94.7 The Globe is dead
It's still on the air, but it's dead. The station, without announcement, has moved from quasi-AAA to standard classic rock over course of the last week. DCRTV has noticed the shift, expressed disappointment but not found it as bad as expected. I've got different feelings. The search for a new #1 preset has begun. What could've been never happened.
But before the transition evidence slips away, it must be cited. As of Sunday night, the station's top 10 songs of the last week still included: Supernatural Superserious, Girls in Their Summer Clothes, I'm Amazed, Viva La Vida, and I Will Possess Your Heart. None had played in days.
The other five songs on the list came from the new playlist, sadly best represented by New Sensation and Keep Your Hands to Yourself. Songs from The Doors, Blue Oyster Cult, and The Cars followed shortly.
The past weekend's playlist may have offered the best indictment.
From 5 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Monday, a period of 60 hours (64 minus two for Little Steven and two for public service time), the station aired 20 songs released in this decade. Not one of the songs was released in the last two and a half years. Most were overplayed or awful stuff.
Friday after 5 p.m. ET:
Goo Goo Dolls - Give a Little Bit - 2004
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside - 2000
Saturday:
Coldplay - In My Place - 2002
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out - 2004 (twice during the day)
Train - Calling All Angels - 2003
Dave Matthews Band - The Space Between - 2001
U2 - Vertigo - 2004
Train - Drops of Jupiter - 2001
Coldplay - Talk - 2005
Jack Johnson - Flake - 2001
Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer - 2002
Foo Fighters - Best of You - 2005
Rodrigo & Gabriela - Diablo Rojo - Feburary 2006
Jack Johnson - Bubble Toes - 2001
Sunday:
Eddie Vedder - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - 2001
Goo Goo Dolls - Give a Little Bit - 2004 (twice during the day)
Train - Drops of Jupiter - 2001
Fuel - Hemorrhage - 2000
Coldplay - Trouble - 2000
Foo Fighters - Best of You - 2005
Jack Johnson - Upside Down - February 2006
Monday before 9 a.m. ET:
Dave Matthews Band - The Space Between - 2001
Coldplay - Trouble - 2000
Coldplay - Clocks - 2003
I have no idea how Heavy Metal Drummer made it onto Saturday's playlist, nor how I'm Always in Love made it onto Sunday's. Computer error? Drummer played between .38 Special and Bad Company.
Also,...
August 13th, 2008 at 7:28 PM
Completely agree! For the first time in years, we had a legit station, now we have yet another classic rock station to feed to boomers. Did they bother to validate their ratings? Everyone I know was presetting their dials to 94.7. Do they realize there is an entire generation of listeners in this area, raised on WHFS, that are craving good music? How many times can you listed to Freebird and Every Breath you take? Like HFS, they couldn't even man-up and admit it.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:30 PM
Hey, Wayne, thanks very much for finding the site and commenting. Glad to hear other folks feel the same way about The Globe. I missed HFS in its prime, but from all I hear, its ability to mix great new and old stuff must have been amazing. That's one thing the Globe never seemed to have — true, equal comfort with the present day — and I wonder if that played a role.
DCRTV's glances at the Arbitrons never showed a huge boost, but anecdotally, I felt the same thing you did. The station had my allegiance more than any station had in a while. Even if it wasn't totally satisfying, even if it had its weak points, it had me listening and wanting more. Raised my expectations. What they've done now, it can't possibly change ratings, not with Big 100 in town. It makes me wonder if they're buying time before a bigger format switch.
August 14th, 2008 at 5:48 PM
so sad about the Globe. i like what you said about how it raised your expectations. i agree also that they are probably making a big format change similiar to what 104 did early last year. curious about who are the people tracked for radio ratings. i know people who would rather listen the the Globe (well used to) then satalite.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:17 PM
M, thanks for visiting. That's interesting about people choosing the Globe over satellite. I'm looking fwd to making the comparison. With radio ratings, here's one of the better explanations I've come across. Basically, amazingly, it's handwritten logs now. But station-tracking devices are coming soon. DC is scheduled to join the system in September.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Very disappointed in format change. Back to dull. Although the Globe never really succeeded in producing the kind of energy in their playlist as HFS (and I do not think I am just waxing nostalgia here), it was still a good mix of quality stuff. I am a typical former punk soccer mom who still craves the new…nobody asked me if I tuned in! It was my fav preset…sad..
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Dull indeed. Lisa, thanks for visiting. A quick look today at the station's most-played songs of the week reminds us of how far we've sunk into Overplayed City:
1. Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart.
2. Van Halen - Jump.
3. .38 Special - Hold on Loosely.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 PM
First of all, AMEN that the goofy station that 94.7 changed into is GONE! Classic Rock stations are becoming few and far between. Who needed that horrid mix of music where half the songs were plucked from the "b" sides of obscure albums??? Can people just go to the alt. rock station to hear that garbage?? I guess now they have to, huh??? LOL!! Bring on the REO Speedwagon, Steve Miller and .38 Special too!! yahoo.
