x92.9 Calgary's New Rock Alternative?

[foofighter15]

Personally I thought Baron was hilarious, and pretty much my favorite DJ on there. Its a shame.

[CaramonLS]

I like X92.9.

I find whenever I tune into them they have a fairly good mix of music, maybe that is because I like certain bands like Rise Against and Alexisonfire.

[Kipper is King]

I don't really like X92.9 except for "the ongoing history of new music" on Sunday nights.

They play 3 hours of that show on sundays and it is excellent, it covers a wide range of bands, types of music and fun themes!

http://www.ongoinghistory.com/oghonm..._new_music.cfm

It is a spectacular show, and it's the only time I listen to x92.9!

[gottabekd]

Alan Cross is the man!

I used to listen to X a lot, but I can't pick up a strong signal on my home stereo (still). It was good for a 6 month span, but hasn't been good in a while.

I really hated how they keep a list of 10 songs or so, and are sure to play 5 of them every hour. And, while I love the 90s, they could mix that playlist up a bit, too. Play some album tracks maybe. I don't need to hear Smells Like Teen Spirit, Black Hole Sun, etc. every day.

[REDVAN]

I really like the guy on Fuel 90.3... the woman, she is ok but I agree she seems like a lame duck of a co-host.

I think for Fuel to survive they need to get a new half of morning team. Otherwise I really enjoy the music.

[surferguy]

I agree with the original post. X 92 has gone down the dumper! First off the DJ's are unfunny - flat out boring and annoying. It was there ck in the begining to try and be different from the other radio shows. Well here we are a year later and they are still trying to promote the same ck only to sound just like the other stations, congrats to them.

I cannot stand how a certain three songs are in constant rotation - I listen while i am in my car - to work, at lunch and on my way home from work. I can usually guarentee that the one song I get to hear on my way to work is either something by Alexisonfire, that terrible song by linkin park, or that terrible song by thrash unreal.

I seriously cannot stand to hear these effing songs again - they have been subjected to the Nickleback syndrome - which X92 built a platform on!!

Now back to the DJs I don't care about your mother or your stalker, nor do I want to hear a conversation between you and said annoyance. It's not cool, get over it and stop wasting airtime for it, out on a song by Metric and shut up. The morning DJs sound like the snoby kids in school who think that they are cooler than everybody else, when in reality they are just plain ASSHATS!

in summation: X92 is the ugly red headed cousin to the cool northern neighbor Sonic Radio.

If you want to listen to an original morning show, tune into 102.9 (Sonic) via the internet and get on board. He is funny and original. Long live sonic.

[maverickeastwood]

Vancouver used to have an alternative station...x104.9. That was a station that tried to give the fox 99.3 a run for it's money. But they wound up changing formats to celine dion and lost it all. They rocked at the time. But I think the fox is way better. The Fox Rox!

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by surferguy

I cannot stand how a certain three songs are in constant rotation - I listen while i am in my car - to work, at lunch and on my way home from work. I can usually guarentee that the one song I get to hear on my way to work is either something by Alexisonfire, that terrible song by linkin park, or that terrible song by thrash unreal.

I seriously cannot stand to hear these effing songs again - they have been subjected to the Nickleback syndrome - which X92 built a platform on!!

God. When I was at work over the summer (back at college now) I worked with some guys who listened to nothing but x92.9. Anyway, with out fail, like clockwork this friggin song would come on. I can't for the life of me remember what song it was, I think I have repressed the memory. But it was on at least twice an hour. And was the top song on their little countdown forever.

Are these the guys that have the "No Nickleback guarantee?"

Its funny.

A) You are constantly promoting the band, even if your intentions are negative.

B) You don't play nickleback, but you play the same crap day in and day out.

[Deelow]

Originally Posted by foofighter15

Personally I thought Baron was hilarious, and pretty much my favorite DJ on there. Its a shame.

Probably your Dave Grohl fetish.

[Deelow]

Originally Posted by Jayems

God. When I was at work over the summer (back at college now) I worked with some guys who listened to nothing but x92.9. Anyway, with out fail, like clockwork this friggin song would come on. I can't for the life of me remember what song it was, I think I have repressed the memory. But it was on at least twice an hour. And was the top song on their little countdown forever.

Are these the guys that have the "No Nickleback guarantee?"

Its funny.

A) You are constantly promoting the band, even if your intentions are negative.

B) You don't play nickleback, but you play the same crap day in and day out.

No radio station plays any song twice an hour. It just doesn't happen. People think that they hear these songs more often than they actually do. The top spinning song on X is Against Me!- Thrash Unreal. They play that 30 times a week=4(ish) times a day=every 6 hours.
It could be much worse.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Jayems

What team are you on?

The Calgary Demons (II)

[Sparks]

Originally Posted by Kipper is King

I don't really like X92.9 except for "the ongoing history of new music" on Sunday nights.

