Current WKTU TOH

[wgliradio]

The Top of the Hour has always been the signature... every station on Long Island and in the city I can think of uses a stager with the slogan proclaiming who they are. Some have the legal ID embedded, others do not. Z-100 had some of the best, Hot 103/97, CBS-FM. There's a nice JAM demo that shows the making of the WABC top/hr tager into the news.

And it's not a New York thing, you hear it across the country and even on Sirius and XM... there is always a production number that is usually a standout at the top of the hour. Even production companies like REELWORLD have specific cuts for Top of the Hour (just check the KIIS demo). Hard to believe this is a foreign concept. And it is something I have heard used at every place from WLNG to WFAN, WLTW and WCBS.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

The legal ID, especially for FMs that have names or slogans, is distracting. So it is best put where it does not harm the imaging, a music sweep or even the talk on a personality morning show.

Yes, but this discussion was never about the actual Legal ID. It was about WKTU's TOH. And the Top of Hour ID IS imaging. Its where you regularly establish (loudly and proudly) that you are Today's Hit Music Station, or Lite FM....or HOT 97.....or "From The Greatest City in the World" WCBS-FM....etc.

And its often memorable (all across the country), but since we're talking about New York....and although not many listeners even know (or care) that WHTZ is licensed to Newark or WKTU to Lake Success.....they certainly do remember
classic TOH stagers like ("From The Top Of The Empire State Building".....or "Serving The Universe")....on Z-100. Or Hot 103.5's (From the T-T-T-Top of the World Trade Center....WQHT New York....) or even ("102.7 WNEW FM Metromedia New York...Where Rock Lives").....its always been good radio!!

And although the top and bottom of hours may not seem to mean much PPM-wise (and lets see how that pans out in the longterm)....people DO still run their lives accordingly most (not all) people make their appointments at an 8:00 rather than an 8:47. They set their alarms for 6am rather than 5:49. And they wait until 5pm to mentally feel the office day is over instead of 5:13. So if radio is a companion to them (and in our best hopes it is), then it makes common sense to program in accordance with the way most (although not all) people will use it.