West Palm/Florida Markets

[John FL]

For many years I lived in Broward County and the Ft. Lauderdale area. It was rare for me to venture into Palm Beach County. I had relatives around Lake Worth and very southern West Palm Beach. To me, Palm Beach County had a completely different vibe than Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. I've long followed radio ratings and even there told a story of differences. But then again, I'm talking about the late 70s, 80s and most of the 90s. A lot has changed in Palm Beach County and in a lot of Florida as well.

I've mentioned this many times but programing in large swaths of Florida can have its challenges as much has changed over time. West Palm's WIRK-FM has been doing the country format for quite a long time. The ratings, as I remember them, showed the station at top or near the top very consistently and dependably. This represented a huge difference in the market to the south (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale) as the Country format was usually not much in the Top 10.

The full market signal stations (at least most of them) at the top of the hour ID would say something like "Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and the Palm Beaches." I haven't heard that in many years. If there's still a station that does that, it would be interesting to know.

I can only assume the Palm Beach radio market objected to that practice. Before Comcast came along buying out a small cable company that served the "Palm Aire" area of Pompano Beach, they offered a number of local West Palm TV stations. On occasion, I tuned in. Much of the news presentations were far different than what Miami offered. Again, there's was a completely different vibe and almost small town sounding way back when.

Ironically, even though I live further away on the Treasure Coast from Palm Beach County than I did when I lived in Broward, I visit there at least once a month. Driving around, I'm now surprised that Palm Beach County just cracks the Top 50 radio markets. It looks every bit like the big city with all the traffic and what seems housing and condos on every inch of ground. There tons of things to do there and it's a huge change from what I once thought.

During the Hurricane Dorian scare, all the TV news stations discussed their various radio partners. There's quite a lot of stations but there's few that can be heard from the Palm Beaches to all through the Treasure Coast. (Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River County) Hubbard Radio is a new player in West Palm and I believe they warrant discussion.

Theirs is an interesting cluster. (Hot AC, County, Classic Hits, Urban AC, Hip Hop, News/Talk, and Sports.) There's Hot AC WRMF which has been a heritage ratings winner for as long as I can remember. In one of the few instances I tuned into WRMF sometimes in much younger days. I recall Kevin Kitchens and his morning show. I think he was on for a long time. Some of the music was different than Miami/Ft. Lauderdale contemporary stations but it was to my liking.

A big change Hubbard made was flipping the long AC format WEAT-FM to Classic Hits. I don't believe West Palm has ever had a dedicated classic hits station. I could be wrong. When Miami's WMXJ was Magic 102.7, that station regularly made West Palm's ratings. I suspect there were lots of Magic listeners in the Boca/Delray area. In fact there was a time, I recall hearing contest winners who lived in Palm Beach County on Miami/Ft. Lauderdale stations. That has changed. What's also changed is Magic 102.7 has been rebranded and the music is far more rhythmic than in the past. I never see WMXJ in West Palm's ratings anymore. So apparently Hubbard saw a hole in the market. It's got a killer signal. If it weren't for a translator on 107.9 in Indian River County, WEAT FM would come in clearly there too. One day that happened. Nice while it lasted.

Sunny 107.9 (WEAT-FM) is branded as "The Greatest Hits of the 70's, 80's, and 90's." I've listened to the station on my many road trips. It's done pretty well. There's more rhythmic titles and deeper treks into the 90s than "The Treasure's Coast's Greatest Hits" WQOL but not nearly as much as Miami's 102.7 The Beach. Sunny's younger sister station WRMF has been heavily advertising "The best variety of the 2000's, 10's and today." So now they have a 70s, 80's and 90's station. It probably explains why AC was flipped. In fact there was a time West Palm seemed to have too many AC stations.

Hubbard has also heavily promoted their country format WIRK and the new rebranding of "New Country 103.1 - South Florida's Country Music." Perhaps this is to improve 25-54 numbers and skew younger. WIRK is a heritage radio station so there's probably many loyal listeners but younger listeners are being encouraged to tune into them also.

Anyway, there's lots to talk about. West Palm is an interesting media market. Much has changed there. While I know nothing about Hubbard Radio, it's good to see them make investments and promotions. I have to wonder if Hubbard would be interested in expanding to other Florida areas.

