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Charlotte Radio


perrykat

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Just wondering what everyone thinks of Charlotte's radio stations. Is there enough variety? Are they 'serving the community?' What areas need to be improved?

I think it's OK. I always listened to Magic 96.1 (I live in the Greenville, SC area but always listened here and travelling through Charlotte), unfortunately it isn't around anymore and hasn't for some time. How's the new Oldies station at 94.1 sounding? I also like 95.7 The Ride...lots of great stuff!! I think Charlotte has some good radio stations. Just don't like the 'new' 96.1!

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Let's look at it like this. Most of the stations in the Charlotte market are owned by 3 major groups: Clear Channel, Infinity/CBS Radio, and Lincoln Financial. So the music is pretty much controlled by these companies. FM-wise I like the jazz/classical stations, NPR, and sometimes more of the contemporary stuff. Mix 106 is an excuse for an "oldies station," I don't know why they had to take away Magic 96.1 to put in another R&B station (we have what now, 4?).

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Funny this topic should come up again...I was just mumbling and grumbling to myself in the car about Hits 94.1 out of the Triad is changing format :angry: They have had a recording on all day and keep playing a mix of songs. I think they are going Oldies. I guess we shall see. I really liked the station the way it is. They play songs from every genre. Aside from them I listen WFAE 90.7 NPR News most of the day and the Rock stations 1065 and 933.

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I gave up on Charlotte Radio a long time ago and just switched my listening habits to 100% NPR. I do have an unlimited online music subscription service that I use at work but other than that I now prefer WFAE.

I think the big turn-off was the constant repeat of the same 10 or 15 songs. That gets old really quick and they all seem to do it.

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I think Charlotte radio is horrible. All the stations. Some have one or two things I like, but there is usually something else that detracts. Like 95.7 -- I like the music but that cheezy announcer who who whispers "the ride" all the time is really creepy. 95.1 absolutley is annoying with their 15 song playlist. I really like hip-hop and rap and grew up listening to it, but the pop rap on our stations is far from interesting. I actually like The Fox every once in a while but definitely not in the mornings. Actually all morning talk shows drive me nuts other than NPR. 106.5 loves to talk about playing older hits, but they seem to think the only older hit worth playing is "Jane Says" by Janes Addiction -- 5 times a day.

CD's or 89.9 classical, that is all i can listen to in my car.

I do like 93.3 out of wherever. Atlanta also has a great rock station that DOES play a real mix of older and newer alternative and they seem to really choose songs rather than have corporate tell them what to play. Wish I knew what station it was -- we need one, but everytime I'm there I just search for it and leave it on -- then forget what it is!

We need college radio -- do UNCC or any of the local universities have radio? Otherwise we are really just a collection of corporate junk -- all geared towards whoever is about to release a song or is coming in concert regardless of whether they are good or not.

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The state of Charlotte radio obviously depends on ones taste in music, which may partly depend on your age. I am 46 and grew up in a musically oriented family so I have a deep appreciation for the 60's and 70's music. I'll never like rap or hip-hop or country music. Just not my taste.

Whether it be rock, light rock, R&B, or soul, this is the music that moves me.

Now, finding that music in Charlotte isn't as bad as one may think. Yes, I really miss the old Magic 96.1 and no ones has stepped up to the plate to fill that void. Then again, most cities (including Atlanta) have bumped off their oldies rock stations. There is one oldies station (i think it's 107.1 or close) but you have to be way north (past Marietta) to hear it.

Anyway, I give kudos to 2 Charlotte radio stations. One being the independent 95.7. Their playlist started out with lot's of 60's & 70's cuts, many of the lesser played songs and lot's of rarely heard Beatles songs but in the last 2 years, they have slowly drifted into 80's & early 90's stuff that you hear on every other station. Still, they are the only station in Charlotte most likely to play deep cuts and lesser played songs.

The next station that I really have started listening to the most is Mix 106.1. Like cantnot mentioned earlier, it's the closest thing Charlotte has to the old Magic 96.1 although you never heard Helen Reddy or The Carpenters on Magic 96.1. Honestly, 95% of the songs Mix 106.1 plays, are not played anywhere else in this city.

I know it's a sign of getting older. I went through through my heavy metal days in the 70's, and Alternative Rock days in the mid-90's, but I have mellowed somewhat since then. Never would I have thought 10 years ago that I would get excited to hear Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves on the radio. But I did on Mix 106.1.

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We need college radio -- do UNCC or any of the local universities have radio? Otherwise we are really just a collection of corporate junk -- all geared towards whoever is about to release a song or is coming in concert regardless of whether they are good or not.

89.9 is a service from Davidson College, other than that I don't know of any.

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I third satellite radio. Going on year three of Sirius and don't blink at the $200/year we pay for both cars.

