>The Five Stages of Grief, Radio Format Change Edition
>You get in your car, turn on the radio and punch up your favorite station. It’s Power 103 and it always delivers on its continually looped promise to play the hits of the 80s, 90s and today… at least when it’s not playing those ridiculous LA Weight Loss commercials.
As you pump up the volume and get ready to rock out to the likes of Ace of Bass, your ears are assaulted by… Garth Brooks. Garth. Brooks?! The song ends abruptly and a DJ with an unfamiliar twang comes on the air. “Ee-yuts Hick 103, playin’ all yer country favorites!”
Immediately, you enter the first stage of Radio Format Change Grief.
DENIAL
You switch to another station, then back to Power 103. Country. You turn off the radio, then turn it back on again. Country. You manually move the dial to 103.1, 103.3, 103.5. Surely there’s been some mistake. Perhaps a rogue station took over Power 103’s frequency… You speed dial the All-Request Hitz Hotline on your cellphone to let the DJ know what’s happened.
“Sorry toots,” a voice answers when you frantically tell him that some country crap station is horning in on Power 103’s air space, “We’ve changed our format.” You instantly transition to Stage Two of Radio Format Change Grief.
ANGER
“What the fuck, Bubba!” you shout on your cell phone. “Where’s my George Michael?! My Mariah?! I want my Britney back!” Bubba hangs up on you. You hit your steering wheel in frustration. What are you supposed to listen to now? After a moment, you decide to see what else is out there, manually scanning the airwaves in search of something, anything else. You have entered Stage Three of Radio Format Change Grief.
BARGAINING
“Come on,” you whisper, twiddling the dial. Maybe Power 103 changed its format because a new, better hits-of-80s-90s-and-today station came along. Maybe Power 103 simply packed up and moved to, like 105. But all you come up with is some “party” station that’s clearly trying to appeal to teenagers. Still, you might be able to get used to it. If you listen to Jesse McCartney enough times, maybe he’ll grow on you…
Yeah, and maybe Mr. Rogers was a closet transsexual. As your eyes tear up, you enter Stage Four of Radio Format Change Grief.
DEPRESSION
Damn it all, Power 103 is gone and it’s not coming back. This is like, the worst day ever. You would have at least appreciated the chance to listen one last time to Jumpin’ Jeff Jones and his Morning Zoo Crew, but it appears they’ve been given the boot in favor of some guy who calls himself ‘That Thar Wolfhound.’ You want to cry, but you’re worried you’ll ruin your makeup, right before work. And that brings you to Stage Five of Radio Format Change Grief.
ACCEPTANCE
Face it. The world is changing and so are you. It was time for you to switch to Lite Rock KISS 94 anyway. I mean, you aren’t getting any younger. So goodbye, Evanescence. Hello Celine Dion. Yes, it’s hard to take now, but you’ll get over it- at least until the next format change comes along…
>A number of years back the country station I listened to announced they were changing format (to hard rock) and gave the date of the change.Unfortunately for me, they decided to change over a week earlier – unannounced. I woke up to hard rock blaring out of the clock radio at 5 a.m.Change sucks.
>LOL! Stations in NY are always changing their format, that’s why I only listen to my ipod in the car…and I never know any of the latest, coolest songs.
>Teehee… this is hilarious! My country station randomly changed to Classical one day.. not that I dislike classical, but it really wasn’t what I was looking for!Thank goodness, during the bargaining phase, I DID find that they had moved to another frequency… Sorry it didn’t turn out that way for you!
>This is exactly why I no longer listen to the radio in my car. CDs and my Sansa Fuze for the win.Of course, I live in Hicksville, Ill., where all anyone wants to listen to is country, so I couldn’t even FIND Jesse McCartney on the radio dial if I wanted to!
