Dees headed to...

[ceejay]

I KNOW, he is headed for KKGO to take over the morning show from Shawn Parr!

Boy, can you imagine if that happened! The posters over at Countryboards.com seriously believe he was single handedly responsible for KZLA flipping format.

Some claims from those folks include, if I recall, included that Dees invested a lot of money in Emmis so he could flip the station because he hates country music and that the evidence is that when Emmis announced Dees returning to mornings in LA the headline read "Emmis Communications and Dees Entertainment Announce the All New Movin' 93-9". Emmis added Dees Entertainment to the press release sot he announcement sounded like a blockbuster.

Dees to KKGO would be funny, but it's not gonna happen. Dees really has nothing against country. I think the first station he worked at in North Carolina was country. He's too steeped in Top 40 to try anything else.

Very entertaining embellishment, but, quite inaccurate.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

You really don't need to 'embellish' what Dees had to do regarding the KZLA flip, which was nothing.

Look no farther than this quote from Emmis VP/Programming Rick Cummings, as told to RJ Curtis in Radio & Records.

"I REALLY hated pissing off a half-million listeners, but we needed a million to make it work."

Cummings is as bright as anybody in the industry, and is as hamstrung by Wall Street as anybody at any other media conglomerate.

 

[kyscott]

Cummings is as bright as anybody in the industry, and is as hamstrung by Wall Street as anybody at any other media conglomerate.

I think this has been the most detrimental effect on radio more than anything else. Wall Street found radio and our 12% growth in the mid 90's. It's been down hill ever since then. When you worry more about shareholders than listeners, there is no place to go but down.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

No argument with that statement whatsoever!!!!

 

[BACKnUSSR]

No argument with that statement whatsoever!!!!

Wall Street attention is like that dark cloud that moves from entertainment companies to radio groups to dot.coms and now to financials....

 

[85cutiekid]

The old folks home...Smells like his diaper needs changing. I'm just sayin.

 

[mobile-exradiodj]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rick-Dees-studi...ryZ16071QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[MusicMaestro]

Exactly. An adult-leaning CHR with lots of familiar hits from the 70's, 80', & 90's that DO NOT GET airplay these days would be a perfect fit for R.D. at this time in his career. And he could interview those stars from that era who may still be producing music, but can't get played on today's radio stations. Sort of a "Whatever Happened To" segment of sorts.

I'm curious as to whether you've ever wondered WHY such songs don't get airplay anymore.

I "KNOW WHY" that is, but that's the exact REASON why many, many people have left Top 40 radio (AM & FM), & online sites like slacker.com, lastfm.com, pandora.com, etc. have INCREASED IN POPULARITY! Top 40 in it's heyday not only played the hits of "the day", but mixed in hits from previous years! There are many #1 hits and/or top 10singles from the 80's/90's that are DESERVING of airplay! Playing the same ol' 10-15 "currents" are about to ruin AC/Adult AC, because how many times can you hear "Home", "You And Me", or "Bubbly"? If you don't believe me, look up any of the ratings from the 60's, 70's, or 80's, & compare them to today! Variety, my friend, keeps radio freah & interesting, & smart PD's know this.

 

[MusicMaestro]

Exactly. An adult-leaning CHR with lots of familiar hits from the 70's, 80', & 90's that DO NOT GET airplay these days would be a perfect fit for R.D. at this time in his career. And he could interview those stars from that era who may still be producing music, but can't get played on today's radio stations. Sort of a "Whatever Happened To" segment of sorts.

I'm curious as to whether you've ever wondered WHY such songs don't get airplay anymore.

I "KNOW WHY" that is, but that's the exact REASON why many, many people have left Top 40 radio (AM & FM), & online sites like slacker.com, lastfm.com, pandora.com, etc. have INCREASED IN POPULARITY! Top 40 in it's heyday not only played the hits of "the day", but mixed in hits from previous years! There are many #1 hits and/or top 10 singles from the 80's/90's that are DESERVING of airplay! Playing the same ol' 10-15 "currents" are about to ruin AC/Adult AC, because how many times can you hear "Home", "You And Me", or "Bubbly"? If you don't believe me, look up any of the ratings from the 60's, 70's, or 80's, & compare them to today! At some point, even the best singles of the day become stale! Variety, my friend, keeps radio fresh & interesting, & smart PD's know this. It can be done, but someone needs to give it a legitimate chance to work, along with the right personalities behing the mic. Even Mr. Dees can flourish again, if given the RIGHT format & support to work with.

Comments??

 

[BACKnUSSR]

The old folks home...Smells like his diaper needs changing. I'm just sayin.

Really??....could you do a better job than say an 80 year old Rick Dees??

 

[BACKnUSSR]

Exactly. An adult-leaning CHR with lots of familiar hits from the 70's, 80', & 90's that DO NOT GET airplay these days would be a perfect fit for R.D. at this time in his career. And he could interview those stars from that era who may still be producing music, but can't get played on today's radio stations. Sort of a "Whatever Happened To" segment of sorts.

I'm curious as to whether you've ever wondered WHY such songs don't get airplay anymore.

I "KNOW WHY" that is, but that's the exact REASON why many, many people have left Top 40 radio (AM & FM), & online sites like slacker.com, lastfm.com, pandora.com, etc. have INCREASED IN POPULARITY! Top 40 in it's heyday not only played the hits of "the day", but mixed in hits from previous years! There are many #1 hits and/or top 10singles from the 80's/90's that are DESERVING of airplay! Playing the same ol' 10-15 "currents" are about to ruin AC/Adult AC, because how many times can you hear "Home", "You And Me", or "Bubbly"? If you don't believe me, look up any of the ratings from the 60's, 70's, or 80's, & compare them to today! Variety, my friend, keeps radio freah & interesting, & smart PD's know this.

