Cary Pall invented JACK???

[TheBeat]

I found this online, I think I now understand where the WMMO/Jack banter on this board is coming from:


"Ask Cary Pall (who put it on) or myself (programming this format since 1996): WMMO in Orlando invented Jack 15 years ago. We’ve successfully merged Hot-AC and Classic Hits for years and own the image of Variety in this market. Nobody else has ever had the guts to play The Beatles, Talking Heads, Cat Stevens, Blondie and Hoobastank in the same music set…yet we do it regularly.

Fleetwood Gruver"

 

[OldiesCat]

Cary Pall

Hard to disagree with any of it.


> I found this online, I think I now understand where the
> WMMO/Jack banter on this board is coming from:
>
>
> "Ask Cary Pall (who put it on) or myself (programming this
> format since 1996): WMMO in Orlando invented Jack 15 years
> ago. We’ve successfully merged Hot-AC and Classic Hits for
> years and own the image of Variety in this market. Nobody
> else has ever had the guts to play The Beatles, Talking
> Heads, Cat Stevens, Blondie and Hoobastank in the same music
> set…yet we do it regularly.
>
> Fleetwood Gruver"
>

 

[TheBeat]

Fleetwood Gruver JACK lite?

Hard to disagree with any of it."


Well now I see where you are coming from, if Fleetwood Gruver, who I believe programs WMMO thinks he is a "Jack", I can see where you get the idea that Orlando already has a Jack, but as shown in other threads, WMMO is not a true Jack, it's a female JACK lite per say.

 

[OldiesCat]

read it again

and if you've read one word I've previously said about WMMO, you'd know:

- I never said they are a Jack station
- never said that they claim to be a Jack
- I've never said Orlando already has a Jack

What I've said (please read carefully now) is that WMMO, musically, is close enough to being a Jack-type station that a true Jack may have a tougher time finding enough listening in Orlando to make much of a dent.

If you use NYC as an example of why Infinity flipped CBS-FM instead of WNEW,
which seems obvious to us, it's probably because CBS-FM played enough music from the 70s and 80s to keep WNEW from carving out enough listening to matter.

It may be why they haven't flipped WOMX or WOCL (yet). That WMMO is close enough to what Jack to keep the hole for the new format from being big enough.
>
> Well now I see where you are coming from, if Fleetwood
> Gruver, who I believe programs WMMO thinks he is a "Jack", I
> can see where you get the idea that Orlando already has a
> Jack, but as shown in other threads, WMMO is not a true
> Jack, it's a female JACK lite per say.
>

 

[Part-timer]

Re: read it again

> It may be why they haven't flipped WOMX or WOCL (yet). That
> WMMO is close enough to what Jack to keep the hole for the
> new format from being big enough.
> >


Exactly. I've heard from some Infinity people that there won't be many more Jack stations because they only want to put it on in markets where there's a gaping hole for it, and it stands the chance of being huge. At least that's the current spin....<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>

 

[StangBuddy]

Re: read it again

> > It may be why they haven't flipped WOMX or WOCL (yet).
> That
> > WMMO is close enough to what Jack to keep the hole for the
>
> > new format from being big enough.
> > >
>
>
> Exactly. I've heard from some Infinity people that there
> won't be many more Jack stations because they only want to
> put it on in markets where there's a gaping hole for it, and
> it stands the chance of being huge. At least that's the
> current spin....
>

I don't know about that. There wasn't exactly a gaping hole in Seattle when Jack signed on there. More like "We got to put something on the air here because we can't really think of anything else to do with this signal". In that market you've got at least four or five well established AC/Classic/Oldies type competitors and several other in-target outlets that Jack will be forced to contend with. And lets not forget that operating Jack, outside of the huge, initial, marketing campaign, is minimal compared to most outlets. Jack has no jocks, morning shows, major promotions etc. It's the ultimate jukebox that can make money with a two share. Another reason why you'll see more Jack-type stations pop up all over the country this summer, especially on secondary outlets, in anticipation of the Fall Book.

It took radio about ten years to figure out that those digital computer jukeboxes you have tucked away in the closet studio doesn't need VT or satelite feeds. Just grap 1500 titles and let her rip.

