Broadway Bill Lee was just inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Well deserved in my opinion. I think Bill is great and has remained relevant. Others have disagreed. With Shannon out 12/16, where does CBS go? Stay the course musically or evolve more into the 80s and 90s? Thoughts on Race Taylor over Dan Taylor? Been a while since that change. What about Joe Causi and Dave Stewart? Maybe someone will have an “alt” opinion or two. What do you think if this station. Success or dinosaur doomed in the demo?
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Thoughts on CBS-FM Success and Personalities
- Thread starter Tibbs4
- Start date
Personally I think CBS-FM is overrated. There are many other classic hits stations in smaller markets that I think are programmed much better, or even in top markets (KOSF/San Francisco, KJEB/Seattle, KQQL/Minneapolis, etc). Music demos changing aside, for the individuals in the demo they were targeting at the time, they sounded much better in the late 00s until 2014 or so. Before somebody comes to correct me about many of the songs they played back then being out of the demo, I get that - but relatively speaking, in their efforts to reach their target audience at various times, I feel like the station lost a lot of what it had for the first 10 years or so if its second classic hits incarnation. Lots of cold segues now, really nothing special like they used to have. It’s mostly boring radio like any other classic hits station owned by Audacy. That works, so I’m not here to say they’re doing the wrong thing - I just feel like the station sounds like a lot less effort is being put in to it than it did 10 years ago. I’m a fan of the era of music they play now, but they don’t offer a special/unique experience like they used to. JMO.
The station as it is now has already evolved as much in to the 80s as they will. The 80s ratio can’t increase any more than it has. As long as 70s still test well, those will remain, and the station has ventured in to the 90s and 00s for a while now - the challenge they, and all other classic hits stations will have, is when the 80s start to age out and they’re forced to go deeper in the 90s or skip the decade mostly (like AC did other than certain staples, most AC’s play more 80s than 90s) and move in to the 2000s where there were more upbeat mainstream pop hits.
I think CBS-FM and the classic hits format will stick around. However, to remain successful 35-54, the audience will likely narrow and I don’t think we will see classic hits leading or near leading almost every PPM market it’s in 6+ like we do right now as the music starts to fragment with an increase in 90s music. I project some, like CBS-FM will lean more in to rhythmic/dance influenced pop, and KRTH will go more towards alternative. We’re already seeing those seeds being sown.
The station as it is now has already evolved as much in to the 80s as they will. The 80s ratio can’t increase any more than it has. As long as 70s still test well, those will remain, and the station has ventured in to the 90s and 00s for a while now - the challenge they, and all other classic hits stations will have, is when the 80s start to age out and they’re forced to go deeper in the 90s or skip the decade mostly (like AC did other than certain staples, most AC’s play more 80s than 90s) and move in to the 2000s where there were more upbeat mainstream pop hits.
I think CBS-FM and the classic hits format will stick around. However, to remain successful 35-54, the audience will likely narrow and I don’t think we will see classic hits leading or near leading almost every PPM market it’s in 6+ like we do right now as the music starts to fragment with an increase in 90s music. I project some, like CBS-FM will lean more in to rhythmic/dance influenced pop, and KRTH will go more towards alternative. We’re already seeing those seeds being sown.
Even now, there's a handful of Classic Hits stations in larger markets that have fallen off in 6+ and are no longer at or near the lead in their markets, although they're mostly Audacy stations that have been mismanaged. However, when compared to most of the Classic Hits stations that Audacy has screwed up, WCBS-FM is still fairly unique, which I think explains their continued success.
Seriously, thank you for the comments. Please, keep them coming. This kinda conversation helps me a lot. 101tm are you referring to the music that was played during the “Oh Wow Wednesdays” era? You can see a lot of Broadway’s OWW’s online complete with rhyme. Back from that time. Pretty sublime.
Not sure what you mean here. They're mostly an 80s/90s station right now. My view is for the most part they're more driven by the music than by personality. I agree that Race is Scott's likely successor. But everything else is status quo.
in Philadelphia WOGL was rebranded. And it has worked out well. WCBS-FM is still succesful because its the only station in the market that plays 80s and 90s music
What are you talking about?
Here's the problem as I see it. FM can continue to add the years onto their playlists but it's going to come to a point where the ears they are aiming for have never listened to FM stations in their life because they been getting all the music they've listened to from teen years on up from streaming services. And why would they ever change from that?
Radio is easier and cheaper, and doesn't require a subscription, username, or password.
That is more than a decade away. In 25-34, 80% of all persons in metered markets use radio. That is not the same as "all the music they have listened to".
So for the next decade or so, that is not even a concern.
And the second highest billing station in the US targets 18-34 and 25-34 women... KIIS.
I’m really just referring to the “classic top 40” iteration from 2007-2014 or so. There was a lot more creativity, imaging, and jingles. The station sounded alive. It still does to a degree but it’s been greatly dialed back. I know the music has to evolve but the personality of the station went with it. Then again, that’s how most of Audacy’s classic hits stations are now.
