Years later, a mixed record for Soft AC

[victorres43]

First, it was Miami's then-WHDR that decided to flip to "Easy 93.1", with call letters WFEZ. Then, about 5-6 years later, KISQ has decided to flip from Rhythmic Oldies to "98.1 The Breeze". Given the latter's success, the format has been attempted in various markets, such as Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Sacramento, Seattle, and Buffalo.

Fast forward about 5 years, and the format is kind of a mixed bag when it comes to ratings success. KISQ/San Francisco is the highest ranked music station in its respective market as of the latest PPM ratings. KBEB/Sacramento and WLIT/Chicago also seem to do pretty well. But, KSWD/Seattle and WISX/Philadelphia are kind of sagging in the ratings, being both outside the Top 10 6+ and being well behind their mainstream AC competitor. In addition, WDZH/Detroit has eventually flipped to Alternative, and WEZI/Jacksonville eventually shifted to a gold-heavy mainstream AC.

One must note the musical differences between the "Soft AC" stations. KISQ and KBEB are very ballad-heavy, especially compared to WDUV/Tampa Bay and WFEZ/Miami, despite San Francisco and Sacramento being younger (in terms of median age) than either Tampa or Miami. WFEZ kind of sounds like a ballad-friendly Classic Hits / Adult Hits station (a Classic Hits / Adult Hits station that isn't manically obsessed with Def Leppard and Tom Petty). WDUV sounds even more uptempo than WFEZ, and WDUV almost sounds like Classic Hits competitor WRBQ, but with less hard rock tracks.

Time will tell whether Soft AC would remain to be a lucrative format, in the face of a lack of appealing new music for AC stations and Classic Hits / Adult Hits radio stations being heavy in hard rock.

 

[vchimpanzee]

WEZV Myrtle Beach SC changed from an AC-leaning standards-type format to soft AC in 2017 and gradually began adding more harder music, especially after co-owned WTKN changed from Hot AC to talk, leaving WEZV the only AC in the market rather than just heard in the market. Early in 2020 the station changed completely, dropping nearly all the 70s and adding many more songs that might be considered Hot AC. Recently, the station moved more in a soft AC direction, but all it did was add back the 70s turns and some softer material, while keeping a lot of the harder stuff.

 

[victorres43]

WEZV Myrtle Beach SC changed from an AC-leaning standards-type format to soft AC in 2017 and gradually began adding more harder music, especially after co-owned WTKN changed from Hot AC to talk, leaving WEZV the only AC in the market rather than just heard in the market. Early in 2020 the station changed completely, dropping nearly all the 70s and adding many more songs that might be considered Hot AC. Recently, the station moved more in a soft AC direction, but all it did was add back the 70s turns and some softer material, while keeping a lot of the harder stuff.

Sounds roughly similar to WMGF/Orlando. Magic 107.7 is starting to include some rap music in their playlist (or maybe it plays some of these tunes for some time?). At the same time, they continue to play some 80s Soft AC mainstays. I think the station also has a Sunday show dedicated to "yacht rock" of the 70s and 80s.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Sounds roughly similar to WMGF/Orlando. Magic 107.7 is starting to include some rap music in their playlist (or maybe it plays some of these tunes for some time?). At the same time, they continue to play some 80s Soft AC mainstays. I think the station also has a Sunday show dedicated to "yacht rock" of the 70s and 80s.

Not really similar to WMGF. WEZV is doing 70s music and except for "I Feel for You", no rap.

 

[victorres43]

Not really similar to WMGF. WEZV is doing 70s music and except for "I Feel for You", no rap.

True, although "harder stuff" all the same, rap or hard rock. There was a time when bands like Def Leppard were too loud and intrusive for AC radio.

 

[vchimpanzee]

True, although "harder stuff" all the same, rap or hard rock. There was a time when bands like Def Leppard were too loud and intrusive for AC radio.

Interesting that during the past year, WEZV played them, though not the worst stuff. I haven't looked at the "last songs played" (which they have now) to see if they do.

I recall seeing "Photograph" or one of the songs like that listed as being played on WFLB Fayetteville NC when the song was popular, but there was a source that said WFLB was actually AC.

 

[victorres43]

Interesting that during the past year, WEZV played them, though not the worst stuff. I haven't looked at the "last songs played" (which they have now) to see if they do.

I recall seeing "Photograph" or one of the songs like that listed as being played on WFLB Fayetteville NC when the song was popular, but there was a source that said WFLB was actually AC.

May need to find out whether WFLB was an AC / Adult Top 40 given that the Wikipedia stated that it was a straight-up CHR until the early to mid- 90s.

Looked at the WEZV playlist recently, and I actually did not see much "hard stuff". To me, it sounds at least a tad softer than WDUV.

