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Extinct Radio Formats?
- Thread starter Joey1986
- Start date
...sure -- disco ;-) ...
The Beautiful Music format is essentially dead and gone. Up until 1985 or so, this format was not only viable, but many BM stations were top-rated and billed extraordinarily well. Yes, it was a lot of dentist-office music, but it had listeners. Most of those listeners have literally died off. There's just no appetite for hearing string orchestra versions of Beatles classics and the mellow stylings of John Denver and Perry Como. The closest thing to Beautiful Music is Smooth Jazz, if only because that's the format you're likely to hear as your teeth are being cleaned. ;D
hootmon said:
...Rhythmic CHR is *not* Disco. Only those with tin ears would think so...
buster2 said:
...sorry, but there's at least one successful Beautiful Music station still in existence. KNXR Rochester MN shows up #5 in the 12+ numbers in its hometown and its translator in La Crosse WI shows up #17 out of 24 signals there...
A
Al Johnson
Guest
Formats evolve into something else. Dinosaurs become birds.
MOR becomes Adult Contemporary
Disco becomes Dance
Top 40 becomes CHR
Full Service becomes News-Talk
New formats are old formats tweaked and repackaged.
Types of music disappear. Nostalgia formats are based on specific decades or points in time. As the target audience ages, their music disappears from radio (and the format disappears).
Adult Standards = Greatest Generation Oldies
Oldies = Baby Boomer Oldies
Classic Rock = Gen X Oldies
MOR becomes Adult Contemporary
Disco becomes Dance
Top 40 becomes CHR
Full Service becomes News-Talk
New formats are old formats tweaked and repackaged.
Types of music disappear. Nostalgia formats are based on specific decades or points in time. As the target audience ages, their music disappears from radio (and the format disappears).
Adult Standards = Greatest Generation Oldies
Oldies = Baby Boomer Oldies
Classic Rock = Gen X Oldies
Ultimajock said:
I think you're confusing CHR/Rhythmic with Rhythmic AC... the latter of which being what the "Movin'" format is. And, actually, it depends on the market/station. While the "Movin'" format isn't specifically disco, there is room for it in the playlist, and localized versions of the format could very well be disco-heavy.
S
searadiofreak
Guest
AM MOR with heavy news and public service are still alive, but on life support. I'm referring to AM stations that have a heavy news presence, take public affairs seriously, and still play music, usually a very conservative AC mix. Whenever I come across one, I listen because this is what radio sounded like on the AM band (minus the top40's), from about 1950 to 1970. And I'm not sure it's a demographic issue, just a style issue.
"Formats evolve into something else. Dinosaurs become birds.MOR becomes Adult Contemporary[/i"
Kind of...in terms of music, adult contemporary is to my generation what MOR was to my parents. But the execution of the MOR format was very different, at least in LA, where I grew up. It really was personality driven - you had people like Gary Owens and Geoff Edwards on KMPC, and Bob Crane on KNX. It was kind of like morning shows all day long - the DJs would talk and do comedy in a very relaxed way, and could take as much time as they needed. Even when they weren't doing schtick, the talk was very conversational. News ran twice an hour. Between all that talk, news, and the heavy commercial load, they probably only played 6 to 8 songs an hour.
Kind of...in terms of music, adult contemporary is to my generation what MOR was to my parents. But the execution of the MOR format was very different, at least in LA, where I grew up. It really was personality driven - you had people like Gary Owens and Geoff Edwards on KMPC, and Bob Crane on KNX. It was kind of like morning shows all day long - the DJs would talk and do comedy in a very relaxed way, and could take as much time as they needed. Even when they weren't doing schtick, the talk was very conversational. News ran twice an hour. Between all that talk, news, and the heavy commercial load, they probably only played 6 to 8 songs an hour.
S
searadiofreak
Guest
Lkeller said:
Exactly. This style of radio has been dying for years and may well be gone in the next decade. Too bad. It was entertaining, informational, and fun to listen to. Where I grew up, Seattle, we had KVI (sister to KMPC), and to a lesser extent KIRO and KOMO. All three eventually dropped music and are doing either news/talk or all-news.
"This style of radio has been dying for years and may well be gone in the next decade. Too bad. It was entertaining, informational, and fun to listen to. Where I grew up, Seattle, we had KVI (sister to KMPC), and to a lesser extent KIRO and KOMO. All three eventually dropped music and are doing either news/talk or all-news."