 

[OldiesCat]

Jack-FL

and that makes total sense.

>
> Exactly. I've heard from some Infinity people that there
> won't be many more Jack stations because they only want to
> put it on in markets where there's a gaping hole for it, and
> it stands the chance of being huge. At least that's the
> current spin....
>

 

[buckeyeal]

Gaping Holes

Defining a gaping hole is the hard part -
when you work in the market vs. the guys at corporate who think of these "format dejours".

I was in the meeting where they said that their was a "Gaping Hole" for a Jammin' Oldies station in Orlando.

It was more like a black hole for ratings and revenue

 

[jlehmann]

Re: Fleetwood Gruver JACK lite?

> Hard to disagree with any of it."
>
>
> Well now I see where you are coming from, if Fleetwood
> Gruver, who I believe programs WMMO thinks he is a "Jack", I
> can see where you get the idea that Orlando already has a
> Jack, but as shown in other threads, WMMO is not a true
> Jack, it's a female JACK lite per say.
>

If you're going to call WMMO a "Jack" don't you also have to give Clear Channels "River" format the same title? It's on 99.5 in Albany, 105.9 in Hartford, 94.7 in Delaware, and 97.3 in Harrisburg, maybe more. To me, WMMO and the Rivers are Rock AC, and would not be considered to be "Variety Hits" but thats just me...

 

[Part-timer]

Re: Gaping Holes

> Defining a gaping hole is the hard part -
> when you work in the market vs. the guys at corporate who
> think of these "format dejours".
>
> I was in the meeting where they said that their was a
> "Gaping Hole" for a Jammin' Oldies station in Orlando.
>
> It was more like a black hole for ratings and revenue
>

But it's always a crapshoot.... remember, Classic Rock was once a "format du jour"....<P ID="signature">______________
"With God as my witness, I could have sworn turkeys could fly."</P>

 

[OldiesCat]

did somebody flunk remedial reading down there?

I never said WMMO is a "Jack".

(for the umpteenth time), I said WMMO was close enough to the Jack approach that it might prevent somebody in Orlando from being successful with a Jack station.


>
> If you're going to call WMMO a "Jack" don't you also have to
> give Clear Channels "River" format the same title? It's on
> 99.5 in Albany, 105.9 in Hartford, 94.7 in Delaware, and
> 97.3 in Harrisburg, maybe more. To me, WMMO and the Rivers
> are Rock AC, and would not be considered to be "Variety
> Hits" but thats just me...
>

 

[OldiesCat]

gaping holes

and C.R. looks like it's been a mutt (with fleas) down there for a few years,
thanks in part to WMMO (has a familiar ring, doesn't it?).

;-}


>
> But it's always a crapshoot.... remember, Classic Rock was
> once a "format du jour"....
>
> > Defining a gaping hole is the hard part -
> > when you work in the market vs. the guys at corporate who
> > think of these "format dejours".
> >
> > I was in the meeting where they said that their was a
> > "Gaping Hole" for a Jammin' Oldies station in Orlando.
> >
> > It was more like a black hole for ratings and revenue
> >

 

[Inventor989]

Re: read it again

There wasn't exactly a gaping hole
> in Seattle when Jack signed on there. More like "We got to
> put something on the air here because we can't really think
> of anything else to do with this signal".

And that was exactly the state of the Orlando market in 1990, and exactly the reason why WMMO signed on in the first place. Every traditional format was covered.

 

[bossmsx]

MMO vs. JACK

> Jack, but as shown in other threads, WMMO is not a true
> Jack, it's a female JACK lite per say.

I remember reading early literature (ca. 1990-91, around the time MMO launched), describing MMO's format specifically as "*Male* AC")...That term was used sparingly in the beginning, but quickly gave way to the "Rock AC" term that has been practically used since for it.

But as has been pointed out, you really can't draw exact parallels between MMO and "Jack", especially when I heard CBS-FM play Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" within two hours of signing on (when you hear MMO play it, let us know), or the irreverent imaging attitude of a "Jack", versus the constant productionless "no bs, no bs, no bs" liner mantra-izing typical of an MMO-esque station.