 

[crainbebo]

Sounds roughly similar to WMGF/Orlando. Magic 107.7 is starting to include some rap music in their playlist (or maybe it plays some of these tunes for some time?). At the same time, they continue to play some 80s Soft AC mainstays. I think the station also has a Sunday show dedicated to "yacht rock" of the 70s and 80s.

Yacht Rock Radio? We have that show on KARY '100.9 Cherry FM' in Yakima, airs on Sunday evenings. Some songs on YRR aren't even in the KARY playlist!
I think AC on the other hand is going through some type of identity crisis. I was driving through the wheat fields and small farming towns west of Spokane on Hwy 2 Saturday, and tuned to 98.1 KISC here and there. They had a liner 'today's best hits and your favorite '80s throwbacks.' The '80s music is for the most part, stuff that a classic hits station would play, with few Adult Contemporary-only hits. Looking at the #1 adult-contemporary hits of 1989, a station like KISC would likely play only two of the 20+ songs. Richard Marx's 'Right Here Waiting,' and 'Eternal Flame' by The Bangles. That's because they went to #1 on the Hot 100 and were big hits overall. The rest of the music is mostly '00s, '10s and new hits, many of which are upbeat.

94.1 the Sound in Seattle is nothing like the mainstream ACs of today. Definitely a lot softer, with '70s music mixed in, but they still have recurrents like Adele and Charlie Puth. Albeit the ratings were a lot better before the pandemic. Now with a lot more WFH, they have dropped.

 

[vchimpanzee]

May need to find out whether WFLB was an AC / Adult Top 40 given that the Wikipedia stated that it was a straight-up CHR until the early to mid- 90s.

I think the source was Broadcasting Yearbook. Seems like someone on Wikipedia found an online version to use as a source. I doubt WFLB was "straight up-CHR" beyond about 1983 because few AM stations were.

Looked at the WEZV playlist recently, and I actually did not see much "hard stuff". To me, it sounds at least a tad softer than WDUV.

Really? Let me go look.

How do you feel about "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen? That's on right now. I never heard it on WEZV before February 2020. And when I heard it in stereo in my car just going to different stations, that was a good example of a song I DON'T want to hear in stereo.

Wow, not much there. The next one that doesn't seem like a soft AC tune is "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. But I think I may have seen that one on a WDUV list.

A really, really long list of songs that I think WEZV already played as a soft AC.

"I Like Me Better" by Lauv was the next one I saw that was new in February 2020.

"Cardigan" by Taylor Swift was new but most of her stuff could have fit when it was soft AC, even if I don't remember hearing anything by her back then.

"Sunglasses at Night", but for some weird reason they were playing that one.

Here we go. "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins.

I'd have to do some research to figure out if "Home" by Phillip Phillips or "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morisette were new in February 2020 or already being played.

"Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, but they were playing that one as a soft AC.

And I'm not sure whether "Heart of Rock and Roll" was there already.

Wow, this is a softer list than a few weeks ago.

 

[victorres43]

How do you feel about "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen? That's on right now. I never heard it on WEZV before February 2020. And when I heard it in stereo in my car just going to different stations, that was a good example of a song I DON'T want to hear in stereo.

Not my first choice of adds for Soft AC, but it probably is less jarring to listen to on that format than, say, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Old Time Rock and Roll, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, or Hurts So Good.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Not my first choice of adds for Soft AC, but it probably is less jarring to listen to on that format than, say, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Old Time Rock and Roll, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, or Hurts So Good.

"Hurts So Good" was on WEZV almost from the beginning of the soft AC format. I'm not sure about "Old Time Rock and Roll".The other two were in the format the station had for a year and a half.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I'm not sure when WDUV quit being considered "soft AC" (there is an article that says it isn't which has been linked to somewhere on this site) but I found this list from 2019 when looking to see if WEZV played "Old Time Rock and Roll":

"Into the Groove", "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", "Electric Avenue", "What About Love", "Black or White", "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Call Me", "Sunglasses at Night", "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground".

WEZV was already playing "Sunglasses at Night" and I saw "Heart of Glass" on a 2019 list.

 

[victorres43]

I'm not sure when WDUV quit being considered "soft AC" (there is an article that says it isn't which has been linked to somewhere on this site) but I found this list from 2019 when looking to see if WEZV played "Old Time Rock and Roll":

"Into the Groove", "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", "Electric Avenue", "What About Love", "Black or White", "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Call Me", "Sunglasses at Night", "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground".

WEZV was already playing "Sunglasses at Night" and I saw "Heart of Glass" on a 2019 list.

I just remembered. One thing I've noticed is that is played on the iHeartMedia Soft AC stations in Chicago and Philadelphia, but not the ones in San Francisco or Sacramento. This, despite KISQ increasing the tempo a little bit (with songs like Billie Jean, Señorita, Irreplaceable, and Forget Me Nots) whilst retaining the love songs that make a bulk of its playlist.