I love that show. It's really the only thing I like about 92.9.

I guess I listen to the 90s at 9 every once and a while.

Do you guys think the listenership would be too small for a real alternative station? It's not like we have to listen to the radio to hear our favourite song anymore - if you're not going to buy it, you can download it on the internet easily. Since that's the case, why do young people (say, under 35) want to hear the same old crap on the radio over and over? Or maybe they don't and the traditional model for radio hasn't caught up?

[Kipper is King]

Originally Posted by Sparks

I love that show. It's really the only thing I like about 92.9.

Do you guys think the listenership would be too small for a real alternative station?

Great minds think alike!

As for the questions, I think it's good for any good radio station (in fact any good business) to find a "niche"- a "place" where it belongs, It should fill a gap that other radio stations haven't yet.

Also, I don't think young people (myself included) want to hear the same songs constantly. But the current crop of radio stations believe that they satisfy the majority by playing the same few "hits" over and over. That's all they care about, I think.

I think a true alternative station would have a smaller listenership than say CJAY. But it would be a loyal listenership because no station on the dial currently fully satisfies alternative fans (I believe that to be the case). That hypothetical radio station would find it's niche. And it would possibly last.

x92.9 does occasionally play some music I have not heard before. But there still isn't enough variety. As well, I think their DJs are absolutely brain dead!

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Reaper

The Calgary Demons (II)

Cool. I'm on Gorillas in (B-north) and Whitesox (C-south)

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Jayems

I had an issue with the DJs. Like I want to hear about your beer-league hockey game last night for 10 minutes.

Especially since they were a bunch of guys who played in div A in the NCHL, then they put the X92.9 team together and moved down to Div D so they could win every game 15 - 0, and then brag about it on air the next day.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Reaper

The Calgary Demons (II)

Cool, I play for the Whitesox, so I'll probably end up playing you soon.

[Circa89]

Where the heck is Fan 960 on the list? That is all I listen to in the morning. Mike Richards and Maher in the morning. Not top ten?

[Sparks]

Anyone else find it a little funny that Classic Country 1060 beat X92.9 for listeners? I find that really hard to believe.

Originally Posted by Kipper is King

I don't think young people (myself included) want to hear the same songs constantly. But the current crop of radio stations believe that they satisfy the majority by playing the same few "hits" over and over. That's all they care about, I think.

Hey, I'm young too. My point there is that we're part of a relatively techno-savvy demographic. If people want to hear the same song ad nauseum for free, wouldn't it just be easier to download it off the internet?

I'm just grumbling, really.

Good points though. Too bad the money's not in it - or at least, it looks like the money's not in it.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by Kipper is King

As for the questions, I think it's good for any good radio station (in fact any good business) to find a "niche"- a "place" where it belongs, It should fill a gap that other radio stations haven't yet.
...

I think a true alternative station would have a smaller listenership than say CJAY. But it would be a loyal listenership because no station on the dial currently fully satisfies alternative fans (I believe that to be the case). That hypothetical radio station would find it's niche. And it would possibly last.

There's a rap niche that begs to be filled too. Wait. We tried that already? Oh. We had two rap stations at the same time? Hmm.

I don't think running a radio station is cheap. That means, it takes money to make it work. Someone needs to pay the bills and that someone is usually sponsors.

The price for radio ads varies but, in large part, is based on the number of potential customers that ad can hit. Ads on stations with powerful signals that can be heard for dozens or hundreds of kilometers will, all things being equal, cost more than ads on a station with weak signals. Along the same lines, radio stations with more listeners can demand higher prices for ads than radio stations with fewer listeners. None of this has to be explained; it's pretty self-explanatory.

All this being said, I don't think niche radio stations can survive in a market as small as Calgary on the FM dial. There's a lot of pressure to make money and the easiest way to do that is to get your ratings up by appealing to the widest audience possible. A true alternative station may very well have a loyal and devout following but I'm not sure it would be of sufficient size to make make the numbers work.

We've probably seen this same thing happen on satellite radio too. How many oddball niche stations were promised or actually available at launch that have since changed formats? The pressure to appeal to the masses and be everything to everyone is undeniable.

Undoubtedly, someone on CP must've had something to do with CJSW and can comment on the business side of things with a station like that better than I ever could.

RE: Same songs over and over again
Most, if not all, radio stations play the same hit songs over and over again. I bet if you look at the numbers, the average listener only has their radio tuned to any particular station for an average of X minutes. Perhaps it's the drive home or the morning commute. Sure there are exceptions like people who leave the radio on all day at work but the vast majority of listeners probably don't listen for an extended period of time. Because of this, there is less incentive to mix up the play list at the risk of detracting from the aura of being the station that is always playing the hits you love whenever you tune in.

[Russic]

I really enjoy 92.9. I actually find the dj's to be entertaining and the music works just fine for me.