Hey BTW–What's with this "Greetings from Evanston" thing at the top of your website? I'm born and raised in Evanston (Ridge and Brummel Avenue area). What is this, never seen it before??
-Nae ETHS grad 1986 (whaddaknow, she's not a baby boomer?)
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:38 PM
Goofballs! We clearly haven't heard enough .38 Special in all of our lives yet. So 94.7 would tell us, right? Welcome to the blog. The Evanston name comes from where this blog started, at the corner of Ridge and Noyes during my senior year at NU. Love the town! Miss it much.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:28 AM
I went out of town in August and noticed the change when I returned…and sadly, as you outlined, the playlist gradually and painfully turned more and more to classic rock. I wish they would just tell listeners what's going on! (I remember one day tuning into the old WHFS to find it had, without warning, become "El Sol." ) I called Weasel the other morning to complain–I too, wonder what the ratings mean. No one asked me–i loved the old format!
September 4th, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Jennifer, thanks for stopping by. Curious — what did Weasel say when you called in? With the El Zol change, it at least gets my love for being one of the more viral format changes ever. The MP3 seems to have disappeared from the Web, but at least the Post story preserved the switch in text form.
It is interesting to see what a format change can do when it's done right. El Zol, in retrospect, was a no-brainer of a ratings hit. Could the Globe have been the same … if they ever truly committed to the format? Guess we'll never know.
September 4th, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Patrick: thanks for your blog, I needed an outlet for my disgust for this radio dumbing down we just received . What have they done?? Where have all the thinking persons DJs gone? (Shelby's noontime show was the highlight of my day.) They had such a great thing going, the best station in DC in a long time and they ruined it by going back to the same formulaic garbage that every other "Classic Rock, Rock, Rock" station in the nation plays. I have sent e-mails to the station telling them they need have some guts, play what people really want to hear. Maybe they can't hear our pleas over the stadium rock noise.
September 4th, 2008 at 1:16 PM
Mo, glad to help, guess this post has bumped up the Google rankings in recent weeks. It's nice for me too to find other folks thinking the same thing. Question for you, in case you stop back: What show do they have during the lunch hour these days? I'm only able to listen in drivetimes.
September 4th, 2008 at 3:25 PM
Patrick.
When I called Weasel and asked, "what's with this classic rock?', he said "that's what we're doing now". So I asked didn't people like the Modern Rock format (as I did?) and he said, "I quess not enough to get the ratings". I wonder what the DJ's like Weasel think of all this, but I'm sure they can't say, since its their job. When I noticed the changes, I had checked out the Globe website's Listener advisory panel they had talked about, but the categories there were so formulaic that none of them really seemed to suggest what I liked–they seemed very corporate–so I didn't bother. (And by then it seemed a moot point) BTW, I too liked the Eclectic Lunch and called in a few times to suggest songs…unfortunately I didn't often get to listen at lunchtime, though.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:27 PM
Jennifer are you kidding?? The old WRCW dj's were bummed as all get out when they had to start dj'ing music they never even had heard of before! Big 100.3 won't die out, but just get better. Hey did Circuit City die out when Best Buy moved next door (just name any city near you and you will find this)? Heck no, competition breeds quality. And Patrick–kudos on NU. I went to NIU, so I guess I'm college trash not even in your league, so now I guess this explains why I like .38 special. Remember the Loop? No one was bitching when they played the same crap over and over. Perhaps were just more tolerant in those simple times. Peace and hair-grease….
September 5th, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Ugh I am sick about this. Was my favorite and #1 preset as well. I emailed them this morning to let them no I removed them from car radio. I got back from two weeks in Cape Hatteras (with a great station - 99.1 The Sound) and then find that The Globe has changed their format.
Booooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 7:50 PM
Catching up after the last night of the conventions trip and flying back today…
Jennifer, thanks for filling us in on Weasel. Makes sense for him to roll with it/make the best of it, like you say. If you like living in the area and work in a niche profession like "radio DJ," it seems like most people would do the same.
Mrs. Stewart, you'll find no NIU hater here. They have a great journalism program and college paper site, and the brother of a friend is hopefully headed there soon.
Jean — love The Sound! Made my driving week in Nags Head this year.
September 6th, 2008 at 2:36 PM
I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one disappointed by the switch to classic rock. Good God, didn't we already have one or two of those stations? Yet another reason to invest in some satellite radio…
September 6th, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Thanks, Steve, I appreciate it. Should be interesting to see what happens to BIG. There's all kinds of rumblings at DCRTV that Clear Channel wants to sell the station. (For anyone reading, if you like this post, you'll love DCRTV, which blogs about, well, D.C. radio and TV all the time.)
