CBS FM sounds great with 70's weekend

[BabyDJ]

I've been disappointed with the music on CBS FM over the past few months as I feel they are skewing too much towards Q-104 and not playing enough pop from the 70's & 80's.

Lots of songs on the 70's weekend that hopefully will be put BACK into regular rotation! The station really sounded good.

As for the 80's, CBS FM needs more Whitney Houston, Madonna etc over Beaver Brown Band and Tom Petty. It has to sound more pop.

 

[Oldiesmike]

The 70's weekend really did sound good on CBS-FM. I enjoyed it. Hopefully cbs-fm will do more great special weekends instead of just having a hall of fame spotlight on sat & sun.

 

[Seltzer]

The John Cafferty and Tom Petty songs are great songs and were HITS ON TOP 40 radio in the 80s. Certainly they belong on CBS-FM.

I'm guessing that the Whitney and Madonna songs may not test as well with the Classic hits audience. I'm sure every song in regular rotation has high scores. The male portion of their audience isn't likely to gravitate toward thi stuff. And CBS FM needs to be balanced male-female in its audience to continue to succeed.

Lite FM plays very little Whitney these days for the same reason....the songs don't test.....

 

[airpab]

If you're at home and you want consistently good 70's stuff, stream online...KOOL out of PHX...or KRTH out of L.A.

Both play better music then CBS FM...and not nearly as much cheesy stuff !

 

[frozenfiresb]

I have to agree somewhat, it's seems as if there's very few artists that the Q plays that CBS currently doesn't. Basically just Black Sabbath/Ozzy, some other harder rock, and longer/more progressive songs. I've heard CBS play "Dream On", "Sweet Home Alabama", of course the arena rock (Journey, Boston, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi) and even "Hush" by Deep Purple, which despite being from 1968 is an artist that I almost always associate with classic rock.

 

[mary]

It was a great weekend!!! I really enjoyed it, 60's and 70's were my TIME!!!

 

[Seltzer]

I've heard CBS play "Dream On", "Sweet Home Alabama", of course the arena rock (Journey, Boston, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi) and even "Hush" by Deep Purple, which despite being from 1968 is an artist that I almost always associate with classic rock.

All of the above mentioned songs and artists had major hits on Top 40 radio. Their songs generally test well in music research. Although A/C radio doesn't usually play "Dream On", Hit Me With Your Best Shot, More Than A Feeling, Don't Stop Believin', and Livin' On A Prayer have become staples at the format. That means they test well with women, while being male friendly as well. Perfect songs for CBS-FM to play along with the right pop stuff. And I don't think you can argue with the success of CBS-FM. This is "oldies" (term not used but you get the idea) in 2010. Hermans Hermits, Petula Clark, and Leslie Gore are not.

 

[DToTheJ]

If you're at home and you want consistently good 70's stuff, stream online...KOOL out of PHX...or KRTH out of L.A.

And may I add to that list KOOL 101 in New London, CT. Not a bad presentation or playlist from a small-market station.

 

[BabyDJ]

Perfect example of a song they shouldn't play... at 3:55 yesterday, Refugee by Tom Petty. That's a Q-104 record.

Hit Me With Best Shot, Livin on a Prayer etc are fine. But "Shattered" by the Stones isn't. Neither is Refugee and I've heard both recently. They need to slice it down the middle without going to extremes.

 

[DToTheJ]

Here ya go, BabyDJ: Feel free to add to this topic... ;D
http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=163088.0

 

[WNTIRadio]

Refugee is now 30 years old, and was a #15 hit in 1980. CBS-FM is "NY's Greatest Hits", this was a top 20 song, and it fits the format. It's a recognizable song, with a recognizable voice. You mean to tell me that people are turning off CBS-FM in disgust because Refugee was played? How can you conclude that Livin on a Prayer is more polarizing than the ROLLING STONES? Bon Jovi is either a love or hate thing, and part of the hair-cheese-band thing. The Stones are well... the STONES.

Radio needs less nitpicking and focus groups, they have their place, but a good programmer will know what songs are good in their format. And the fact that CBS-FM is and has been #2 for quite awhile tells me that Brian and Lenny and the gang have been doing a great job and know what the audience wants.

Q-104 could use a bit more variety in their playlist. How many times do I need to hear Freebird in month?

 

[davideduardo]

Radio needs less nitpicking and focus groups, they have their place, but a good programmer will know what songs are good in their format.

Focus groups are not used to determine the songs a station plays.

Despite the usual caveat about Wikipedia, there is a reasonably correct article on focus groups http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group

 

[WNTIRadio]

Yes they are, especially in a major market. Ever sit in on a song testing "gathering" with 50-60 people turning the knob up or down based on whether or not they like a hook and track the results on your laptop in real time? or do callout hooks? They have a very strong influence on what gets played. Every song on Q-104 has "tested well", hence the same burned out 400 or so classic rock chestnuts. The problem with "testing well" is that we all like those songs once in awhile, but to hear them all the time... they're not quite as special.

Sometimes there's songs that don't test well, but are great "oh wow!" cuts. Great job to CBS-FM for keeping the "oh wow!" factor involved and stepping outside the narrow format boundaries that have become the boring sameness of most radio!!

 

[BabyDJ]

Just because a record is #15 30 years ago doesn't mean it deserves airplay. Debbie Boone was #1 for 10 weeks 32 years ago but nobody is playing that.

