96 Rock rebrands: More music, fewer DJs, angry listeners

Story by Jake Seaton

A major change hit Triangle airwaves Monday morning as listeners were greeted with “More music” and “Less blah, blah, blah.”

The catchphrase is the new slogan for the re-branded Radio 96.1, the station preset formerly known as 96 Rock. As one would guess from the slogan, Radio 96.1 aims to give listeners more music with less talk.

Radio 96.1 General Manager Mike Hartel says the change came at the beckon of listeners.

“We asked listeners like you, throughout the Triangle, what they wanted to hear on their favorite radio station,” Hartel explained on the re-branded website.

“You … said you wanted to hear a lot more music, without a whole bunch of useless talk. And that’s why Radio 96.1 will always deliver ‘More Music’ and ‘Less Blah Blah Blah.’”

Of course “Less Blah Blah Blah” means fewer DJs for the station, and the News & Observer reports one of those canned DJs is longtime Triangle rock radio personality Bob “The Blade” Robinson.

“It blindsided me,” Robinson told the N&O’s David Menconi Monday. “Completely out of the blue. There was no word ahead of time, and that’s hard to do in radio — to keep something like that under wraps.”

Among those who are staying on board is Allie Morgan and The Blade’s old cohort, Foster. Both personalities will still see airtime, although it is unclear what their roles will be exactly.

Morgan defended the station, saying the new Radio 96.1 will give listeners more of what they want.

“Same rock, with a broader range of artists thrown in,” Morgan explained. “I’m still with the station and you’ll still see me around town just like you always have. You’ll still hear me, too. I hope you like what you hear and I can’t thank you enough for sticking by me and our station.”

Hartel says the new programming provides a “greater diversity of songs with music spanning from the ’80s with artists such as Guns ‘N’ Roses, R.E.M. and John Mellencamp; to ’90s music from Nirvana, Gin Blossoms and Green Day, to classic rock from Led Zeppelin, Steve Miller Band and Aerosmith and even some newer music by artists like Nickelback and Linkin Park.”

But Radio 96.1 Facebook fans argue that the new tunes are “watered down” and the “blah, blah, blah” was what gave radio personality.

“First you get rid of Salt and D[emetri the Greek] and now this poor man’s Mix 101.5 crap with hardly any personality?” Joshua Burns wrote. “The DJs are what help make the station!”

Chuck McBride agreed, “Very disappointed with the change. Nothing makes a great radio station like the personalities that drive it.”

“I have officially taken 96.1 off the presets,” Ben Akroyd wrote. “Jerk move with DJs after the Children’s Hospital fundraiser and right before the holidays. And the change in music — wow. The opposite direction of where you should [have] gone.”

Despite the backlash from longtime listeners, Don Curtis, founder of Radio 96.1 proprietor Curtis Media Group, contends research lead to the decision to change 96 Rock’s programming.

“Only time will prove whether more listeners like the new approach or the old approach, obviously we wouldn’t change unless our research shows that there are more listeners available for the new approach,” Curtis said.

“Unfortunately, we realize that in doing this, the folks who liked what we were doing will be misallocated and disappointed.”

As of publication, the new Radio 96.1 Facebook fan page showed 97 “likes” and growing. A rival “Bring Back 96rock Raleigh” fan page had 319 “likes” and growing.

Radio 96.1 began playing rock music in 1998, and was at the time called The Rock Station, 96rock. Earlier this summer, the station’s motto was changed to “Everything That Rocks” after making a shift to more “mainstream” rock music.

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