Krth 101 personality changes - weekends purged?

[TheBigA]

My question is: Why don't they? Why maintain such mind-numbing repetition?

There are dozens of threads on this board that all ask the same exact question. It's been answered with MIND NUMBING REPETITION and you simply don't like the answer.

The older you get, the more this kind of thing will bother you. Trust me, we've done studies. Babies love mind-numbing repetition. Their favorite word (other than no) is "Again." What's a problem for you clearly isn't a problem for a majority of their listeners, most of whom are probably younger than you. If it was, we'd see different results in the ratings.

So do us all a favor and please MOVE ON.

 

[MadMan]

Gee that's kind of rough for Steve? Back around page one or two I had mentioned there might be some wholesale changes with the Weekend lineup after the new PD was hired & the APD was overlooked. I was somewhat accused of starting a rumor, why it even got back to Don. We never learned why Brian Roberts did one shift either? Personally I don't think you can play the new music using older announcers? I feel that same way listening to Madison on First Wave, just in reverse!

 

[davideduardo]

K.M., KRTH's everyday playlist is estimated to be between 300 and 400 songs. An average of 16 songs per hour means KRTH plays 384 songs a day. There is absolutely no reason that any song should be played three or four times a day. And you can't use the argument that the overplayed songs are the "biggest hits" and "test well." Every song on KRTH is a big hit and tests well. As I said, KRTH is more repetitious than ever. And MadMan is correct: a playlist discussion has nothing to do with the "personality changes" at KRTH. What can really be said? Four DJs and a DJ/APD were fired. Until we can see if the firings (and Scott Shannon's show) have any effect on the ratings, there isn't much to discuss. So...let's have Scott lock this thread and we can all move on.

There are only 12 songs playing 21 to 24 times a week. All the rest play less. Only 11 more play 14 times a week up to 20 times a week.

23 songs. All the rest play less than 11 times a week.

Given that a third of all plays are in 10 PM to 6 AM, when nearly nobody is listening to any station, the best thing to do is work the math of the 6 AM to 10 PM... or even 6 AM to 7 PM, which is when most of the audience and almost all the sales lie in radio.

The average person is not going to sense repetition in any given week, and very little in a two week period. Obviously, the rotation mechanics work well.

Yes, all songs test well. But some test better. It's like a test in high school. a D or worse will flunk you, and will knock you off the team if you are varsity. But you'd really rather get an A than a C, particularly if you aspire to a career or college.

So KRTH tries to play the "A" songs more than the "C" songs. Can you blame them?

 

[TheBigA]

I used to be a regular at a chili bar in town that had a great jukebox. Lots of classic rock and country. Yet every time I was there, someone had Patsy Cline's "Crazy" punched in pretty much every other song. ANY TIME OF DAY. It got where I could name that tune on the first note. It was their song, and they wanted to hear it, and obviously never tired of it. We are creatures of habit. We marry one person for life (well, most of us do), we stay at the same job, take the same route, live in the same place, sleep on the same side of the bed, root for the same team, quite often wear the same clothes, get our hair cut the same way, and on and on. That's how it is. Like that Budweiser commercial: Why ask why? We just do what we do because it works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's why. OK? Let's talk about something else.

 

[AM FM listener]

Before this site abrubtly shut down, I thought we had a pretty fair amount of debate betwen the nostalgic radio fans and the radio professionals. Since the site's reboot, I think such debates have become even more repetitive. It seems the nostagic fans are angrier than ever that they have aged out of radio's most valuable demo. It also seems the professionals are more determined than ever to change the minds of these nostalgic fans. For some reason, I am compelled to read these ongoing debates even though I am always disapointed when I do. It is like looking at the Family Circle comic every day. It is always bad but I keep looking at it. [Credit the movie "Go" for the Family Circle reference.]

 

[TheBigA]

It also seems the professionals are more determined than ever to change the minds of these nostalgic fans.

I have no interest in changing anyone's minds. I don't think anyone else does. We do what we do because it works. That's the answer. No discussion necessary.

There are 15,000 radio stations in this country, and a lot of them stream. We encourage you to find one you like, lock it in, and rip the knob off.

 

[K.M. Richards]

It also seems the professionals are more determined than ever to change the minds of these nostalgic fans.

I'm not trying to change their minds, I'm trying to get them to accept reality.

 

[joebtsflk1]

Even with a wildly eclectic oldies stream like the one I administer, we only have 600 songs. We simply can't find many more that fit the thematics of Hard Livin', Hard Lovin' southern rock, pop/country crossovers of the 60s and 70s* without watering down the concept. Still, that's 30 hours of content. A person would have to listen for a long time if it's just in one or two hour sessions before they'd exhaust the playlist.

*Yeah, its a unique niche. Done for grins and giggles, primarily.

 

[joebtsflk1]

It is like looking at the Family Circle comic every day. It is always bad but I keep looking at it. [Credit the movie "Go" for the Family Circle reference.]