 

[TheBigA]

I have to wonder if Hubbard would be interested in expanding to other Florida areas.

Keep in mind that Hubbard is a family-owned private company, so they are less likely to go into debt to buy radio stations. This recent purchase of the Alpha stations in WPB cost about $88 million. It may be a few years before they consider spending that kind of money again.

 

[John FL]

Keep in mind that Hubbard is a family-owned private company, so they are less likely to go into debt to buy radio stations. This recent purchase of the Alpha stations in WPB cost about $88 million. It may be a few years before they consider spending that kind of money again.

Appreciate the info. As I mentioned in my opening, I literally know nothing about the company except that I'm impressed by what I'm seeing this far in their West Palm cluster.

There's a few other Palm Beach County stations I'd like to mention. One is News/Talk WJNO-AM. We've seen a trend where the AMer is given a boost via at least a translator so as to have availability on the FM. In some markets, news/talk has been given a good FM signal. That's not the case with WJNO. The station appears to be holding their own. Perhaps the owner, iHeartMedia, doesn't believe making an investment into FM is worth it for the market.

In the Miami/Ft. Laduerdale market, some years ago, iHeart's news/talk WIOD added a simulcast on 100.3 via a translator. I believe that is no longer the case. In looking at WIOD's website, there is no mention of 100.3. WIOD is another conservative talk station so perhaps for South Florida, the feeling is there will be a lack of return.

The latest ratings for the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton market indicate 277,000+ Hispanics = 21% of the market. I haven't kept up with trends so I don't know if this demo is staying constant, going up, down etc. There's a Spanish AC with the calls 'WRLX' (Was originally an AC, the calls = relax) and it's rather all over the map ratings-wise having been in the 1's, 2's and sometimes 3's. What I believe is at play is being Hispanic doesn't equate to listening to Hispanic formats, especially for 2nd and 3rd generations. African-Americans, on the other hand, largely do listen to various Urban formats and perhaps a traditional AC in the workplace, if radio listening is going on there.

I believe we are seeing a change or perhaps it's programing that was never considered. If you look at the incredible ratings success for classic hits formats in markets with a high percentage of Hispanics, all one has to do is look at the playlist. For years, ratings would tell us that Hispanics were not attracted to rock formats. There's plenty of evidence of that especially in Miami. But, things have changed and I am now in the camp that 2nd and 3rd generation Hispanics are no different than many others, especially when it comes to music variety.

Orlando's WOCL-FM and Miami's WMXJ-FM are both on fire. Both markets obviously have large Hispanic populations and the trick is to get them into the fold. In the past, both stations were on the heavy side when it came to rock. There was pop and occasional disco. Today both stations feature rock and lots of it with artists such as Bon Jovi and Whitesnake and most of the usual bands BUT there is also a heavy dose of upbeat, rhythmic, soul, and dance tunes in the mix as well. It's apparently working!

Miami's former "Magic" made a number of blunders. One was going way too rock oriented years ago and just sounding too old. The one great thing about traditional radio is that when a station reflects the local market and has skill sets behind it, the odds for success increase. Today, Hubbard in Palm Beach has been smart in recognizing the potential in classic hits. There will probably be trial and error and tweaks but I do believe they are on to something.

Anyway, just some of my thought processes. I'd like to next discuss another long-time heritage rock station in West Palm - WKGR - Gator 98.7 and a continued discussion on the classic hits format.

 

[davideduardo]

The latest ratings for the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton market indicate 277,000+ Hispanics = 21% of the market. I haven't kept up with trends so I don't know if this demo is staying constant, going up, down etc. There's a Spanish AC with the calls 'WRLX' (Was originally an AC, the calls = relax) and it's rather all over the map ratings-wise having been in the 1's, 2's and sometimes 3's. What I believe is at play is being Hispanic doesn't equate to listening to Hispanic formats, especially for 2nd and 3rd generations.

Hispanics do not uniformly listen to only one format. "Spanish" is a language, not a format. There are more possible formats in Spanish than there are in English, in fact.

