WONE - the HOME of Rock & Roll

Akron, Ohio's Rock Station.
I've been a member of their Rock Panel for quite some time. Last Thursday, 4/6/06, I had the opportunity to be in on a Rock Panel Music Review session at the Sheraton in Cuyahoga Falls. I thought, GREAT! I get to finally voice my opinion and mold the station's programming.

2 1/2 hrs later, I left a disillusioned man, burned out on the music. We listened to a five second snippet of each song's "hook" from 630 songs that are currently on their play list. We were to judge if we were tired of it or not; rate it 1 to 5 (1 being HATED IT and 5 being LOVED IT) and finally, the last option was if we didn't know the song, (I only didn't know 3).

Half way through, we had a lite dinner break and had the opportunity to ask the GM questions. He confirmed the radio station's charity support and outdoor events calendars at Rock The Dock in Cuyahoga Falls, Rockin' the Square in Medina and other regular locales that they have a regular showing of events. He confirmed that Last year - 2005 - was the LEAST amount of concerts since records were kept - which is 1949. This is because the acts demand so much money that it is cost prohibitive for the venue and the promoter, let alone the poor buying public. He gave numbers for both extremes - the big name groups like the Rolling Stones to upstart one hit wonders wanting exorbitant amounts to fill small halls. The exceptions seem to be the veterans who'll play the Tower City amphitheaters of the world. He even let us in on the Rockin' on the River scenerio. His explanation why WONE discontinued their affiliation with Rockin' On The River was - because the promoters owed us a TON of money. Being aware that it was the Cuyahoga Falls JayCees, I read between the lines. "'Nuff said!"

We discussed the format of the evening - why this was so important to them. He claimed that WONE has a 10 Market share and stations like WMMS only a 2. A Market share as high as 10 represented WONE's adherence to the top 50 percent of the vote getters tonight. WMMS's 2 share meant that they played requests, "deep cuts" (or "B" sides) of regular hit songs or albums. Doing that didn't appeal to the broadest spectrum of the audience. Ironically, for the most part - mention of WNCX was avoided. Perhaps they can't compare to them because NCX actually plays requests - not pre-determined songs.

To maintain their 10 market share, they must appease more than 50% of their target market - guys 25 - 45. I daresay the results will be somewhat askewed because the average age seemed to range from late 30's to early 60's. There were 14 AC/DC songs - and he even joked that they really only have ONE song... Just 20 versions of it. Lots of Led Zep, ZZ Top, Rolling Stones, Ozzy, Sabbath, Tom Petty, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl jam... Well, you get the picture. It was mostly the Harder Stuff. Some Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, which surprised me.

One John Lennon Song and One McCartney, but NO BEATLES! NONE! Some of the more senior aged attendees chastised their choice of music. The Beatles were the highest criticism. The GM's response? Too Old. They made a conscious decision to forward the entire catalog to the Oldies format (Similar to WMJI). He added that one day, they'd probably have to divide the Rolling Stones catalog - pre 1972 to the oldies stations as well. My immediate thoughts were - send the first 3 Led Zep albums, early Sabbath, Early ZZ Top, Early Eagles & Fleetwood Mac as well.

It wasn't until I had heard about the first 500 song hooks that I realized... THIS WAS WONE's playlist. They were JUSTIFYING their own music choices and bullshitting us into believing that we made a difference. My scoring and song liking immediately bottomed out. EVERY Ozzy, Sabbath and even Led Zep song toward the end got a 1. I HATED almost everything - and an off the beaten path song - even if I didn't like it - got 5's and NOT TIRED OF IT.

When I was contacted for this, I was told I'd be given a lite dinner and $50.00 for my trouble. Initially, considering it was WONE - with all of their charitable ongoings - I was going to donate the $50.00 back to some shelter or something. By the end of the night, I was SO PISSED at this guy's blatant self-serving, ram crap music down my throat type of attitude, I did 2 things: I kept the $50.00 and I changed my radio's push button order in my truck. I'll miss TK, Tim Doraty, Sandra Miller and others - But I won't be a pawn in a foregone conclusion SHAM of a "survey".

They tested their playlist on us. All they will do is to continue as they have - playing 2 AC/DC and 2 Led Zep songs per hour - NO oldies - and maybe re-arrange their order based upon our voting. Thousands of songs were left out. You'll NEVER hear Tangerine by Led Zep... or Child in Time by Deep Purple... but I guaren-damn-tee you'll hear them on WMMS (Already Heard Tangerine there) and the especially absent from comments WNCX - who's only indirect mention was regarding Howard Stern and whether we listen to him - or his replacements.

WONE really bit the dust for me that day. I thought they were unique because they weren't another clone station owned by CBS or Clear Channel. They had an opportunity to really cut some new paths. They chose the low road. I won't be part of their 10 share....

Oh - one more thing.
Market to Market... Akron vs Cleveland. I'd say Cleveland Radio - by virtue of it's population encompassed - draws more listeners. I know this for a fact. Having Lived on the outskirts of Portage county for 2 years - WONE was all that could be heard except for an occasional wind shift from Youngstown. There are FAR more cattle - out in Portage, Holmes, Tuscarawas and in their listening radius as a whole - than there are people. You can KEEP your 10 share WONE... You may be able to fool Flossy the cow... but fool me once - shame on you... you won't get a second chance.