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BOB FM

> Does BoB FM have Disc Jockeys or is it jockless like Jack
> FM?
>

I don't know about the Jocks. I'd assume they are all gone. The website for WRRK is now officially dead.

96.9 Bob-FM sounds alot like Star 100.7. Many of the same songs/artists are on the playlist...

http://www.yes.com/lookup.php?s=WRRK
 
> > Does BoB FM have Disc Jockeys or is it jockless like Jack
> > FM?
> >
>
> I don't know about the Jocks. I'd assume they are all gone.
> The website for WRRK is now officially dead.

www.rrk.com and www.bobfm969.com point to the same "Under Construction" page with a VERY unimaginative red-white Bob-FM logo at top.

> 96.9 Bob-FM sounds alot like Star 100.7. Many of the same
> songs/artists are on the playlist...

What's the deal with Bob & Tom? Are they still on?

I won't be in Pittsburgh until Thursday night--so I'll have a Jack (100.5) and a Bob (96.9) to check out.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Johnny Morgan on 11/01/05 07:06 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> > Does BoB FM have Disc Jockeys or is it jockless like Jack
> > FM?
> >
>
> I don't know about the Jocks. I'd assume they are all gone.
> The website for WRRK is now officially dead.
>
> 96.9 Bob-FM sounds alot like Star 100.7. Many of the same
> songs/artists are on the playlist...
>
> http://www.yes.com/lookup.php?s=WRRK

I am pretty sure that I won't ever tune in any station that plays KC and the Sunshine Band right after Bad Company.

I like a little variety, but there should be some discretion.

I like chocolate candy.

I like spaghetti sauce.

But I don't like spaghetti sauce on top of chocolate candy.
 
> What's the deal with Bob & Tom? Are they still on?

They were not on this morning and I'd assume they're gone.

FWIW, I'd call the station "Tunch", The Gunner, or maybe, yeah, MYRON!

Regarding Jack/Bob in same markets, I always figured that Arbitron diary issues may keep owners from putting two in a market (wonder if you can register similar sounding names and how similar "Bob" and "Jack" would be if it came to an issue).

Regarding KDKA on FM, I always thought an edgier "KDKA2" on FM would be very, very interesting. Run Lovelines, Lionel, Joey Reynolds and some more compelling local talk. Get back all of the major league sports contracts and use both frequencies to equalize the jams for Pens/Pirates/Steelers conflicts. Get people thinking (again) that Pittsburgh *is* KDKA and vice versa.
 
Agreed...especially calling 96.9 MYRON!! Should have kicked that name off at Heinz Field last night. ( But would Sol have the budget to launch it at the game?)

Living along the Ohio /WV border I get Bob & Jack and as of now I like the music mix better on Bob, but the Jack liners are better. Time will tell.
 
> I like the music mix better on Bob, but the Jack liners
> are better. Time will tell.

I wonder how many radio listeners give a damn about which stations have better liners.
 
> > I like the music mix better on Bob, but the Jack liners
> > are better. Time will tell.
>
> I wonder how many radio listeners give a damn about which
> stations have better liners.
>

Lots. It's all part of the package. Music, liners, commercial load (or perceived commercial load).

A good liner (or well-written one) will stick out compared against a crappy one. Listeners will remember that--at the crappy liner station will get the listeners thinking "they don't care enough about me to do a good job".

If you're not going to have personalities, you gotta have kick-ass liners to act in absentia.
 
Heck, 13Q played KC and the Sunshine Band right after Bad Company and nobody thought anything of it! (OK, I'll slink back to the old folks' home now...)

> I am pretty sure that I won't ever tune in any station that
> plays KC and the Sunshine Band right after Bad Company.
>
> I like a little variety, but there should be some
> discretion.
>
> I like chocolate candy.
>
> I like spaghetti sauce.
>
> But I don't like spaghetti sauce on top of chocolate candy.
>
 
> Heck, 13Q played KC and the Sunshine Band right after Bad
> Company and nobody thought anything of it! (OK, I'll slink
> back to the old folks' home now...)

That is an inaccurate statement. It was being subjected to crap like KC and the Sunshine Band right after Bad Company that inspired the purchase of countless FM converters for car radios so that those of us who didn't want disco mixed with our rock could listen to AOR stations on FM. The only "nobodies" who didn't think anything about it were Top 40 DJs who kept wondering why the audiences kept abandoning the AM band for FM.

Why do you think that 13-Q, KQV, and all the other Top 40 Am stations eventually gave up the ghost?
 
