101 CBS FM

[andreajesus]

Well, I guess if the Regents were to "play" an event in NY last week, it would have probably been more appropriate to appear at the 135th birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Andreajesus - I think you and I are just a few years apart in age, but the audience that "matters" to keep CBS-FM on the top of the ratings and profit in 2018 is not "ole folkz" like ME. Then again, you, Scott Shannon and BigA may still really be in the perpetual under 33-1/3 magic demo. Just happens to be I still act like a kid (at least at heart, maybe?) I don't want to ever grow up. Seriously, most people about sixty are not likely to hoof it out to Coney Island to kick off the unofficial start to Summer. I think it is cool that you did.

The groups/artists that played were all about fun and drawing a medium-sized crowd. CBS-FM is doing E X A C T L Y what it should be to fill the perfect niche in NYC that allows them to be as popular as ever with the age group they need to be entertaining and gearing their marketing. We just ain't in the demo. You saw the crowd. It was a mixture of people, with some well over 50. What, maybe 5-7%? The majority of the audience was 35-50. And, as I see more and more at classic rock/hits events, a large number of those under 30 like going to these shows because it gives them a brief glance into what the older crowd is doing or they grew up with their parents music, but they have their own music and music sources and, in many of those cases, CBS-FM is not part usually a large part of that. The exposure to CBS-FM will help build the audience as those folks add a few birthdays.

well, let's see - i will be 60 next April, and since my experience with the station goes back to 1984, i guess i'm looking at it from an "old" perspective - and yes, the station IS going after a MUCH younger audience than it did back in MY day - and for the record, the wrong Shannon is currently on the air - you do the math (ps - i did get to see Broadway Bill Lee and Joe Causi - and i met John Elliott, so that was kinda cool - but for the most part, the fans were NOWHERE NEAR the kind of peeps we had back in the day - PERIOD! (and if Johnny Maestro was alive.....)

 

[andreajesus]

Still love "I Can't Help Myself" never mind hearing it; BUT if I never have to even think about Freddy and the Dreamers I will be fine; and I did like "I'm Telling You Now" when it was out but since then it's a song that is a stiff so, no, it would not be refreshing to hear it or "Do the Freddie" (a bonafide stiff)

which is one of the many reasons i stopped listening to the station in 2014 - they stopped playing the music that I know

 

[Gunsmoke]

And it's not how much he buys, but whether he switches brands easily enough to make it worth advertisers' money to reach him. A 22-year-old who flips between cola brands and flavors of the month is easier to persuade to try Coke's new Ginger Lime flavor than a 65-year-old who's been drinking only Diet Coke for the past 30 years is. And the older, wiser consumers who no longer drink Coke or Pepsi but instead have switched to supermarket house brands are of no use to the advertiser at all.

I'm 67 and I love that New Coke machine in wawa and burger king, mixing lime, lemon or anything with Coke, but I must admit I have been drinking Coke Classic since 1962...

 

[Gunsmoke]

Come to Connecticut and you'll hear Even the Bad Times Are Good -- The Tremeloes, Mind Body and Soul -- Flaming Ember, and Forever Came Today -- The Supremes, along with all the aforementioned.

Do you know if the playlist is in-house like WMGK or contracted out.

 

[CTListener]

Do you know if the playlist is in-house like WMGK or contracted out.

It originated two ownership groups ago. I believe it was the project of one of Buckley Broadcasting's Hartford employees, but not absolutely sure. The playlist may have been contracted out after the station changed hands the first time, as I'm sure new titles have been added and others have been removed since then. When Buckley owned DRC-FM, the HD2 would occasionally play that hilarious live "blooper" version of Elvis messing up "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and the customized Hartford-market version of that song that saluted area high schools (blanking out on the artist and title, and Google is no help so far). I miss those, but shortly after the sale went through, I was astounded to hear Procol Harum's "Homburg," the obscure follow-up to "A Whiter Shade of Pale," being played!

 

[CTListener]

I'm 67 and I love that New Coke machine in wawa and burger king, mixing lime, lemon or anything with Coke, but I must admit I have been drinking Coke Classic since 1962...

