WOGL Rebrands at Big 98.1

[kevtronics]

I would venture to say there’s probably a second 60’s song that still tests well and is heard on some classic hits stations and that is Neil Diamond’s 1969 hit Sweet Caroline. I don’t have the data in front of me to back that up but I know it’s still played at weddings and parties and the crowd dances and sings along to every word (sometimes even inserting an extra 3-word phrase that wasn’t part of the original lyrics).

"Sweet Caroline" is played during every Red Sox game at Fenway Park. So I'm sure it gets airplay in Boston.

Back in July, I tracked the playlist of WCBS-FM for a few days, and they only played two '60s songs: the Beatles' "Twist and Shout" (1964, but re-released in 1986 after being featured in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), and Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" (1968).

 

[CTListener]

I'm such a nerd. I love opportunities like this to do some research. Granted, I did all this research in three minutes and utilized only one source, but still...

"Brown Eyed Girl" was released 5+ years before I was, but I know a good song when I hear one, and it's a darn good song. I'm also not sure I agree that peaking in the top 10 (albeit, at #10) is "middling." 😋

No. 10 was middling when most "Top 40" stations were usually playing only 20 songs on their current playlist more than once daily. On Sept. 30, 1967, when "Brown Eyed Girl" was No. 10 in Billboard, the top three were "The Letter," "Ode to Billie Joe" and "Never My Love." If your local Top 40 station's playlist was anything like the Billboard chart, you were hearing those three songs at least every three hours; some stations played No. 1 every 90 minutes. That No. 10 song probably got played once during each DJ's air shift.

 

[Radio Wreck]

"Twist and Shout" (1964, but re-released in 1986 after being featured in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), and Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" (1968).

Your example is reminiscent of “Unchained Melody” released in 1965 and then hit #1 on the AC charts in 1991 as it was featured in the movie Ghost. I have no idea if it would test well today but it doesn’t seem to have had the staying power of other 60’s songs that were still popular decades later.

 

[CTListener]

"Sweet Caroline" is played during every Red Sox game at Fenway Park. So I'm sure it gets airplay in Boston.

Just looked at a full day of WROR, no "Sweet Caroline." Oldest songs played were "Listen to the Music" (1972) and 1973's "Dream On" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting."

 

[CTListener]

Your example is reminiscent of “Unchained Melody” released in 1965 and then hit #1 on the AC charts in 1991 as it was featured in the movie Ghost. I have no idea if it would test well today but it doesn’t seem to have had the staying power of other 60’s songs that were still popular decades later.

Most classic hits stations today have a pronounced rock lean. Very few pop hits and even fewer R&B hits get played.

 

[101tm]

“Sweet Caroline” still gets a lot of airplay on iHeart and Cumulus classic hits stations as well as some Beatles tracks (primarily “Yesterday”, “Get Back”, “Revolution”). “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison still gets some airplay, although not a ton. It’s played daily on Cumulus’s WIWF in Charleston, SC. Same for “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

Audacy and Beasley have been the most aggressive in moving their playlists out of the 70s. Cumulus and iHeart’s classic hits stations generally have a rock lean as well, but you’re likely to still hear “All Right Now”, “For What It’s Worth”, “Black Water” or “Honky Tonk Women” and similar tracks, unlike Audacy classic hits stations which have a very tight roster of 70s tracks they’ll still play that’s pretty uniform across all of their classic hits stations.

Not arguing that classic hits stations need to play older music - just an observation before I get corrected!

 

[JH_Radio]

Most classic hits stations today have a pronounced rock lean. Very few pop hits and even fewer R&B hits get played.

SO how come pop and R&B do not test well, even if its 70's,80's, and 90's music that classic hits stations mostly play now?
What makes a song test well? Surely by now there's been some research done on this.

 

[Radio Wreck]

SO how come pop and R&B do not test well, even if its 70's,80's, and 90's music that classic hits stations mostly play now?
What makes a song test well? Surely by now there's been some research done on this.

Think of pop and R&B like clothing and hair. They both go in and out of style thru the decades and as such a shirt you wore or a haircut you sported 15 years ago might look ridiculous today. It’s the same with music. Remember the Macarena? Or how about something a little more recent such as Silento’s “Watch me whip/nae nae?” Both very popular songs during their heyday but now largely forgotten. Rock music on the other hand tends to have a very long shelf life. For example, there are literally 100’s of pop songs from the 70s 80s and 90s that most people have forgotten because the popular styles have changed. However rock music is much more consistent overall so when a Led Zeppelin, Journey or Nirvana song comes on the radio these same people jam along and many times are as excited as the first time they heard it.

