I stream 94.7 The Drive fairly often and was surprised this afternoon to hear them play Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” which was released in 2014. I know most all classic hits stations, including 94.7 play some 90s and even occasionally 2000s stuff now, but this one caught me a bit off guard. It didn’t stick out really and is probably popular with the demo, this was more of just a surprise to hear something that recent on a classic hits station, especially 94.7 The Drive since they’re even light on the 90s. I wonder if any other Audacy classic hits stations have added anything that recent?
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
2010s music on WIAD
- Thread starter 101tm
- Start date
I believe WCBS-FM goes as recent as Daniel Powter's Bad Day, a hit song from 2005.
Yeah, I know “Hey Ya!” From 2002-2003 and “Crazy” from 2000? are classic hits staples that CBS-FM was one of the first to start playing. When it comes to post 80s stuff with Audacy’s classic hits stations, KRTH then WCBS seem to be the most aggressive while others like WOMC and WIAD still lean a bit in to the 80s more heavily.
“Uptown Funk” actually does fit in that “future gold” type sense. It’s definitely in the same vein as “Hey Ya”/“Crazy”. I was just surprised of all of the classic hits stations to hear it on the rather conservative Drive.
WCBS-FM's playlist is pretty wide for an Audacy station, but I'm not sure if I can say they are aggressive on late 90s / 00s music in general. But maybe it's because the likes of K-Earth have spun the likes of Gangsta's Paradise and California Love (granted, these were mega-hits back in the day, but still), whilst being a bit skim on late 90s/early 00s pop, a type of music CBS-FM is more receptive to compared to K-Earth.
At least CBS-FM doesn't sound like a glorified classic rock station. Not the most keen on what WIAD exactly sounds like, though I believe I heard Hip Hop Hooray there at one time.
Which Audacy Classic Hits stations would you say sound like a glorified Classic Rock station? The closest I can think of is WOMC, but they're not even close to the same level as a station like WJJK (owned by Cumulus).
Perhaps not so much Audacy, but more the likes of WLS-FM and WSRV. A contrast to WCBS-FM's pop/AC-friendly approach.
I would've said Adult Hits stations like KKHH, but they may not have leaned too heavy on rock lately, though their lone presenter has more experience on rock radio than pop radio.
WSRV started in 2006 at a time before the former Oldies stations started calling themselves Classic Hits, when Classic Hits used to mean Classic Rock without the hard stuff. They would eventually evolve to more of a traditional Classic Rock station, but they're still labeled as Classic Hits for reasons I do not know. WLS-FM is pretty much the perfect example of a glorified Classic Rock station, though, but it had done well in Chicago until recently.
WLS-FM wasn’t really rock leaning until fairly recently, around the time WLUP flipped. WLS-FM has a lot of competition and WRME has hurt them 6+, WLS-FM does still play the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle, Madonna, etc. WLS-FM, but much more so WJJK in Indianapolis are the best examples of classic hits that are still mainstream in the contemporary sense but lean rock.
I’m probably going to get crap for this, but I’m not a huge fan of how Audacy’s classic hits stations sound. Like I said in the WOGL thread, a lot of them have quit using jingles and all share a very similar playlist and have a very dry sound. I would say KRTH is one of the more rock friendly classic hits stations in their stable. WIAD is pretty much in the middle and is similar to KOOL-FM, the new WOGL, or KLUV. I can’t really say 94.7 is rock friendly when they play plenty of Whitney Houston’s catalog and the likes of “What is Love” and “Here Comes the Heart Stepper.”
Actually, iHeart’s classic hits stations sound pretty damn good. They’re generally very well balanced, more upbeat in presentation, and vary more from market to market as long as it’s a top 50 market. The playlists have way more variety than a lot of their Audacy counterparts.
I’m probably going to get crap for this, but I’m not a huge fan of how Audacy’s classic hits stations sound. Like I said in the WOGL thread, a lot of them have quit using jingles and all share a very similar playlist and have a very dry sound. I would say KRTH is one of the more rock friendly classic hits stations in their stable. WIAD is pretty much in the middle and is similar to KOOL-FM, the new WOGL, or KLUV. I can’t really say 94.7 is rock friendly when they play plenty of Whitney Houston’s catalog and the likes of “What is Love” and “Here Comes the Heart Stepper.”
Actually, iHeart’s classic hits stations sound pretty damn good. They’re generally very well balanced, more upbeat in presentation, and vary more from market to market as long as it’s a top 50 market. The playlists have way more variety than a lot of their Audacy counterparts.
