Cumulus CHR's are the worst I've ever heard

[carolinaradio]

Do you think he's trying to consolidate programming between the two formats so that he can hire really cheap, inexperienced PDs? That's the only explanation I can think of...

Yeah, but I agree with chrocket87 (and have actually wondered this for some time), why bother to have PD's at all when you are having your playlist pretty much dictated top-down (give or take a few tracks) and just a few people making up your airstaff, unless the PD is handling multiple duties? Are they worth their salary?

I wonder how a more aggressive Hot AC would go over in a market like Detroit where they already have 2 CHR's and no other Hot AC. It seems to me that they shouldn't have to compromise the HAC format just to consolidate, but who knows, all of these guesses are as good as mine.

Your theory is plausible, and I personally hope it's the case, TheMusicMan. Mumford is a little too bluegrass-y for my personal tastes, but it's frustrating that they're being slow with it as well as OM&M.

 

[bchristi]

Cumulus Hot ACs sound much better in my opinion than CHRs. They have a broader selection of golds and don't play the dated rhythmic that the CHRs play. Hot AC KYIS Oklahoma City sounds better in my opinion than it did under Citadel because the Cumulus playlist doesn't include all the 80s music the station used to play.

Jan should keep programming Hot AC and Country and turn CHR and CHR/Rhythmic over to somebody who understands the formats.

 

[JH_Radio]

Not to mention they engage in one of my least favorite radio practices, music pitching, which is really annoying

Today, there are a few stragglers but more and more have stopped the practice.

WAYV in Atlantic City has for ages.

Have anybody noticed that some stations jus speed up the music without pitching it? Examples are WPST and WAPE.

 

[wxman76]

By the way, it's extremely infuriating that Cumulus refuses to add Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters & Men to its CHRs.

"I Will Wait" is now #15 CHR/Pop and Babel has sold something like 2,000,000 units. Isn't it time for Cumulus to start adding Mumford & Sons? Being late on "Thrift Shop" is one thing, but unlike "Thrift Shop", it's not like Mumford & Sons isn't adult friendly.

 

[editthis]

Today's Mediabase bullet has Mumford going minus spins for the first time.

 

[bchristi]

By the way, it's extremely infuriating that Cumulus refuses to add Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters & Men to its CHRs.

"I Will Wait" is now #15 CHR/Pop and Babel has sold something like 2,000,000 units. Isn't it time for Cumulus to start adding Mumford & Sons? Being late on "Thrift Shop" is one thing, but unlike "Thrift Shop", it's not like Mumford & Sons isn't adult friendly.

I think it's just that Jan doesn't like it.

That man is pretty much destroying radio.

 

[carolinaradio]

I wonder if there are concerns that it wouldn't fit in well on the CHR stations or something (same with OM&M)? Both (especially Mumford) are quite different.

Were they this slow with "The A Team?" I remember it took a while.

 

[atlantaboy]

^Yeah, Cumulus didn't add The A Team until it was #12 or right around there

Jan Jeffries is pretty consistent about waiting as long as possible to add anything that might isolate listeners and cause them to change the station - doesn't matter if it's Alternative, Country, Rap, Dance, etc. - he would rather add music that everyone thinks is just alright, than add tracks that some people love and others hate (or think is weird)

I really don't think he discriminates against songs he doesn't like personally, because his method is pretty consistent - although it is EXTREMELY boring and frustrating

 

[wxman76]

^Yeah, Cumulus didn't add The A Team until it was #12 or right around there

Jan Jeffries is pretty consistent about waiting as long as possible to add anything that might isolate listeners and cause them to change the station - doesn't matter if it's Alternative, Country, Rap, Dance, etc. - he would rather add music that everyone thinks is just alright, than add tracks that some people love and others hate (or think is weird)

I can see that philosophy for what can be viewed as abrasive in "Thrift Shop" or a downer as in "The A Team", but why be so late on "Everybody Talks" or "It's Time"? What is so polarizing about that?

 

[bchristi]

^Yeah, Cumulus didn't add The A Team until it was #12 or right around there

Jan Jeffries is pretty consistent about waiting as long as possible to add anything that might isolate listeners and cause them to change the station - doesn't matter if it's Alternative, Country, Rap, Dance, etc. - he would rather add music that everyone thinks is just alright, than add tracks that some people love and others hate (or think is weird)

I really don't think he discriminates against songs he doesn't like personally, because his method is pretty consistent - although it is EXTREMELY boring and frustrating

I change the station every time songs like "Cyclone", "Boom Boom Pow", and "Live Your Life" comes on. Those aren't bad songs but its 2013.