> > Heck, 13Q played KC and the Sunshine Band right after Bad
> > Company and nobody thought anything of it! (OK, I'll slink
>
> > back to the old folks' home now...)
>
> That is an inaccurate statement. It was being subjected to
> crap like KC and the Sunshine Band right after Bad Company
> that inspired the purchase of countless FM converters for
> car radios so that those of us who didn't want disco mixed
> with our rock could listen to AOR stations on FM. The only
> "nobodies" who didn't think anything about it were Top 40
> DJs who kept wondering why the audiences kept abandoning the
> AM band for FM.
>
> Why do you think that 13-Q, KQV, and all the other Top 40 Am
> stations eventually gave up the ghost?

Several Points

On KQV, you could hear the Carpenters followed by the Stones. I don't believe that that is why CHR died on AM. It died because in most cities, the AM signals like KQV's could not reach into the spreading suburbs. You could not "cruise the Miracle Mile" out in Monroeville with KQV fading in and out. As the affluent teen-agers were moved to the suburbs, only FM stations life WPEZ could reach them all. I know this doesn't explain WABC or WLS , but there was no way 5,000 watt, 1,000watt, or even 250 watters like WCOL in Columbus, WCRO in John stown,or WROV in Roanoke could serve the suburbs. Imagine KNUZ at 1230 in Houston, or WUST in Charlotte coping with suburban sprawl. If KDKA had been committed to Rock'n'Roll , instead of talk at night, they might have held on longer. WABC did last till 1982 and W---ENBC managed to keep the flame for a few more years. BUt them it's only Rock'N'Roll.
 
> On KQV, you could hear the Carpenters followed by the
> Stones. I don't believe that that is why CHR died on AM. It
> died because in most cities, the AM signals like KQV's could
> not reach into the spreading suburbs. You could not "cruise
> the Miracle Mile" out in Monroeville with KQV fading in and
> out. As the affluent teen-agers were moved to the suburbs,
> only FM stations life WPEZ could reach them all. I know this
> doesn't explain WABC or WLS , but there was no way 5,000
> watt, 1,000watt, or even 250 watters like WCOL in Columbus,
> WCRO in John stown,or WROV in Roanoke could serve the
> suburbs. Imagine KNUZ at 1230 in Houston, or WUST in
> Charlotte coping with suburban sprawl. If KDKA had been
> committed to Rock'n'Roll , instead of talk at night, they
> might have held on longer. WABC did last till 1982 and
> W---ENBC managed to keep the flame for a few more years. BUt
> them it's only Rock'N'Roll.

I don't know how old you are, but I am old enough that I was there at the time. There was nothing preventing anyone from putting the traditional AM radio formats on FM stations, especially when back then, many of the FM stations were simply the FM counterparts of AM stations. Don't forget, before they changed the call letters, WDVE used to be KQV-FM.

Few things happen instantly. The transition from the "all things for all people" Top 40 format to the more focused formats like AOR happened gradually. But at the time that the transition was taking place, as one by one, stations narrowed the range of what genre of music they played and went to selecting niche markets instead of attempting to capture the one single mass market, articles in the trade magazines talked of how playing a song that listeners didn't like would chase them away.

In those same articles, the desire for audiences for a particular genre of music to match their mood at the moment was also mentioned. I'm not making any of the stuff I've said about musical taste up. I'm recalling what was, at one time, what all of the experts in radio programming said was proven, tested, principles.
 
RR:

AM's musical demise was almost totally a result of signal problems,
static, pops and bangs and coverage. In many cases, there was eventually
AM/FM simultcasting as the transition to FM occured. True, AOR was
mostly FM oriented, but it was all over the place as well, musically.

AM's actually remained amazingly strong longer than I thought they
would for a few years. Now, in most cities, AM is a virual wasteland musically.

Next big thing is the move from FM to XM. Like cable from antenna
TV reception.

As for thinking FM Top 40 stations were different or better than AM,
I don't remember a lot of variation, except maybe on jingles and
call letter names. It just sounded a hell of a lot better on FM.
 
I do not dispute the accuracy or correctness of anything you said. Signal problems were one of the major reasons for the migration to FM. I believe that it was the primary reason.

But, I still contend that it was the input from the dominant consultants of the 1970's, who almost all said that narrow focus niche market programmming would produce better profit results than broad range "all things to all people" programming, that caused the newer FM stations to abandon the traditional Top 40 programming.