Even Spanish dominant listeners may prefer English language music stations... probably because of either peer group pressure or because they listened to one of the hundreds and hundreds of stations in Latin America that play all or mostly English language music.

In the WPB market, there are more shares for the Miami Spanish language stations than the local station. That is where most of the "missing" 6 or 7 shares are going. Yes, in most markets, in 5+ or 12+ there are usually Spanish radio shares equal to about half of the percentage of Hispanics in the market. The exceptions are highly assimilated places like San Antonio or Albuquerque where very few Hispanics are Spanish dominant.

 

[davideduardo]

[
The full market signal stations (at least most of them) at the top of the hour ID would say something like "Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and the Palm Beaches." I haven't heard that in many years. If there's still a station that does that, it would be interesting to know.

I can only assume the Palm Beach radio market objected to that practice.

The Miami stations quit mentioning "and the Palm Beaches..." back when Miami and Ft Lauderdale were consolidated as a single radio market. Before that, WPB, Ft Lauderdale and Miami were three separate markets and stations tried to sell the "combo" if they had the signal.

But when Dade and Broward became one radio market, the resultant metro was so immensely bigger than WPB that stations could not get any extra money from any listening in "the Palm Beaches" and the practice sort of died off as it was irrelevant to marketing.

 

[CTListener]

Hispanics do not uniformly listen to only one format. "Spanish" is a language, not a format. There are more possible formats in Spanish than there are in English, in fact.

Then off Route 9 in New Britain, CT, may be one of the worst billboards ever for a radio station. It is for the "Bomba" translators at 97.1 and 98.5 and features a picture of a smiling woman wearing sunglasses with "BOMBA 97.1 98.5" in huge letters beside her, and below that, in English, "New Britain's Spanish station." So we have at least one broadcaster who does indeed consider "Spanish" a format! Of course, ownership is not Hispanic and its full-signal FMs in the market play classic rock and alternative, in English.

 

[John FL]

The Miami stations quit mentioning "and the Palm Beaches..." back when Miami and Ft Lauderdale were consolidated as a single radio market. Before that, WPB, Ft Lauderdale and Miami were three separate markets and stations tried to sell the "combo" if they had the signal.

But when Dade and Broward became one radio market, the resultant metro was so immensely bigger than WPB that stations could not get any extra money from any listening in "the Palm Beaches" and the practice sort of died off as it was irrelevant to marketing.

Fascinating! Memories can get jumbled over time - at least mine. To be honest, I've heard and read about consolidation before and after in South Florida but never paid much attention to it or understood what it all truly meant. Your explanation has unlighted me and many of the readers I'm sure.

What I can say is the references to Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches seemed to fit the bigger than life images of these stations. As far as Palm Beach County goes, I recall (I believe it was WRMF) that said at the top of the hour "Palm Beach-Broward-Dade." I wouldn't think WRMF penetrated too deeply into what was known as Dade County back then as that county was pretty expansive but it was just how radio worked back then.

 

[John FL]

Hispanics do not uniformly listen to only one format. "Spanish" is a language, not a format. There are more possible formats in Spanish than there are in English, in fact.

In the WPB market, there are more shares for the Miami Spanish language stations than the local station. That is where most of the "missing" 6 or 7 shares are going. Yes, in most markets, in 5+ or 12+ there are usually Spanish radio shares equal to about half of the percentage of Hispanics in the market. The exceptions are highly assimilated places like San Antonio or Albuquerque where very few Hispanics are Spanish dominant.

You've said "Spanish" is a language, not a format numerous times on the boards. I understand what you are saying. However, I believe some of us simply have difficulty expressing ourselves when the subject is ethnicity.

I should have also realized not everyone subscribes to Nielsen. What we see in 6+ published numbers isn't the whole story.

 

[John FL]

As promised, we continue with stations in the West Palm Beach market and connections to other Florida markets.

WKGR-FM (Gator 98.7) has been a classic rock fixture in the Palm Beaches for many decades. As I recall ratings from many years ago, WKGR has long been a solid performer. It's an iHeartMedia radio station and they have a sister station in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale - WBGG-FM Big 105.9. Both classic rock but there are some differences. From looking at the playlists, Gator looks more solidly rock.

