Eulogy For Y100

Others have already written on the passing (registration required; just hit BugMeNot for a username/password combo) of Y100 from the radio scene, but I felt it warranted further comment.
I’d actually seen this one coming, as an email pointing me to Y100rocks.com arrived early yesterday, so I wasn’t completely surprised to hear “Welcome to the new 100 point 3, ‘The Beat!’, yo!” blaring from my car stereo this morning.
I know I probably shouldn’t get worked into a lather over this one, but I’m pretty angry right now. I understand that situations change and that media companies, for one reason or another, are often forced to make tough decisions and sometimes even take the drastic step of switching formats. What I really don’t appreciate is the unceremonious way in which this transition has been handled. There was no advanced warning to any of the Y100 listening audience, at least not from official (read: “on air”) sources, with the only clues to anything being amiss left in the Philadelphia Daily News.
Y100 has developed a large, faithful fan following in the Philadelphia metro area and has contributed greatly to local charities, including the Philadelphia Area Foodbanks, Toys for Tots and many others. They routinely put together great concerts and multi-band festivals, such as their legendary Feztival and Feastival concerts. They were also responsible for the wonderful “Sonic Sessions” series which featured big name bands’ live performances captured in a very small studio setting, often with less than 50 people in the audience. I’d really like to know what the eventual disposition of that catalog of live music is, as I was genuinely hoping for a complete reissue of the series.
All is not lost, however. Y100’s morning team of broadcasters (the “Preston & Steve” crew) are going to take a brief (contractually-mandated, I believe) break and then resume morning broadcasts in August on Y100’s one-time competitor, WMMR (93.3fm on the dial). Rumor also has it that 95.7 (“The Mix”) will soon flip to an alternative/rock mix, so Philly may only briefly be without the services of a modern rock station.
Eventually, Philly will get over this loss, I’m sure; in true Philly fashion, though, I believe the whining will probably continue for years – people are still miffed over the loss of WDRE and Eagle 106. In the short term, Radio One (the owners of Y100) and the management at Y100 have demonstrated just how poorly a station can treat their staff and loyal listeners. I wish the DJs looking for jobs the best of luck and I hope the management and ownership suffer tremendous financial losses as punishment for their underhanded, sniveling and cowardly actions.