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103.5 Kiss FM Chicago

C

CHRles

This station is supposed to be Chicago's hit music station. Now it's fine that they have a Rhythmic lean, but still as the market's CHR/Pop station they should be on Pop/Rock titles first, before B-96. In practice, B-96 was the first to play "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles. Now B is first to play One Republic's "Stop And Stare". WBBM B-96 played that song a good 4-5 times today between the hours of 9-5 PM. Kiss FM hasn't played it even once.

Kiss FM has some great DJs, and some pretty good ratings, but musically they need to step it up a notch.
 
I never was a fan of WKSC, its the worst CHR Chicago ever had. They need to bring back the old Z-95, also later was called Hot 947.... Anyone Remember this station? I was living in Woodridge ILL, a Chicago suburb at the time.. Anyway 94.7 flipped from CHR in late 91 or early 92 and went to a WLS Simulcast. I also always loved the old 99.9 WBUS (The Bus) which flipped to spanish in the mid 90s. WKSC (KISS) cant do CHR or Rhythmic either one right and now B-96 has to pick up the slack. Oh well, Ive always liked B-96, both as a mainstream CHR in the 80s, and a Dance CHR in the 90s, and as a Rhythmic Chr from 2000-Present. The Killer Bee is still the best in my opinion for Hits and Hip Hop in Chicago.
 
Yes pbf, Kiss has come out on top. Still, the station plays recurrents from the likes of Panic At The Disco, Fallout Boy, and All American Rejects yet it didnt really add Sara Bareilles until she was Top 3 on the CHR/Pop chart, and only after B-96 added it. "Love Song" is currently number one on the CHR/Pop chart, and there's actually a number of Rhythmics playing it. Basically, you couldn't have asked for a more accessible non-Rhythmic hit that is favored by 18-34 women. Now we come to find out that, Chicago's heritage Rhythmic station, is again beating Kiss into playing a big crossover Pop/Rock record. If both stations were Rhythmic CHRs, or both CHR/Pop then it'd be one thing, but when you have one station claiming to be the hit music station yet is lagging behind on the hits it should have been on long before B then the station gets a thumbs down.

I don't know. Maybe I should just add B-96 to the CHR/Pop webcasters list.
 
Thing is, no ad agency looking to place buys asks about how they add music. Arbitron doesn't ask about that either.
 
CHRles said:
Yes pbf, Kiss has come out on top. Still, the station plays recurrents from the likes of Panic At The Disco, Fallout Boy, and All American Rejects yet it didnt really add Sara Bareilles until she was Top 3 on the CHR/Pop chart, and only after B-96 added it. "Love Song" is currently number one on the CHR/Pop chart, and there's actually a number of Rhythmics playing it. Basically, you couldn't have asked for a more accessible non-Rhythmic hit that is favored by 18-34 women. Now we come to find out that, Chicago's heritage Rhythmic station, is again beating Kiss into playing a big crossover Pop/Rock record. If both stations were Rhythmic CHRs, or both CHR/Pop then it'd be one thing, but when you have one station claiming to be the hit music station yet is lagging behind on the hits it should have been on long before B then the station gets a thumbs down.

I don't know. Maybe I should just add B-96 to the CHR/Pop webcasters list.
Click to expand...

Another perfect example of radio people not thinking like listeners. Who are you to judge what a hit is for a listener in Chicago? Listeners don't care about charts, formats, or the national landscape. They only care about what they like.

It's funny how people bag on big companies for being cookie-cutter, and yet many times these same people complain when a station actually ISN'T. Go figure. ::)
 
YES.

A-freakin'-men. Stellar.

Roger That said:
Another perfect example of radio people not thinking like listeners. Who are you to judge what a hit is for a listener in Chicago? Listeners don't care about charts, formats, or the national landscape. They only care about what they like.

It's funny how people bag on big companies for being cookie-cutter, and yet many times these same people complain when a station actually ISN'T. Go figure. ::)
Click to expand...
 