On the subject of rock, I'd like another look at classic hits. As time has moved along, I find lines between formats growing ever more blurry. In both Jacksonville and Tampa, Cox Media Group offers a highly rock oriented classic hits format under their "Eagle" brand. I continue to wonder what exactly is classic hits? The term is used in many markets but there's wide differences in presentation.

In an earlier post, I talked a little bit about Orlando's WOCL (105.9 Sunny FM) and WMXJ (102.9 The Beach) In fact both these stations and there are many others across the country that have dropped "The Greatest Hits" designation in favor of "Classic Hits." I wonder why that is happening. But again, there are such huge differences in interpretation of the format. Cox's "Eagle" offers rock/rock and roll and/or rock artists who had big commercial hits. And that's it! You won't find Madonna or Michael Jackson music just to name two artists.

Comparing playlists of a Gator to an Eagle showed many song overlaps but there were some differences between the two as well. Perhaps it's these subtle differences that define each format. I've been bringing this up for years now but I sincerely believe the classic hits format designation needs further amplifying. I'm surprised from an advertising perspective that this hasn't yet happened.

If you look at CHR formats some have a designation as "Top 40 Mainstream" and "Top 40 - Rhythmic Crossover." The differences in the music featured between both formats delivers difference audience. This plays into billing. I believe the same holds true for Classic Hits. A Jacksonville "Eagle" has an entirely different vibe than Miami's "The Beach" or Orlando's "Sunny" yet they are all under the classic hits format umbrella. Perhaps a simple letter designation to show the differences is a time that has come. Perhaps an "R" for rock oriented and a "V" for variety/genre based. I believe rock oriented classic hits formats appeal more to men while variety based classic hits formats appeal to both sexes with a lean on female.

To take this one step further, AC has various designations. There's Soft AC, Hot AC, Modern AC and good 'ol traditional AC. Anyway, my thoughts. I welcome yours on this and all discussed so far.

 

[John FL]

I figured my comments regarding classic hits designations would have earned some responses. Perhaps it's a topic that has limited appeal. It's also compounded by the fact that state-specific boards don't generate the kind of traffic the big city boards get. I have no idea how the format brand of "classic hits" came about but I don't believe it was a well thought out format name. Just maybe, programmers simple took some liberties with it creating their version of it. "Retro Top 40" would have clearly defined a variety-based nostalgia format and "Classic Rock Hits, " as another example, would have more clearly defined those classic rock hybrids. There would be a clear designation to the listeners and advertising community.

The argument could probably be made that no one today would want to change their branding, especially after years of doing the format. Perhaps it's all moot. Then again,at least for ratings purposes, I maintain that letter designations I mentioned before could be assigned as a differentiation means. Anyway, it's just my apparent minority opinion on the subject.

Speaking of branding, another Palm Beach station worth discussing is iHeartMedia's WOLL-FM (KOOL 105.5) - "Today's KOOL 105.5 - More Variety From The 80s To Now." As some of you probably know, "KOOL" was once an oldies station but at a different dial position and lesser signal strength. We saw a large number of oldies formats flip to other formats in time. With the flip also came a new station brand as well. Obviously that did not happen with WOLL.

No one can deny the station's long-term success. Over time, the music not only advanced but it shed its oldies image as well. That's not easy to do but it happened. We've also seen radio talent stereotyped by the format in which they worked, especially if there was a long duration. A downside is some talent just never recovers in finding a new gig, especially in that local community.

I can think of two, there may have been more, of talent who go back to the old KOOL days but managed to make the transition and have a long broadcasting career in the process. One is Skip Kelly and the other was Mike Perry. Skip voices a number of iHeart stations and I believe he has programing duties as well. Mike Perry was severed earlier this year during one of iHeart's downsizing initiatives. I'm not sure if he's landed anywhere but with a new classic hits format in West Palm, I have to wonder if Hubbard Radio would consider adding Mike to their talent roster. He's a well-known quantity in West Palm who owned middays for a long time. But then again there's lots goes into hiring talent and imaging of the station so who knows really.

There's another WOLL connection that reached all the way to Jacksonville. There's both kudos and lessons learned there. I believe is worth of mention...next.