CHR isn't a "listen all day at work" type of format. A very high number of listeners tune in for a short amount of time. Other formats like AC have a lower number of listeners but they generally listen for longer. Jan needs to get that through his thick skull.

 

[atlantaboy]

CHR isn't a "listen all day at work" type of format. A very high number of listeners tune in for a short amount of time.

That's not true at all for Cumulus CHRs - or for most private medium-small market stations

Remember, if there's no Hot AC in the market, women at work are going to tune into something during the day, and usually CHR fills that hole, as long as the station keeps their spin numbers down during the daytime

The CHR philosophy you stated was basically developed by Clear Channel in the late 90s (and copied by other stations) - I don't want to seem like I'm defending Cumulus again, but by no means is the short amount of time philosophy the definition of CHR, or at least not the original definition

 

[carolinaradio]

Where does the AC format fit in with listening at work? I always thought that was supposedly the "listen at work" format, but it's failed to evolve very well, so I guess a lot of the younger end of 25-54 is probably listening to other formats. I've always thought it was odd that AC does so much better than traditional Hot AC in the south - Star 94 is an exception, but in so many other markets, it's been a non-starter - it's slowly dying in Greenville, SC (but never did that great to begin with), and it took The Link in Charlotte a lot of tweaks to finally find a formula that seems to work for them, but they are still pretty conservative...

 

[atlantaboy]

Where does the AC format fit in with listening at work? I always thought that was supposedly the "listen at work" format

AC is definitely a listen at work format - but the younger end of the listen at work demo usually opts for Hot AC, and if there's no Hot AC the CHR often steps in the fill the hole during the workday - IMO the only big exceptions are small market Clear Channels which are standardized for cost purposes, and some Southern markets where Country eats into too much of the traditional HAC audience

 

[carolinaradio]

That's definitely true in Greenville, where a lot of small businesses play country in the background. I was hoping the Hot AC format would catch on, but it's really just been in a downward spiral :/

AC stations, overall, have kept getting older and older in their target it seems - most of these stations seem like they're for women in their 40s these days...

 

[atlantaboy]

I can see that philosophy for what can be viewed as abrasive in "Thrift Shop" or a downer as in "The A Team", but why be so late on "Everybody Talks" or "It's Time"? What is so polarizing about that?

Here's another theory...Jeffries holds off on most Alternative tracks for Q100 in order to distinguish it from Star 94 - honestly, if Q100 had added all these Alternative-leaning tracks right away, there would be very little difference musically between the two stations - so Jeffries in effect keeps Q100 as the more conservative Hot AC of the two

And notice that if Star doesn't add a pop/rock song right away, like Hall Of Fame or My Songs Know What You Did..., Jeffries jumps on it quickly

Same thing could be going on in other markets - KRBE vs. Mix Houston, Pro-FM vs. WSNE, etc.

 

[sdh483]

I'm sorta laughing at the title of this post because on another post, Houston's KRBE was ranked one of the top CHRs in the country.

 

[danikayser84]

Although it's not owned by Cumulus, I'd have to say Townsquare Radio's Pop Crush 105.7 in Albany is pretty bad too They play a bit too much early to mid-2000s gold although they add new CHR songs regularly... sometimes they sound like a trainwreck if you ask me...

 

[marconis gallbladder]

Although it's not owned by Cumulus, I'd have to say Townsquare Radio's Pop Crush 105.7 in Albany is pretty bad too.

It's also Hot AC, so it's not exactly fair to compare them to CHRs.

 

[wxman76]

Cumulus CHRs have a reputation for leaning Hot AC. I find it ironic that they aren't playing the #1 Hot AC song in the country...Mumford & Sons.

 

[mrtallman]

I don't know what the deal is with KSYN (Kissin) 92.5 either, in Joplin. They are always very late on getting any kind of new music, and "I Will Wait" has not been played yet there, even though it is #17 on their charts. They also never played "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes, even though they played music that was lower on their charts. I do generally like the fact that they play older rock music, but it usually takes them forever to get anything new, except if it's dance/pop music, which they're fast on getting. It really sounds like a Cumulus station, even though it's Zimmer radio.