(That subject header sounds like a FIGHT CLUB reference, doesn’t it?)

Howard Stern is set to be replaced in numberous markets by JACK FM.

The JACK station in NYC that replaced the favored CBS oldies station is having serious ratings problems. It’s the lowest rated station in the latest ratings book. Station owners are saying that it’s going to take time for the station to catch on.

I think they’re wrong.

It’s not that the JACK format won’t work, but that it needs to be tweaked. There’s no community surrounding JACK the way there is with other stations. With no DJs and no personalities, where’s the hook for people? Why wouldn’t they just listen to their own iPods?

Right now, a JACK station is just a fancy hard drive with a few extra songs above and beyond what the Top 40 and Adult Contemporary stations have to offer.

I hadn’t listened to my favored local AC station (WPLJ 95.5 NYC) in about six months. Recently, I flipped it back on in the mornings to see what’s changed. While the catalog of older songs seems to have expanded slightly, the bulk of the songs they play that are more recent haven’t changed a bit. It’s still the same middling fare from all the soundalike bands of the past year or two. It’s like they shifted a bit to compete with JACK, but then lost their nerve to the record companies trying to promote their latest manufactured hit singles. When I listen to the new O.A.R. CD and here a half dozen songs tailor made for radio stations — but never on any of them — it gets a bit frustrating.

I’m rambling. What JACK FM needs is a greater hook than just a few liners proclaiming that they have no DJs and are playing music randomly. We all know their play list isn’t random. It just happens to include a broader variety of music and, thus, more songs. JACK FM needs DJs, but not like the other stations have. They need DJs to introduce and backtrack songs. How annoying is it to hear a song, forget who sang it, and never find out because the radio station refuses to mention the artist or song title. We’re all driven to Google with a remembered lyric and a hope that it comes up in a search. We don’t need wacky DJ stunts. We don’t need long news or weather breaks - some basic information, and straight to more music.

If you want to capture the iPod generation, make everything snappy, but give us the information we want. And if you really want the iPod generation, get a podcaster or five to do it. The other thing I think a lot of people are sick of is the superslick DJs with their perfect voices and obnoxious hooks.

So, JACK FM, if you’re reading this: My e-mail address is augiedb (at) gmail.com. Drop me a line. ;-)

This entry was posted on Friday, October 28th, 2005 at 12:11 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.