Radio in the Upstate

[wellen]

The short answer is that they are not repetitive. They play the same bands as other rock stations, but they rotate the songs so you don't hear 'Photograph' by Nickelback every hour on the hour.

There is a long answer, though. They do throw in some different stuff. That is what gives it the personality. If they didn't , there would be nothing to differentiate it from the rest. We are in an era where rock is dying, and Urban and Top 40 stations are getting all the ratings. Rock stations need to evolve in order to stay competitive, and that may be the reason that 96 Wave is playing new, different, and maybe even strange music.

The new issue of Rolling Stone named 96 Wave as one of the top 5 Rock stations in the country. (No link yet-actually had to read the mag). That is one heck of a pat on the back, IMO.

The most important reason to listen to a station like that: It is locally owned. It promotes locally owned businesses. It listens to what the local audience has to say, not national demographics. (Can you guys tell that I am a big proponent of small business?)

To bring this back into the context of Greenville; there is not one indepenent station in the Upstate that would appeal to a younger crowd. All stations here are bound by the corporate boiler plate. I, for one, would love to hear something crappy and weird every once in a while.

Edit: Fat finger.

[janrey]

I think the entire moving Christian/country to 106.3 was a disaster. They were doing fine with Oldies, just needed some adjustments to the sound to update it a bit. Last I heard was that it hasn't been as successful as Oldies was, but that might have changed. I wouldn't be surprised, though. After 106 was bought they didn't even TRY or work with what they had when it was still Oldies....I'm confident that station could have been turned in to a successful enterprise with just a little bit of work and freshening up. They switched it to that Country/christian format overnight it seems.

I felt the same way. I was out of town and my husband called to tell me that his favorite station changed to christian/country. I also tune out the radio during Christmas when they start Christmas songs just after Halloween. Right now the only station I listen to in my car is Rock 101. I do note that it seems every day at the same time they tend to play the same songs. There are lots and lots of Rock songs from that era that there is no need to repeat. To me being in the somewhat "older" crowd I want a morning radio program that avoids all that chit-chat and just does music and news. The music can be top 40 (as long as it's not rap.. :c ) or it can be Oldies (but not that old as in before 1965) and definitely not disco . I'm a slow wakener and therefore like the news/weather interruptions to give me an indication of the time.

[breed]

Not that I have a strong opinion one way or another... but my brother (from DC) believes that our radio stations are better than those in the greater Washington DC metro. He tends to enjoy 103.3 and 96.7. He believes that the stations in DC 101.1 and 97.9 are more sanitized.

[DT-Gville]

Has anyone noticed that 96.7 is morphing into a 101.1?? When 96.7 first went on air, I thought they were pretty good at having some diverse new rock/alternative with some regular, mainstream rock. Now, I can barely tell the difference between what they are playing and Rock 101...

[gregtrob]

Has anyone noticed that 96.7 is morphing into a 101.1?? When 96.7 first went on air, I thought they were pretty good at having some diverse new rock/alternative with some regular, mainstream rock. Now, I can barely tell the difference between what they are playing and Rock 101...

Funny I thought it was not morphing into 101.1 rather 93.3 as I'm constantly having to hear nickelback on there in the mornings. Hard to say which is the lesser of two evils - Nickelback or John Boy & Billy. NPR for life

[wellen]

NPR for life

If only it was all talk/news. I have found myself listening to the Classical more recently, but it is usually because I forget to turn the dial.

[gregtrob]

If only it was all talk/news. I have found myself listening to the Classical more recently, but it is usually because I forget to turn the dial.

Agreed I know that scern runs several all talk stations in addition to the classical iin several markets - for some reason (donations maybe) greenville doesn't get the same love i wish it id

[goodbye]

Agreed I know that scern runs several all talk stations in addition to the classical iin several markets - for some reason (donations maybe) greenville doesn't get the same love i wish it id

Multiple NPR stationds in the Greenville metro would be very nice. I know that I would listen to the Carolinas' Jazz station most of the time. As it is, I still quite often listen to the one we have.

[silverseale]

Multiple NPR stationds in the Greenville metro would be very nice. I know that I would listen to the Carolinas' Jazz station most of the time. As it is, I still quite often listen to the one we have.

I listen to 90.1 at work all day; it's about the only signal that comes in clearly to my office. I like 90.1's NPR coverage in early am and mid-to-late afternoon, but could take or leave the classical music between 9a-3p. Carolinas Jazz would be a welcome addition, IMO. I like WNCW on weeknights, but deliberately *don't* listen on the weekends, when they seem to play a lot of bluegrass.

[perrykat]

Just an update, like I said before AM 1070 is now Oldies...well, now 103.3 and I believe 103.9 are playing Oldies. I believe that now we've got just about everything.

[linkerjpatrick]

Just an update, like I said before AM 1070 is now Oldies...well, now 103.3 and I believe 103.9 are playing Oldies. I believe that now we've got just about everything.