KRTH may play a few new wave tracks unique to the station due to new wave's history in the market, but otherwise I don't really see them being more rock friendly than a station like KLUV or KOOL-FM. The Audacy Classic Hits stations that stand out to me are WCBS-FM, which is more pop friendly than any of the other Audacy Classic Hits stations and even plays some softer ballads that are typically avoided by the format, and WOMC, which is a more rock leaning station (albeit not as much as WJJK or WLS-FM). KKHH is listed as Adult Hits but feels like more of a Classic Hits station that's more agressive with the 1990s due to their 2000s category not being that much bigger (if at all) than the 2000s category on an average Classic Hits station and their 2010s category being nonexistent, and they were pretty much in the same middle category you used to describe KLUV, KOOL-FM, WIAD (and that I would also use to describe KRTH) until they rebalanced the playlist very late in 2021 and now sound closer to WOMC, albeit not quite as rock leaning as them. WOGL was in that middle category as well, but early looks at their playlist after the rebrand seems to show them becoming more rock leaning as well.
As for iHeartMedia, I've streamed KOSF a few times and have liked what I heard, same with KMXR in small market Corpus Christi. KLTH in Portland also had some nice variety with older songs as well. However, my favorite station in the format would probably be Cox's KONO-FM in San Antonio.
KKHH will play occasional 90s tracks that stations like CBS-FM or KRTH wouldn’t play, like “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit which they played earlier. But rock leaning or not, it’s a classic hits station IMO. I’m surprised CBS didn’t go in that direction with that frequency instead of The Spot, which has always been almost classic hits and lacks the “Jack FM” attitude.
Detroit is hands down a rock city, so that probably explains why WOMC leans a bit more in to rock. However, they do still play pop and new wave more than WLS-FM and definitely more than WJJK.
Comparing Big 98.1 to 94.7 The Drive, at this point The Drive is more 80s pop and rock focused and has way better presentation. The Drive will also pull out some new wave stuff from
Time to time that you don’t hear a lot.
iHeart’s classic hits station have a big distinction from Audacy’s in the sense they’ve moved in to the 90s but still have a lot more variety from the 70s and have a more CBS-FM type presentation. They are also more pop and rock balanced. B101 Providence, Majic 105.7 Cleveland, 95.7 BigFM Milwaukee, 95.7 The Jet Seattle, Kool 108 Minneapolis, 3WS Pittsburgh, and The Eagle in Portland are all great listens.
A contrast to CKLW's R&B lean, owing to Motown, and the sound of WOMC in the past. Also, WOGL used to lean towards R&B in the past.
However, their lone presenter, Greggo, has a more rock attitude. So KKHH lacks a Top 40-style presentation, in a city known for 80s Top 40 powerhouses KKBQ and KRBE. And do Classic Hits stations play Metallica or Motley Crüe regularly? KKHH is at least partial to those artists.
They seem to vary from each other, the least of which KLTH in Portland plays a lot of 70s.
I remember the Motown and Soul/R&B leans of WOMC and WOGL respectively. By the time the stations moved in to the later 70s being the old end, they dropped that distinction since most of the material that defined Detroit’s glory days as Motown as well as Philly’s of soul and R&B had aged out of the format. Audacy is probably looking to take as much share from WCSX as possible.
Motley Crüe, yes - “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” and “Home Sweet Home” I have heard on some classic hits stations. I haven’t heard Metallica yet, so of course there are some diversions between KKHH and a station like, say, WIAD, but when compared to the average adult hits station it’s still pretty close to classic hits. That’s why I’m a little confused that they didn’t just go with straight classic hits unless they wanted something cheaper to run. Nevertheless I do enjoy KKHH because it has a little more variety than classic hits and doesn’t have the snarky/sarcastic Jack FM presentation.
Houston, like Los Angeles, is a market that has a young average due to the Hispanic population bringing down the age (and in both markets, the Hispanic population is now larger than the non-Hispanic white population). But while KRTH is able to succeed in a fairly young market, that's likely due to the average age of the non-Hispanic white and later generation Hispanic population being around the same as in other markets. So maybe in Houston, even the average age of the non-Hispanic white and later generation Hispanic population is younger than average, and that's why KKHH has chosen an edgy quasi-Classic Hits playlist that plays more 1990s an hour than a typical Classic Hits station? I wouldn't know for sure, but that's my guess.
As a Houston resident, I do like KKHH as well, I just wish they'd return to the KRTH/KLUV type sound in terms of pop/rock balance that they had before adjusting the playlist in November 2021 to the current slight rock direction (which has also gotten even more agressive on 1990s, from 2-3 an hour before this adjustment to 4-5) because there's quite a few songs I miss hearing on the station, not to mention we already have KGLK/KHPT covering 1970s/1980s rock and KTBZ-FM covering 1990s rock. However, it seems like any negative effect these changes may have had on the station's numbers are quite minimal, and they're still performing a lot better than some of the struggling Audacy Classic Hits stations.
An interesting fact I used to read a lot was that the Hispanic population actually HELPED KRTH 25-54 due to a lot of the music being popular with first and second generation immigrants who weren’t in the US when a lot of the music came out. I’m not sure how true this is, but it was an interesting theory. This was often used as the reasoning for KRTH hanging on to the 60s for so long. Of all of the CBS classic hits stations, KRTH was among one of the last, or slowest, to evolve in to classic hits and the 80s. They were still using the classic PAMS jingles and Drake-Chenault sounders in to the late 2000s I believe, long after the other CBS stations had moved on, so their evolution in to what it is today happened a lot more quickly.
