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This is about country music formats in the U.S., but a veteran radio consultant relates ways some stations destroyed their own audience by experimenting with ways to boost ratings - none of which worked out in any way.
Howard Stern on a country station? Nope. And I had to laugh when I saw the concept of "Beautiful Country." The reason - when I was at CFTR, Bill Gable often talked about starting such a format. But he meant it as a joke! It's incredible to think somebody actually tried it.
Radio Experiments Gone Awry
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When I think Beautiful Country, I don't think radio. I think Sirius XM.
It's not about the failure of it in this case, it's merely about the very idea of being different from radio, any way possible.
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Beautiful Country made me laugh. I cringed when I heard an elevator version of a Beatle song on Candlelight & Wine. I shudder to think what a Johnny Cash or Dolly Parton song would sound like after getting the same treatment. My parents got their first FM radio in 1969. It didn't take them long to discover CHFI. I thought the music on CFRB was bad. This was ten times worse. Mom had RB on in the Kitchen, Dad was tuned to FI in the living room. I spent a great deal of time in my bedroom. Thank God for 1050, 1150 and 1430, plus 770, 890, 1000 and 1190 at night.