63 here, and the most adventurous I get on the new machines is the "vanilla" option on Barq's Root Beer! At the supermarket, it's either Diet Coke or the store brand, usually the latter.

 

[davideduardo]

Do you know if the playlist is in-house like WMGK or contracted out.

Red Wolf has their own in-house program directors, so my assumption is that they are picking and scheduling the music themselves.

I did not know that there was any vendor of contract playlists; that sounds like an impossible task.

 

[Gunsmoke]

It originated two ownership groups ago. I believe it was the project of one of Buckley Broadcasting's Hartford employees, but not absolutely sure. The playlist may have been contracted out after the station changed hands the first time, as I'm sure new titles have been added and others have been removed since then. When Buckley owned DRC-FM, the HD2 would occasionally play that hilarious live "blooper" version of Elvis messing up "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and the customized Hartford-market version of that song that saluted area high schools (blanking out on the artist and title, and Google is no help so far). I miss those, but shortly after the sale went through, I was astounded to hear Procol Harum's "Homburg," the obscure follow-up to "A Whiter Shade of Pale," being played!

Sounds like a nice mix, WMGK plays Its Only Make Believe the Glen Campbell version, never heard it before until they added it, thats why I totally support HD radio, they can get away with some obscure cuts and formats. I still wish one signal would go Standards like the Strip but so far nothing yet.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I did not know that there was any vendor of contract playlists; that sounds like an impossible task.

The old Jones Radio Network used to offer a playlist service. Probably the same playlists they used on their 24/7 formats. I only saw ads for the service, never worked for a station that subscribed to it.

 

[CTListener]

Red Wolf has their own in-house program directors, so my assumption is that they are picking and scheduling the music themselves. .

Are you talking about the "Big D on HD" HD2 subchannel or the main Kool signal? If the former, why do you think Red Wolf has anything to do with what's on the HD2? The changes I noticed happened on Connoisseur's watch. No new songs, jingles or anything have been noted since Red Wolf completed the deal, becoming DRC-FM's third owner in less than four years.

 

[CTListener]

Just to give you an idea what WDRC-FM's HD2 sounds like, here are the last dozen songs played:

Just Like Me -- Paul Revere and the Raiders
Tall Paul -- Annette Funicello
Venus In Blue Jeans -- Jimmy Clanton
Positively 4th Street -- Bob Dylan
Working For The Man -- Roy Orbison
Kentucky Woman -- Neil Diamond
She Comes To Me -- The Chicago Loop
Walk, Don't Run -- The Ventures
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away -- The Silkie
What'd I Say -- Ray Charles
Words -- The Bee Gees
Do You Believe In Magic -- The Lovin' Spoonful

I've found this mix of big hits, secondary hits and forgotten singles pretty typical. The Orbison and Chicago Loop songs didn't even crack the Billboard top 30. The Silkie track peaked outside the top 10. The Funicello song was a novelty number; both it and the Clanton hit have been on the playlist since the launch, in the Buckley years. (The HD2 launched in 2006. Buckley sold WDRC-FM to Connoisseur in 2014, Connoisseur sold it to Red Wolf earlier this year.)

 

[Gunsmoke]

Just to give you an idea what WDRC-FM's HD2 sounds like, here are the last dozen songs played:

Just Like Me -- Paul Revere and the Raiders
Tall Paul -- Annette Funicello
Venus In Blue Jeans -- Jimmy Clanton
Positively 4th Street -- Bob Dylan
Working For The Man -- Roy Orbison
Kentucky Woman -- Neil Diamond
She Comes To Me -- The Chicago Loop
Walk, Don't Run -- The Ventures
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away -- The Silkie
What'd I Say -- Ray Charles
Words -- The Bee Gees
Do You Believe In Magic -- The Lovin' Spoonful

I've found this mix of big hits, secondary hits and forgotten singles pretty typical. The Orbison and Chicago Loop songs didn't even crack the Billboard top 30. The Silkie track peaked outside the top 10. The Funicello song was a novelty number; both it and the Clanton hit have been on the playlist since the launch, in the Buckley years. (The HD2 launched in 2006. Buckley sold WDRC-FM to Connoisseur in 2014, Connoisseur sold it to Red Wolf earlier this year.)

