cbs flip of

[MN Maniac]

Classic Hits in O-Town

As a former Oldies/Classic Hits jock in Orlando, I've been reading this thread with great interest.

The prevailing wisdom suggests WOCL will transition to Classic Hits. Hopefully, this will become reality. Orlando would be a very receptive market for this format *IF* it is done correctly.

"Correctly" means hiring LIVE personalities who known and appreciate the music. Not board-ops, not voicetrackers, not 20-somethings who weren't even alive when these songs were current hits.

I worked for the late, great WOTS AM-1220. Ours was a small station which broadcast from Old Town in Kissimmee. We had limited listenership and even fewer advertisers. But that's to be expected from a 1kW AM with no promotional budget.

What we *did* have at WOTS was a unique station that was FUN to listen to. We were the only station in the market playing 70s Hits (the predecessor of today's Classic Hits.) We were live for as much of the time as our limited resources would allow. We played ALL the hits of the 1970s. Not just the 400 "carefully selected and researched" titles suggested by the focus groups. We had a great staff, comprised of people who knew and loved this music.

In the end, the money wasn't there and we sold to a local Spanish broadcaster. But I guarantee you that if we would have had an FM signal which covered the market, that station would still be alive today.

This format has true staying power...again, IF it is done correctly.


Drew A. Durigan
WOTS AM-1220
Nights & Weekends
1996-97

 

[HankKingsley]

The future of rock radio in general is bleak. I mean, the people that are fans of alternative rock music are basically invisible to arbitron.

Garabo could have been better if he didn't try to be a top40 morning show guy, carter was fine, jody and scott had moments that were really good and moments that were pretty bad.


As long as Arbitron is running the show we'll never see good rock radio. (unless you're in California).

 

[austingrace]

well right now rock radio in orlando is screwed. unless jrr does something. and the funny thing was, i wanted to intern at orock. guess i'll just wait on the interning thing now. maybe go intern at jrr and see what goes on there? hahahahh rotfl... might do that. radio in general in orlando is screwed. hopefully it will change but doubt it.

 

[DJ Mo]

Hehe... Check it out. They changed the image on their website to that 2nd one. You're probably gonna see some spanish dude tomorrow. They're just messing with us. I still believe what we're hearing is what we'll get.

 

[kentraco]

Re: Classic Hits in O-Town

What we *did* have at WOTS was a unique station that was FUN to listen to.

And, with that storefront studio, a great place to work. Interfacing with the public made it seem very much like the way radio used to be.

I did nights and weekends in 1994-1995 and recommended Kevin Casey as my replacement when I left.

 

[youreallcrazy]

The future of rock radio in general is bleak. I mean, the people that are fans of alternative rock music are basically invisible to arbitron.

As long as Arbitron is running the show we'll never see good rock radio. (unless you're in California).

I agree, but i also believe that the music itself is just not strong enough right now...very stale...very very stale...everything sounds the same! and i dont mean sub-genre to sub-genre...i mean artist to artist...several of these bands keep releasing music that is just sub-par and sounds used...

As for Orlando inparticular...none of the ORock junk will show up on JRR...by way of music or talent...

After Howard Stern left, mornings at O-rock were pretty much a disaster of epic proportions...They should've hired a whole brand new crew in the morning instead of hiring left-overs from WTKS...

ORock HAD tried to build morning shows, both before and after Stern...they were horrible!...i think bringing Drew on board was one of the few GOOD things ORock did...

Well, it needs a total makeover, because the world of WJRR makes you want to think that Metallica are better than the Beatles, Radiohead are a bad band, and that Korn are genuises......Gimme a break......O-rock could've been a lot better, just listen tonight to that metal show that comes on at midnight that is hosted by a group of teens on WJRR tonight and I bet that you will miss O-Rock.......

