Post by musicradio77 on Apr 5, 2005 18:45:03 GMT -5
From the Daily News:
'XRK Uses Web, Airwaves for Its Two-Part Harmony
By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
WXRK (92.3 FM) has split itself in half, expanding its on-air playlist to include more vintage rock while launching an Internet-only twin, K-Rock 2, that will focus on new music.
"It's exciting. It's like having two radio stations," says program director Rob Cross, though he adds no one has offered to double his pay for programming both.
Over-the-air listeners now hear more '80s and '90s rock, the likes of Van Halen and Nirvana, with a sprinkling of earlier bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zep.
"One advantage of not having many rock stations in town," says Cross, "is that there's a lot of well-rested rock out there. No one's been playing much Guns N' Roses for a long time, so we can dive right into it."
Some stations in other cities, Cross notes, have basically shifted their old on-air playlist to the Internet, but he says that's not what K-Rock has done.
"These are both fresh stations," he says, though he adds that does not mean the regular K-Rock format has changed.
"It's an adjustment," he says. "We still play Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails and other bands listeners are used to."
One of the great things about K-Rock 2, he says, is that it gives more exposure to new bands while allowing the on-air K-Rock to loosen up.
"You create expectations for listeners," he says. "When they are used to a certain sound, you violate that expectation if you play, say, a Van Halen song. Now we have the freedom to do that."
K-Rock 2 is running without jocks for now, though Cross says he hopes that will change as it catches on.
The more exotic question that hovers over K-Rock these days, is what will happen when Howard Stern leaves by year's end. The answer to that one, says Cross, is still being formulated.
MAX-MAN'S BACK: Max Kinkel, heard for years on WCBS-FM, WXRK, WJUX and elsewhere, started yesterday as the morning host at oldies WNNJ (1360 AM) in northwest New Jersey.
"I'm delighted to be back," Kinkel said. The station is small enough that he was reading his own traffic reports, but he had nice things to say about the facilities.
The other good news for Kinkel is that WNNJ is a Clear Channel station, and Clear Channel has plenty of larger markets into which it can promote hosts.
AROUND THE DIAL: WBGO (88.3 FM) is off the air today, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., for technical work. The Web stream will be unaffected.
'XRK Uses Web, Airwaves for Its Two-Part Harmony
By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
WXRK (92.3 FM) has split itself in half, expanding its on-air playlist to include more vintage rock while launching an Internet-only twin, K-Rock 2, that will focus on new music.
"It's exciting. It's like having two radio stations," says program director Rob Cross, though he adds no one has offered to double his pay for programming both.
Over-the-air listeners now hear more '80s and '90s rock, the likes of Van Halen and Nirvana, with a sprinkling of earlier bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zep.
"One advantage of not having many rock stations in town," says Cross, "is that there's a lot of well-rested rock out there. No one's been playing much Guns N' Roses for a long time, so we can dive right into it."
Some stations in other cities, Cross notes, have basically shifted their old on-air playlist to the Internet, but he says that's not what K-Rock has done.
"These are both fresh stations," he says, though he adds that does not mean the regular K-Rock format has changed.
"It's an adjustment," he says. "We still play Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails and other bands listeners are used to."
One of the great things about K-Rock 2, he says, is that it gives more exposure to new bands while allowing the on-air K-Rock to loosen up.
"You create expectations for listeners," he says. "When they are used to a certain sound, you violate that expectation if you play, say, a Van Halen song. Now we have the freedom to do that."
K-Rock 2 is running without jocks for now, though Cross says he hopes that will change as it catches on.
The more exotic question that hovers over K-Rock these days, is what will happen when Howard Stern leaves by year's end. The answer to that one, says Cross, is still being formulated.
MAX-MAN'S BACK: Max Kinkel, heard for years on WCBS-FM, WXRK, WJUX and elsewhere, started yesterday as the morning host at oldies WNNJ (1360 AM) in northwest New Jersey.
"I'm delighted to be back," Kinkel said. The station is small enough that he was reading his own traffic reports, but he had nice things to say about the facilities.
The other good news for Kinkel is that WNNJ is a Clear Channel station, and Clear Channel has plenty of larger markets into which it can promote hosts.
AROUND THE DIAL: WBGO (88.3 FM) is off the air today, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., for technical work. The Web stream will be unaffected.