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So they shifted the 103.9 programming to its new 100.3 dial setting. Taking over the 103.9 slot will be a brand new all-gospel station, undeniably a far more viable market than top sellers like Linkin Park and Green Day.
Ahem.
Anyway, following the switch, tens of thousands of alternative fans swarmed a new Y100Rocks.com Web site to speak out on the death of a long-standing staple to Philadelphia-area music: The Alternative Station.
To see exactly what the vibe is like out there in alterna-land, I checked into a local mall to get the word from those who would be most affected by the programming flip: teenagers.
"The only reason I'd ever turn off my CD changer was to listen to (Y100)," said 19-year-old Aaron Young of Upper Providence. "It was the only good radio station left." "It wasn't one of my favorite radio stations, but they filled a niche," put in his friend, Benjamin Miller de Seife, 17, of Upper Darby.
"It puts a big hole in the spectrum of radio," said Young. Alicia Israel, 13, said she plans to start listening to The Beat more now that it's at a noticeably more powerful station.
This has been the explanation for the move from station owner Radio One's perspective: They are self-professed "urban specialists," meaning hip-hop, R&B, Gospel, etc.
Which means in the Philly market that they want to compete with sovereign urban station Power 99 (WUSL-FM 98.9), right? Therefore, they move the whole "urban" shebang over to a more powerful signal, right? So what if they shun alterna-rockers in the process - that's business, right?
Right. And now an entire demographic is shut out of the radio market altogether, forced to search for the music it enjoys in arenas not at all geared to its tastes. (As Young said, the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd are good bands, but everything has a saturation point, even classic rock.)
"Why not just flip Y100 into the 103.9 slot and not fire the entire Y100 staff?" was the question I wanted to ask Radio One execs, but they never called me back.
Now, I stopped listening to most modern rock stations at around the same time Kurt Cobain offed himself. This was quickly followed by a steady stream of bands like Creed and Staind and Limp Bizkit getting more airtime and forcing my hand further down the dial.
But Y100 was actually the only "big time" station where you could occasionally catch something worth listening to. It was rare, but it happened. And here's the kicker - once Y100 went off the air, it became about 10 million times better.
See, the station's broadcasting team now resides online at Live365.com (a radio Web site) and is more or less running the station the way they always wanted.
The playlists now feature bands like Fugazi, Hot Hot Heat, Tenacious D, Guided By Voices, The Chemical Brothers, Bad Religion, The Specials, PJ Harvey, and dozens of local acts. While the local angle is not new to Y100, the rest of it is undoubtedly an upgrade, right?
Well, that hasn't stopped people from attempting to get Y100 back on the air. Young actually got a bit excited when I pulled out my notepad, thinking I had a petition with me. He hadn't heard of the online petition at Y100Rocks.com, but by press time Thursday, 42,761 people had.
Jim Mcguinn, former program director at Y100, also reported that the Live365 station is one of the most listened-to online radio stations in the world.
The Y100Rocks.com site has also received sponsorship from design company Hypno, Revolution Retail, Dinerware of Philadelphia, and Electric Factory Concerts, which is also allowing Y100 to book an upcoming Sum 41 show.
Meanwhile, message boards and blog sites are overflowing with a call to arms as Y100 fans organize themselves into the kind of aggressive grassroots movement usually reserved for something like winning civil rights for second-class citizens.
In this case, the energy is being funneled into bringing Fuel, Nickelback and yes, even the occasional Ramones song, back to local airwaves. You can also expect much of that energy will be expressed live and loud at a Y100 rally at 3 p.m. tomorrow at JFK Plaza in Philly.
A pipedream, you say? Never happen, you say? Oh Ho! Let's remember that this same thing very nearly sort of worked in Washington, D.C., earlier this year when Infinity Broadcasting replaced the famous modern rock station WHFS with El Zol, a Spanish-language format bent on capturing D.C.'s Latino market.
After a petition campaign to bring back HFS, the FM talk station Live 105.7 in Baltimore picked up the station's personalities and playlists for airtime in the evenings and on weekends.
WHFS, like Y100, also continues as a 24/7 online radio station.
For former Y100 D.J. Matt Cord, who found out about the switch Wednesday night, the change over at the end of the broadcast day Thursday came as something of a shock. "It was very surreal," he said. "It was like a dream. Like a bad dream."
Cord had been the afternoon drive-time guy at the station for the last seven years. He is currently looking for a new job, but said he would jump back onto Y100 if the petition works out.
He also wanted to thank his fans for their loyalty over the years and said he would be back on the air as soon as possible.
"I don't like the time off at all," he said. "We'll all be back on soon. It's just a little hiatus."
News from Y100Rocks.com
There is a Web site at Y100Rocks.com, which addresses the change in format at Y100 radio. Here are a few highlights from the Web site for people interested in Y100's future: n Explanation: On Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005, 100.3 FM, WPLY, Y100, was taken off the air. After nearly 12 years at 100.3, Alternative Rock disappeared from the Philadelphia radio landscape. With it went the musical companion of more than 500,000 residents of the Delaware Valley.
Y100Rocks.com is being put together to give the fans and staff of Y100 a place to come to share, to vent, and to work together towards the future. To do this, we have set up a few things.
* Petition: A petition to protest the loss of Y100 is being circulated. Click on the Web site and send a message to the owners of Radio One to demand that they return Y100 to 100.3 fm immediately.
* Join the E-mail List - We are gathering all e-mail addresses so that we can inform you all at the same time about Y100Rocks.com updates, concerts and all things that rock. Join the club.
* Y100 Rocks.com is bringing Sum 41 and Unwritten Law to the Electric Factory on April 13.
* A rally is set for 3 p.m. Saturday at JFK Plaza, Philadelphia.