I agree that we have some of the worst stations (at least for the music I listen to). The End is good for about 2 hours a day around lunch time...the rest of the time is commericals and Jack and Kristen talking about "and hows your bush". :huh: Kiss plays the same songs over and over and over. That is about it that plays top 40/new rock. 99.7 is decent for classic rock but I don't want to be that dad who has never heard of Gnarlz Barkley when my daughter is asking for a cd or concert ticket. :P

Channel 21 and Channel 9 on my Sirius Radio (and online all day). Can't beat em...and no freaking commericals!!!

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I think Charlotte radio is horrible. All the stations. Some have one or two things I like, but there is usually something else that detracts. Like 95.7 -- I like the music but that cheezy announcer who who whispers "the ride" all the time is really creepy. 95.1 absolutley is annoying with their 15 song playlist. I really like hip-hop and rap and grew up listening to it, but the pop rap on our stations is far from interesting. I actually like The Fox every once in a while but definitely not in the mornings. Actually all morning talk shows drive me nuts other than NPR. 106.5 loves to talk about playing older hits, but they seem to think the only older hit worth playing is "Jane Says" by Janes Addiction -- 5 times a day.

CD's or 89.9 classical, that is all i can listen to in my car.

I do like 93.3 out of wherever. Atlanta also has a great rock station that DOES play a real mix of older and newer alternative and they seem to really choose songs rather than have corporate tell them what to play. Wish I knew what station it was -- we need one, but everytime I'm there I just search for it and leave it on -- then forget what it is!

We need college radio -- do UNCC or any of the local universities have radio? Otherwise we are really just a collection of corporate junk -- all geared towards whoever is about to release a song or is coming in concert regardless of whether they are good or not.

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I don't know, and I don't think it's nostalgia for my teenage days, but present radio is so bland compared to the early 90s. I can't believe the FCC (or whatever) allowed the companies to form monopolies in cities. Hopefully Clear Channel will get broken up, sold off to different companies, and radio stations will improve--in Charlotte and elsewhere.
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106.5 was great when it first aired back in 1995. They played lots of alternative stuff from the early 80's on, with a minimum of commercials. That lasted about a year until they converted to their current "contemporary alternative" (i.e. - mainstream) format. If I'm not listening to my iPod, it's NPR, or 89.9 classical (which is seasonal for me for some odd reason -- once fall gets here, I gotsta have my classical music). Other than that, not many local stations are worth listening to, for me anyway.

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Let's look at it like this. Most of the stations in the Charlotte market are owned by 3 major groups: Clear Channel, Infinity/CBS Radio, and Lincoln Financial. So the music is pretty much controlled by these companies. FM-wise I like the jazz/classical stations, NPR, and sometimes more of the contemporary stuff. Mix 106 is an excuse for an "oldies station," I don't know why they had to take away Magic 96.1 to put in another R&B station (we have what now, 4?).
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One of the larger differences between today and the way past was DJ's often really had say in what they played. Station managers and program managers certainly did. You would actually hear varied music depending on what DJ was on -- remember so-and-so's radio "show". Different ones appealed to different folks. People would listen to certain DJ's to hear new hot hits or songs that that DJ would uncover. That is all but gone. Now the stations have a playlist handed down by "corporate" and they can't deviate (there are occational "shows" but very very few and at crappy hours -- late night or sunday morning). Corporate "chooses" what is on the playlist depending on what the big labels are pushing or what big shows are about to come to town. Like how they will sneak in a few old Chili Peppers for the month before they come to play here -- IF that station is the sponsor of that show.

It is almost never based on what we, the public, want to hear. Remember the mini scandal last year where, can you believe it, the record labels were paying the stations to play their music and hype it up as being requested.

Further compounding this, "top 100" lists and such are often based on playtime on the radio -- the radio is playing what the labels are telling them to, so often those at the top of the chart are just there from heavy promotion and "help" from the label, not necessarily from the public buying or requesting songs. Watch carefully some pop musicians that are all over the radio and have "hit" songs -- often they have very soft actual sales.

I have a friend that works at Kiss 95, I berate him about it all the time, he says they have absolutely no choice at all with what they play -- and from listening to them, I am certain he is telling the truth.

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The poor quality of radio is a by-product of the chain mentality dominant in Charlotte. Like a Pulte home, local radio is geared towards the mass market. I can occasionally pick up a station out of Denver, NC that's not bad (91.7??). They play "beach music" on the weekend which is crap.

NPR is okay, but it would be nice if they picked up some of the syndicated music shows like WorldCafe. FYI, there's a great show coming to the Visualite on November 21 (Citizen Cope). A great example of a pretty good local public radio station out of Louisville: www. wfpk.org

Another great station is broadcast from Fordham University: www.wfuz.org

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