Maestro...quick question...do you think more people listen to Top 40 radio in America now....or in the 60's/70's???
Just curious as to your thoughts.

 

[CHRles]

Okay, first of all an Adult leaning CHR won't be playing 70s and 80s titles, or it simply won't be a CHR. A few of the heritage CHRs around the country may throw in a couple of 80s mega-hits throughout the week between 9-5, and may play the 80s version of Backstraxx USA, but that's it.
As for Top 40 radio once commanding much higher ratings, duh! The radio landscape wasn't as competitive. You had a few stations on AM in the 60s, and a few FMs in the 70s, so obtaining high ratings for a mass appeal Pop station wasn't hard. There weren't as many niched formats as there are now.
The funny thing is, some of the CHRs back then were able to get away with youth friendly records that most CHRs today are too conservative to jump on. I'm not talking about schmaltzy teen pop, but rather some of the Rock and Soul records of the 60s. Rock & Roll was frowned upon by many adults back then, just as some of you guys frown upon Hip Hop and Dance records. Some CHRs in the 60s were in essence 12-25 year old targetted stations, and were good at it! Today's CHRs are overly careful with adding Hip Hop titles, which 60s type of CHRs would have jumped on.

 

[leonardo10]

The old folks home...Smells like his diaper needs changing. I'm just sayin.

Really??....could you do a better job than say an 80 year old Rick Dees??

I agree with you BACKnUSSR...there seems to be a lack of respect for the radio veterans that help shape LA Radio. Dees is a pioneer and deserves respect. As much as people want to blame him for the failure of Movin 93.9, the station as a whole is not doing well so it can't be just Dees. They took a chance with their format and target audience and it just wasn't there. Hopefully they will flip to something more appealing to the masses. Meanwhile, I can still see Dees doing another morning gig in LA. I think he also needs to tweek his current cast...that may help as well. I don't see format as being an issue for him...errrr..check that...just the one he currently has to deal with would be a bad one.

 

[davideduardo]

Top 40 in it's heyday not only played the hits of "the day", but mixed in hits from previous years!

That's not true. From the time Top 40 was "invented" at KOWH in August of '52 through the mid-60's, most Top 40's played about 40 songs, a "pick hit" or two and nothing else. It wasn't until around the Drake era that "gold" got included because, after about 9 to 10 years of rock 'n roll, there was enough "old stuff" to feature.

There are many #1 hits and/or top 10singles from the 80's/90's that are DESERVING of airplay!

CHR's target is fundamentally 18-34 women. An earlier 80's song would not have been part of the life of a 28 year old today. In any case, a station that plays today's pop and some 80's and 90's is a Hot AC, not a CHR. Fewer adds, more conservative, more gold. Separate format.

Playing the same ol' 10-15 "currents" are about to ruin AC/Adult AC, because how many times can you hear "Home", "You And Me", or "Bubbly"? If you don't believe me, look up any of the ratings from the 60's, 70's, or 80's, & compare them to today! Variety, my friend, keeps radio freah & interesting, & smart PD's know this.

There is no comparison. Top 40's in the early 60's got double digit shares, sometimes in the 20's and 30's. And they were AMs. As music fragmented into harder rock (progressive and AOR), "Chicken Rock" (the precursor of AC) and oldies (by 1969 to 1970 they started showing up), Top 40 fragmented into the components of the first 15 years of coalition listening. This was further pushed by the late-67 FCC order mandating that FMs cease simulcasting their AM sister stations, creating many more "new" formats that were mostly hybrids or fragments of existing formats.

Variety in a CHR consists of playing the hits so that a listener hears as many as possible each time they tune in.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

That's not true. From the time Top 40 was "invented" at KOWH in August of '52 through the mid-60's, most Top 40's played about 40 songs, a "pick hit" or two and nothing else. It wasn't until around the Drake era that "gold" got included because, after about 9 to 10 years of rock 'n roll, there was enough "old stuff" to feature.

Yes I remember those times. 1962-1966 my P1 was WIBG Philadelphia and they played an oldie several times during the day at the bottom of the hour. And on Sunday nights from 7-midnight Hy Lit hosted the WIBBAGE Hall of Fame Show with nothing but oldies from 1955 to 1961. First heard the show in 1963. (there were a few R&B hits from years before 1955 played ) In the summer of 1965 and during weekends only WIBG started playing "oldies" every other song. I remember this because at the time I thought that concept diluted the Sunday night hall of fame show and made it less exclusive.

This was further pushed by the late-67 FCC order mandating that FMs cease simulcasting their AM sister stations, creating many more "new" formats that were mostly hybrids or fragments of existing formats.

David I seem to recall those rules going into effect at the very beginning of 1967 unless stations like WIBG just initiated the separation ahead of the mandatory date. I listened mostly to WIBG's FM simulcast because of the unreceivable night AM signal in New Brunswick (central NJ) 60 miles from Philly. When the FM split from the AM with some canned junk music, I remember being pretty pissed off... they simulcasted their AM from 12 mid - 12 noon times I mostly couldn't listen. I thought the rule at that time was 50% split... maybe you do have the right info?