Does anyone know why AM 1070 is officially located in "Sans Souci"? Haven't they always operated out of a little trailer right of of Business 25 which is practically next door to the Furman Golf Course? I've always considered that section to be between Berea and Travelers Rest. The community of Sans Souci is a few miles to the SSW near to Cherrydale. When I was little 1070 was the only "african american" station in the area. Is that location off or 25 just a tower location because their is a tower on site but I often see a car or two parked outside the trailer next to the tower and yes the 1070 sign is at the end of the drive way but currently says they are broacasting the last format (Sportstalk I think).

[Sandlapper]

I just wish we could get ESPNradio or some national syndicated talk shows.

[Chickenwing]

You can get ESPN Radio in Spartanburg. It's on AM.

[RestedTraveler]

All I have to say is you know there isn't much variety on local radio when both 96.7 and 101.1 are playing Bad Company by Bad Company at the same exact time in the middle of prime-time hours.

[janrey]

I don't know if anyone noticed but 106.3 became Charlie and plays Everything (or so they say). It's pretty good. No talking DJ's in the morning chit chatting about pointless stuff, but I do miss the weather reports.

[Greenville]

I don't know if anyone noticed but 106.3 became Charlie and plays Everything (or so they say). It's pretty good. No talking DJ's in the morning chit chatting about pointless stuff, but I do miss the weather reports.

[btoy]

I like the concept behind Charlie FM. The company that owns Charlie FM also has stations in Columbia (Steve FM) and Charleston (Chuck FM), as well as other cities on the East coast. They obviously took station names to a whole new level.

[912]

Wave was AWESOME! But, their ratings over the past several years were in the toiet, so a format flip was, unfortunately, inevitable. The economics of radio basically allowed companies like Clear Channel to gut stations, and run on a shoestring (re: no live people, just automation).

And for clarification, Charlie, Steve & Chuck are owned by three different companies. Locally, Charlie is Entercom, Columbia's Steve is Clear Channel, anc Charlestons Chuck is Apex. The whole "we play what we want" concept actually started in Canada, and is licensed to stations here in the US. Those stations use the "Jack" name.

[RestedTraveler]

Although I like (most of) the music that Charlie FM has on its playlist, I have to agree with Brad here for sure. Charlie FM (and stations like it) absolutely fly in the face of all that is good and pure about radio. Why can't we just have radio the way it was meant to be: disk jockeys spinning tunes and answering requests? Why must radio fall to these extreme categories of either A) All "personality" and no tunes or B) All tunes and no personality? This is where satellite radio and the iPod will soon rule the roost. They're already well on their way. Local radio is doing a great job of late of writing itself off to extinction, unfortunately.

[Rybak 187]

Up here in Bay City, MI we have Joe FM. This one is owned by MacDonald Broadcasting. Is that format that popular?

[linkerjpatrick]

Although I like (most of) the music that Charlie FM has on its playlist, I have to agree with Brad here for sure. Charlie FM (and stations like it) absolutely fly in the face of all that is good and pure about radio. Why can't we just have radio the way it was meant to be: disk jockeys spinning tunes and answering requests? Why must radio fall to these extreme categories of either A) All "personality" and no tunes or B) All tunes and no personality? This is where satellite radio and the iPod will soon rule the roost. They're already well on their way. Local radio is doing a great job of late of writing itself off to extinction, unfortunately.

[Greenville]

Thanks for the clarification about who owns the different stations, fromsc2tx. I assumed that it was the same company, and I shouldn't have. You know what happens when you assume...

As for the station, I like the fact that they play good music - period. They don't necessarily play something because it's new, or because it was featured on a TV show, or because the artist was arrested recently. In an age where most stations are filled with a small playlist of songs driven solely by media hype, I find stations like Charlie FM refreshing. That doesn't mean that I always like what they play, but it is certainly worthy of being one of the presets in my car.

As for 96 Wave, it sucked. I realize that it was "cool" because they were locally owned and all that, but the music they played absolutely blew 90% of the time. I guess it was okay for them to play whatever they wanted, but is not okay for Chuck FM to play whatever they want. Why? Because they were "local" and "quirky." Whatever.

[GSP Tiger]

I'm slowly liking Charlie FM. (1) They do not play Christmas music, which is killing WMYI-FM and WSPA-FM. (2) They do not have a two-minute station ID or fail to shut up when a song comes on like WROQ-FM. (3) Most tracks are from the 1970s through 1990s, a top seller.

[linkerjpatrick]

I'm slowly liking Charlie FM. (1) They do not play Christmas music, which is killing WMYI-FM and WSPA-FM. (2) They do not have a two-minute station ID or fail to shut up when a song comes on like WROQ-FM. (3) Most tracks are from the 1970s through 1990s, a top seller.

[janrey]

Although I like (most of) the music that Charlie FM has on its playlist, I have to agree with Brad here for sure. Charlie FM (and stations like it) absolutely fly in the face of all that is good and pure about radio. Why can't we just have radio the way it was meant to be: disk jockeys spinning tunes and answering requests? Why must radio fall to these extreme categories of either A) All "personality" and no tunes or B) All tunes and no personality? This is where satellite radio and the iPod will soon rule the roost. They're already well on their way. Local radio is doing a great job of late of writing itself off to extinction, unfortunately.