Roger That said:
CHRles said:
Yes pbf, Kiss has come out on top. Still, the station plays recurrents from the likes of Panic At The Disco, Fallout Boy, and All American Rejects yet it didnt really add Sara Bareilles until she was Top 3 on the CHR/Pop chart, and only after B-96 added it. "Love Song" is currently number one on the CHR/Pop chart, and there's actually a number of Rhythmics playing it. Basically, you couldn't have asked for a more accessible non-Rhythmic hit that is favored by 18-34 women. Now we come to find out that, Chicago's heritage Rhythmic station, is again beating Kiss into playing a big crossover Pop/Rock record. If both stations were Rhythmic CHRs, or both CHR/Pop then it'd be one thing, but when you have one station claiming to be the hit music station yet is lagging behind on the hits it should have been on long before B then the station gets a thumbs down.

I don't know. Maybe I should just add B-96 to the CHR/Pop webcasters list.
Click to expand...

Another perfect example of radio people not thinking like listeners. Who are you to judge what a hit is for a listener in Chicago? Listeners don't care about charts, formats, or the national landscape. They only care about what they like.

It's funny how people bag on big companies for being cookie-cutter, and yet many times these same people complain when a station actually ISN'T. Go figure. ::)
Click to expand...

Have it your way, but then how do you explain B-96 adding this record? And again let me re-emphasize that B-96 is a Rhythmic CHR.
If anything, B-96 isnt a cookie cutter station. They play a lot of Rhythmic, Pop, and Dance titles that other stations aren't playing. Can't say the same for Kiss.
 
CHRles said:
how do you explain B-96 adding this record? And again let me re-emphasize that B-96 is a Rhythmic CHR.
If anything, B-96 isnt a cookie cutter station. They play a lot of Rhythmic, Pop, and Dance titles that other stations aren't playing. Can't say the same for Kiss.
Click to expand...


And yet Kiss is winning.

B's grasping at straws.

Smart programmers play the hits. (The songs listeners want to hear the most. Not the songs self-appointed elitists hope to MAKE hits.)
 
Hahahaha….I love it when people complain about how WKSC and KIIS are so rhythmic leaning and are depriving their audience of a good top 40 station. If so, explain why are they beating their competition in their demo. Chicago is a huge Rhythmic market and therefore their biggest competition is a Rhythmic, what do you expect? I’m not saying that I like Kiss Chicago‘s playlist, but they don’t care, and they shouldn’t.
 
What the heck is Chicago, the 3rd largest media market in the U.S., doing with a cookie cutter Kiss station as a top 40? Why dosen't Chicago have a top 40 patterned after KIIS or Z100 WHTZ NYC?
 
pbf1 said:
CHRles said:
how do you explain B-96 adding this record? And again let me re-emphasize that B-96 is a Rhythmic CHR.
If anything, B-96 isnt a cookie cutter station. They play a lot of Rhythmic, Pop, and Dance titles that other stations aren't playing. Can't say the same for Kiss.
Click to expand...


And yet Kiss is winning.

B's grasping at straws.

Smart programmers play the hits. (The songs listeners want to hear the most. Not the songs self-appointed elitists hope to MAKE hits.)
Click to expand...

So let's see. #11 this week on the CHR/Pop chart is One Republic while just below them at 12 is Daughtry's "Feels Like Tonight". So you're saying the listeners of Kiss FM want to hear this Daughtry song in particular? Okay, then why were they resistant to play Daughtry's other hits, which were way bigger, and which were played on B-96?

Look, I love seeing CHR/Pop stations do well, and WKSC has some good personalities, but musically 103.5 Kiss FM is nothing to write home about. B-96 on the other hand is a lot of fun to listen to.
 
Funny, I seem to recall other boards where certain CHRs were made fun of. People in Chicago used to call B-96 by a different name - B ninety sux.
And hey, weren't you knocking on 104 KRBE when Hot 95.7 debuted?

