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All-request hours?
- Thread starter tall_guy1
- Start date
I've worked at a couple of radio stations that did this. I don’t think either still do, though.
At both of those stations, the All Request Lunch Hour and Demand Radio were less than met the eye. Only powergolds and breaking currents were played if requested, and we didn’t deviate from the clock. We never played power currents by request because they played every four hours and were going to come up soon anyway. We also never bumped a power current scheduled during the request hours. The result was, out of 12 to 16 songs in the hour, no more than five were ever actual requests.
At both of those stations, the All Request Lunch Hour and Demand Radio were less than met the eye. Only powergolds and breaking currents were played if requested, and we didn’t deviate from the clock. We never played power currents by request because they played every four hours and were going to come up soon anyway. We also never bumped a power current scheduled during the request hours. The result was, out of 12 to 16 songs in the hour, no more than five were ever actual requests.
A station in Parkersburg, West Virginia, WVVV (V96.9) has an all-request lunch hour.
WBRF Galax VA (classic country, Greensboro NC market) does requests at noon.
Yes, sorry to burst a bubble here, but "all-request" hours are rarely that. First, most don't have enough requests to fill an hour, but I digress. If the requested song doesn't exist in the digital library, then it won't get played. So when you call an "all-request" show you must have a song that is already in their library. Sorry, just the facts.
Mainly AM classic hits / oldies radio in small markets have the best opportunities to do this well and fulfil the hour. These stations have thousands of hit songs in their libraries. I requested a Vicki Carr hit about four years ago and was played within 15 minutes on an AM in Denver named Cruisin' Oldies at the time.
In other words, mostly stations in unrated markets who keep doing it because they don't have data that shows how much of an audience killer this is.
Yeah, I guess the place I work at would fall into that category. Although we sometimes show up in the ratings in Sacramento (KVMR). But we did something like that, albeit with a twist. During a membership drive week about 2 years ago we invited callers to request a song. You didn't have to become a member to request, but virtually everyone did. Then we had a couple of "all request days" where our music director curated the entire day out of those requests - roughly 300 of them. It was a lot of work, a lot of digging for music, and it involved a trip to a used record store. (Remember Thunderclap Newman??) But the result was very positive, and we discovered that our listeners have impeccable taste. I suspect it might work better for non-comms like us than it does for commercial operations tho.
Dave B.
WSAT Salisbury NC will actually search for it if they don't have it. Or at least that's how it used to be. Not sure about lately. Mostly that meant somewhere in the building they had it on vinyl, but it was a difficult search.
Format was standards with oldies in the morning and is now oldies/classic hits. Small-town station with successful owner who is now just the manager.
I remember that on occasion, listeners to FM 100 Memphis would game the system, and INTENTIONALLY request songs that they knew couldn't be played.
"Yeah, man, how about some AC/DC?"
And for more eclectic formats.
Back in the days of 45's, record companies would game the system by calling request lines in the belief that stations used that data to program. They would also have staffers call request shows.
We also have had artist fan clubs doing nation-wide request blitzes to "bring a song home".
And today, those "fan clubs" are FB and other social media groups where requests are encouraged, as are YouTube views, downloads and on demand plays.
Today, with the sales of downloads declining and on-demand being the record label revenue source, it's about trending. But the result is the same at station level: questionable requests and charts that are full of hype.
KC 102.1 is in Kansas City (market rank 35). Today, I heard them play "Just Breathe" by Pearl Jam, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. This is an AC station we are talking about.
Looking at their playlist, I feel like they're more "Adult Hits/Jack FM" type station that sprinkles in a light amount of currents/recurrents, enough that they chart as AC.
Looking at a sample hour from yesterday that was non-request hour... they played:
Chumbawamba- Tubthumping
Gin Blossoms- Hey Jealousy
Gwen Stefani- Hollaback Girl
Not exactly AC staples. They're adventurous in their gold library, and it seems to work decently for them in that market. So yeah, they chart AC... but they really tiptoe the Adult Hits line.
A mainstream, fairly conservative AC station here in NJ once played the Foo Fighters during their "all-request lunch hour" because the group was a personal favorite of the DJ and she got permission from management to play it.
They seemed quite tame on a classic SNL episode. Even the lead screamer sounded human when he started singing, then he switch to "normal" style.
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