Personally, I think "Before He Cheats" is too loud for Soft AC, but I guess it works in Chicago and Philly, although not so much in San Francisco or Miami.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I just remembered. One thing I've noticed is that is played on the iHeartMedia Soft AC stations in Chicago and Philadelphia, but not the ones in San Francisco or Sacramento. This, despite KISQ increasing the tempo a little bit (with songs like Billie Jean, Señorita, Irreplaceable, and Forget Me Nots) whilst retaining the love songs that make a bulk of its playlist.

Personally, I think "Before He Cheats" is too loud for Soft AC, but I guess it works in Chicago and Philly, although not so much in San Francisco or Miami.

"Billie Jean" is "increasing the tempo"?

"Before He Cheats" was on WEZV when it was still soft AC before. I just found it. But a lot of what that station was playing was on the loud side even then. It was the only AC actually located in the market.

I can't recall whether I listed what WEZV played back then but there are a lot of songs missing either because I didn't listen constantly and there wasn't a "last songs played" list or I never found out what the song was even doing a lyrics search. And sometimes the computer quit on me because it was trying to do too much, or I had to close a window. But a list of some songs would probably be useful.

 

[victorres43]

"Billie Jean" is "increasing the tempo"?

"Before He Cheats" was on WEZV when it was still soft AC before. I just found it. But a lot of what that station was playing was on the loud side even then. It was the only AC actually located in the market.

I can't recall whether I listed what WEZV played back then but there are a lot of songs missing either because I didn't listen constantly and there wasn't a "last songs played" list or I never found out what the song was even doing a lyrics search. And sometimes the computer quit on me because it was trying to do too much, or I had to close a window. But a list of some songs would probably be useful.

Billie Jean is certainly more uptempo than not, although still not as "loud" as Before He Cheats.

Maybe I should take a look at WEZV again, because maybe my assumption of them being softer than WDUV may be incorrect.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Billie Jean is certainly more uptempo than not, although still not as "loud" as Before He Cheats.

Maybe I should take a look at WEZV again, because maybe my assumption of them being softer than WDUV may be incorrect.

I was looking at a list from when they first got softer again and saw "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas.

 

[victorres43]

I was looking at a list from when they first got softer again and saw "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas.

Looking at the playlist again, WEZV seems to be a regular mainstream AC that still plays Soft AC / Easy Listening songs. Maybe a gold-leaning mainstream AC.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Looking at the playlist again, WEZV seems to be a regular mainstream AC that still plays Soft AC / Easy Listening songs. Maybe a gold-leaning mainstream AC.

"Genie In a Bottle" is quite loud. And it's right next door to "Call Me Maybe". Which is very different from what I saw.

But when I looked further back, I don't see much that wasn't already being played when WEZV was soft AC. The first time anyone said it wasn't was February 2020, so a case could be made that it's still soft AC.

Okay, FINALLY "All Star" and "I Like Me Better", quite close together. But most of it is still very much like before 2020.

However, WKQC is a gold-leaning AC and it plays "Bust a Move" by Young MC and "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister, so quite a bit louder.

 

[victorres43]

"Genie In a Bottle" is quite loud. And it's right next door to "Call Me Maybe". Which is very different from what I saw.

But when I looked further back, I don't see much that wasn't already being played when WEZV was soft AC. The first time anyone said it wasn't was February 2020, so a case could be made that it's still soft AC.

Okay, FINALLY "All Star" and "I Like Me Better", quite close together. But most of it is still very much like before 2020.

However, WKQC is a gold-leaning AC and it plays "Bust a Move" by Young MC and "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister, so quite a bit louder.

IMO Genie In A Bottle and Call Me Maybe sound more fitting for "lite" radio tonal-wise than Before He Cheats, if only for the undeniably pop feel of the former two songs.

WEZV does have the slogan "Today's Best, Yesterday's Favorites", pretty much like a regular AC. Speaking of that, I just listened to WDUV and a liner boasted about WDUV not being a "sleepy" station unlike the other stations. WDUV retains the "Continuous Lite Favorites" slogan, but they are still a far cry from their Beautiful Music / Easy Listening days.

I must ask, how is WKQC considered an AC instead of an Adult Hits, given the high amount of 80s and close to a lack of recurrents/currents? I think they aren't Classic Hits given that they still play songs after 2005.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I must ask, how is WKQC considered an AC instead of an Adult Hits, given the high amount of 80s and close to a lack of recurrents/currents? I think they aren't Classic Hits given that they still play songs after 2005.

The Other Half of Classic Hits - RadioInsight

There are really two Classic Hits formats now. It has been apparent for a while that the evolution of Classic Hits has brought that radio format closer to the Bob-and Jack-FM stations of Adult Hits. Like Adult Hits, Classic Hits is now predominantly pop/rock. Adult Hits was once differentiated...

radioinsight.com