WMJI has dropped Casey Kasem's AT40 show. It had aired on Sunday morning for many years. It was the only opportunity to hear songs outside of the 300 song playlist. So now we get to hear Hotel California, Piano Man, Bohemian Rhapsody, Eye of the Tiger, Jack & Diane, etc. on Sunday morning. Lovely.
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WMJI drops Casey Kasem's Top 40
- Thread starter skiwest
- Start date
Let’s face it. The core format no longer fits into most of the AT40 programs. The music is foreign to their target demo, which is a shame. I’m like you. I love most of the music on the show. But then again, I’m no longer a desired demo.
I just noticed it today, and missed going back to (usually this month) in either the 1970's or 80's with the Top 40 show on Sunday Morning.
Since the dismissal of Action Jackson, Jim Hart and Scott Davidson last year. Plus the recent re-tooling of the Morning show (Sans three of it's four long time regulars). I don't even recognize this station anymore. Time to rebrand and change the call letters? Outside of WNCX, where do we turn for the more "Classic Rock" and "Rock and Roll" some of us still care to hear on our radios?
Would anyone local even be daring enough to try a station with 1950's to 70's music again? (Idea for calls if so - "M105").
Since the dismissal of Action Jackson, Jim Hart and Scott Davidson last year. Plus the recent re-tooling of the Morning show (Sans three of it's four long time regulars). I don't even recognize this station anymore. Time to rebrand and change the call letters? Outside of WNCX, where do we turn for the more "Classic Rock" and "Rock and Roll" some of us still care to hear on our radios?
Would anyone local even be daring enough to try a station with 1950's to 70's music again? (Idea for calls if so - "M105").
WMJI has replaced Casey repeats with Bart Shore, who is a Chicago-based DJ who does the syndicated "Time Warp Radio." That show usually drifts into the 60s and 70s, but it looks like Bart is doing a specific show for Cleveland:
It would take someone with money putting it on their own station as a hobby, not for profit.
It would take someone with money putting it on their own station as a hobby, not for profit.
Look at Buddy's WECK in Buffalo, a locally owned old-demo targeted smaller station (AM with multiple translators) that seems to be doing very well.
This is the sort of thing that, were it available, 1490 or 1540 added to a pair of east and west side translators could be made to work. Or, in another possibility, the perennial also-ran FM from Elyria/Lorain.
It takes someone with Buddy's passion to pull it off. John Gorman is such a person. But he seems entertained with online radio.
WMJI and the Lake are almost identical now. One of them needs to switch to a different format IMO.
As for 50s-70s music, the only option is to try to tune in to one of the rimshots - 1380 in Elyria or 93.7 in Madison. WJCU 88.7 (John Carroll) does oldies on Saturday afternoon and WBWC 88.3 (Baldwin Wallace) does oldies on Sunday night.
As for 50s-70s music, the only option is to try to tune in to one of the rimshots - 1380 in Elyria or 93.7 in Madison. WJCU 88.7 (John Carroll) does oldies on Saturday afternoon and WBWC 88.3 (Baldwin Wallace) does oldies on Sunday night.
Not gonna happen. They're two of the most popular stations in town. Like saying Burger King should sell pizza.
I don't think we are talking popularity here as much as adding a terrestrial station that 45 to 65 year olds may tune in to. I for one, used to carry a transistor around the house or leave a radio on while doing other things to keep company during otherwise mundane tasks. These days, I can't remember (outside of the Top 40 and Action Jacksons show), the last time the radio didn't go off quickly due to dull playlists, impersonal out-of-town Deejays, or inane advertisements.
Not since the launch of WMVX in 1997, and to a lesser extent the rebranding of it to "The Lake" ten years ago. Have I seen a refreshing change to Cleveland radio. Let alone something that was kept up, while being fine tuned at the same time. (Remember the "A to Z" and "Z to A" weekends on The Lake? "Sing for your song" weekend on WMJI?)
Obviously, we'd need someone with deep pockets who'd be willing to check the demographics and line up some solid sponsors. I don't think IHeart is interested in anything more than balancing the too many stations it owns with misaligned and awkward shifts in formats, voice tracking and infomercials. Give me a 1950's to early 80's station with local voices and any radio around me would probably stay tuned on for hours at a time. Let alone my actual willingness to patronize their sponsors.
Would I be alone in thinking WMJI shifted to a format of nothing less than catering mostly to 25 to 45 year old females? Most of which are using the internet and podcasts for their music choices anyway. I guess it also begs the question of who truly, listens to terrestrial radio in any given city in the first place?
Not since the launch of WMVX in 1997, and to a lesser extent the rebranding of it to "The Lake" ten years ago. Have I seen a refreshing change to Cleveland radio. Let alone something that was kept up, while being fine tuned at the same time. (Remember the "A to Z" and "Z to A" weekends on The Lake? "Sing for your song" weekend on WMJI?)
Obviously, we'd need someone with deep pockets who'd be willing to check the demographics and line up some solid sponsors. I don't think IHeart is interested in anything more than balancing the too many stations it owns with misaligned and awkward shifts in formats, voice tracking and infomercials. Give me a 1950's to early 80's station with local voices and any radio around me would probably stay tuned on for hours at a time. Let alone my actual willingness to patronize their sponsors.
