I never knew about KTSO - Tulsa's Soft Oldies. They even openly use Soft Oldies as their slogan. The only station I know of that does that. In the last Nielsen, KTSO was ranked #6 with a 4.2 share. But as you mentioned how much of that is 50+. The Tulsa market is ranked #64, so they could still get a of business direct advertising to be successful.
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Norfolk VA Station Switches to Yacht Rock - Is This A New Trend?
- Thread starter Gregg.
- Start date
Gregg: Yes, 104 & 92 competed with the format, & you also might know that they were also Country competitors before that & nowadays, 104 is Radio104 (Alternative) & it's still Country92.5. It seems two stations with similar formats couldn't last in the market. It was said that Mr. Gilmore, whose family owned 'YZ & leased antenna space on the 'YZ tower on West Peak on Meriden Mountain to 104, wasn't too happy when 104 beat 'YZ in the ratings! I remember it just like yesterday - running TM reel to reel tapes before CD & computer technology!
If I had to say the amount of songs on the new 92.9 The Wave playlist it might be less than 200. The burnout of The Escape Pina Colada song and Firefall's two major hits will probably come real soon. Honestly, I thought this was a stunting format. They could have gone full soft a/c like when it was WFOG and played a lot of what they are doing now.
John O'Hurley is the voice of the station, and I understand a few Jack FM stations use him instead of Howard Cogan.
I've noticed, too, that the playlist is repetitive. It's not bad, but it's definitely short. Short playlists tend to work, which is why people do them, but this one might be too short. As I mentioned previously in this thread, it sounds a lot like KTSO in Tulsa. If it follows the KTSO model a little more closely, The Wave might have some staying power. KTSO would seem to have mediocre but sustainable numbers.
Same with SiriusXM's Yacht Rock Radio. The playlist is very short.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
That makes sense, actually. Yacht Rock is pretty much a subgenre of 70s/80s AC, so the playlist is going to be a subset of that format.
If I was going to do Yacht Rock, I would do it on Sunday mornings as a special featured program as part of a mellow AC format.
One thing they don’t have is advertisers. If I hear that Millers Home Comfort commercial again about the child coming up with a jingle…….🙄😬😒
I don’t understand the commercial and what’s it’s trying to achieve. Why as consumer would I care about what their next jingle is going to be?
I don’t understand the commercial and what’s it’s trying to achieve. Why as consumer would I care about what their next jingle is going to be?
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They program the songs which test well with the audience they want to get.
What I've noticed when I've listened has been frequent, but short, breaks. It seems to run two or three songs followed by two or three commercials. I've never bothered to calculate how much airtime that is total over the course of an hour, but my understanding is that commercial breaks are limited to 90 seconds or less outside of prime listening hours.
It wouldn't make my list of Yacht Rock tunes, but that's ultimately a brand more than a real format. As RadioFan mentions, what makes the playlist ultimately depends on what the target audience says it likes. Few, if any, listeners are going to turn off a song they like simply because it doesn't fit their definition of Yacht Rock. The average listener to the station had probably never even heard of Yacht Rock until hearing it mentioned on The Wave. The concept those people have of it, if they even pay attention to that, is what they're hearing when they listen.
I wonder about the use of "soft" versus, let's say, "smooth". Soft sounds week, while smooth sounds relaxing. I wonder if they bothered to do a perceptual study on something as critical as their name.
Of course, most people do not know how to do a perceptual. They list a bunch of names and have people vote on the words. Instead, one has to give context such as listing a bunch of songs that you know test well and then asking "which of these words is how you would describe this kind of music to a friend?". And then list words like smooth, gentle, soft, relaxing, fun, nice, and more terms.
Kent: That's 92 seconds or less!
Dear 92.9 The Wave, please stop overplaying Imaginary Lover! 😣😤😩
The song is just weird!
In general, I still like this station and haven’t burned out (yet). They have broadened their playlist in the past week too as I’ve noticed some new songs. I wish they hadn’t got rid of the cheesy captain announcer.
The song is just weird!
In general, I still like this station and haven’t burned out (yet). They have broadened their playlist in the past week too as I’ve noticed some new songs. I wish they hadn’t got rid of the cheesy captain announcer.
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The Captain announcer (John O'Hurley) still is on-the-air frequently, but not full-time. They are programming new liners/sweepers with Barry McKay
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Great voice & smooth, upbeat presentation!