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Platinum memories

As of noon last Friday, Platinum 96.7 is no longer on the DFW airwaves. I, being completely honest and not having a tongue anywhere near my cheek, will miss this station. Even though a friend of mine in the industry jokingly called their format "wrist-cutting music," I was quite partial to the format.

For those that aren't from the DFW area, Platinum was a soft rock station. Playing stuff like America's "I Need You" to James Taylor's "Handy Man" to Carole King's "It's Too Late" to Elton John's "Daniel," this was the kind of format that I listened to as a kid while riding with my mother in our Cadillac. There was Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, and some Motown throw in as well as many one/two-hit wonders from the 1970s.

The station featured some radio talent I had worked with in my time in the area. Some of them I've kept up with thanks to the wonders of Facebook. So it wasn't fun to hear about them losing their gigs on Friday. Since they've gone through format switches and what-all before, they will land on their feet somewhere else.

But still, I'm really getting the sense that the soft rock format is going the way of the dinosaur. I know, I know, there are target demographics that pay the bills, and the demos are usually younger, but I don't even know if HD radio or satellite radio has such formats. As much as I've loved what I've heard on HD and satellite radios, I'm still quite hesitant to jump in with either.

Like the lite rock format and the smooth jazz, the soft rock format is pleasant to have on while you work. It's not too soft but it's not too loud. Even though I jam out to the Dillinger Escape Plan in my car, I can't really work my gig with it on.

So, aside from my extreme personal bias, I wouldn't be against the soft rock format popping up somewhere else in the area.

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