DIZ, i cant help but notice the amount of grief you have towards the Saturday night guys...i wonder how come!? and id like to know who told you they were teens...youve been terribly mis-led! hell, you have a world of anger towards JRR, period! just wondering why?...you make it seem like JRR plays the worst rock music on the planet! like i said earlier i think ALL rock music (new) right now is stale and boring, but i will say this...IF i want to listen to Rock music...(im a 26 y/o male)...I would hope to hear Metallica...or Korn...or Godsmack...or Disturbed...because those are rock bands...Radiohead is not a ROCK band, in the american sense...in the brit rock drip-drab sense, yes...and you see what kind of appeal there is for a band like Radiohead...THE STATION THAT PLAYED THEM JUST FLIPPED!...

The other thing i get is that youd like to see the Beatles and Metallica played on the same station...i mean why else would you compare them...fyi...if youd like to hear what the Beatles sound like next to Metallica...take a ride to melbourne and listen to 95.9...the abortion that it is!...

all in all...(after his way-too-long post)...Orlando Rock radio wont change...strap up and enjoy JRR...they have staying power, right?...for all intents and purposes...minus some slot shifts...its the same group of guys who took on ORock at first...Pat, Taco, Crash, Buckethead...they're not goin nowhere!

 

[austingrace]

ok. jrr isn't bad. i am starting to like them somewhat but i think i'll be getting serious soon. and 95.9 in melbourne? there classic rock or somethiing. i heard they may change formats as well. so there you go. and jrr doesn't play metalica that much.
the thing about jrr is most of the people that work there have been around there for years. like pat linch, taco and crash. so not defending anyone here but jrr isn't as bad as it's made out to be here.

 

[Bongwater]

Been listening to WOCL's History Of Rock-N-Roll stunt online (I'm in the North Puget Sound area of WA state.) Great syndicated show, but this Barry Manilow segment (was he ever rock-n-roll at all?) is killing me.

I can't imagine what those former O-Rock listeners are thinking hearing this Manilow Mania on 105.9 MHz. I'm guessing local sucide prevention hotlines are swamped....

My guess is this switch reeks of "classic hits"....

 

[bdpop]

Barry Manilow was huge in the 1970's. At the time this show was produced he was still very popular. Had this show been made today, I don't think they would have dedicated this much time to his career.

 

[skrape980]

Well, it needs a total makeover, because the world of WJRR makes you want to think that Metallica are better than the Beatles, Radiohead are a bad band, and that Korn are genuises......Gimme a break......O-rock could've been a lot better, just listen tonight to that metal show that comes on at midnight that is hosted by a group of teens on WJRR tonight and I bet that you will miss O-Rock.......

I guess you're saying 30 is the new teenager.....what does that make 20's and teens????

You do have alot of venom to spew to JRR....and the saturday night show...and you also seem to hate the JRR playlist, as well as the staff. If you hate the playlist so much, the amount of Metallica and Disturbed and Nirviana and so on, you really should point the finger not at the JRR staff, but the Orlando rock radio listeners. It's what they want to hear. Why else play something so much? If the Orlando rock radio listeners wanted to hear Radiohead and the like soooo badly, why is WOCL playing the history of Rock and Roll right now???

I'm not saying that JRR doesn't over play certain bands, God knows they do, God knows I am sick of Nirviana and Metallica. But it's what people want to hear. Why do you think TKS plays so little of the Alt Rock.....because the audience for it is small, sadly.

 

[PROjammer]

Where can you get a copy of the History Of Rock N' Roll from?
Who has the rights?

 

[youreallcrazy]

Where can you get a copy of the History Of Rock N' Roll from?
Who has the rights?

Dunno where you can get a copy...not sure if its available to the public...a colleague sent me some info on it...

"If you are not listening intently to the History of R&R, you should be. This is an updated version, not much changed from the original; which was done in 1967 or 68, with a two track tape recorder, carts and a splicing block! Brilliant writing, narration, production, pace and balance of content. Ground breaking at the time, and never duplicated. The subtle touches are just amazing. Brilliant radio. Pay attention."