 

[John FL]

We continue on the subject of radio station WOLL-FM in West Palm Beach.

In 2010, the former Clear Channel launched a variety-based classic hits station in Jacksonville known as Magic 107.3 (WJGH) the calls spelled – Jacksonville’s Greatest Hits. This filled a most certain void in the market.

I discovered the M.D. at WOLL scheduled the music as there was not a PD in place. That would take 4 months. There was a considerable number of titles played on WOLL. Remember, this was 2010 and gold-based AC WOLL was still featuring 70s songs from artists such as Billy Joel, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, and The Eagles in fairly good rotation to name a few. I have long wondered who that individual was. He/she did a great job with the music in my opinion.

Although Magic 107.3 was designated as a Classic Hits format, it had an AC lean. Without getting into the weeds, it was a good position for the station to be in given the market competition. WOLL’s expertise paid off. WJGH was top 3 in 25-54 in their first month.

This isn’t the first time I experienced a station in one market getting assistance from those in the know from another market. In my view, it’s an extremely sound practice to be engaged. In my work in Project Management, we always relied on “Subject Matter Experts” (SME’s) during the project’s life cycle. These were these specialists who represented those who would be the most effected by the changes we were implementing or even considering. They proved vital to our success. Does radio effectively utilizes the expertise of those in local markets with proven track records in a format opportunity to discuss best practices and lessons learned?

Like in anything, there are fine lines that exist for those in management whether we are talking radio or any other business. Being a “yes man” to everything is just as bad as making decisions independently without even considering what those in the know are saying.

As clichéd as it sounds, true and effective teamwork does increase odds for success. WOLL and the former WJGH were all part of Clear Channel/iHeartMedia. The big communications companies do get a lot of bad commentary on the boards. But I believe the negative comments have more to do with local management than anything else. Everybody's got challenging budgets and nearly impossible goals, but some rise to the occasion and their radio stations sound great. Others sounds more like going through the motions.

A few months ago, I heard from a former iHeart manager offline who responded to my comments in the North Florida board and the ratings subject. I was brutal in my assessment of Jacksonville’s iHeartMedia management from the past. He shocked me even more with his comments. His assessment was that Jacksonville’s iHeart has long had problems. He cited well run clusters.

Some markets that have their act together and others do not. The hiring of that right individual to manage the cluster can make all the difference in the world. It’s something even the most casual listeners can hear. Every once in a while I’ll tune into the Treasure Coast’s classic hits, WQOL-FM. While my ears are more acute, I can tell iHeart has its act together, at least in these parts.

I’d like to discuss voicetracking next with another WOLL West Palm connection to Jacksonville.

 

[Alex Browne]

I figured my comments regarding classic hits designations would have earned some responses. Perhaps it's a topic that has limited appeal.

Sorry you haven't gotten more response, John. I have limited interest in the classic rock or Spanish formats, but I appreciate your detailed comments about the stations in our market -- so keep it up! I'm reading.

As for classic hits... let me thank you for noting that WEAT-FM has flipped to that format. Hadn't heard about that. I have now added it to my rotation (with WQOL) when I listen to that format, which I do occasionally.

 

[John FL]

I figured my comments regarding classic hits designations would have earned some responses. Perhaps it's a topic that has limited appeal.

Sorry you haven't gotten more response, John. I have limited interest in the classic rock or Spanish formats, but I appreciate your detailed comments about the stations in our market -- so keep it up! I'm reading.

As for classic hits... let me thank you for noting that WEAT-FM has flipped to that format. Hadn't heard about that. I have now added it to my rotation (with WQOL) when I listen to that format, which I do occasionally.

Thanks, Alex. Long time no see on the boards. I've enjoyed your posts.

It would seem WEAT's flip to classic hits is not very well known. The various ratings sites still list WEAT-FM as an AC. There's been no TV advertising that I'm aware of either. I came upon the station by accident. I wonder if there are long range plans for the format or this is a placeholder. Then again, they may not want any station in the cluster being even an indirect competitor to Hot AC WRMF. We'll have to see how this pans out.