>And it is not like we have THAT many stations to begin with in Nashville (that aren’t country). If it is the station that I think you are talking about, here’s what happened.–For a few days, it was FrankFM. Frank Sinatra 24/7…I mean WTF.–Then a few days later it switched to country…cuz that’s what N’ville needed…one more freakin country station—Then a few day’s later it landed on “Party”…as we didnt’ already have that with the River station. Oh well, I didn’t move to N’ville with delusions that the non-country music scene would be fab.
>When I first moved to my town (in West TN) I found the greatest alternative station in the history of tha whole world! One fateful day, it changed to a Pop-like format. That was the first (and last) time I ever heard a Britney song in it’s entire-a-tay. I’m still not over THAT!Once while on a trip a bit south from here, I was unable to find ONE station that wasn’t country.I may come from a recovering-redneck-not-white-trash-by-the-grace-of-God family, but my parents taught me better than that.Nowadays I either listen to satellite radio or a local talk station so I know what to be outraged about around here.
>I felt the same way when my favorite country station went to rock. Switched to the all news station for awhile in protest, but that was too depressing.
>”It”, I first listened when 102.5 made the country switch- That’s when I went through my five stages of grief. The next night, they had become “LED 102.” All Led Zeppelin, all the time. I didn’t even hear the Frank Sinatra day! I had given up by then. 102.5 came up with a pretty good publicity ploy, I guess. But emotionally, I WAS PUT THROUGH THE RINGER.
>The last time I encountered a radio format change I don’t think I made it past the anger stage. In protest I started listening to talk radio and my dial has been stuck there ever since.Of course in my car the radio usually isn’t playing. I usually hook up my iPod if I’m alone or play whichever kid’s CD Princess demands, er, requests.
>I have experienced this horror, and I feel your pa … Wait. YOU HAVE AN ALL LED ZEPPELIN STATION? OMG!
>Our cool, independent radio station when I lived in NC (they refused to play any Spice Girls or Hansen, so this was a while ago.) got bought by the great radio corporation. For about a week, they were all Beatles, all the time. I kinda liked it. Then they because generic pop, and I gave up and just began listening to NPR, or my own tapes (I told you this was a while ago, and it wasn’t a new car!)
>Celine Dion is not acceptable. Keep dialing, for the love of God.
>We moved to Atlanta the same month 99X came on the air in ’92. Angst literally grew up on it. They changed to pop last spring, and I’m still a little depressed about it.
>I’m from Atlanta and I’m depressed about the 99X format change, too. LOVED that station.
>10 years ago, our country station went to classic rock. Last year they changed back to country. LOLThat’s why I have Sirius. No changing formats, and no LA Weight Loss commercials. WOrth the $12.95 a month.
>And this is why I have Satellite radio in my car. I just can’t handle this kind of change.
>Oh the rage, the eternal rage when one of my perfect stations goes and does something stupid like that. Just last week or so one of my favorite rock stations (and I barely even like rock so to say it was a favorite means alot) up and went to straight dialog all day. Look, I have a 3 year old, if I want to hear someone talk all day and especially in my car…I have that hand made, I want music……gah
>This is funny to me because I’ve almost forgotten that radio even exists!;) I only listen to my CDs, and no…I don’t know many current songs;) To my credit though, I live in a small mountain town with one radio station. I gave up on them a long time ago.
>Lindsay, XM radio is a good thing.
>You are HILARIOUS!Glad I listened to my sad, but reliable, CD collection in the car this morning. 😉
>Oh yes, the dreaded format change…I am glad you mentioned feeling some sympathy for the folks who got booted that worked on that station. I am a radio DJ, and that is the crappiest thing. The DJs rarely have any notice either. I am now in a small market country station (and for the record, I don’t call anyone “tootse” when they call, or have some stupid name like “wolfhound’ LOL). the pay is not nearly as good as in a large market, but the job security is much better. It sucks. It is all about money. I am very sorry you lost your station! But usually, when a format change occurs, someone else will move in on the abandoned format…it is a vicous circle!!