 

[davideduardo]

SO how come pop and R&B do not test well, even if its 70's,80's, and 90's music that classic hits stations mostly play now?
What makes a song test well? Surely by now there's been some research done on this.

You can't easily research what causes tastes, but you can get scores on what people like and dislike today. In radio, it's about "how much do you want to hear that song today/now?"

You can find out very precisely what people feel about each song by playing for the a tidbit of the song and getting an "intent to listen" score.

If you ask why a person likes a song, you will get generally "fuzzy" answers like "I always liked it" or "I like that group" or "I like that kind of song". Or "it's what my wife and I danced to at our wedding". Or "they played that at the prom" or "it was what everyone liked when I was a senior". But all those answers forget that, to like a song in general, it has to fit in the "kind" of music a person enjoys. Generally, asking a person to define a reaction based on emotions will not get a precise answer as emotions are a personality trait, and thus the broad answer is "well, I just like it".

So what you have to go on in radio... or pre-programmed streams... is how much the song appeals to potential listeners right now.

As to your question on pop and r&b, often the answer for the generalized question is "I used to like it but I don't any more" or "I got tired of it" or "now it sounds too old." Remember, we don't play artists or kinds of music, we play songs. So each song is different, even if by a favorite artist

 

[HGN2001]

First of all, "Brown Eyed Girl" is a great record. Second of all, there are a lot of "brown-eyed girls" out there...

 

[DavidZ]

iHeart-owned Classic Hits "3WS" (WWSW-FM) in Pittsburgh is still playing some '60s music.

Well, at least "Brown Eyed Girl".

I just looked at the 3WS playlist and there were a few 60s songs but no “Brown Eyed Girl”. At least from morning drive through to now.

Find the most recently played songs on 3WS Radio

Find the most recently played songs on 3WS Radio, Pittsburgh's Classic Hits

3wsradio.iheart.com

 

[victorres43]

Most classic hits stations today have a pronounced rock lean. Very few pop hits and even fewer R&B hits get played.

I still find it a bit peculiar that WOGL is closer to KRTH than WCBS in terms of presentation and playlist. Especially when one notes the longtime influence of WCBS-FM for oldies and classic hits. (And yes, I know that the strength of WMMR and WMGK play a role in WOGL’s decision for a drier, less pop-sounding format)

It must also be noted that many classic hits stations in Florida are pop-leaning; one would think a strongly pronounced rock lean would attract older transplants from the Midwest. But WEAT in Palm Beach does fine with a poppier sound. Audacy isn’t as motivated to place a rock lean on WMXJ in Miami, or so it seems. WRBQ in Tampa Bay has a rock lean, but not to the point that pop music is omitted; Q105 does have the Dove to contend with. WOCL used to be on top, but I think the morning drive weighs down the station, moreso than the music.

Also, in Seattle, a city with a long history of rock music, KJEB is pop-leaning. Granted, KZOK is a sister station, but the likes of WWSW, WHTT, and KCMO are not as pop-leaning as KJEB, even though they have a classic rock station within their respective clusters.

 

[jt99]

“Sweet Caroline” still gets a lot of airplay on iHeart and Cumulus classic hits stations as well as some Beatles tracks (primarily “Yesterday”, “Get Back”, “Revolution”). “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison still gets some airplay, although not a ton. It’s played daily on Cumulus’s WIWF in Charleston, SC. Same for “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”.

Audacy and Beasley have been the most aggressive in moving their playlists out of the 70s. Cumulus and iHeart’s classic hits stations generally have a rock lean as well, but you’re likely to still hear “All Right Now”, “For What It’s Worth”, “Black Water” or “Honky Tonk Women” and similar tracks, unlike Audacy classic hits stations which have a very tight roster of 70s tracks they’ll still play that’s pretty uniform across all of their classic hits stations.

Not arguing that classic hits stations need to play older music - just an observation before I get corrected!

It's just a guess, as I certainly don't have the data to know for sure, but I'm going to guess that the Cumulus and iHeartMedia Classic Hits stations are generally in markets with an older average age in the target demo, which could be why they're getting more '70s songs to test and less '90s than some of the Audacy Classic Hits stations. I do think it's interesting that the '60s don't seem to test well (save "Brown Eyed Girl") for Classic Hits stations aside from the Cumulus and iHeartMedia ones, given that there are some songs from the decade that have high Spotify steams.