What's unusual is the Sunny brand has been retained after many years as being an AC. "Sunny" has lasted from their 104.3 days to 107.9 as "Today's Hits and yesterday's favorites" AC. Today it's "The Greatest Hits of the 70's, 80's, and 90's." Many snowbirds who tune in expecting light favorites will be in for a rude awakening.

 

[John FL]

As promised, here's a few thoughts regarding voicetracking.

Do you remember that old commercial with the tagline "Is it live or is it memorex?" The early days of voicetracking left a lot to be desired in my view. Perhaps like anything there's a learning curve. We as consumers have not only gotten used to less talent participation but it's expected. My early concerns regarding VTing revolved around the talent themselves. Would they feel less connected to the listeners not being on the radio live? The thought of being in an isolated studio and having to project being in the future or even in a different city was, at first, difficult for me to understand.

Today, a good deal of voicetracking is done extremely well. It's natural sounding. Unless it's a famous national host such as Steve Harvey, the average listener probably assumes that voice they are hearing is live and local.

As I mentioned earlier, West Palm's WOLL had some early connections to Jacksonville's newly installed classic hits format, (WJGH) Magic 107.3, in 2010. Even back then, there were a number of CC jocks who voicetracked sister stations locally and in other markets. WOLL's Mike Perry was among the first to join Jax's Magic as midday host. He often talked about his days at Jacksonville University and I thought this was a great way to ingratiate yourself with the local listeners.

Overall, Mike did a decent job middays at WJGH. Mike voicetracked from West Palm before he did his midday shift at WOLL. Voicetracking as close as possible to airtime is a plus provided local relevance is sprinkled in the conversation. I long thought it was easy enough for the talent to pull up a local news site to find something that could be mentioned in casual conversation as a tie-in to the community.

Another disconnect with having someone voicetracking from another part of the state or even county is that they don't participate in station promotions and events. At one time, I believed this to be important. Today, I'm more inclined to believe that talent whether live and local or voicetracked should have presence in social media such as the station's FB page. Many impressions can be made there.

Mike was eventually replaced with a female VT host. Senior management wanted a female presence included on the station. That made sense but I was surprised Mike wasn't utilized at night. Budgets being what they are, the PD VT'd that shift instead for awhile as well as someone from a sister station.

Interestingly, when iHeart wound up firing all the live, local talent and the PD at Magic 107.3, their FB page was not only critical of that decision, but those jocks were mentioned by name. I followed their FB page closely in the short lifespan of the station. Mike may have gotten a couple of mentions but none of their other VTers did. But the live and local talent had lots of interactions with the listeners. They made the bigger impression. At the time, I said live and local talent makes a world of difference. That was 2012. In a relatively short number of years, radio has changed and so have people's priorities.

Today, I truly don't know the answers when it comes to the business of radio. Today's listeners are a different breed from anything I ever remember. There was a time I had an incredible track record predicting success or failure of most anything relating to radio and even new songs. So, if we're even talking one subject such as voicetracking, I can't be sure if my views are even relevant anymore.

More on Florida radio upcoming...

 

[drt]

Thanks for the update John FL; I haven’t been in that market to listen since 2007 in the Stuart to Jupiter area; I still think of WIRK as being on 107.7 their frequency for so many years. Of course way back in 2007; the WPB market still had a full power NPR station; now more of middle and upper Palm Beach county has to rely on either streaming or if they’re lucky to be in the decent reception area of 90.7HD2 (or is it HD3?). At least the Treasure coast, although a much smaller market has WQCS 89.9.

 

[davideduardo]

A

On the subject of rock, I'd like another look at classic hits. As time has moved along, I find lines between formats growing ever more blurry. In both Jacksonville and Tampa, Cox Media Group offers a highly rock oriented classic hits format under their "Eagle" brand. I continue to wonder what exactly is classic hits? The term is used in many markets but there's wide differences in presentation.

Keep in mind there are two reasons to define a format. One is to identify the station to advertisers, particularly agency accounts located outside the station market. Nielsen has a list of approved format names, and stations select the "best fit" name as a descriptor. The idea is to tell customers what sort of station it is. The sports analogy is distinguishing between football, soccer, basketball and baseball. Now we know that there is also little league baseball, minor league baseball and other variants... but it's all baseball. That is all that agencies need to know.