I also remember reading on the Atlanta boards how much Star 94 used to suck in the 90s. They were labelled CHR/Pop yet they didnt even play the number one song of the year on the CHR/Pop charts in 99 (or was it 98?) - "Genie In A Bottle" by Christian Aguilera. This is what Atlantans have observed.
People do care, and you'll actually start seeing Kiss FM add a bit more Pop/Rock in the near future, though it'll still remain a Rhythmic leaning/friendly CHR/Pop station.

I respect WKSC's program director, Rick Gilette, since he's from the oldschool - he was programming major market CHRs back in the 80s. I do believe though that him and Jeff Murray could tweak the station's sound a bit more. Talk about cookie cutter - look at the recurrents they're still pounding to the ground "The Way I Are" is still Top 20, Apologize, Stronger, Give It To Me, Umbrella, and Last Night still Top 30. It's even worse below the Top 30.

Have you guys actually listened to this station??? It sounds kinda stale to be honest, and I'm a genuine CHR radio fan. I realize some stations do well when they play Recurrents, but this is Chicago! This is a Rhythmic leaning CHR, and the heritage Rhythmic in the market is much more active on current music, much more of a hot hits station.
I'm sorry but I really get a feeling like some of the people on here who are defending Kiss FM havent actually listened to it, perhaps have friends that work at WKSC, or just want to "kiss" butt b/c it's a CHR in market #3.

BTW, I've got nothing but love for Radio Now mister rayne931. The DJs are awesome - high energy real CHR jocks. I mean, you can't mistake their presentation for anything but solid Top 40 radio. Also, your station isn't cookie cutter and takes some chances. You've got The Dream in the Top 10, you're giving Lil Wayne and Sum 41 a chance, and letting the audience decide how it feels about those and other songs once they've actually had the chance to be exposed to them.
 
pbf, I didnt see you step in with these kinds of answers in another thread we've recently had here, one where at some point someone brings up Q-102 Cincy. A station that was a ratings winner in the 80s, but was very musically conservative, and as a result sounded very disappointing.

Rick's got a lot of experience under his belt, but as someone whose listened to Kiss FM the station is a disappointment.
 
I'm just waiting to hear an arguement that doesn't have anything to do with charts, formats, or "what other people are doing". Listeners don't know or give a damn about what a Rhythmic CHR is, or whether that might make it weird to play "Love Song"...ONLY RADIO NERDS DO!

You say "have it my way," but I'd rather have it my listener's way. Thank you for proving my point. You think I'm trying to make this about me, or you. Couldn't be further from the truth. I still maintain that it's a perfect example of why we should be embarassed to do what we do (until we fix it). Guys who are stuck making references to the "hey day" and the "way it should be."

Our listeners are TELLING US the way it should be. Try listening to THEM for once.
 
Oh look, 103.5 Kiss FM started playing One Republic's "Stop And stare" yesterday, hmmmm I wonder what happened ::) ;D
 
jsu5381m said:
What the heck is Chicago, the 3rd largest media market in the U.S., doing with a cookie cutter Kiss station as a top 40? Why dosen't Chicago have a top 40 patterned after KIIS or Z100 WHTZ NYC?
Click to expand...

First of all, if you read the posts, you'd realize that KISS/Chicago is NOT cookie cutter, hence their playlist doesn't reflect other CHR's (and those of the same name). But, what I enjoy most is after you ask what Chicago's doing with a cookie cutter station, you then say they should be modeled after another radio station...isn't that a contradiction???
 
THIS POST SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING OF EVERYONE IN RADIO. Stellar.


Roger That said:
I'm just waiting to hear an arguement that doesn't have anything to do with charts, formats, or "what other people are doing". Listeners don't know or give a damn about what a Rhythmic CHR is, or whether that might make it weird to play "Love Song"...ONLY RADIO NERDS DO!

You say "have it my way," but I'd rather have it my listener's way. Thank you for proving my point. You think I'm trying to make this about me, or you. Couldn't be further from the truth. I still maintain that it's a perfect example of why we should be embarassed to do what we do (until we fix it). Guys who are stuck making references to the "hey day" and the "way it should be."

Our listeners are TELLING US the way it should be. Try listening to THEM for once.
Click to expand...
 
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