Anorak Nation: Discussion: Rock Radio Manchester

So then. Anybody in the Rock target area listening to it? Does it fill a need? What's the verdict from you old hairies?

( http://www.rockradiomanchester.co.uk )

Strewth, looked at the website - any station that has "gob on legs" aka Mike "The Ego" Sweeney on its payroll won't get my vote. One of the most irritating men on radio.

I'm not into rock but will have a listen in the car on the way to the supermarket later.

A

Christopher England <...> said:
So then. Anybody in the Rock target area listening to it? Does it fill
a need? What's the verdict from you old hairies?
( http://www.rockradiomanchester.co.uk )
--
* Christopher England just said that *

Yeah,dipped in and out.Not overly impressed.Test transmissions passed the time in the car though.I'm a Planet Rock fan and today 'Ricks Place' at lunch time was hilarious.Sailing very close to the wind.Hope they keep it up!

Quoting a previous Alan Milewczyk contribution:-

Strewth, looked at the website – any station that has "gob on legs" aka
Mike "The Ego" Sweeney on its payroll won't get my vote.

Check him out here:

http://www.radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.3375.2

– two links to interesting Youtube videos. Is he talking bollards or good rock sense? (See what I did there?)

I'm not into rock but will have a listen in the car on the way to the
supermarket later.

D'you know, I was looking at the schedule and baffled why one show started at 19:46 each day, and another one at 10:46 during the week. I was trying to make the frequency 106.1 into 10:46 and just couldn't get the significance. Well, blow me down it's because the Rock block show actually last 106.1 minutes. Geddit? No? Well, novelty an' all that, but I'm guessing nobody else will 'get it' either. The Rock block (ie the automation with no human) runs 09:00 – 10:46 weekdays and 18:00 – 19:46 every evening. That's 106.1 minutes, see? No?

All seems a bit daft. Radio programmers gawn mad, I tell you. Mad.
—
* Christopher England just said that *

Christopher England <...> said:
Quoting a previous Alan Milewczyk contribution:-

Strewth, looked at the website – any station that has "gob on legs" aka
Mike "The Ego" Sweeney on its payroll won't get my vote.
Check him out here:
http://www.radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.3375.2
– two links to interesting Youtube videos. Is he talking bollards or
good rock sense? (See what I did there?)
I'm not into rock but will have a listen in the car on the way to the
supermarket later.
—
* Christopher England just said that *

I agree with Alan here, Mick Sweeney as a bit of a shaft wrestler but the essence of what he is saying is true about the state of today's radio groups. The Excel Boys come first followed by the sales force, then the presenters, then the music and lastly followed up by the listener. Focus groups are an absolute waste, and are in general, mainly made up of fuddery old geezers who can just about turn their radios on let alone help format a station.

Thanks Chris for the links to those videos, I'll now be twitching all night and will stay well away from any radio for the next 24 hours incase I accidently get another dose of Mike Sweeney.

The Guff

Bloomin 'eck. I could get to like the bloke - almost!

I certainly agreed with the sentiments he expressed in the first video clip. These days it's ALL about the money and while I can't stand the guy, there'sno denying his passion, something that's sadly lacking in radio today. He describes very accurately the reaction to Piccadilly Radio when that started in 74 - it was a MASSIVE hit in the city here, taking big chunks out of Radio 1's audience. Where his accuracy is way off, is in describing his contribution to local accents on the radio. For a kick off, nationally, we had the likes of John Peel, DLT and Andy Kershaw long before we were treated to Sweeney and even locally on BBC Radio Manchester and Picc we had quite a few accented locals such as Allan Beswick and James Stannage. As for his formula for the Drivetime segment, sorry, that's nothing new - I thought that's what they all did. As ever, Sweeney is a one-man PR machine bulling himself up.

I tuned in to Rock Radio on my way to the shops and back so listened to about half an hour in total - it was the automated segment so can't comment on presenters although the news on the half hour had a good local feel to it. Although rock isn't my fave genre, I thought the station had a good "sound" to it. It's not something I'd listen to regularly but might dip in when Sweeney ain't around.

As for the 106.1 minute programming blocks, that's just crazy - it's the usual mistake of doing something that means something to them but to no-one else.

