This is just my take on the music from a station I rarely listen to.
While working in a friend's home recently, this station was playing. I confess it was a good listen.
I'll never be a P1 listener, however, it sounds like the programming has been given the attention which it required.
In 2024, many of us program our own **stations.** There's never a bad song due to the fact we choose the music. Commercials, non-stop chatter? None. A wide playlist and one can easily lose themself in a musical journey.
If WSHE-FM/100.3 upped their game, I would give them credit as well. There is a car dealership which plays them six days a week. This is why I mentioned them.
I recall when going to the movies were all the rage. While waiting for the show to begin, the theater piped in Q101 for fifteen minutes. We were subjected to another ten minutes of coming attractions. Much like malls, movie theaters are a shell of what they used to be. Many have home theaters and can steam anything they like.
WCHI has changed their playlist. It is much more palatable and solid. The jocks are as good as you will get in PPM land. Where I disagree with you, a good station with good jocks, can make the difference not wanting to program your own station. Commercial radio overall is not taking advantage of this and just voice tracking, multiple market VT, national radio, jockless, etc.... The listener you are seeking can most likely create their own jocks less station, or go to YT, Spotify, Social Media etc to hear new music. Why the heck will they want to listen to yours with up to 25 minutes of stopsets per hour?????? Mindless mentality.
WSHE is a train wreck. Their numbers show it. I guess as long as it is flanking WTMX and fending off other competition, all good? As far as the dealership, isn't it illegal for commercial entities to play commercial radio stations like that, hence having music piped in? Let along having a competitions commercial come on. LOL!
Theaters used to get paid to "play" a certain station. Many times it was commercial less and produced just for the movie patrons to promote the station to a target demo sitting in those seats. Also, the grand days of movies, where the movie soundtrack would be all over radio especially CHR, followed by AOR, Urban, Country etc, are a distant memory. Those days are gone where most movies have 0 music or even a relatable opening song played anymore. Theaters are a luxury now. Pepsi 5 dollars. Popcorn 10. Candy 10. x 2 people. Add in admission. Most people can't afford that anymore.
It's only been a small sample size, but in the times I've heard ROCK 95.5, it sounds like a cross between Q101 and what the old ROCK sounded like in the '90s.
Long before iHeart Media dropped the old WRCX for "Jammin' Oldies" and the current KISS FM up the dial, ROCK 95.5 sounds a great deal like its former identity as ROCK 103.5 up the dial.
What's different though is that back in the '90s, the old ROCK 103.5 had Mancow in morning drive, Cara Carriveau (?) in middays & Lou Brutus in afternoons. That was about 30 years ago.
Also, you'll notice in the "O" of ROCK 95.5's logo, there's an ode to the old lightning bolt of WMET which also once occupied the 95.5 FM frequency some 40 years ago.
I mentioned the station a while back when talking about sports play by play on the FM side. About 6 weeks or ago, they had the visiting call of a Celtics/Bulls' game at United Center.
When they're not airing Celtics' games part time, WBOS-FM in Boston, branded there as ROCK 92.9, is airing a very similar format to ROCK 95.5 here. WBOS may be owned by Beasley, but you can listen here in Chicago via the iHeart Radio app. Listen to ROCK 92.9 there as well as ROCK 95.5 here and you'll know what I mean.