September 7th, 2008 at 11:24 AM
[...] for the station on Google right now, and this blog's item about its format shift turns up in your top five results. While now far away from the main page, the post may be the [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 8:32 PM
My husband and I finally took our heads out of the sand this evening to face up to the fact that our favorite radio station has, in fact, changed format (confirmed here, thank you)… I am so incredibly bummed. I, too, fondly remember 'HFS and happily listen to 'XPN whenever we visit my in-laws outside of Philly, and this was the closest I'd come to either. Wonder what's happened to the dj who did the Eclectic Lunch (blanking on her name)? I loved her. Ugggh… am just in disbelief at this point
September 9th, 2008 at 8:47 PM
Claire, thanks for visiting. The middayer was Schelby, and it's hard to tell if she left on her terms or not. It looks like she's updated her MySpace page post-Globe but doesn't say what's next yet.
September 10th, 2008 at 2:57 PM
I did notice that every time I listened this wknd the music plain sucked!
Least now I know there's a reason - new format - not that anyone asked for the same old crap back again. Time to bid radio DC area adieu. Too bad and so sad!
September 11th, 2008 at 9:12 AM
I'd like to point out to Mrs. Stewart that alternative stations are few and far between in the DC area. DC 101 is a little too MTV friendly, WRNR is too weak in its signal, and the Baltimore stations are just a bad as DC 101.
As to Big 100.7, I don't like their idea of classic rock. A classic rock station that won't play Zep? Please.
The Globe format waas awesome; modern rock and classic mixed. They'd even refer to pulling from the HFS archives. *sigh* Is there really no love for less mainstream rock in the region?
September 11th, 2008 at 11:39 AM
*sigh* I may be a boomer, but I definitely PREFERRED this last year's playlist than ever so boring, formulaic "classic rock."
May I suggest streaming WXRT from Chicago?
September 11th, 2008 at 12:01 PM
Great to see so many people finding this page! Diana, Kari, LizDexic, thanks for commenting. For anyone interested in the WXRT mentions in this thread, here's the station's site. Its stream helped get me through a bunch of overnight shifts at work a few years ago, and I still tune in when I can. If you liked what the Globe was playing (and want just a little more Wilco, and who doesn't), XRT is totally for you.
September 11th, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Jean, I was in the Outer Banks listening to the Sound also, it was great I'm so glad the Globe has changed, I just had to turn the station off because of the music they were playing, but now they rock! I listen to the station at work and when they had changed the format to the goofy music they made me turn it off, now they are enjoying the classic rock format. And my bosses are in their 20's and they love that the station has changed the format, so glad I am happy and my bosses are happy also, and so are our 80 employees working for us!!!!!!!! Everyone I know said they would not listen to that station, but now all my friends and neighbors are tuned into the Globe. Who ever made the change should be given a HUGH raise, they have made the tri state area very happy.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:02 PM
I got home from vacation to find my "new favorite station" had returned to a snoring bore of a station. I'm quite bummed! I really enjoyed the mix of music 94.7 was playing. DC radio is so pathetic again.
I'll try teh station suggested by Patrick, above.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:32 AM
I feared this day would come as I have been noticing them slowly slipping
in more and more classic rock. I'm no hater of the classics, actually I love'm, but they've been overplayed since the nineties. Some of the tracks from The Globe's original playlists were songs I've not heard since I listened to HFS in the eighties. Are there any radio stations in Northern Virginia that I can tune in to hear the HFS classics?
September 12th, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Hello, Patrick. So glad to find a place to whine about the dreck that is the new Globe. I am heartbroken, but not surprised. I've lived in the DC 'burbs since middle-school (early 80s) and bad music radio/good public affairs is standard around here. I adored Schelby and the Eclectic Lunch–what a tremendous talent they lost. I guess we all got our hopes up too high.
Alternative stations? What alternative stations? As for classic rock, I don't object to a mix of old and new music: this makes for a balanced diet. I dislike safe, programmed pap. I think the old Arrow was a better classic rock station than the current Globe, with Weasel doing the Box Set (a fun show for music geeks) and deeper album cuts breaking through. OK, shutting up now.
September 14th, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Kalley, Yanti, Sherry, Laura, thanks so much for visiting. It's amazing to see so many people coming across my little link on Google.
Cool to see so many people who feel the same way about the Globe, but definitely nice to see people who like the new Globe as well. We're all stuck in the same metro D.C. traffic, and whether we have the same preferences or not, we're all flipping across the dial for the same reasons.
Flipping through the blogosphere for other format-shift coverage this week, I found a couple links you all might enjoy. From Considered Thoughts and Ramblings, we hear about The Globe, "Time to weigh in … I want to hear new music, but I still love the old stuff." From Russ vs. Them, the post title is "Global boring." Within the post, there's the line, "I enjoyed the chance to hear the Who alongside Coldplay or Death Cab for Cutie."
