Aquarius, thanks for the information. Actually, I’m in somewhat a state of shock. Never in my wildest dreams did I realize Cox Media offered a Greatest Hits format - KONO 101.1 in San Antonio. I’ve checked it out. Wow! There’s some song overlap with Jacksonville’s Easy 106.5 but KONO has an airteam and that’s absolutely a critical must! They also offer a good representation of various music genres and that’s important as well for the listener seeking variety and a station many can agree to at the workplace that want an occasional more than soft only.
The nature of Greatest Hits formats is one of greater depth and breadth in the playlist. Soft/mellow is not just one genre but one of many. The vision I’ve long had for Jacksonville is a station/format that has a lot of the characteristics of KONO but one that is highly strategic in song selection. Seriously, unless iHeart really surprises us soon I believe that time has come and gone.
My list not only reflects the ultimate in music variety but it also recognizes the fact a typical 45 year old has been exposed to 90s songs over the years and has familiarity with many of them. I feel a Greatest Hits format has to offer an occasional 90s song in the mix to attract those listeners who will help the format remain competitive and viable in 25-54.
In my view, a number of Jacksonville stations (especially in the past – Easy 106.5 remains to be judged) did not reach their true potential because they were held back both by lack of the necessary operating investments and lack of creativity and resourcefulness in music selection and scheduling. Of course, a number of them were killed off way too prematurely and so the potential was never realized. I'm delighted Easy 106.5 is part of Jacksonville's radio landscape. All I hope is the format will be afforded all the things necessary to truly compete and go beyond an expectation of giving a competitor a little haircut.
Last week, I thought of Halloween and how a format such as Greatest Hits could set itself apart from all the other adult-based stations. All it took was about 90 minutes for me to think of and research songs, listen to them to create a good Top 25 list. These could have been played as a once an hour feature or perhaps a number of them offered on Saturday night to perhaps doing a Top 25 Halloween countdown at 10 PM.
There’s a lot of great songs that fit into a Halloween music genre. The most popular songs are “Pet Semetary,” “Werewolves of London,” “Monster Mash,” “Ghostbusters,” and of course the undisputed #1 “Thriller.” Then, there’s excellent opportunity to feature songs not ordinarily heard such as “Time Warp,” “Dead Man’s Party,” “Spooky,” “Psycho Killer,” “Frankenstein,” “Devil Went Down To Georgia,” Sympathy for the Devil,” “Highway to Hell,” “Welcome to my Nightmare,” “People are Strange,” and true pop hits such as “Devil Woman,” “Dark Lady,” and even “Angie Baby.” BTW, that last song by Helen Reddy is truly a scary one when you consider the lyrics. One of the best lines ever “It’s so nice to be insane, no one asks you to explain.” “Living in a world of make believe, well MAYBE.” Brilliant. There’s many other awesome song choices and that’s the beauty Greatest Hits affords programmers.
With Easy 106.5's playlist comprising about 60% (or more) of what one would find in an AC leaning Greatest Hits format, it's doubtful in my view we will see the emergence of a KONO or a Magic/Miami or even a WCBS FM type station especially given the talent investment that would be required. We're at the time of year, predictions are often made and my money is on Classic Country returning to Jacksonville.
I’m all about a station/format that is fun to listen to. I get metrics/goals and the need for them. Fun is not, to the best of my knowledge, a metric by which radio management’s performance is judged. Seriously, I consider it an important goal. Build a station that develops a reputation for being creative, provides interaction both on the air and in social media to the listener, is active in the community and is truly fun to listen to and like dominoes all those critical metrics have better odds at falling into place. You can apply this rule to just about any format really. I’m just saying!
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