Shortly after "Stop!" stopped, a new station launched in its spot: Pure Country 89. Its first song was
"Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line. Along with 99.5 WYCD and New Country 93.1, the Detroit area now has THREE(!!!) country stations with city-grade signals. Weirdly enough, my old hometown of Traverse City in rural northern Michigan only has one strong country station: WTCM-FM 103.5, along with out-of-towners Big Country 102.9 and 96.7 The Bull.
Meanwhile, their sister adult alternative station, 93.9 The River flipped to CHR as Virgin Radio 93.9 at the same time. The move now gives competition to Channel 9-5-5 in the Detroit region.
However, one thing to note is that both Pure Country and Virgin Radio are aimed towards Windsor listeners and not Detroiters like 89X and The River were. This is probably to please the Canadian government. Bear in mind that 89X closed their Detroit area offices and studios a few years ago since the Canadian government got tough on that country's stations being aimed towards an American audience. They did it to CKLW decades ago, and not long ago, they did it to 89X and The River. Sad, since I really liked 89X's Timewarp and Christina was given the heave-ho.
It's true: 89X did a helluva lot more for the Detroit crowd than the Windsorites. The station sponsored many concerts like The Night 89X Stole Christmas and so much more. Granted, they did honor many of the Canadian government's edicts, like CanCon rules. One of my fondest memories of 89X was in the 1990s, I was listening to their Saturday night club programming and they played a TON of uncensored music, including
Consolidated's "You Suck" Thanks to 89X's success, many of their American counterparts flipped to alternative in the 1990s, like Planet 96.3 and The Edge @ 105dotone, neither of whom lasted a decade.
Because of 89X's demise, it immediately caused high-rated WRIF to be the sole rock station in Detroit with a focus on currents. Granted, they don't sound bad, but having decent competition isn't a bad thing. Well, right after 89X's flip to country at noon today, Entercom-owned soft AC 98.7 The Breeze - which was playing Christmas music - abruptly flipped to alternative as Alt 98.7 - Detroit's New Alternative. Their first song was Detroit native Eminem (once upon a time, he was considered alternative) and his Oscar-winning classic
"Lose Yourself".
Granted, Detroit has a real alternative station once again since the demise of the ill-fated iHeartMedia-owned (and similarly named) Alt 106.7 last year when it flipped to the new incarnation of classic rock WLLZ - Detroit's Wheels (and how ironic that 98.7 was the former home of WLLZ). However, The Breeze was doing OK in the ratings with a 3.7, good for 15th place. The last Alt, however, was in the one share area.
True, Detroit has had some legendary alternative stations over the years. However, none of them were giant successes. However, Detroit has shown that they do love real rock and if Beasley were to kill WRIF, there won't be any forgiving. True, 89X will be missed, but regrettably, it's been on its last legs since Bell Media - which has a partnership with iHeartMedia, ironically - bought the station from CHUM Media many moons ago. Losing Dave and Chuck the Freak to The Riff also proved moronic to 89X.
Look, radio needs to listen to the listeners and not corporate. Entercom has shown that they SUCK at running alternative stations; just look at KROQ in Los Angeles. Years ago, KROQ was on top of the ratings. Since Entercom bought the station and made shitty moves to it (i.e. firing the morning show and adding more pop music to the lineup), they're stuck in the one share doldrums. Even their other Alt station in New York - the only new rock station in the Big Apple and the former K-Rock - ain't doing too well.
The sad point is that YOUNG PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT TERRESTRIAL RADIO! They love programming their own stations on their smartphones vs. some beancounter telling them what's cool. In the case of Alt 98.7, if that station achieves better ratings than The Breeze or even grabs a two share in the ratings, I'll be gobsmacked.
However, I'll give Entercom *some* credit: they sold their Charlotte stations in a trade-off with Radio One. Now, Matt Hanlon - yes, *that* Matt Hanlon, who ran Citadel's Grand Rapids stations into the ground in the aughts - is now working for a bunch of black people who probably think that Bill Cosby is innocent. After all, they're STILL airing The Cosby Show on their TV One cable network.
Look, radio is a business, just like a restaurant. If the food's bad, people will avoid it. Same with radio. If you're programming, let's say, a rock station and you play kickass White Zombie one minute and then douchey Maroon 5 the next, you need to go to leave the business. Northern Michigan is a sad example. Right now, there's THREE(!!!) 100,000-watt FM stations that are silent because of poor management. Plus, there's a few more smaller FMs whose futures are in doubt.
Look at Grand Rapids, too. Three big radio groups control 95% of all the radio stations and all three have been through bankruptcy. Thankfully, iHeartMedia recently grew a brain and killed 101.3 The Brew and replaced it with oldies Big FM. Now, Cumulus needs to kill Thunder 107.3 and put on a format that people will appreciate.
I know, I'm pushing 40. I grew up in northern Michigan where there was only one radio station that I only liked part of the time, and it's the long-defunct 106.7 The Peak. Detroit radio was awesome in the 1990s with 89X, The Planet, The Edge, Z-Rock, K-Rock/Extreme Radio and too much more. But now, the awesomeness of rock radio has long been replaced with big corporations that care more about profits than people. It happened almost 20 years ago when the aforementioned Peak flipped to AC as WSRT. The station's ratings tanked and the only time the station did well was when the programming director sent Arbitron fake diaries. Oops. Well, he and his wife got fired as a result.
And surprise! 106.7 is one of the frequencies in northern Michigan that is off the air and has been for almost a year. It was sold to MacDonald-Garber Broadcasting and should be back on the air soon. What format will it be is anyone's guess.
But at the end of the day, radio needs to work harder to keep people away from digital media. They need to listen to people, not out-of-town consultants who think that just because the owner wants rock and there's white trash around the transmitter site means that they have to play "Carry On Wayward Son" every three hours. KLT's done it for 30+ years and they lost me as a fan for life. Rock 105 & 95-5, however, is doing what KLT should have done 25 years ago and attracting those born in the 70s and 80s.
The moral of the story is that you change in the wrong way and you'll lose a lot of people. Radio's done it too many times and the real losers end up being the listeners. Ratings don't lie. If Alt 98.7 bombs, Entercom should pull the plug on not just their Detroit Alt, but all of them.
89X, we hardly knew ye. Rest in Power.
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