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 PM
I would just like to say that I love the classic rock that the globe is playing. I am not a baby boomer but a 19 year old college student…who listen more to this station now then I do DC101 ( my old station). So the globe is not just for old people. and it is hard to find a classic rock station in college park but there is a bunch of 80s 90s and today work stations!
September 27th, 2008 at 11:40 PM
Kalley, I think you misunderstood my message. THE SOUND in Hatteras is a great station leaning more toward "alternative". The Globe would at least mix some alt and newer music in with the older stuff but now its just classic. I am 44 and like newer rock; have heard the old stuff for years now. This format change bothers me as much as WHFS hitting the road. I regretfully had to remove the Globe from my car preset button.
Boooooo on The Globe.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Glad to see this thread still alive! For anyone visiting from Google, and I know there's still a bunch of you, please take a minute to share your take on the new Globe vs. the old. Always interesting to hear more perspectives.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:20 PM
The Globe's quick and untimely death is a indeed a tragedy. I don't know how yet another classic rock station could possibly get more listeners than a station that reached out to listeners of all genres. Four words…Clear Channel's the Devil!!!
94.7 was my number one preset…it has now been completely deleted. Take that stupid conservative radio owners!
I will however remember 94.7 the Globe fondly…it played my perfect playlist on Valentines and completely made my day. At least I will have the memories…
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:31 AM
The "new" Globe is now just the "old" Globe with a few stupid "green" commercials thrown in. I'm sick to death of it. This pretty much cements my decision to get satellite radio. The Eclectic lunch was, without a doubt, the best hour on the radio. And they canned Schelby, a true music officiando, to get a pin-up girl. Stupid radio station.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:30 PM
So disappointed in the new format at the Globe. I will definitely be removing this radio station from my presets. I LOVED the Eclectic Lunch and will miss it sorely. What are these people thinking???
October 8th, 2008 at 11:10 AM
RebeccainDC, CeeCee, Emily, thanks all for stopping by and sharing. Another perspective from the blogosphere: "My favorite radio station just converted to a classic rock format. No more Psychedelic Furs, Oingo Boingo, 7N, Dandy Warhols, or Cure. No; instead, in a stunningly gutsy career move, 94.7 The Globe has decided to join the 4 other radio stations that already play classic rock. So now my last oasis is gone…."
October 12th, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Hi, Schelby here, formerly of 94.7 The Globe and the Eclectic Lunch. It's nice to know that people noticed what I was trying to do with my show and the station. If only we'd had the time and upper-level support we needed to develop. I feel like we've let down the people of the DC metro area and I'm sorry. If you can stream, I'd recommend WXRT in Chicago. They still have the flexibility to keep things interesting.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:24 PM
[...] Schelby Sweeney, former music director and host of the late, great Eclectic Lunch on 94.7, joined the still-running thread on the station's format change. "It's nice to know that people noticed what I was [...]
October 16th, 2008 at 9:00 PM
Wow! Schelby! So great to see you visit–I've checked back periodically to see the new comments. I loved your eclectic lunch–sort of like an extended version of "My Three Songs" from old HFS days–it was fun to hear what creative things listeners came up with–miss it much. I checked out WXRT when it was mentioned earlier by LizDexic, and loved the playlist–unfortunately I don't get to stream much, as I mainly listen in the car. But it makes me wonder, why can Chicago support a station like XRT, and not this area? Are we just too conservative? From my personal conversations, it seems there are a lot of people out there that share the same sentiments expressed here–it's frustrating. Anyway, best of luck to you–it's great that you tried.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:09 PM
For those who can't stream, is there any alternative in this area at all? I'm totally deflated and if I hear Free Bird one more time, I can't be held responsible for my actions.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Sorry, but I can't mourn the Globe's format switch the way some of you are. In fact, I only just noticed it, because I had stopped listening to the station quite some time ago and have been a full-time XM listener in the interim. I have the utmost respect for Cerphe and Weasel, but the programming coming out of that station baffled me. I got the feeling there were too many staffers with too much input, and the station ended up trying to be all things to all listeners, which never works. My growing problem with the station's song choices really crystallized with the Globe's repeated airplay of Feist's nauseating "1,2,3,4." I felt like the station had surrendered its own judgment to some unseen marketing staff at Apple who had somehow found that song "hip" and shoved it on the rest of the world. And to promote the station as "World Class Rock" while playing that kind of music is bound to confuse and disappoint. "Rock," I suppose takes many forms, but that isn't one of them. In fact, it's much closer to a song a preschooler would sing while skipping down the sidewalk dragging a stick along a picket fence. If you're going to be a rock station, be a rock station.