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WFNX to become the bland leading the bland
By adamg on Sat, 07/21/2012 - 9:07am
So all that talk of WFNX becoming a right-wing haven on the FM dial turned out to be just a ruse for Clear Channel's real intentions for the now former alt-rocker. Radio Insight reports Clear Channel on Monday will launch WHBA - the Harbor 101.7 - playing pretty much the same "variety hits" format as the old Mike 93.7. Because the Boston dial can never have too many places to hear "Don't Stop Believin'." Also of note: The format requires no live local DJs.
Speaking of 93.7, here's an ad from an even earlier version of that station:
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Ad:
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Comments
You mean Mindich was just in it for the money?
Wow, that's a shocker. Next thing you know, we'll find out that all those ads in the back of the Phoenix are part of some money-based pimping thing, and not about true love.
1984 Boston radio sampler
A change for the Globe
Now, the Globe's launching an online alt-rock station with a bunch of former 'FNX staffers. But once it co-owned a dentist-office-music station:
Very different from today's WJIB
I guess Bob Bittner has his reasons to claim continuity with the old 'Beautiful Music' FM station, but if you listen to AM 740 today, it's quite a bit livelier.
Speculation
The call letters are actually WHBA. That's really the only fact we know.
The article you linked to says this "seems to indicate" they'll go in the Mike direction. But I don't know why "WHBA" or "The Harbor" seems to indicate anything in particular.
It's a reasonable guess, but "Magic" can mean soft rock in Boston, classic rock in Philadelphia, and urban contemporary in Baltimore. So "The Harbor" can mean anything Clear Channel wants it to mean.
WHBA
Thanks for spotting that; fixed.
Clear Channel just started a
Clear Channel just started a new station in Charlotte called 'The Lake' and I would think 'The Harbor' will be similar.
http://www.1029thelake.com/pages/1029thelake.html?...
Clear Channel has a station in Charollete called "The lake"?
They're in competition with WBCN then. That's where they're located.
Say it right
Clearly, since there's no R at the end of WHBA, the station would be "The Hahbah"
Is it right to have a
Is it right to have a 'lame-o' station with no DJs? Probably not. Will it make money? Yes! This is what Entercom tried with Mike 93.7 and it actually did do well. Only when The Sports Hub came along and started to beat them in the ratings--thus requiring Ent. to do their own FM sports situation--did they kill it off to simulcast WEEI. Ironic: The Weekly Dig, a Phoenix competitor, did a hoax saying Ent. was buying WFNX and moving Mike there, so they could put WEEI on 93.7. If the Harbor indeed is to be "variety hits" then in effect the hoax actually came true, only with Clear Channel providing it.
A lot of people found they liked Mike for the "variety", though to me it was a lot of stuff you could hear elsewhere. The occasional "oh wow" song. People were upset that Mike went off--they liked the music. Not fond of DJs (as a college radio DJ since 1981, yes that's right, I'm crushed...) But CC spent $14.5 million on the station and they want to make a profit. Sad but true, it's radio.
Though heck, even I might be inclined to listen.
I liked the theory of Mike, but...
...usually when I listened to it it turned out their slogan should have been "we play everything (that sucks)".
This is why we have WMBR and WMFO.
We really can't trust corporations to provide us with art or entertainment.
Clear Channel : Radio :: McDonald's : Hamburgers
Don't Forget
WZBC (90.3) and WHRB (95.3). And WUMB (91.9) can hold it's own too.
Boston is probably the best place in the country for College/Community radio. They can have FNX. I'd rather listen to real DJs on real local stations instead of streaming or automation. It's just more fun.
exactly
I think it would be awesome if the fallout of WFNX's final demise is that both WMBR & WMFO gain a bunch of listeners. This would mean local dj's and great but lesser-known musicians gain listeners. That would be great for Boston radio.
As others have posted previously, FNX had long strayed from its self-proclaimed "alternative" format, presumably due to commercial pressures. What is "alternative" (radio) supposed to mean anyway, if not alternative to predictable and mainstream. But that's what WFNX has been for the last 10+ yrs: another safe, "hits" station. For any listener old enough to have heard Nirvana the first time out, we were basically listening to our generation's "oldies".
I hope more people donate to the local college stations now - they have some great dj's on our local airwaves. And you can't beat the psa's.
In the end..
FNX was the bland leading the blind. The programmers at Pandora are more cutting edge than FNX has been in years.
I suppose now that she's moved to Boston.com's new online station, Julie Kramer no longer has to guard Stephen Mindich's vault when she wasn't on-air. You know, the way Jack Benny had that Civil War veteran guarding his.
When WBCN went away in 2009,
When WBCN went away in 2009, a lot of people thought it would be a boon for WFNX (and for WAAF also). But most of what was left of WBCN's listenership followed Toucher & Rich & The Patriots over the Sports Hub, and the small remainder split between WZLX, WBOS, WFNX and WAAF is barely measurable numbers.
You won't see a spike anywhere for WFNX's listeners - the mainstream-leaning ones will go to WBOS, WZLX, etc. The indie leaning ones will stop listening to music radio entirely or spend a little more time with WMBR, WZBC, WERS, etc. A lot of them will sample Boston.com Radio when it debuts - whether they stay depends on the quality of the programming and the subtle art of playing enough Red Hot Chili Peppers to entice the masses yet playing it infrequently enough to appease the music geeks.
Why should I listen to Boston radio at all?
I have at least four apps on my iPhone that lets me play stations from all over the world. If I get bored with that, I can get on my computer and listen to even more stations. If I ever get bored with that, I can listen to XM/Sirius/whatever it's called now.
I caved and bought a docking station for my iPhone lat week. I'm getting an adapter for my car this week. See you later crappy Boston radio.
When is the changeover supposed to happen?
As of two minutes ago, the station is still announcing itself on the air as WFNX.
According to the twitterati
It might be drive time today