Bear in mind that in other media, the same trend could be seen. At the time that "variety" radio formats were dying, so too did the television variety program disappear. Public tastes changed, and so did the recognition of that change by broadcast professionals in other media. The Ed Sullivan Show was the television equivalent of "Jack" or "Bob". At one time, the public enjoyed seeing an act like the Beatles right after circus jugglers. That time came and went. At one time, the public like the variety acts presented in vaudeville. That time also came and went.

The issue on Bob and Jack formats really boils down to whether or not the pendulum has swung back, and what the public formerly rejected (variety) is now something it has embraced.

You can quote the experts who advocate variety, I can find equally credentialed experts who will claim the exact opposite. Given that your experts and my experts would probably fight to a draw, then it still comes down to intuition, and one's personal understanding of the public's taste. You can point to the success of a handful of radio stations in terms of their competition with other radio stations, I can point to the success of satelite radio over ALL broadcast radio.

But one thing I am positive of. Any format whose advocates describe as something that its listeners don't pay much attention to, and whose listeners won't care about train wreck ssegues because they can't even remember which song was just on won't be a station that I will place ads on for any of my clients who want potential customers to hear their marketing message.

I pay attention to Arbitron numbers insofar as they indicate how many people (and WHICH people) will hear my clients' messages. But as I am not a strong advocate of the effectiveness of subliminal advertising, I don't care how many people are ignoring my clients' messages while they also ignore the music and everything else on a Jack or Bob station.

> RR:
>
> AM's musical demise was almost totally a result of signal
> problems,
> static, pops and bangs and coverage. In many cases, there
> was eventually
> AM/FM simultcasting as the transition to FM occured. True,
> AOR was
> mostly FM oriented, but it was all over the place as well,
> musically.
>
> AM's actually remained amazingly strong longer than I
> thought they
> would for a few years. Now, in most cities, AM is a virual
> wasteland musically.
>
> Next big thing is the move from FM to XM. Like cable from
> antenna
> TV reception.
>
> As for thinking FM Top 40 stations were different or better
> than AM,
> I don't remember a lot of variation, except maybe on jingles
> and
> call letter names. It just sounded a hell of a lot better on
> FM.
>
 
> > On KQV, you could hear the Carpenters followed by the
> > Stones. I don't believe that that is why CHR died on AM.
> It
> > died because in most cities, the AM signals like KQV's
> could
> > not reach into the spreading suburbs. You could not
> "cruise
> > the Miracle Mile" out in Monroeville with KQV fading in
> and
> > out. As the affluent teen-agers were moved to the suburbs,
>
> > only FM stations life WPEZ could reach them all. I know
> this
> > doesn't explain WABC or WLS , but there was no way 5,000
> > watt, 1,000watt, or even 250 watters like WCOL in
> Columbus,
> > WCRO in John stown,or WROV in Roanoke could serve the
> > suburbs. Imagine KNUZ at 1230 in Houston, or WUST in
> > Charlotte coping with suburban sprawl. If KDKA had been
> > committed to Rock'n'Roll , instead of talk at night, they
> > might have held on longer. WABC did last till 1982 and
> > W---ENBC managed to keep the flame for a few more years.
> BUt
> > them it's only Rock'N'Roll.
>
> I don't know how old you are, but I am old enough that I was
> there at the time. There was nothing preventing anyone from
> putting the traditional AM radio formats on FM stations,
> especially when back then, many of the FM stations were
> simply the FM counterparts of AM stations. Don't forget,
> before they changed the call letters, WDVE used to be
> KQV-FM.
>
> Few things happen instantly. The transition from the "all
> things for all people" Top 40 format to the more focused
> formats like AOR happened gradually. But at the time that
> the transition was taking place, as one by one, stations
> narrowed the range of what genre of music they played and
> went to selecting niche markets instead of attempting to
> capture the one single mass market, articles in the trade
> magazines talked of how playing a song that listeners didn't
> like would chase them away.
>
> In those same articles, the desire for audiences for a
> particular genre of music to match their mood at the moment
> was also mentioned. I'm not making any of the stuff I've
> said about musical taste up. I'm recalling what was, at one
> time, what all of the experts in radio programming said was
> proven, tested, principles.
>

I'm 60. I grew up in Squirrel Hill listenibg and loving KQV . I left Pittsburgh in 1970 and now just return to see relatives. I've always been fascinated by radio, but I never made it a career. I've been in social work all my life. Personally, I think the narrow-casting in formats just reflects how American society is becoming moe fragmented by race, age, and income. I know white teens listen to hip-hop so maybe stations formated CHR/Rhythmic are the great uniters. I know this is not a political board so I'll shut up . I'll only sat Kenye West, John Mellancamp, John Fogarty and the Dixie Chicks express how I feel.
 
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