"Here comes the SUN(ny)...do do dooo do..."...how many other "sun" songs can we come up with...then we can try to predict which is first!...

 

[austingrace]

yeah now they even have disco in there. ahhahahah a bit like power now.

 

[RockyWShore]

Re: Classic Hits in O-Town

Drew, you and your fellow employees did a heck of a job programming the 70s Hits on WOTS 1220! I lived in Jacksonville (and now Palm Coast), FL and WOTS was a must-listen when visiting Orange or Osceola Counties. I also recall Mike Singer there too. I think I have one aircheck of my own I made from a stay out in Mt. Dora and I treasure it. Radiosanchez sent me his copy, maybe from you. It's something I've tried to emulate on an LPFM (93.3 WFBO-LP) here at Flagler Beach with "The Seventies Explosion", which aired weekly until about a month or two ago, my engineering duties, etc take up so much time I needed to step away for now as much as I hated to do so. Where are you now, Drew? Let me know ... [email protected]

Rocky W. Shore (USN, Ret.)
Palm Coast, FL

As a former Oldies/Classic Hits jock in Orlando, I've been reading this thread with great interest.

The prevailing wisdom suggests WOCL will transition to Classic Hits. Hopefully, this will become reality. Orlando would be a very receptive market for this format *IF* it is done correctly.

"Correctly" means hiring LIVE personalities who known and appreciate the music. Not board-ops, not voicetrackers, not 20-somethings who weren't even alive when these songs were current hits.

I worked for the late, great WOTS AM-1220. Ours was a small station which broadcast from Old Town in Kissimmee. We had limited listenership and even fewer advertisers. But that's to be expected from a 1kW AM with no promotional budget.

What we *did* have at WOTS was a unique station that was FUN to listen to. We were the only station in the market playing 70s Hits (the predecessor of today's Classic Hits.) We were live for as much of the time as our limited resources would allow. We played ALL the hits of the 1970s. Not just the 400 "carefully selected and researched" titles suggested by the focus groups. We had a great staff, comprised of people who knew and loved this music.

In the end, the money wasn't there and we sold to a local Spanish broadcaster. But I guarantee you that if we would have had an FM signal which covered the market, that station would still be alive today.

This format has true staying power...again, IF it is done correctly.


Drew A. Durigan
WOTS AM-1220
Nights & Weekends
1996-97

 

[DJ Mo]

If they are "Sunny", it might be AC... There's a "Sunny 104.3" in West Palm & they are AC, playing "Today's Hits & Yesterday's favorites".

Here's my 2 guesses as of now on the upcoming format of WOCL 105.9:
1) Classic Hits / Oldies (like WCBS 101.1 in NYC)
2) Lite AC (like WEAT 104.3 in WPB)

 

[Starman1951]

From the view of a radio listener not in the business, this format flip sucks. I liked because every afternoon I tried to listen to some music on WJRR I just heard the same cookie cutter Howard Stern wannabe DJs do their tired old act (it was even worse when WOCL tried to do that in the afternoons). It was nice to have a choice.

But if Rock radio was getting stale, then that's because of the limited programming on it. There's so much new stuff out there, but both radio stations are content on playing the same playlist of songs. On the weekends and late nights on WTKS, they actually do have a pretty good alternative format with a good mix of new stuff I haven't heard before. I actually bought more music from what I heard on that station. I wish there was something like that on the weekday mornings and afternoons.

As for the JRR show on Saturday nights, Against the Grain, that's probably the only show I'd actually go through the trouble to actually listen to. Sure the deejays there are , but if actually feels like a bunch of guys having fun instead of a forced act. And anyways, there's huge blocks of music that never gets played in the waking hours.

 

[austingrace]

damn. any chance of wfbo blasting in to altamonte? prob not cuz of 93.1 in daytona and 93.3 in tampa. but it was a nice thought. i enjoyed wfbo because i used to go to florida school for the def and blind in st augustine and would hear wfbo untill i lost it on the way from palm bay when i used to live there. i hope wfbo lasts a long time. it's a good station. you have an online stream? i'd listen if ya did.

