Exactly. The heritage (or unique) sound ended when Jhani left. Run of the mill since. Like I've said along, I will credit a station when it has a great and unique programming techniques, unlike the others. KRTH 2014 isn't it. Unfortunately, it takes a bland sound to be #1 these days.
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Exactly. The heritage (or unique) sound ended when Jhani left. Run of the mill since. Like I've said along, I will credit a station when it has a great and unique programming techniques, unlike the others. KRTH 2014 isn't it. Unfortunately, it takes a bland sound to be #1 these days.
Once again, this has ceased to be a discussion about radio, but rather personal taste. Because it’s obvious that this is a great radio station, since it’s getting better ratings now than ever. But in doing so, it’s not doing what you personally like. When I talk with people about things like this, I find it’s usually not just radio that falls into this category. They don’t like popular TV shows and prefer TV Land, although they hate all the commercials. They don’t like current car designs. They don’t like current popular food trends. They don’t like a lot of things that are obviously very popular.
And interestingly, there’s a direct correlation between those opinions, and the belief by advertisers that it’s ineffective to target this particular audience. That they dislike commercials, don’t like being sold, don’t like being pitched new products, don’t like the presentation in the advertising, and simply don’t respond when the advertising is presented, even when they’re offered the product for free. So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as tastes harden, become less open to change, they become less useful to advertisers, and the programming that audience enjoys becomes less attractive to advertisers. The money goes away, and so does the programming. This is why KRTH is now targeting younger audiences with more recent music, and as part of that, why they're changing their imaging.
I think the point to be made here is that KRTH has been a beloved station for many years. Their consistency in music, the legendary air personalities, the imaging and such gave them a distinctive sound. As the pros on this board have noted on many occasions there was what they determined was a business need to evolve from oldies to what their definition of classic rock is. That it's all taken place in about a years time, without officially announcing a format change*has been difficult for many of the long time listeners.
Perhaps format change is too strong a term, but most listeners would not recognize this brand of KRTH and what's taken place since jhani left in 2013. Not just the move into the 80s and elimination of the 60s and early 70s, but the change from the soft rock of Carole king, Jim Croce, James Taylor and bread to a playlist that now has a much harder edge and includes guns and roses, ac dc, depeche mode. That, and the move from a KHJ style of music to much more of a KLOS format is to me the bigger change. Other stations that consider themselves to fall under that "classic rock" umbrella have radically different playlists. Take a look at what WOGL played this weekend for example. Very little similarity between what they're playing and where KRTH has positioned itself.
Was this weekend the final turn of the ship? It will be interesting to see what KRTHs playlist will look like beginning tomorrow. With CVD gone, or in a reduced role, indications are the station will continue their evolution and begs the question, how much longer will the likes of Charlie tuna, Jim Carson and the shotgun remain? From strictly a non professional, listener only viewpoint, they, like the heritage jingles don't appear to fit any longer.
Perhaps format change is too strong a term, but most listeners would not recognize this brand of KRTH and what's taken place since jhani left in 2013. Not just the move into the 80s and elimination of the 60s and early 70s, but the change from the soft rock of Carole king, Jim Croce, James Taylor and bread to a playlist that now has a much harder edge and includes guns and roses, ac dc, depeche mode. That, and the move from a KHJ style of music to much more of a KLOS format is to me the bigger change. Other stations that consider themselves to fall under that "classic rock" umbrella have radically different playlists. Take a look at what WOGL played this weekend for example. Very little similarity between what they're playing and where KRTH has positioned itself.
Was this weekend the final turn of the ship? It will be interesting to see what KRTHs playlist will look like beginning tomorrow. With CVD gone, or in a reduced role, indications are the station will continue their evolution and begs the question, how much longer will the likes of Charlie tuna, Jim Carson and the shotgun remain? From strictly a non professional, listener only viewpoint, they, like the heritage jingles don't appear to fit any longer.
We've talked about that a lot, and I've worked in both cities, so I can tell you from my experience that the Philly audience is more entrenched than LA. I can't tell you how often I was introduced to people who've lived in Philly for three generations, and they're proud of it. LA is more transient. So radio programming reflects that. Quite often, the complaints I hear from people about changes in radio also tie in with their views about the changes in their town. I'm hearing that a lot now. They don't like the changes in population base, they don't like that famous buildings are being knocked down, and they don't like that their favorite songs aren't heard on the radio.
I would not go to the extreme of saying "beloved" although the station obviously had its devoted following. But the bigger part of a gold-based station's audience consists of people who listen to a wide variety of other stations but who all consider the gold station their second or third choice. In other words, not everybody's favorite, but an alternative station for a large group of people.
