Gotta Have Rock And Roll

Why am I always the last to know about these things?

As recently as this past Saturday, I was talking to someone about New York City radio and bitching about the takeover of WRXP-FM, New York's last commercial modern rock station, by Randy Michaels' Merlin Media and it format change to news - based on the perverse idea that what New York City needs is news in stereo.  Well, it turns out that News 101.9 bit the dust in July 2012 and Michaels had to restore rock programming on that frequency.  But there was some doubt as to whether the change back to rock would be permanent (or what passes for permanence in American radio these days).  All doubt was erased as soon as WEMP-FM - as it was known in its all-news phase - reverted back to the WRXP call letters.  There were some rumblings that it would take awhile for the old WRXP to regain its footing in the Arbitron ratings, as many people who had long switched to another station (assuming they could find a suitable replacement) would be unaware of WRXP's resurrection and would find out only later on.  (Tell me about it, I just found out yesterday!)  That situation was settled this past week when the ratings reported for August showed that it tripled from 0.6 percent to 1.7 percent, putting it very close to the top ten New York-area stations among listeners in the 18-34 age range.

Michaels' decision to buy the station and go all news was, by his own admission, an experiment, and he was forced to admit he'd made a very big mistake once the results in the form of very bad Arbitron numbers came in.  He must have thought no one would miss WRXP given the increasing popularity of hip-hop and hit pop.  He was wrong.  As I said before on this blog, New York is mostly considered a "rhythm town" by radio conglomerates, where music you can dance to is considered cool and current, while rock and roll is heard as museum-piece music for aging Baby Boomers.  Well, let me tell you something about modern rock fans. They are liberal and broadminded enough to accept musical diversity. They get that rap is predominant now, and they can tolerate all the pop divas (well, most of them anyway) that the girls all seem to like.  But modern rock fans will never, ever stand for the complete obliteration of their music from the airwaves.  Not even in trendy, disco-happy, cosmopolitan New York.   

It will take time to rebuild WRXP's once-extensive on-air staff, now a shadow of its former self, but its survival on Internet radio in the eleven months 101.9 FM broadcast news we couldn't care less about, never mind use, on the air allowed them to keep the home fires burning.  Much of the old staff may be rehired. Whether the station gets a new staff or its old staff, most of us are just happy and satisfied that WRXP is back.  

Meanwhile, WRKS-FM "Kiss FM," one of New York's soul stations, merged with its longtime rival WBLS-FM and allowed Kiss-FM's frequency, 98.7, to become an ESPN Radio outlet. Soul fans in the Big Apple have been ticked off about this, but they at least have still had something reliable to listen to.  For about year, modern rock fans bereft of WRXP-FM were hard-pressed to find alternatives to it on commercial radio.  Some of us may have tuned in to public radio station WFUV-FM, broadcasting from Fordham University in the Bronx, like I do (and have been doing for years). But whenever WFUV aired  its Saturday afternoon sports talk show or Fordham football or basketball games, those of us Tristaters without satellite radio in our cars either had to settle for classic rock (WAXQ-FM), or, either two metal-friendly second-rate stations in New Jersey or a modern rock station in White Plains whose signal is so weak you can throw it off by sneezing.  That era, I'm happy to report somewhat belatedly, is over.