KKHH is in a bit of a tough position. If they added more pop, they might could peel a few listeners from the powerhouse known as KODA - but this in turn could help 106.9/107.5 The Eagle so I guess they are trying to balance it out.
I wouldn't doubt that that's true about KRTH. Something I've read is that the first generation Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles come from the larger cities in Mexico, as opposed to other markets with a lot of first generation Mexican immigrants where the immigrants are mostly coming from small rural areas (including Houston), which is why Spanish AC KLVE has consistently been the top Spanish language station in the market for decades instead of a Regional Mexican station, which is usually the top Spanish language station in other markets with many first generation Mexican immigrants. This can also certainly why English language stations in Los Angeles do well with first generation immigrants, since they were in larger international cities where the music was being played as opposed to the smaller towns in Mexico where mostly Regional Mexican was played. The English language stations in Houston don't seem to have this advantage and probably have to rely heavily on the non-Hispanic whites and later generation Hispanics that grew up in the US. Nearby Dallas-Fort Worth has similar demographics as Houston and has been able to sustain a "pure" Classic Hits station for many decades, so I would assume the average age of the non-Hispanic white and later generation Hispanic population in DFW is higher than it is in Houston, which is my guess as to why CBS Radio did not go the "pure" Classic Hits route in Houston.
KKHH has played more pop in the past and has come close to beating KODA 6+ on certain ocassions, and has even beaten them in 25-54 and 18-49 on certain ocassions as well, so it's interesting that they decided to move away from that direction.
Correct me on this one, but I believe many Mexicans residing in Southern California are from the southern part of Mexico (particularly Oaxaca), whereas those living around Houston are from the northern Mexican states. I'm not sure if either population originate from cosmopolitan areas.
You may be right about differing listening habits among non-Hispanic whites in LA and Houston. Non-Hispanic whites in Houston tend to like hard rock and country much more than their counterparts in Los Angeles; it is especially pronounced in Houston's suburbs. Even though KKBQ and KRBE were undeniable Top 40 powerhouses, the KLOL of old may have made a stronger impression among older Houston listeners. As for Dallas-Fort Worth, KLUV has leaned classic rock from time to time, and KDGE has played classic rock tracks that even uptempo mainstream ACs wouldn't touch.
That's right on both ends about Houston and Los Angeles. However, what I've read is that a higher percentage of Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles come from larger cities when compared to other markets.
The core of a healthy Classic Hits station is 35-54, so I was moreso referring to the average age of the non-Hispanic whites in Houston possibly being lower than other markets, which may be why the market can't support a "pure" Classic Hits station that is heavy on the 1980s (regardless of whether it's pop leaning, rock leaning, or more of a balance) and why KKHH has gone with a playlist that is much more agressive with 1990s music than the typical Classic Hits station. This could also be a factor as to why Atlanta doesn't even have an Adult Hits station, let alone a Classic Hits station.
That is not true. KLVE was successful in its 1995 relaunch because of the large percentage of second generation Hispanics in LA as well as first generation who arrived here when children in the late 70's through the 80's.
LA had a huge Hispanic population going back to the 60's, attracted by the alternative to farm work offered by the garment industry and other "indoor" jobs such as hospitality, warehousing and shipping.
"Regional Mexican" is not even a term used in Mexico. It's a construct of non-Hispanic record retailers who did not know where to put mariachi, ranchera and other kinds of Mexican music that originated in specific areas of Mexico.
Even in smaller markets in Mexico, there were always lots of stations... back in the 70's and 80's a ranchera or two, a norteña station in some areas, a US pop music station, a Spanish language oldies station, a nostalgia station, a Spanish language Top 40 and so on.
Music tastes in Mexico in the past had formats based on the socioeconomic level appeal, not (as in the US) age group appeal. Classes A, B, C, D and E covered upper, upper middle middle (often divided to C+ and C-), low but employed and street people and unclassified workers. It is D and E that produced the most migrants, and they like regional music in most cases.
The Hispanic populations of Houston and Dallas were very small in through the 80's and could not support a "good" station. In the 70's, I was hired to examine changing a good Dallas area station to Spanish and concluded that it was not viable.
Wrong. The biggest groups are from Guerrero, Jalisco, León, Zacatecas. That is followed by the group of smaller states north of Mexico state and the (former) DF: Aguascalientes, Hidalgo, Colima, San Luis.
This data is both from the Mexican Consulate in LA as well as more than two decades of doing music tests for KLVE, KSCA and KRCD. In fact, if a music test showed a different primary set of states of origin, we did not even complete the test or got rid of the people from outside that area and then did a second test with more of the "right" people and that only happened twice in over 200 tests and it was due to lack of recruiter supervision.
- Status