WQSR changed formats?

[Pendrench]

Did anyone notice that WQSR is now "Jack FM"? Wow - first WHFS changed formats and now WQSR.

Tim

[Debbi801]

1. I heard about this on another board...

There was no warning apparently, they just "poof" changed formats.

Another radio station was discussing this "jacK" trend a few weeks ago. I don't quite understand the point of it, but that is just me. I guess Baltimore is now without an oldies station.

Debbi

[WhigReporter]

8. WQSR got Jacked

looking for Cecil Countians who are PO'd about the format change...or who are in love with it. want to do a feature

Feel free to contact [e-mail]

[newyawker99]

12. Hi WhigReporter!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Oreo]

2. Weird... we just had a station change to JACK FM in Minneapolis

I'm sure they're both playing the EXACT same songs. Nothing better than making the sheep think they're listening to local DJ's

Here's an article on jack
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/04/jack_radio_form.html

This is the so-called Jack format that's riding radio waves all across the U.S. In the last three weeks alone, the format, or a close variant, has debuted on stations in five major metropolitan areas -- Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis, adding to the half-dozen or so that had switched since Denver inaugurated the format in the U.S. a little over a year ago.

Will the new format be enough to rescue broadcast radio from its creative doldrums? I have my doubts.

The rules guiding a Jack-formatted station are simple: Unlike a typical radio station, which regularly plays 300 or 400 hits of a particular genre, programmers on Jack stations select 700 to 1,000 songs of completely different genres. Then, they sequence them to create what radio programmers call "train wrecks" -- Billy Idol will follow Bob Marley, Elvis after Guns N' Roses, and so on. And Jack stations often (but not always) use a smart-alecky recorded voice, rather than a live DJ, to make short quips between songs.

REBEL RADIO? Broadcast radio lately has come under increasing fire from critics and competitors for being bland, repetitive, and overly commercial. While traditional broadcasters still dominate market share, new technologies are growing fast.


YAWN

[Stinky The Clown]

3. This really sucks

Not that I was such a big listener, but when I did listen to music (as opposed to my usual in-car radio listening - WTOP) it was always WQSR. I didn't even like it when they went from true Oldies to '70s-'80s-'90s.

I wonder if Alan Lee (also the the owner of Roadhouse Oldies) has had his Sunday night show pulled, too. That was easily the very best (by a LONG shot) music radio on the air for anyone who grew up in the early fifties to early sixties. Truly, truly, truly he played forgotten 45s.

Alan Lee's been brining back the Forgotten 45's to 102.7 WQSR for over 20 years! Every Sunday night from 7pm to 11pm, Alan takes you back to the roots of Rock N' Roll. From local street corner Doo Wop, to the origins of Soul, to the heart of Rock N' Roll, Mr. Lee has it all! Also, Alan's the owner of "Roadhouse Oldies", an oldies music store on Ritchie Highway here in Baltimore. Maybe you heard part of a song on the radio, or in a movie, but can't identify it. Maybe you remember part of a song that you heard in junior high school, and haven't heard it since. Give Alan a call at 410-481-1027! He'll probably know it and can help you find it! The Goodtimes Roll every Sunday night with Alan Lee and Forgotten 45's on Baltimore's 102.7 WQSR!

He's also a professor (at College Park, I think).

Check out the website before it gets yanked (as has the front page of wqsr.com already!)
http://www.wqsr.com/forgotten.shtml

I just sent an e-mail to Steve Rouse's AOL address. I wonder if I'll hear anything back: [e-mail]

No more WQSR????? Where are ya, man?

I just heard you guys are gone. Poof! Just like that. What happened?????? You're sure gonna be missed.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Here's a short blurb from wjz's web site

http://wjz.com/localstories/local_story_124151729.html

No real news ..... qsr is something it wasn't - JACK radio (whatever the hell that is) ... that's about it.

[Pendrench]

5. It's a shame...

Although nowadays I usually listen to WTOP or WYPR, I used to listen to WQSR a lot when I was younger (back when it was on 105.7). I guess I'm going to have to listen to WBIG for my "Beatles Brunch" fix on Sundays.

I've lived in Maryland all my life, and I remember when AM radio in Baltimore was fantastic - WCAO, WCBM, and WFBR all used to play music (does anyone remember Johnnie Walker's show that he had on Saturday afternoons?) Now WBAL and WCBM are nothing more than god-awful right-wing hate-fests (and I think WCAO is a gospel station, right?)

Anyway, when all AM radio went to hell (except for when Alan Prell was still on WBAL), I started listening to FM, and WQSR was my favorite (music) station.

I listened to a little bit of "Jack FM" last night, and I can honestly say that it's worse than bad - it's bland.

Granted, DJs on any station can get annoying - but at least there was usually some "local flavor" to their chatter (unlike the pre-recorded "pseudo-hip" prattle that I heard last night).

Oh well...I should have know WQSR was in some kind of trouble when they brought back Brian and O'Brien earlier this year.

Enough rambling for now.

Tim

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Johnnie Walker on WFBR .... oh yeah .......

He was a character ...... on again ... bounced off again .....

I remember when WFBR used to be Orioles radio, too.

Didn't he end up doing some jewelry store commercials?

[Pendrench]

7. Yes indeed - Edward Arthur Jewlers...

He was great - I was really surprised (and sad) when I heard that he died (last year?). It's funny that you mention the Orioles, that's the only time I can listen to WBAL (other than that, their programming stinks).

Tim

[Mutley]

9. Supposedly the concept is that it's your I-Pod on shuffle.

Who's I-Pod I'm not sure. :shrug: :silly:

[Pendrench]

10. I was going to cut them some slack....

...because earlier tonight I heard them play "I Don't Like Mondays" (Boomtown Rats), but then a couple of hours later they played "The Pina Colada Song".

Surely this would be on the I-Pod from Hell.

Tim

[NMMNG]

11. Yup

I don't know if it has anything to do with Mix 107.3 doing a major overhaul in their programming (they now do "the best mix of everything"). Essentially what Mix does now is similar to what Jack does...they play a slew of stuff from easy listening to pop to disco to hard rock, from the 70's through the present. It's quite a broad range of music.