Family Circle is a magazine. Family Circus is the comic strip drawn in a circle. But it's square.

All right, I'm going to bed.

(If it's hip to be square, is it ankle to be rectangle? Damn, I think I could write for Jeff Keane..)

 

[LKellerIII]

For those baby boomers who are 'angry' that radio has abandoned their demographic, I have a suggestion - MP3. It's exteremely easy, and relatively inexpensive to build your own Classic Rock, Oldies, or any other kind of playlist. I downloaded a song yesterday as I was commuting on public transit. If you consider that 45 rpm singles cost $1.00 in 1968, it means that a typical $1.29 song download in 2014 is costing you the equivalant of .15 cents in 1968 dollars.

And of course, there's Pandora, IHeart, and Spotify, which will allow you to build playlists even cheaper, if you don't mind 'renting' your music.

As a radio fan, I used to enjoy the formatics of it - the DJs, the jingles, and all that. But that is pretty much gone now anyway - most rock stations are now voice-tracked juke-boxes. And I don't miss the commercials.

 

[Thomps2525]

It's simple---I'm a complainer. And I don't know how you can insist that the average KRTH listeners hears any particular song only once or twice a week. I picked five of KRTH's most-played songs and went back to midnight yesterday morning. Look at the airplay in the past 36 hours:

September: 3:26 AM, 1:16 PM, 9:29, PM, 1:21 AM, 5:!8 AM, 11:23 AM
I Melt With You: 1:26 AM, 5:44 AM, 10:56 AM, 3:51 PM, 8:16 PM, 2:18 AM, 6:56 AM, 11:26 AM
Old Time Rock & Roll: 2:14 AM, 6:47 AM, 2:35 PM, 8:23 PM, 1:19 AM, 11:56 AM
Don't You Forget About Me: 3:29 AM, 11:58 AM, 12:27 PM, 4:08 AM, 9:01 AM
Sweet Home Alabama: 4:40 AM, 10:02 AM, 4:27 PM, 10:09 PM, 2:45 AM, 9:31 AM

One of those was played eight times in a day and a half. Of all the songs that KRTH plays four or five times a day, many of them air within 30 minutes of the times they were played on the previous day. Anyone who listens between, say, nine and ten in the morning will likely hear several songs at least six times a week. Of course that's to be expected when KRTH's active playlist isn't much larger than the KIIS playlist.

 

[CTListener]

It's simple---I'm a complainer. And I don't know how you can insist that the average KRTH listeners hears any particular song only once or twice a week. I picked five of KRTH's most-played songs and went back to midnight yesterday morning. Look at the airplay in the past 36 hours:

September: 3:26 AM, 1:16 PM, 9:29, PM, 1:21 AM, 5:!8 AM, 11:23 AM
I Melt With You: 1:26 AM, 5:44 AM, 10:56 AM, 3:51 PM, 8:16 PM, 2:18 AM, 6:56 AM, 11:26 AM
Old Time Rock & Roll: 2:14 AM, 6:47 AM, 2:35 PM, 8:23 PM, 1:19 AM, 11:56 AM
Don't You Forget About Me: 3:29 AM, 11:58 AM, 12:27 PM, 4:08 AM, 9:01 AM
Sweet Home Alabama: 4:40 AM, 10:02 AM, 4:27 PM, 10:09 PM, 2:45 AM, 9:31 AM

One of those was played eight times in a day and a half. Of all the songs that KRTH plays four or five times a day, many of them air within 30 minutes of the times they were played on the previous day. Anyone who listens between, say, nine and ten in the morning will likely hear several songs at least six times a week. Of course that's to be expected when KRTH's active playlist isn't much larger than the KIIS playlist.

But the songs consistently test through the roof. Average listeners aren't tired of them. In fact, they love them. Except for "Don't You Forget About Me," which somehow got two spins in less than an hour (Can this be right? Were you listening or are you just looking at a playlist that may be subject to error?) the average worker only hears each of the songs once a day. And don't forget, these people are WORKING and using the radio as background noise. Even if they were to hear a song at 9:25 and again at 4:20, 99 percent of them would never notice.

 

[TheBigA]

It's simple---I'm a complainer. And I don't know how you can insist that the average KRTH listeners hears any particular song only once or twice a week.

It doesn't matter. Let me say it again: It doesn't matter. People love hearing their favorites. They love hearing them over and over again. When they hear their favorite song, it's like they're making love again. Can you understand? Maybe they DO hear them 6 times a day. If they didn't like it, they'd stop listening, and so far, that hasn't happened.

Let me say it again: We do it because it works. That's why we do it. It works. It's getting great ratings. If it didn't work, you might have a point. So find something else to complain about.

 

[LKellerIII]

It doesn't matter. Let me say it again: It doesn't matter. People love hearing their favorites. They love hearing them over and over again. When they hear their favorite song, it's like they're making love again. Can you understand? Maybe they DO hear them 6 times a day. If they didn't like it, they'd stop listening, and so far, that hasn't happened.

