Those both sound like really interesting radio stations! As for MegaHits, they sound like a bit of a smaller station that can get away with a little more variety while flanking the bigger Cherry FM. Perhaps I am wrong, but that is the feeling I get. I will never argue with the experts about how much variety large market stations should be playing. I understand that in this business, variety sometimes equates so an unsustainable business model. With that being said, I still am extremely impressed by 95.7, and their willingness to throw something different every so often. Even if MOST of the music is fairly common and burnt to a crisp (enter "girls just want to have fun"), it still hooks me as a listener because I know that if I listen for my entire car ride I will hear something different. On the other hand, their sister station, 102.5 KZOK has kind of gone the opposite direction. I always used to be a loyal KZOK listener, but the amount of variety they play has shrunk dramatically in the past few years. Obviously, the classic rock format cannot remain the same forever, but it seems like they have a very narrow rotation of songs.
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80's Centric Radio Stations with More Adventurous Variety?
- Thread starter fordranger797
- Start date
MegaHits (KMGW) is a Townsquare station. Not exactly a little station by any means. Townsquare owns probably 200 radio stations, if not more.
KOZI is a locally-owned station. KOHO 101 is also owned by the same people (I think it's Icicle Broadcasting). A lot of their sounders and IDs have been updated, but some bumpers and IDs are still voiced by Joe Michaels, the former KING 5 announcer. I can recognize that voice any day.
KOZI is a locally-owned station. KOHO 101 is also owned by the same people (I think it's Icicle Broadcasting). A lot of their sounders and IDs have been updated, but some bumpers and IDs are still voiced by Joe Michaels, the former KING 5 announcer. I can recognize that voice any day.
And the concept of songs that are "burned to a crisp." News flash: If lots of people still like hearing them, they're not burned. And it's the professionals' job to gather data on how many people like and dislike well-known songs. If "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" is really repelling listeners in huge numbers, you'd think the folks programming the music would know, right?
It depends on what you consider 'burned'. Back in the day when songs were currents, then recurrents, eventually moving to less rotation, they were still hits. Some consider those days were when the hits were 'burned'.
Fast forward to present day, and listeners aren't burned out on those songs, and typically rate them very high on the nostalgia scale during testing. It's very simple actually: Listeners loved the hits then, so as an oldies station (in some form) you play the hits.
Nearly all of these are in regular rotation on WCBS-FM, with the exception of two or three.
Anecdotally, I was in the car with my wife some time ago and a song came on the Classic Hits station which was played very regularly there and elsewhere (I forget what, but maybe something like 3 Dog Night "Joy To The World"). She remarked she hadn't heard it in years (and she did listen to that station) and I'm "you're kidding! I hear it twice a day! Perception is everything.
A few more songs to add to the list. These are some of the songs that I've heard on KOSF in San Francisco (in addition to most of the songs I've already listed).
Michael Sembello - Maniac
Laura Branigan - Gloria or Self Control
Van Stephanson - Modern Day Delilah
Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams
Richard Marx - Should Have Known Better
Michael Jackson - Black or White
All in all, I've been very impressed with that radio station. iHeartMedia has impressed me in general, as they seem to run their classic hits radio stations well. The amount of variety I've seen on both KOSF and KJR (both iHeart) runs circles around most of the Audacy classic hits stations that are out there.
Michael Sembello - Maniac
Laura Branigan - Gloria or Self Control
Van Stephanson - Modern Day Delilah
Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams
Richard Marx - Should Have Known Better
Michael Jackson - Black or White
All in all, I've been very impressed with that radio station. iHeartMedia has impressed me in general, as they seem to run their classic hits radio stations well. The amount of variety I've seen on both KOSF and KJR (both iHeart) runs circles around most of the Audacy classic hits stations that are out there.
The station I work for in Laramie, WY plays all of those i think... im almost positive of it.
That Richard Marx song is rare enough nowadays. In fact, anything from Richard Marx is getting harder to find on my classic hits stations. Occasionally they will spin 'Right Here Waiting' or 'Endless Summer Nights.'
Makes you wonder how many times my local stations will run 'Come On Eileen' or 'It's Still Rock 'n Roll to Me' before the recordings become corrupted...
Makes you wonder how many times my local stations will run 'Come On Eileen' or 'It's Still Rock 'n Roll to Me' before the recordings become corrupted...
"The Jet" in Seattle plays both of those Richard Marx songs, but they don't play "Should Have Known Better." That's my only (minor) complaint! I would think that "Come On Eileen" and "It's Still Rock n' Roll to Me" are pretty safe tracks, because most listeners are extremely familiar with both of those songs.
My money is on "Come On Eileen" or "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" to become the "Brown Eyed Girl" of '80s pop, played on classic hits stations long after all the other songs from the decade have been dropped as "too old," because there's something about both tunes that transcends age and listener fatigue. The average, non-obsessed, non-oldies geek listener (that is, 99 percent of the total) can't hear them often enough.
The one thing I like about Cherry FM (100.9) is that they still broadcast both AT40 The 70s and The 80s on Sundays. Then from 6-8 pm on Sunday night, they run Yacht Rock Radio, which has some great songs.
They do the whole Tom Kent Music Magazine on weeknights and The Ultimate Party on Saturday night. Recently, Kent dropped the Live Request Show and replaced it with a 1990s block during one of the hours of the Music Magazine. And The Ultimate Party plays great stuff sometimes, including rhythmic R&B from the '80s that is not on the 100.9 general playlist.
They do the whole Tom Kent Music Magazine on weeknights and The Ultimate Party on Saturday night. Recently, Kent dropped the Live Request Show and replaced it with a 1990s block during one of the hours of the Music Magazine. And The Ultimate Party plays great stuff sometimes, including rhythmic R&B from the '80s that is not on the 100.9 general playlist.
I have to resurrect this thread. I had a chance to sample some of the Audacy classic hits radio stations over the past week. Wow, that was rough! I knew that iheart was doing a better job already, but it’s a night and day difference. Listening to KRTH was (subjectively) terrible. I am glad that it’s working for Audacy, but KOSF in San Francisco sounds significantly better in both variety and overall imaging/presentation.
I’ll have to check them out in that case! I think just about anything would be an upgrade from some of the Audacy owned classic hits stations. KRTH was disappointing, and when I sampled WOGL in Philadelphia, it was worse.
Yet KRTH is doing better than it ever has in the sales demographics. And Audacy's heritage gold-based station, KOOL-FM is at its worst place ever.
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