Would I be alone in thinking WMJI shifted to a format of nothing less than catering mostly to 25 to 45 year old females? Most of which are using the internet and podcasts for their music choices anyway. I guess it also begs the question of who truly, listens to terrestrial radio in any given city in the first place?
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You're welcome to think that, but it's not true. WMJI is the #2 most listened-to radio station in Cleveland. It's the #1 station in cume, with about a half a million people listening. Here is an article with the answer to your question of who listens to the radio:
Who Is Really Listening To Radio? - Radio Ink
(By Russ Crupnick) In the world of audio, the question about who actually still listens to broadcast radio is oddly controversial. For some reason, reaching a consensus on radio reach presents more of a challenge than agreeing on how many stream music.
radioink.com
The big problem with aiming radio at people over the age of 50 is most of them primarily watch TV, and advertisers reach them there. Also older men primarily listen to talk radio, not music radio.
Possibly, because there are no decent music choices and the deejays aren't music and "local activity" educated?
Just a thought, not necessarily confirmed.
I'd relate better to a morning show that rehashes a "World Series of Rock" event, better than one who discusses his or her latest Instagram finds. My thinking is that if someone used a "Build it and they will come" approach it may reach an entirely untapped audience and placate a sufficient number of sponsors.
Yes....Among things I notice is that Joe Namath is on every digital TV sub-channel hawking Medicare. I still prefer my radio when moving about the house, roadways, or at work.
Also, Instragram and Twitter are great as long as the discussions stay on topic.
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That's because the DJs who would be are in their 80s.
In markets where there are stations that play 60s music, the audience is primarily people in their 70s and 80s. You can search WECK in Buffalo or WMEX in Boston. They are stations run by dedicated local owners who bought those stations as personal projects. That's what you'd need to get it in Cleveland. No for-profit company will pour millions of dollars to reach an audience of retirees. In Cincinnati, a local guy bought a couple of rim-shot FMs and is playing classic country.
Nope....I'm 55 and easily see a 45 to 65 age demographic that could pilot or tune into a show. Also, reminding us that history doesn't start on our birthday.
Off topic but I was more than educated on that. When 20 to 40 year olds began knowing more about classic movies of the 1930's to 60's; than I do of the ones from the 1950's to 1980's. Primarily, because I'm not a movie person.
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I agree with that, and you'd be surprised to know that these classic rock stations that play Hendrix and Doors songs are very popular with people in their 20s and 30s. It's all new to them. But old pop music doesn't translate as well, with a few exceptions.
I mentioned earlier in this thread that WMJI has hired Bart Shore to replace the Casey repeats. He does a show called Time Warp Radio. So give Bart a chance this Sunday. He might surprise you.
It always makes me smile when I see young adults age 16 to 20 listening to Top 40 tunes from the 1980s, sometimes singing and jamming along to them. Those came out a few decades before they were even conceived. For those of us who were around then, those songs would maybe bring back memories of where we were or what we were doing when those songs were popular and the world was maybe a seemingly much smaller place. For the kids, I guess they just consider it good music that's listenable. Maybe the message somehow resonates with them, too, even now.
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Bart read generic liners and played the same WMJI playlist that gets played every day.
That said, WMJI is hardly hurting for listeners and is likely the most profitable FM for iHeart Cleveland. Widening the playlist or going back to the 50s and 60s would do nothing but hurt them. They know what they are doing and do it well. It's just not what old radio guys want.
That said, WMJI is hardly hurting for listeners and is likely the most profitable FM for iHeart Cleveland. Widening the playlist or going back to the 50s and 60s would do nothing but hurt them. They know what they are doing and do it well. It's just not what old radio guys want.
Nobody is expecting them to go back to 50s and 60s 24/7. But would it kill them to air a 60s show on the weekend? There are lots of legendary artists from the 60s that EVERYONE can relate to regardless of their age - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, The Supremes, The Monkees, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison - to name a few.
Thank God for college radio. Let's pray the media giants don't get their grubby hands on them.
Thank God for college radio. Let's pray the media giants don't get their grubby hands on them.
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I know Dick Bartley has a 60s show syndicated through United Stations, but with the loss of Casey and the Tom Kent Saturday night 70s show this year, I don't think they are looking to air anything syndicated right now.
And if they did air a 60s shows, it would likely get buried at 6am Sunday between infomercials or 10pm Sunday night.
And if they did air a 60s shows, it would likely get buried at 6am Sunday between infomercials or 10pm Sunday night.
It could also help them. The only reason I listened to WMJI since January 2020 was due to Casey's Top 40 airing. Possibly a local Deejay with local advertisers just a few hours over the course of a weekend??? I know that with voice tracking and pre-recorded garble; it would be next to impossible to have "requests", 60's, 70's or whatever weekends but that could be a refreshing uptick, also...
Nope....Not when they can have robotic, out-of-town Deejays cater music and talk to robotic, out-of-touch listeners. As long as they can balance ratings and pleasing advertisers across the Iheart radio board they will keep up that choice instead.
It would be just as easy to have someone call us long distance and read their local telephone book aloud. While occasionally throwing an ad in that they may, or may not think we're interested in anyways. And them, not caring unless we hang up or the advertiser goes away due to no sales hits.
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