Not unlike how pop radio dialed back from the 1960s in the 1980s and 90s. The current demo grew up in that later group.
Figure it out
I think KIIS and KBIG are the top billers in LA
Most radio stations don't play new music. You can hear 80s and 90s music all over the dial. Well maybe that's an exaggeration since the number of stations playing any music at all seems to keep declining. But there's Q104.3 and KTU for starters. CBS-FM is not the only station in New York playing 80s and 90s music lol.
I see very little changing in the immediate wake of Shannon’s departure, aside from Race Taylor’s presumed shift to mornings and the likely promotion of an in-house talent to the midday slot.
CBS-FM appears to be focused on winning long listening occasions at work, with its commercial-free sweep from 8:45-11:30a and a number of titles that are deemed too AC or dated-sounding for other Audacy Classic Hits stations. K-Earth 101 wouldn’t touch the likes of Starship with a 101-foot pole, but you’ll hear “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” every 8 hours on CBS-FM. On the flip side, there are also titles like “What Is Love,” “Another Night,” and “Waiting for Tonight” that nod to NYC’s penchant for rhythm and ethnic composition. Jim Ryan is a smart programmer and knows the market — I’m sure all of the choices are well-researched.
It’s also worth noting that Lite runs a wide gamut from excessively sleepy (“Lady In Red,” “Candle In The Wind”) to almost comically aggressive (Doja Cat, Post Malone, Chris Brown), so they’re very much trying to address NYC listener habits in the same way that CBS-FM is.
Personally, I think CBS-FM’s overall stationality has sounded a bit older than it’s needed to in recent years, and I do find the current imaging lacking. I would also love to hear a female personality somewhere in the lineup. With that said, I think what we’re hearing is a calculated decision to go for listening in businesses and Ubers (as opposed to short listening occasions in personal cars — the K-Earth approach). All told, the 25-54 performance seems good enough — albeit less consistent than Lite’s or Z100’s — not to mess with it.
CBS-FM appears to be focused on winning long listening occasions at work, with its commercial-free sweep from 8:45-11:30a and a number of titles that are deemed too AC or dated-sounding for other Audacy Classic Hits stations. K-Earth 101 wouldn’t touch the likes of Starship with a 101-foot pole, but you’ll hear “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” every 8 hours on CBS-FM. On the flip side, there are also titles like “What Is Love,” “Another Night,” and “Waiting for Tonight” that nod to NYC’s penchant for rhythm and ethnic composition. Jim Ryan is a smart programmer and knows the market — I’m sure all of the choices are well-researched.
It’s also worth noting that Lite runs a wide gamut from excessively sleepy (“Lady In Red,” “Candle In The Wind”) to almost comically aggressive (Doja Cat, Post Malone, Chris Brown), so they’re very much trying to address NYC listener habits in the same way that CBS-FM is.
Personally, I think CBS-FM’s overall stationality has sounded a bit older than it’s needed to in recent years, and I do find the current imaging lacking. I would also love to hear a female personality somewhere in the lineup. With that said, I think what we’re hearing is a calculated decision to go for listening in businesses and Ubers (as opposed to short listening occasions in personal cars — the K-Earth approach). All told, the 25-54 performance seems good enough — albeit less consistent than Lite’s or Z100’s — not to mess with it.
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The station really has no competition.
The average PPM meter holder listens to 5 stations at some time during each week. So that mean that every station is every other station's competitor.
Yea what chopper said doesnt make any sense theres a bunch of stations that play 80s/90s.
He didnt say "only" 80s/90s so cant use that as a loophole.
I dont like djs - they talk over start of songs - they talk about stuff i dont care about - they even talk just to talk.
Oh also they talk about stuff they dont know about like 1 time the girl was talking about the last Jets game of the yr & she said maybe they can end the season on a win - NOOOO (in vader voice) their fans wanted them to lose to get the higher draft picks - see what i mean.
Just gimme the music thats whats so great about streaming.
The sound quality as mentioned improved recently with whatever audio change they did but still doesnt sound as good as Z100 or KTU.
The "greatest his of NY" slogan is stupid since i dont think they play any songs from last 20 or so yrs.
Greatest hits implies all greatest hits so they should just say "greatest hits of 70s thru 90s" or something like that.
He didnt say "only" 80s/90s so cant use that as a loophole.
I dont like djs - they talk over start of songs - they talk about stuff i dont care about - they even talk just to talk.
Oh also they talk about stuff they dont know about like 1 time the girl was talking about the last Jets game of the yr & she said maybe they can end the season on a win - NOOOO (in vader voice) their fans wanted them to lose to get the higher draft picks - see what i mean.
Just gimme the music thats whats so great about streaming.
The sound quality as mentioned improved recently with whatever audio change they did but still doesnt sound as good as Z100 or KTU.
The "greatest his of NY" slogan is stupid since i dont think they play any songs from last 20 or so yrs.
Greatest hits implies all greatest hits so they should just say "greatest hits of 70s thru 90s" or something like that.
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