ALICE COOPER's Show Helps Bolster FM Radio's Ratings
June 11, 2005Susan Whitall of The Arizona Republic has issued the following report:
There's no hiding Alice Cooper. Even without discernible makeup, speaking in his workaday accent, the shock rocker can't help but emanate color and personality.
That color spills over onto local airwaves as his classic rock radio show — broadcast "from a radioactive dump somewhere in Monument Valley" in Arizona — airs on KDKB-FM (93.3) in Phoenix, WCSX-FM in Detroit and 59 other U.S. markets.
"It's time that radio becomes less corporate," says Cooper, who grew up in northeast Phoenix and graduated from Cortez High school. "I try to format it the way (legendary Detroit station) WABX was, free-form radio."
Cooper takes the air at WCSX as celebrity disc jockeys crop up across the country, such as former Sex Pistol Steve Jones on Indie 103 in Los Angeles, and Steven Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen's guitarist and "Sopranos" actor who has a syndicated show. Stations are trying to compete with satellite radio's personality-rich programming, such as Howard Stern starting on Sirius in 2006, and even Martha Stewart inking a deal to appear on Sirius.
The irony is that when radio stations tightened formats to limited music play lists and neutered air personalities, ratings dropped and helped spur the explosion of satellite radio and iPod downloads. Now, to bring listeners back, FM radio is forced to add personality and life to what listeners view as boring, repetitive fare.
Read the rest of the article at AZCentral.com.
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