But then there is the naming and positioning of stations for listeners. There are format names that don't get used on the air, like "Hot Adult Contemporary" or "CHR" or "Regional Mexican". Those are used inside the walls, but not on the air. A station can use whatever they think positions them best in the market.

And like different types of baseball, there are different types of stations under the same format name. But in the case of classic hits, some are more pop and some are more rock leaning, but all play almost entirely songs that got CHR airplay. And classic rock generally plays a lot of songs that did not get any, or at least widespread, airplay on CHR. And there will be lots of overlap, as back in the day when those songs were currents, many of them were played both on AIR and CHR stations.

 

[TheBigA]

Do you remember that old commercial with the tagline "Is it live or is it memorex?"

The point of that commercial was that the recording had the same power as the original. Both Ella Fitzgerald's live voice and the recording could shatter glass, or so we were to believe. Fast forward 40 years, and analog tape has been replaced with digital recording. In terms of both frequency response and dynamic range, the audio quality is superior to analog recording. The records we hear today are recorded using digital recording. If the music is recorded, and we all love the music, why use different rules on the presentation?

The first voice-tracker was Bing Crosby. He hosted a radio show on NBC in the 1930s. Back then, they did two live shows: One for the east coast, the other for the west. Bing didn't want to do the second show. He had it put in his contract that they'd record the first show on transcription disc, and play it back for the west. He later invested in a company called Ampex, a maker of tape recorders and audio tape. He made millions from that investment. But the point is that voice-tracking has been used in radio since the 1930s. It's easier to do now because of digital technology. Most of the TV shows we watch are all pre-recorded. Just sports and events are live. But for some reason, there's this assumption that radio hosts shouldn't record their shows. Not sure where that came from, since it's been done for almost 90 years.

 

[John FL]

Keep in mind there are two reasons to define a format. One is to identify the station to advertisers, particularly agency accounts located outside the station market. Nielsen has a list of approved format names, and stations select the "best fit" name as a descriptor. The idea is to tell customers what sort of station it is. The sports analogy is distinguishing between football, soccer, basketball and baseball. Now we know that there is also little league baseball, minor league baseball and other variants... but it's all baseball. That is all that agencies need to know.

But then there is the naming and positioning of stations for listeners. There are format names that don't get used on the air, like "Hot Adult Contemporary" or "CHR" or "Regional Mexican". Those are used inside the walls, but not on the air. A station can use whatever they think positions them best in the market.

And like different types of baseball, there are different types of stations under the same format name. But in the case of classic hits, some are more pop and some are more rock leaning, but all play almost entirely songs that got CHR airplay. And classic rock generally plays a lot of songs that did not get any, or at least widespread, airplay on CHR. And there will be lots of overlap, as back in the day when those songs were currents, many of them were played both on AIR and CHR stations.

I appreciate your detailed explanation and I'm sure a number of the readers do too. I realize there are format names that don't get used on the air and a station can decide on a brand name they'll consider that perfect fit. The format brand name of "classic hits" is something I questioned from the first time I heard it used. As I also stated, my opinion is no doubt a minority one.

What has changed is there in markets where two stations offer the format, one may have been called "Classic Hits" and the other "Greatest Hits." A number doing the format have dropped "greatest" in favor of "classic." I never cared much for the Greatest Hits designation anyway because I felt the term "greatest" was rather ambiguous. But that's just the analyst in me. Most of my career involved analyzing things and so that comes out on radio too.

 

[John FL]

The point of that commercial was that the recording had the same power as the original. Both Ella Fitzgerald's live voice and the recording could shatter glass, or so we were to believe. Fast forward 40 years, and analog tape has been replaced with digital recording. In terms of both frequency response and dynamic range, the audio quality is superior to analog recording. The records we hear today are recorded using digital recording. If the music is recorded, and we all love the music, why use different rules on the presentation?

The first voice-tracker was Bing Crosby. He hosted a radio show on NBC in the 1930s. Back then, they did two live shows: One for the east coast, the other for the west. Bing didn't want to do the second show. He had it put in his contract that they'd record the first show on transcription disc, and play it back for the west. He later invested in a company called Ampex, a maker of tape recorders and audio tape. He made millions from that investment. But the point is that voice-tracking has been used in radio since the 1930s. It's easier to do now because of digital technology. Most of the TV shows we watch are all pre-recorded. Just sports and events are live. But for some reason, there's this assumption that radio hosts shouldn't record their shows. Not sure where that came from, since it's been done for almost 90 years.