>Maybe it’s time to try satellite radio.
>Sad to say, but I’m ALL about the free! Hell, I just have basic cable and no TIVO- do you really think I’m going to shell out $13/month for satellite radio? Although I must admit, it sounds DIVINE.
>So here’s my tale of woe: Years ago, I listened to a particular station here in Seattle for it’s morning DJs. The music I couldn’t have cared less about but those djs, dammit, they were funny and made my drive to work much more manageable. Sadly they ended their relationship with that station during contract negotiations.So I was without them for months.Then one day I miraculously found them on another station that had just changed formats from country to rock. I was overjoyed. Until one day about 6 months later…they were gone again. The rock station changed into a “we have no format we’ll play Kiss one minute then Kool and the Gang the next” kind of station. For the love of God could they just give us a heads up instead of pulling the plug without warning. I’m just sayin’
>I applied the stages of grief to acceptance of Barney last week. So yeah, I totally hear you. At least in NYC the only radio worth listening to is NPR which makes it a little easier.
>XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM XM
>Don’t give in, Lindsay! Don’t cross over to easy listening — aka The Dork Side!(I’m NOT from Atlanta and even I mourned the death of teh awesomest 99X, which I always listened to whenever I in town. How COULD they? *sniff*)
>Eh…Rebecca Bain and Early Edition on NPR in Nashville are better listens anyway. Invest in some greatest hits CDs and call it a day.
>If you’re in California and the radio station undergoes a format change, it always turns into a Mexican station. Although I think I prefer Mexican to country!
>It might be time for Sirius. 🙂
>And then you moved onto XM radio where you get whole stations dedicated to 80’s, 90’s or today or you can have them combined. And best of all, NO COMMERICALS.
>Satellite radio is the way to go….though I have found Sirius to be WAY better than XM….more format selections…..and Sirius also offers a “Lifetime” membership….a one time fee and all the access to all the music you want! I have yet to own that luxury myself….so for now….my iPod is my best friend!
>Yeah…my favorite morning team (that I have been listening to since I was 10 years old)was recently replaced by some young hipster dufuses. It was devastating!!
>Whenever this has happened to me I feel all out of sorts for days. It’s traumatic. I wander around sort of lost for days rethinking my whole existence. Not really, but finding a new station sucks.
>So what does it say about me, then, when I giggle like a school girl every time I hear the new name of my fav station, “Virgin Radio,” and hum, “Like a Virgin. Hey. Touched for the very first time…” ?????
>Been there, done that….poorly ;)Where I work, only three stations come in; one was a classic rock FM station that was great. Then one day, I come into work and the mood of the room is like someone beloved just died…which is just what happened: the station had changed format. Now, all that emanated from the radio was Spanish-speaking gibberish with music that sounded like a bad cross between a crazed polka fest and a bad Taco Bell commercial.Grrrrr….
>only you would find such a witty way to describe this scenario!
>why I love satellite radio and an iPod. My stations kept changing faster than I could blink. My favorite Christian station is now Mexican.
>Hahaha! Come on, tell me you didn’t like Led Zeppelin day, or even better, Frank Sinatra day! I was completely mind-boggled the morning I went to take my son to school and they were playing TV show theme songs. Heh.I miss the V. I loved the 80s and 90s portion of it. Too few stations play those songs anymore.
>Satellite radio is worth every penny. Ipods are too much freaking work! Like I have time to select and download nine billion different songs…I barely have time to make a decent grocery list. Cave, Lindsay. Get XM. (And TiVo – good grief, what are you thinking, woman?)
>Celine? Oh come now… surely there’s some hope! There’s got to be a better way! I mean, she’s definitely wrist-slitting tunage. Don’t Do IT!
>A-HA!! Another Mom brave enough to admit her OCD reasoning skills! I wrote a very similar post on losing weight called Mama Got Back. I like your blog! Blessings, Whitney