No radio professional would call KRTH "classic rock". It is "classic hits" which is, simply, an industry definition for post-60's based pop gold formats .
It's not format change... it's an evolution from 60's based pop gold to 70's based pop gold to 80's based pop gold. We don't, after all, consider that KOST has changed format just because they don't play Chicago and The Carpenters any more!
And the markets are extremely different. The WOGL mix would likely fare very poorly here in LA.
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I just heard a CVD sweeper a moment ago.
Believe that (while the exact mix may not work specifically for LA), many of those individual songs incorporated into the existing rotation at KRTH should be fine. If WOGL can play every single #1 song from 1960 to 1989 in alphabetical order, then KRTH should be able to do something similar, based on it's own existing format, instead of playing certain burned 80's songs 5 times each over the Labor Day Weekend.
Specials should be just that.....a way for a station to show off it's "other" library, and take a weekend break from the ordinary, something WOGL did successfully again. Besides, as you've said, listenership is down anyways during holiday weekends, so it wouldn't matter what's played anyways.
Having fun.......that's the way it should be. Casual Fridays at work......some concept.
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That's the sound KRTH should have retained, instead of throwing it away once Jhani left.
Sure. They should have remained 10th to 13th in 25-54 instead of jumping up into the top 5 in the sales demo.
Specials should give existing heavy users a reason to put on the radio on long weekends when radio listening in general is lower due to disrupted routines and different activities. That means putting a slightly different twist on something that the regular listeners enjoy.
Playing 60's songs when the station is trying to make an absolute cut from that decade would be stupid... it is music that the 35-54 target in LA does not want to hear.
But CBS did something just like that in Hartford this past weekend: flipping its ultra-successful AC WRCH to an all-'70s format -- everything from the Carpenters to C.W. McCall to the Spinners to Deep Purple. Songs that haven't been played on WRCH for at least 10 years, 20 years or ever. What were those respected radio professionals thinking, David?
It's a different program philosophy from mine. I understand that different times of the day and different days of the week may require or permit a somewhat different playlist or set of boundries, but going so far off track simply confuses the core and attracts very few new listeners. Any novelty value is erased by not giving the heavy regular users what they expect and potentially annoying them.
Who said it had to be 60's? It can be done successfully with 80's and 70's to the extent WOGL provided over Labor Day. Hearing less than 150 different 80's tunes over 4 days on KRTH is not my idea of a special. Sure, it began great on Friday, but once they essentially played the same thing over on Saturday, Sunday AND Monday, then it sounds redundant.
What percentage of the audience do you really think listened for all four days 24/7? Be honest, especially based on the facts we've already given you.
Agreed. My point is that a weekend special should be just that.....a special. Forget the tightness and the regularity of the weekday rotations where ratings count. David has already said that listenership on the holiday weekends and holidays are significantly down as to be somewhat insignificant for books, so KRTH should loosen up. Play the other good hits that are never played. That to me should be the point of a holiday weekend special. WOGL is a perfect example, every #1 song in alphabetical order, from 1960 through 1989. That's one example. They don't do this special all year, just over Labor Day. I believe their program director would understand what I'm referring to here.
It should not have to be "by-the-book" programming every holiday weekend of the year. What's the point of being classic hits if you cannot even play them? Seriously.
BTW, I see that KRTH has slipped to 3rd place. What's up with that?? Probably too much "Hotel....." during June and July.
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Don't you think there's a good reason why they're not being played? Should the Dodgers take out all of the star players just because attendance is down for a game? Doesn't that cheat the people who are actually there that day? I'm a competitor. I compete every day. There is no "off" day if you want to be #1. You keep using your best stuff regardless of the circumstances. It's what your audience expects, and it keeps them tuning in.
The airplay of one song isn't going to affect the numbers in a significant way. You don't want to over-react. Back to baseball, if the team is losing, but your ace is still delivering, then your ace is not the reason the team is losing.
But now, the team is in 3rd, several games behind KBIG and the team that propelled KRTH to 1st in June is not producing as much. Time for a change. Time for some different songs to help KRTH.
Time to use some of the September call-ups to hopefully impact the team and catch KBIG this fall.
Great baseball analogy. Dodgers are worrying me lately with the Giants on their tail. Team needs some improvement. September call ups hopefully will help. Time for another championship. Dodgers 1988 and KRTH 1985 (had to throw that in there) were a long time ago.
If it weren't for their ace Kershaw, I don't think we'd even be at .500
Agreed Big A.
Great, to me, the September call-ups mean you add a couple of currents to the rotation. That'll shake things up.
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