R.I.P. WRAX

The station as it exists now sucks, so this is no surprise:

Birmingham radio listeners can expect a major lineup change today.

Alternative rock station The X at 100.5 (WRAX-FM), once one of the most popular stations in town, will go off the air this afternoon to make room for sports talk station WJOX, which already airs on the AM 690 frequency.

The story goes on to say:

During its heyday as 107.7 The X, the 100,000-watt WRAX was one of top stations in Birmingham and the highest-rated alternative rock station in the country.

But ratings gradually started to slide over the past few years, and last spring, the station changed frequencies from 107.7 to the less powerful 100.5 signal.

The story does not explain, or even attempt to explain, why the ratings gradually started to slide. The reason is simple: The X quit playing new music and decided to be like every other station on the air by only playing the same stupid songs that some corporate know-nothing told them surveys indicated people who advertisers love wanted to hear.  Here’s the real deal:

Much of the credit for the station’s early success goes to Program Director Dave Rossi. While many PDs around the country were content to follow the examples of other radio stations, Rossi listened to hundreds of bands each month in an attempt to break new artists on the station. Late in WRAX’s first year, DJ Scott Register began a Sunday morning specialty show called “Reg’s Coffeehouse,” which introduced lesser-known bands to Birmingham listeners. Rossi incorporated into the station’s daily playlist some of the bands that garnered a positive reaction on Register’s program.

What followed was a long list of bands whose songs became hits in Birmingham before becoming popular elsewhere, including Matchbox 20, Train, and, more recently, John Mayer. Labels and radio stations around the country took notice, as did local concert promoters, who brought many of these bands to town.

That was five years ago. Changes in management, philosophy, and personnel have taken a toll on the station. During the summer of 2005, new Program Director Ken Wall issued an infamous memorandum that echoed current station owner Citadel Broadcasting’s mantra: “We are not in the business of breaking new music.” Around the same time, management decided to move the signal from 107.7 to 100.5. This weaker, directional signal drastically affected the station’s reach. Wall also tinkered with the format, deciding that Birmingham audiences would enjoy hearing Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Metallica during their morning drive.

Like I said, the station as it now exists sucks, so I probably would not care that they are going bye-bye except that this means no more Reg’s Coffeehouse. Every Sunday morning for the last several years, we’ve gotten up and gone to the early Mass and then come home to eat breakfast, drink coffee, and relax to the sounds of that wonderful show. He’s what radio ought to be. New songs, new artists, and live interviews with the musicians, who would often play a few tunes during the interview. You never knew when you’d hear something that would grab you, that you’d have to run out and buy the next day. His slogan is “Helping build your music library one song at a time.” My music library and my Sunday mornings are both going to suffer.

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