There is certainly history whether we are talking voicetracking or pre-recording. What I do believe has changed over time is the driving force behind it. Let's face it, today voicetracking is employed widely because of the economic advantages to it. It's far less expensive to hire a VTer as opposed to paying a salary and benefits to a full-time employee or perhaps even part-time.

I became aware that not all my favorite radio shows were live well after the fact, especially when we entered the internet age. South Florida's legendary Rick Shaw would often record the latter part of his afternoon drive show that ran to 8 PM. As a PD, he had a long day and lots of responsibilities so I'm sure that what was the reasoning. Today, many PDs will VT their shift or most of it because their time would be better spent on management functions than sitting in a studio for 4 or 5 hours.

If you have the time or the inclination, some of you may find this interview incredibly fascinating. I don't hide the fact that I was a huge Dan Ingram fan. As this is the Florida board, I'm sure many ex-metro NY, NJ, and Connecticut "seasoned" listeners who now make Florida home will enjoy this. For the younger readers who perhaps weren't even born in 1979 or just a kid will get a kick out of this too.

Little did I know that at times Dan Ingram recorded his show. There must have been conflicts and no one to fill in, but apparently radio was not always live. He hated doing that because he felt there he lost "that connection" to the listener that he only felt when he was on the air live. So, Dan was being interviewed during the first hour of his show. This is not the best example of Dan's talent but he was extremely insightful into how his mind worked and how radio once worked too. I love the "color coded" songs he had to keep track of in doing the format. Lots of inner workings here in a time long gone.

I believe this is germane to the topic of voicetracking in that despite all the positives that can be cited for its widespread use, much of radio has lost that spontaneity it once had. Please understand, I would not expect a presentation toay, be like it was in March, 1979 when this was recorded. But broadcasters today mostly read what they are saying. Then again, the listeners don't seem to mind or care about that.

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[TheBigA]

There is certainly history whether we are talking voicetracking or pre-recording. What I do believe has changed over time is the driving force behind it. Let's face it, today voicetracking is employed widely because of the economic advantages to it. It's far less expensive to hire a VTer as opposed to paying a salary and benefits to a full-time employee or perhaps even part-time.

Except that at most companies, the person doing VT is a full time employee receiving benefits. The only difference is that person isn't chained to the console for a full shift, but instead either performs other duties (Entercom usually assigns the music director to VT the overnight shift), or VTs other stations in other markets. There are free-lance VTs, some former big market talents who offer themselves on a per-station basis. They run it as a business and build a client base that can pay better than being a full time employee.

Back to history for a minute. The inspiration to today's VT was satellite-delivered radio formats. In the early 90s, there were several companies offering radio stations 24/7 programming delivered by satellite. Thousands of radio stations used these services. But the hosts were generic, canned voices who never talked about local things. What if you could get someone to do custom hosting for your specific market? Once stations had digital technology, it was possible.

Before satellite distribution, stations had access to reel-to-reel formats. So the stations were automated 24-7. They'd hire operators to run the tapes, and those operators would pre-record weather, news, and other announcements on carts, to be inserted in the automation chain with the commercials. Once again, its pre-taped not live. Never underestimate the ability of an employer to cut costs. It happens in every line of work.

The reality is being a DJ at a radio station can be a very boring job. You're basically sitting there waiting for a record to end so you can do your thing. If you're at a station that is music intensive and doesn't do talk between every song, there's not much to do. There are lots of stories of DJs falling asleep while on shift. Sure, there are lots of well-paid, top personality DJs working morning drive. Typically its a group of people hosting the show. Those three people get paid a lot, but they do a lot. They play a lot less music during morning drive. They provide more information. And they do a lot more advertising and sponsorship work. As Imus once said at the end of his show: "This ends the revenue producing segment of our broadcast day." So its worth it for owners to spend money on their morning shows. The rest of the day, they'll do VT or something else.