CBS Radio is usually known for great processing on it's internet streams. However, the stream for 107.5 KXJM sounds absolutely horrible. The processing sounds like what I would expect to hear on a pirate radio station. The processing on the air signal (107.5) doesn't sound that much better. Why is the engineering staff ignoring KXJM???

Also...am I imagining things, or has Jammin' 107-5 increased the pitch of the music?

>>Why is the engineering staff ignoring KXJM??? <<

Do they still HAVE an "engineering staff"? CBS laid off the Portland DOE a few months ago.

I noticed that their analog FM sounded pretty weak too... punching back and forth between Z100 (kids in car) the difference was obvious.

A side note, the kids did notice that the songs on Z100 are pitched up and thought that was pretty strange. I had to explain to them why anyone would do that... they still thought it was stupid.

My teens are down on Z100 right now. It varies from month to month, mostly depending on what they have on the tight playlist. It's either hot or not.

Fickle group!

The pitch up is a non-issue for my kids. They hear it, mostly don't care. Overly aggressive cuts into and out of the tunes do piss them off though. Mostly the lead out. If that gets in the way of the last bit of the tune, they feel ripped off.

Jumping in late at the beginning isn't such a big deal. They don't seem to mind that at all. We've never really spoken about this part of things, I just watch what they do.

IMHO, the constant channel hopping they do is part of this. Unless the tunes they are into are back to back, they almost never get the intro, because they've arrived after a channel change.

That makes the lead out way more important.

At least that's how my kids appear to work!

Z100 pitches it up WAY to much... I think it sounds terrible. 1.8+ MAX... just enough but not too much. 1.5+ is ideal.

Of course, I think NOT pitching it up at all is usually the best thing to do!!

Pitch change can be the result of too much bit error rate. Conversely, too much forced pitch change can create excessive bit error rate.

Take your pick.

Hopefully tommy Austin will Fix the pitch rate on Z100 because it sounds like SHIT!!!! The artists sounds like Chipmunks! When Tommy Austin Was PD for Z100 the pitch was never this bad!

Who is the boner at Cheap channel who increased the pitch? They need a swift kick in the pants!

For the most part, I'll agree with MissingKSKD's comments about his teens. The same is true for mine and their friends. However, I wouldn't say they are down on Z100. They are currently "channel hoppers". They find what they like and stay till something they don't like starts and then they go down their buttons till they land on something they like and stay until the commercials start or a tune they don't like starts. They have about 5-6 stations they sample in some kind of rotation that only they understand but Z100 is one of them. They sample Jammin but usually move on. Depends on the song. That is not one of their favorites, but they'll listen.

Yeah totally!

They are only down on the Z because it's not producing like they expect it to in that bizzare rotation. That's all. As soon as the winds shift this way or that, it will be another station not meeting those fleeting expectations!

I do find it interesting how often they will land on Charlie, and listen to something there for a while. It's like the random, station of last resort, maybe there is something cool on station for them.

According to an insider, Mr. Bridgeman (PD) is the guy that needs a "swift kick in the pants." He has reportedly bumped up the pitch, +3.5%, which is absolutely ridiculous! Just imagine how much better Z100's ratings could be, without the insane pitch increase!

Yeah, but it's EXCITING, and there is more room for ADS, or they get another tune per hour or some other thing.

Hmmm... so you've got a ton of channel surfers, surfing. You want your share right? So it's like the lotto. Hammer home the hits, and that 3.5 percent times a ton of people means a slight advantage in the ear mind share lottery.

That all has to equal a point or two in the book, and it's FREE!

It's the sign of a PD relying on gimmicks rather than his programming skills.

That's what happens when you let a PD touch the knobs. Ha.
Of course, Z100 has never targeted anyone over the age of 12, so a crappy sound has little impact.

Exactly! They will listen to the lousy sound on U-Tube all day long.

Z100 wants (younger) adult listeners, and the pitch increase is enough to drive them away.

New York's Z100 has the pitch adjusted to +1.5, which is much less offensive. Portland's Z100 would be wise to follow it's big sister!

I've seen many discussions on why radio stations speed up music with many different ideas, some likely to be true and some not. The most viable hypothesis that I have come across is that if there are two or more stations in a market whose playlists overlap by a considerable amount--call them Station X and Station Y--Station X can differentiate itself against Station Y by slightly speeding up its music. Station X's music will sound more peppy and exciting, whereas Station Y, by comparison will sound like it's music is lethargic and dragging. Of course, if Station X goes overboard on speeding up its music, it will just sound goofy.

That logic might have worked 30 or 30 years ago. But now, everyone has a reference to and listens to the originally produced material via internet, i-tunes, etc. Pitching the music just makes it sound out of touch and "funny".

I think this depends a lot.

Pitch perception is loudness dependent, for one thing. Another is the discrimination everybody has. This varies a lot.

Generally, I agree though. Just saying it's not exactly cut 'n dried. I remain convinced it's to cram in an extra spot or two, more than anything else.

I agree with Flyonthewall, Z100%!

Tommy Austin needs to step in, and adjust Z100's pitch setting!