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Whatever happened to Open House Party?

tall_guy1

tall_guy1

I looked up that it has less than 30 affiliates now and went down when John Garrabedean left. I streamed the replacement once and he seemed pretty good. Unsure why it was dropped by so many. I am not sure how well Most Requested Live still does, since it was dropped locally in favor of regular programming, but I assume better.
 
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I think once John left it lost a lot of its presentation. John invented it so it was his and took the liberties he needed to take to make it work. The new guy can’t fill his shoes. Impossible.

John was Open House Party. Also realize too that by the time John left the show it already wasn’t what it once was.

People also don’t listen to the radio the way they used to. That has affected everything.
 
The show definitely felt different and just wasn't the same once John left. The original OHP when it was launched was truly that - a live party, broadcast from John's own basement with live callers, on-air requests, guests and the like. All of that is difficult to re-create, especially since the show has not been truly "live", but has been voice tracked for some time. Keep in mind as well that the first OHP was broadcast in the late 1980s. As @radiorobert alluded to, that was a very different time for radio in many respects as both a business, the amount of listeners to OTA broadcasts and the lack of a lot of competition for radio listeners' attention that has come along since.

Of course, as most everyone here who's been or is still in the business can attest, listener tastes and preferences also change over time. Lots of popular DJs, VJs and nationally syndicated programs that were wildly popular in the past few decades, fizzled out or are no longer with us for whatever reason.
 
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radiorobert said:
Didn’t John start another show that recently went away?
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gr8oldies said:
He started Liveline with Mason, which he did not voice, I don't know its status. I seem to still see ads recruiting affiliates on AllAccess.
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If I recall correctly, John also launched an internet-only "station" based on the concept of OHP and he tried to sell it as the next big thing to a bunch of established streamers like Amazon and YouTube, but they never bit and it fizzled.
 
Mikey Radio said:
The show definitely felt different and just wasn't the same once John left. The original OHP when it was launched was truly that - a live party, broadcast from John's own basement with live callers, on-air requests, guests and the like. All of that is difficult to re-create, especially since the show has not been truly "live", but has been voice tracked for some time. Keep in mind as well that the first OHP was broadcast in the late 1980s. As @radiorobert alluded to, that was a very different time for radio in many respects as both a business, the amount of listeners to OTA broadcasts and the lack of a lot of competition for radio listeners' attention that has come along since.

Of course, as most everyone here who's been or is still in the business can attest, listener tastes and preferences also change over time. Lots of popular DJs, VJs and nationally syndicated programs that were wildly popular in the past few decades, fizzled out or are no longer with us for whatever reason.
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OHP also seemed to go out on a limb for music, both new and old. Today I am guessing with streaming competition they pick more "safe bets" than on that show.
 
tall_guy1 said:
OHP also seemed to go out on a limb for music, both new and old. Today I am guessing with streaming competition they pick more "safe bets" than on that show.
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Keep in mind that Open House Party and other programs like "Hot Mix" from Dave Rajput, which was also heard on more than 175 radio stations at its peak in the early 90s, were often aired on Top 40 stations, but those types of shows were usually run on weekend nights, were considered "specialty programming" and often departed from those stations' standard programming and playlists. I once worked at a Top 40 station that aired "Hot Mix" on Saturday nights. The program ran 4 hours and was basically 1 long "mix" of dance and club versions of Top 40 songs with no talk or banter. That particular station never aired any of those dance or club mixes in their regular rotation; they were only heard during the Hot Mix program on Saturday nights. I'm guessing the same could be said for at least some of the stations that carried OHP, also usually on weekend evenings.
 
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Mikey Radio said:
Keep in mind that Open House Party and other programs like "Hot Mix" from Dave Rajput, which was also heard on more than 175 radio stations at its peak in the early 90s, were often aired on Top40 stations, but those types of shows were usually run on weekend nights, were considered "specialty programming" and often departed from those stations' standard programming and playlists. I once worked at a Top40 station that aired "Hot Mix" on Saturday nights. The program ran 4 hours and was basically 1 long "mix" of dance and club versions of Top40 songs with no talk or banter. That particular station never aired any of those dance or club mixes in their regular rotation; they were only heard during the Hot Mix program on Saturday nights. I'm guessing the same could be said for at least some of the stations that carried OHP, also usually on weekend evenings.
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Most Requested Live seems to have dropped off as well (though definitely more popular than OHP, but not nearly as popular as it was). Maybe it is a sign of the times that a lot of those types of programs are disappearing.
 
tall_guy1 said:
Most Requested Live seems to have dropped off as well (though definitely more popular than OHP, but not nearly as popular as it was). Maybe it is a sign of the times that a lot of those types of programs are disappearing.
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KMXV/Mix 93.3 does a show like “Hot Mix” on Saturday nights with various remixes, it’s on past midnight but I’m not sure what time it starts. Steve Serrano does the airshift but I don’t know if he arranges the remixes. The whole songs aren’t played but it’s remix clips that flow into the next clip. It’s kind of like Stars on 45 but way better, because it’s the actual songs remixed.
 
Wasn't just reading an old article about it in Billboard from 1994, when the Ben Liebrand remix of "December 1963(Oh What A Night)" by The Four Seasons was running up the charts. The song became a hit due to Open House Party and it spread to Pittsburgh and then nationwide.
 
Liveline (airing at night on various CHRs around the country), is radio the way it was meant to be (except for not being local of course). The host has a great vibe and takes live calls throughout the show. I think they air throwbacks during one of the hours or at least part of one of the hours.

This show would seemingly be a perfect fit for any CHR that doesn't have a live night show (in other words probably most of them by this point).
 
gr8oldies said:
John is working with another evening show, hosted by someone much younger, Liveline with Mason.
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This is a great show! Saladressing is absolutely right.

It seems to air mostly in the Midwest; at least a couple stations in Michigan's upper peninsula air it. I hear a lot of callers from WI and IL.

It reminds me of how live CHR radio used to sound. Lots of listener involvement. Live requests. Live contests. Solid production values. The show doesn't hide the fact it is syndicated. Callers mention where they reside.

In my opinion, it is the best daily CHR/Pop show in syndication. Much better than Townsquare's milquetoast "PopCrush" show or Zach Sang when WW One carried that program.
 
MarkW said:
In my opinion, it is the best daily CHR/Pop show in syndication. Much better than Townsquare's milquetoast "PopCrush" show or Zach Sang when WW One carried that program.
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Not that PopCrush was that great, but it was better when Kayla Thomas hosted it. Y101 Jackson used to air it, but dumped it for local content.
 
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