 

[Whiplash]

www.theblizzard.us

 

[Bongwater]

Barry Manilow was huge in the 1970's. At the time this show was produced he was still very popular. Had this show been made today, I don't think they would have dedicated this much time to his career.

How could I forget the popularity of Barry Manilow at the time. But you're still dealing with a former member of the KISS Army fan club (well, at least it beat Leif Garrett's. Or The Osmonds.)

Even at his peak (even though I admit to buying a 45 of "Copacabana" to satisfy a girlfriend at the time, my only 99 cent contribution to the Manilow fortune.) And once she was gone (thank God!) I was back to playing KISS, Led Zeppelin, Styx, Nazareth and other now classic rock bands I'm so tired of listening to now (come back William Hung, all is forgiven.....)

 

[radio_connector]

Much can be said for being a corporate yes-man.

I take exception to this thread blaming the format flip on Bobby Smith. It really goes to show that people here don't know how radio works. The day of the PD playing what they think will work is over...there is something you might not know of it's called "research." Companies like CBS pays a lot of money to reasearch markets. I know that Orock paid for a perception study on Orlando this last summer 07. Bobby is a great guy who kept it professional regardless of the adversity and basically did everything possible to turn Orock around. It included being open to all the resources around him like other PD's in the building and management. If that makes him a corporate yes-man so be it. He was trying to save people's job. You can ask anyone on that staff about him and they will tell you about Bobby. It is very easy for people to blog on here and point the finger at him...if you know radio you know it's not that simple.
Why are they keeping him, because like most Jack-ass's in radio the guy doesn't have an over bearing ego and likes to work with people. He has a great mind for radio not just alternative rock but radio. Lastly, he is good jock...at the end of the day he can work a day part. CBS has three stations in this market and he is versataile enough to be very useful in many capacities. You guys think that because he is not the PD of Orock that he shouldn't be employed? Trully radio has many facets like Internet and digital sales...The old school radio days are over and if a PD doesn't make himself more open to new things than yes he should be gone but this is not the case with Bobby. I don't know him but from everyone I have spoken with tells me this is the case...so I call them how I see them.
Why didn't Orock succeed? This is my opinion so it's ofcourse like this whole thread based on conjecture. Though Bobby is partially to blame, he waited to long to emphasize a brand in my opinion. Furthermore, the genre of alternative rock is dead (don't really care why)...it simply doesn't get the ratings. I think alternative rock is right where it should be on TKS on weekends and nights. As a result, you can only go so far on favors when it comes to radio buy's. They were able to hold off the dog's sort of speak for a year or so...but it caught up with the station. In the end they were not even getting combo buys...that is sad. When 100.3 flipped MMO grew by 25% based on rating's, that is a hole folks and that is not conjecture but a fact. So yes there is a hole for a classic hits station. There is no magic to this radio thing...Just a side note: Cox radio has been masterful at using their radio stations to squeeze successful radio stations in this market. They have conered the market in the Urban genre with CFB and PYO squeezing JHM. I think CBS is trying to squeeze MMO now a bit with this flip and subsequent classic hit's format. They basically would have two 100,000 watt radio stations watt stations going after MMO, which by the way in turms of money is a great move. Though they have never been #1 ratings wise they are always tops in money. I have written this before all emotions aside everything in radio has a rythm or reason "it's called money" and now growth - Wall Street. One last note...out of the big three Cox, Clear Channel and CBS. Cox is the only one that is still family owned. Publicly traded but the family still owns the majority of shares. Why is this important? when you listen to the cox stations they all play more music than any of the other radio stations in this market. You see growth is not priority number one with them. When you look at the ratings all the Cox stations kill it in this market I don't know how they do nationally but in this market and rating their number one. All their stations play a lot of music and it obviously translates into ratings. CBS would be smart to play as much music as possible coming out of the gate...it works.