That sure leaves WMGK in the dust lol can't compete with that playlist, Tall Paul is the cherry on the top....

 

[CTListener]

That sure leaves WMGK in the dust lol can't compete with that playlist, Tall Paul is the cherry on the top....

It gets better. Now playing, Cloud Nine -- Mongo Santamaria. A few songs back, Nobody But You Babe -- Clarence Reid. Both charted between 30 and 40 in 1969. I don't have any memory of either of them as currents. I love the Santamaria version of the Temptations hit, though!

 

[TheBigA]

Keep in mind all of this is on an HD2 channel. Not the main signal. No real pressure there.

 

[CTListener]

Keep in mind all of this is on an HD2 channel. Not the main signal. No real pressure there.

Very true. The main signal is classic rock, with a no-surprises playlist. The HD3 carries the AM sister station's right-wing talk. And right now, while Cher's "You Better Sit Down, Kids" is delighting the oldies geeks on HD2, the in-the-clear FM is pumping out Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."

 

[davideduardo]

The old Jones Radio Network used to offer a playlist service. Probably the same playlists they used on their 24/7 formats. I only saw ads for the service, never worked for a station that subscribed to it.

I did not know that. Thanks for the info.

Today, all it takes is the creation of another database in the music scheduling software they already have, and a little bit of time each day to generate a log and feed it to the digital automation.

Since the library for a 50's and 60's format is pretty much locked, and nobody is going to pay the $30 to $40 k for a 1,000 song music test for an HD-2 channel's format. So likely they are happy to leave it alone for the moment.

 

[TheBigA]

The old Jones Radio Network used to offer a playlist service. Probably the same playlists they used on their 24/7 formats. I only saw ads for the service, never worked for a station that subscribed to it.

I think that service came from Broadcast Programming, a Seattle-based company they bought in 1999. And yes, it's likely they also programmed the 24/7 formats. That division was shut down when the company was bought by Cumulus about 5 years ago.

 

[Kemosabe]

It gets better. Now playing, Cloud Nine -- Mongo Santamaria. A few songs back, Nobody But You Babe -- Clarence Reid. Both charted between 30 and 40 in 1969. I don't have any memory of either of them as currents. I love the Santamaria version of the Temptations hit, though!

Amid the Me-Too movement, would any oldies station play songs such as Sandy Posey's "Born a Woman," Bobbi Martin's "For the Love of Him," or, worse yet, the 1910 Fruitgum Company's "1, 2, 3 Red Light?"

 

[Gunsmoke]

Very true. The main signal is classic rock, with a no-surprises playlist. The HD3 carries the AM sister station's right-wing talk. And right now, while Cher's "You Better Sit Down, Kids" is delighting the oldies geeks on HD2, the in-the-clear FM is pumping out Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."

WOW do you have a spare room you would like to rent out LMAO...Well MGK just played Donny Osmond-Sweet and Innocent and Ballad of a teenage Queen-Johnny Cash, two oh wows. Is their HD2 in full stereo, MGK has great separation for an HD2 product, I was told HD 2, 3 and 4 looses that. WIP HD3 is Hair Metal but with full stereo, so who knows, must be the individual station signal.

 

[CTListener]

WOW do you have a spare room you would like to rent out LMAO...Well MGK just played Donny Osmond-Sweet and Innocent and Ballad of a teenage Queen-Johnny Cash, two oh wows. Is their HD2 in full stereo, MGK has great separation for an HD2 product, I was told HD 2, 3 and 4 looses that. WIP HD3 is Hair Metal but with full stereo, so who knows, must be the individual station signal.

The stereo is OK through headphones. I have the Insignia portable, not hooked up to a home stereo, so I don't know how it sounds through speakers.

(Now playing, Catch The Wind -- Donovan, following His Latest Flame -- Elvis Presley. Sorry no room at the inn, LOL.)