Let me say it again: We do it because it works. That's why we do it. It works. It's getting great ratings. If it didn't work, you might have a point. So find something else to complain about.

I can vouch for that. Only the type of people who would post at a radio discussion board are noticing the repetition. Most people don't care. Also - what kind of radio were baby boomers brought up on? Top 40 (or 30) of course - with constant repetition of 30 or 40 songs, with the occasional recent "golden" to break the monotony.

A story - about 10 years ago, I was still working in a cubicle. The woman over the partition (baby boomer, too) played a local 'old school' station constantly. It was driving me nuts because I kept hearing the same songs over and over ("Let's Stay Together," Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," "Got to Give It Up," etc.) I finally pointed out to her (in an irritated tone, I'm sure ) that her station played the same few songs over and over. She just shrugged, and looked at me like I was being an a__hole. If she had even noticed, it was clear that she liked it that way.

 

[Art Landing]

Except for "Don't You Forget About Me," which somehow got two spins in less than an hour (Can this be right? Were you listening or are you just looking at a playlist that may be subject to error?).

Actually I don't think so - this was a 36 hour period, The two spins within an hour appear to actually have been 23 hours apart. But your main point is quite vaild - most music station listeners are using the radio for background and aren't keeping track. What I find astonishing about this continual focus on KRTH is that the "big three" from iHeart Media - KISS, KBIG and KOST - are so seldom mentioned, What makes KRTH so unique that the others seemingly don't count??

 

[TheBigA]

What makes KRTH so unique that the others seemingly don't count??

Nothing. A handful of posters are obsessed with this station. The other three appeal to younger, mostly female listeners, none of whom seem to post here.

 

[Thomps2525]

Hey, it isn't my fault that I'm not young and female! As for the declaration that "people love hearing their favorites," how is it that KRTH's listeners never seem to get sick and tired of hearing their favorites over and over and over and over and over? How is it that their favorites remain favorites? Of the many hundreds of songs that used to be my favorites, I am now sick of hearing most of them because they've been played to death for decades. KOST and KBIG are typical of AC stations: a small playlist and a lot of repetition. Oldies/classic-hits stations, on the other hand, have usually had large playlists and very little repetition and that is why those of us who remember the KRTH of the 1970s are more likely to complain now. I don't object to KRTH dropping '60s and adding '80s. I object to KRTH cutting the playlist from 1000 songs to what seems like no more than 200.

But look! I have news that actually relates to the topic of this thread! Maggie McKay has joined KRTH for weekends. After eight years at KCBS-FM, she joined KFWB as a part-timer in 2005. From 2010 until September 2014, when KFWB switched to a sports format, she co-anchored the afternoon news with Michael Shappee. She also worked at KSRF, KMGX, KXEZ and KIBB.

 

[michael hagerty]

It's simple---I'm a complainer. And I don't know how you can insist that the average KRTH listeners hears any particular song only once or twice a week. I picked five of KRTH's most-played songs and went back to midnight yesterday morning. Look at the airplay in the past 36 hours:

September: 3:26 AM, 1:16 PM, 9:29, PM, 1:21 AM, 5:!8 AM, 11:23 AM
I Melt With You: 1:26 AM, 5:44 AM, 10:56 AM, 3:51 PM, 8:16 PM, 2:18 AM, 6:56 AM, 11:26 AM
Old Time Rock & Roll: 2:14 AM, 6:47 AM, 2:35 PM, 8:23 PM, 1:19 AM, 11:56 AM
Don't You Forget About Me: 3:29 AM, 11:58 AM, 12:27 PM, 4:08 AM, 9:01 AM
Sweet Home Alabama: 4:40 AM, 10:02 AM, 4:27 PM, 10:09 PM, 2:45 AM, 9:31 AM

One of those was played eight times in a day and a half. Of all the songs that KRTH plays four or five times a day, many of them air within 30 minutes of the times they were played on the previous day. Anyone who listens between, say, nine and ten in the morning will likely hear several songs at least six times a week. Of course that's to be expected when KRTH's active playlist isn't much larger than the KIIS playlist.

Actually, from that, if I listened between nine and ten in the morning, I'd have heard "Don't You Forget About Me" once, "Sweet Home Alabama" once and the rest not at all.

 

[Thomps2525]

I can see that I should have included Hotel California, Don't Stop Believin' and The Logical Song on that list. There are around 15 to 20 songs that get played four times a day---every day. Perhaps KRTH's typical listeners don't find that frequency to be excessive...but I do. And KRTH plays very few songs that I'm not sick of and which I won't turn off as soon as I hear them begin. I'm glad I have XM Radio.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

It has nothing to do with the original topic, Scott, and you are correct in presuming that any thread about KRTH will be turned into a discussion of its playlist ... because some people (and they know who they are) can't seem to help but push the conversation into that pointless direction.

And some other people, and they know who they are, can't ever let a comment they don't agree with go and insist on having the last word.

Everyone knows who everyone else is.