It's more about what has staying power. I've never heard Refugee or Shattered outside Q-104, RXP, K-Rock or NEW-FM. Livin' On A Prayer is a rock hit but a major CHR hit as well.

They're also running into problems with Beatles Wednesday. It's played out and the song selections reflect that. CBS FM can't be the station that dives into album cuts of popular artists. They need to play the HITS.

 

[DToTheJ]

[CBS-FM is] also running into problems with Beatles Wednesday.It's played out and the song selections reflect that...

The boondoggle is that they seem to always play their "Beatles Wednesday" songs at the top of every hour throughout the day. And at the top of the hour, music stations tend to lead off with a popular tune. CBS-FM could go deeper with this feature, but there's nothing stopping them from throwing in a bonus Beatles "back wall" track (to borrow a term from Q104) in the middle of the hour.

 

[davideduardo]

Yes they are, especially in a major market. Ever sit in on a song testing "gathering" with 50-60 people turning the knob up or down based on whether or not they like a hook and track the results on your laptop in real time?

That's not a "focus group." A focus group is a steered, a moderated chat / discussion, generally lasting in the vicinity of 70 to 90 minutes. Each person does not necessarily voice an opinion or answer each topic, and some people may dominate the discussion, even with the best moderator. A focus group is principally a perceptual research technique.

A music test is quantitative research. It shows how each person "votes" on each individual song (or DJ bit or whatever you want to test).

A focus group averages 10 people with a moderator and is spontaneous, whereby comments may trigger improvised questions by the moderator. A Music Test is structured, and the respondents often do not utter a word during the test... which may have a dial as the input device or a paper form booklet to mark. A music test typically has about 100 respondents, not 10.

or do callout hooks?

That is the same as a music test done on site, except that each test is for fewer songs (30 or less being the norm) and it is done on the phone. The ideal sample is about the same as a music test.

They have a very strong influence on what gets played.

In most cases, that means that a well balanced and proportional sample of listeners is better than one PD's Ivory Tower idea of what to play. In a sense, that is why the US has a President and Congressional members and governors and mayors and not a king with knights and princes and lords.

Every song on Q-104 has "tested well", hence the same burned out 400 or so classic rock chestnuts.

And WAXQ is typically between 2nd and 4th in 25-54 in NY. See? It works. Play the songs most people like and don't play the ones that cause significant parts of the audience to go away. There will be a fringe of those who moan about repetition and lack of variety and such, but that is almost a confirmation of the validity of the concept.

The problem with "testing well" is that we all like those songs once in awhile, but to hear them all the time... they're not quite as special.

About 3 million New Yorkers disagree with you.

Sometimes there's songs that don't test well, but are great "oh wow!" cuts. Great job to CBS-FM for keeping the "oh wow!" factor involved and stepping outside the narrow format boundaries that have become the boring sameness of most radio!!

There are certainly cases to be made for occasional deviations such as deeper cuts and so on, but overall we have become more and more aware that very few formats tolerate frequent excursion into the adjacent pasture, as the grass is not greener there.

 

[surfdude]

David - the above post should be a "sticky" for all the armchair or unsuccessful PDs who post musical opinions.
The listeners opinion is the only that counts. The only way to get their opinion is to ask them (research).

Your post is dead on accurate in my experience (34 years). Q104 knows this, too.

 

[davideduardo]

The listeners opinion is the only that counts. The only way to get their opinion is to ask them (research).

It's funny... and you point it out... that many people do not understand that the word "research" in any behavioral area is simply observing or asking about what people do, like, want, etc.

I became a convert long ago when I first tested for a pseudo AC format. I had done, successfully, the same format for more than a decade, and thought I was pretty hot. So, to proove how good I was, I predicted the scores of about 100 songs.

I was not even close on about 80% of them. And there was a group of tunes that everybody but me seemed to hate... a significant group, too. My experience in more markets and nations made me more receptive to less-than-mainstream songs. The error was forcing them on the listeners.

It became so apparent that a PD who thinks they can "pick all the hits" or "knows what the listener really wants" or who thinks that "variety" means more songs is... well... arrogant.

Why is Pandora growing so fast? They play, for you, your favorite songs. And as time goes by and you tell Pandora what to not play, it gets better. Radio can't individually tailor a sound or playlist, but it can look for a consensus within a niche. It's folks who don't realize what a stiff is who fail.

 

[WNTIRadio]

I'm not saying to ditch all research and to let every PD run free. What I am saying is that there is the need for smart programmers to have a good ear and know what sounds good on the radio.

Also, as for Q-104, I really think it's a case of "where else am I going to go". What's the alternative? RXP can't decide whether it's a AAA or a "**** rock" station. Going from Ray Lamontagne to Sweet Child O Mine is a jarring transition no matter what you do, and you can't tell me that those that want to hear Guns N Roses will sit though a Suzanne Vega song or vice versa.

And I still think Refugee has more of a place on CBS-FM than Bon Jovi does. They have shown that a wider playlist and PERSONALITY on the radio actually DOES work.

 

[Jay F]

Rolling Stones-Shattered refrences the "big apple". Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics for the song in the back of a NYC cab. The whole song is about someones experiences on the streets of NY. It fits in NY. Besides it must test today with the CBS-FM audience despite the fact that it was only an AOR hit when it was current.