A

From: "Christopher England" <...>

So then. Anybody in the Rock target area listening to it? Does it fill a
need? What's the verdict from you old hairies?
( http://www.rockradiomanchester.co.uk )

Dabbled in and out, pretty safe tunes is what I've heard so far. Maybe too much chat, but that can't be helped because that was the licence criteria. I'll stick with it for a while to see how it goes, but I still prefer Planet Rock.

From: "davdo ." <...>

I'm a Planet Rock fan and today 'Ricks Place'
at lunch time was hilarious.Sailing very close to the wind.

Now this is a fantastic show. Some of the jokes are very close to the wind as you say. But really good personality radio, with decent music too :-)

Hope they
keep it up!

Oooh er ,missus!

From: "Christopher England" <...>

D'you know, I was looking at the schedule and baffled why one show
started at 19:46 each day, and another one at 10:46 during the week. I
was trying to make the frequency 106.1 into 10:46 and just couldn't get
the significance. Well, blow me down it's because the Rock block show
actually last 106.1 minutes. Geddit? No? Well, novelty an' all that, but
I'm guessing nobody else will 'get it' either. The Rock block (ie the
automation with no human) runs 09:00 – 10:46 weekdays and 18:00 – 19:46
every evening. That's 106.1 minutes, see? No?

I was baffled by that too. Thanks for the explanation.

All seems a bit daft. Radio programmers gawn mad, I tell you. Mad.

In this case definitely. If a gimmick is that hard for the general public to get then aint really a gimmick is it?

Quoting a previous Alan Milewczyk contribution:-

Where his accuracy is way
off, is in describing his contribution to local accents on the radio.
For a kick off, nationally, we had the likes of John Peel, DLT and Andy
Kershaw long before we were treated to Sweeney

Off the top of my head, how about the very Scottish Stuart Henry, highly Irish Terry Wogan, or the Australians and Americans that were 'famous' in the early days (albeit that those aren't 'regional' accents, but they are non-Queen's English accents).

—
* Christopher England just said that *

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-

All seems a bit daft. Radio programmers gawn mad, I tell you. Mad.
In this case definitely. If a gimmick is that hard for the general
public to get then aint really a gimmick is it?

Maybe there actually is a danger in letting the anoraks programme the station!

So then, is the signal reaching your part of Merseyland?
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* Christopher England just said that *

From: "Christopher England" <...>

So then, is the signal reaching your part of Merseyland?

It is Ok on the car radio, but gets battered by CityTalk on a normal radio.

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-

but I still
prefer Planet Rock.

See, it's an interesting enigma. Apart from me having to take special tranquillisers to force myself to listen to that old fogey music that you 90 year old granddads listen to, it's very hard to fault what Planet Rock is doing.

And yet it's all owned and operated by GCap. Had it been left to an 'independent' then maybe it would never have existed. Or, it would be so watered down in order to 'compete' with other stations, that it would not be the brilliant rock station it is.

In other words, we obviously need the Borg if we really want great radio.

(I'll get my coat)
—
* Christopher England just said that *

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-

It is Ok on the car radio, but gets battered by CityTalk on a normal
radio.

So, what you are saying is that Pete Price is splattering all over Mike Sweeney?
—
* Christopher England just said that *

From: "Christopher England" <...>

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-
but I still
prefer Planet Rock.
See, it's an interesting enigma. Apart from me having to take special
tranquillisers to force myself to listen to that old fogey music that
you 90 year old granddads listen to, it's very hard to fault what Planet
Rock is doing.
And yet it's all owned and operated by GCap. Had it been left to an
'independent' then maybe it would never have existed. Or, it would be so
watered down in order to 'compete' with other stations, that it would
not be the brilliant rock station it is.
In other words, we obviously need the Borg if we really want great
radio.
(I'll get my coat)

Yes it totally goes against my beliefs but I must agree. Planet Rock is fantastic at what it does. There have been many challengers, I've sampled them but I still end up returning to PR. The Rick Wakeman prog seems to go right against the grain of Borg programming, well certainly on music radio anyway. They normally just get a chimp to hit the next button after coming out with the usual crap strapline and promoting the Crap FM breakfast show with Billy McKnobhead!