I still find it a bit peculiar that WOGL is closer to KRTH than WCBS in terms of presentation and playlist. Especially when one notes the longtime influence of WCBS-FM for oldies and classic hits. (And yes, I know that the strength of WMMR and WMGK play a role in WOGL’s decision for a drier, less pop-sounding format)

It must also be noted that many classic hits stations in Florida are pop-leaning; one would think a strongly pronounced rock lean would attract older transplants from the Midwest. But WEAT in Palm Beach does fine with a poppier sound. Audacy isn’t as motivated to place a rock lean on WMXJ in Miami, or so it seems. WRBQ in Tampa Bay has a rock lean, but not to the point that pop music is omitted; Q105 does have the Dove to contend with. WOCL used to be on top, but I think the morning drive weighs down the station, moreso than the music.

Also, in Seattle, a city with a long history of rock music, KJEB is pop-leaning. Granted, KZOK is a sister station, but the likes of WWSW, WHTT, and KCMO are not as pop-leaning as KJEB, even though they have a classic rock station within their respective clusters.

It's not perfect, but I do think Spotify streams are a pretty solid way to gauge which songs have aged well and are recognizable to a younger audience. The list of the 100 most streamed songs of the 1980s (

) is fairly balanced between rock and non rock, so it is interesting to me that a rock lean is seemingly become more of a default for '80s based Classic Hits stations.

WOCL actually made some changes to the playlist recently, adding more rock music to presumably compete with WMMO. Given Orlando's demographics, I thought the previous playlist was fine and tailored to the market, but it seems that a solid amount of the pop/rhythmic tracks are still on the playlist to try to keep some of the Hispanic audience. It's definitely an interesting playlist now with a lot of variety in genre, I think it could work and remind people of the days when Top 40 played everything, but I also think it could be seen as a mess, we will have to see. I actually like it, it kind of reminds me of the playlist KKHH in Houston had 2-3 years ago.

 

[Radio Wreck]

I actually like it, it kind of reminds me of the playlist KKHH in Houston had 2-3 years ago.

I’ve heard many a music aficionado say that when he/she actually likes a particular format, said format/playlist tanks in the ratings and is quickly ushered out of the building and into the dustbin of radio history,

 

[CurtisNEPA]

I've recently been to Philly and spent time listening to WOGL and it sounded like a Ben clone with mostly 80's and 90's being focused. However, they still played some '70s from time to time. Given that they got rid of the Saturday night disco show and moved it to an HD2(which no one listens to), it is a prime example of how such an oldies format evolved as demographics change.

So, I'm 38(turning 39 in November), and the majority of people around my age were into Britney Spears, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Ricky Martin, and so on when they were in high school. These are the artists that WOGL in its new incarnation are being centered on alongside the 80's.

It's not just them, a similar station in my area in NEPA not owned by a major corporate radio company now includes some '90s too with the majority of the playlist centered on late 70's-80's. This shows as years goes by and people start to outgrow CHR, core artists who were a part of the format at their peak careers migrate to the classic hits format.

 

[TheBigA]

I've recently been to Philly and spent time listening to WOGL and it sounded like a Ben clone with mostly 80's and 90's being focused.

The difference being that WOGL has announcers, while BEN doesn't. Although you may not have noticed.

However, they still played some '70s from time to time.

Last time I looked, they were playing more 70s than most of the other Audacy classic hits stations.

 

[wprt949]

Ben fm has a morning show with Kirsten but the rest of the day it’s not with any djs

 

[AceBiscuits]

Back in July, I tracked the playlist of WCBS-FM for a few days, and they only played two '60s songs: the Beatles' "Twist and Shout" (1964, but re-released in 1986 after being featured in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), and Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" (1968).

And those 60's songs being played means little because they weren't in rotation, it was played as part of a segment of the morning show.

 

[jlehmann]

Just looked at a full day of WROR, no "Sweet Caroline." Oldest songs played were "Listen to the Music" (1972) and 1973's "Dream On" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting."

WROR also still plays Brown Eyed Girl (Last played today at 2:09 PM). The only 60s song they play, I'm pretty sure

 

[CassChopper96]

Philadelphia radio is so much better than NYC radio. In terms of formats