This kind of radio is long gone in the Bay Area. We should probably mention KSFO - KMPC's sister station in San Francisco that billed itself as "the World's Greatest Radio Station." Both stations - and KVI too, I guess - were owned by Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasting. Despite his well publicized faults, Autry was committed to great radio, and spending what it took to make it so - including big news and sports departments, and highly paid on-air talent. It paid off for Autry - these stations made a LOT of money for him.
My parents listened to KMPC, KNX (before it went all-news), and stations like it. One of my mother's favorites was Dick Whittington on little KGIL ("in the Valley"...as in San Fernando)...not to be confused with Dick Whittinghill on KMPC. Steve Allen was the morning DJ on KHJ before it went Top 40 in the mid 60s.
As a kid, I liked Gary Owens (knew him from Laugh-In), and Geoff Edwards (he also hosted game shows), but I have to confess that I found these stations rather slow moving. Even then, I preferred the faster moving music-intensive Top 40 stations - and it wasn't just the music - it was the pace. So I guess these stations were bound to go extinct. As a young adult in San Francisco (mid-1970s), I would listen to KSFO's great night-time variety programming hosted by John Gilliland (of KRLA Pop Chronicles Fame). John played comedy albums and old radio dramas along with MOR music from 7:00 to Midnight. But even then, the station was in decline, in terms of popularity.
This kind of radio is long gone in the Bay Area. We should probably mention KSFO - KMPC's sister station in San Francisco that billed itself as "the World's Greatest Radio Station." Both stations - and KVI too, I guess - were owned by Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasting. Despite his well publicized faults, Autry was committed to great radio, and spending what it took to make it so - including big news and sports departments, and highly paid on-air talent. It paid off for Autry - these stations made a LOT of money for him.
My parents listened to KMPC, KNX (before it went all-news), and stations like it. One of my mother's favorites was Dick Whittington on little KGIL ("in the Valley"...as in San Fernando)...not to be confused with Dick Whittinghill on KMPC. Steve Allen was the morning DJ on KHJ before it went Top 40 in the mid 60s.
As a kid, I liked Gary Owens (knew him from Laugh-In), and Geoff Edwards (he also hosted game shows), but I have to confess that I found these stations rather slow moving. Even then, I preferred the faster moving music-intensive Top 40 stations - and it wasn't just the music - it was the pace. So I guess these stations were bound to go extinct. As a young adult in San Francisco (mid-1970s), I would listen to KSFO's great night-time variety programming hosted by John Gilliland (of KRLA Pop Chronicles Fame). John played comedy albums and old radio dramas along with MOR music from 7:00 to Midnight. But even then, the station was in decline, in terms of popularity.
>>Smooth Jazz
I sometimes refer to it as Weather Channel music since it gets played during the local breaks. "And now
your local forecast--accurate and dependable, from the Weather Channel."
I sometimes refer to it as Weather Channel music since it gets played during the local breaks. "And now
your local forecast--accurate and dependable, from the Weather Channel."
"Smooth Jazz - I sometimes refer to it as Weather Channel music"
When the smooth jazz station in the Bay Area (KKSF) premiered in the late 80s, a PD for a local REAL jazz station referred to it as "yuppie wallpaper."
But since this thread is about extinct formats (not formats we WISH were extinct), how about the "full-service" stations of old. Their last gasp was in the late 1960s. KNX in LA for example - before it went All News - ran lots of news and sports, surrounded by MOR music (Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Nat King Cole) - but also ran specialty shows about gardening and cooking, as well as CBS supplied variety shows like Art Linkletter's House Party and Arthur Godfrey. Their morning DJ for probably a decade was Bob Crane, who left only when his acting career had taken off with Hogan's Heroes. KFI in Los Angeles was another full-service station in that era.
When the smooth jazz station in the Bay Area (KKSF) premiered in the late 80s, a PD for a local REAL jazz station referred to it as "yuppie wallpaper."
But since this thread is about extinct formats (not formats we WISH were extinct), how about the "full-service" stations of old. Their last gasp was in the late 1960s. KNX in LA for example - before it went All News - ran lots of news and sports, surrounded by MOR music (Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Nat King Cole) - but also ran specialty shows about gardening and cooking, as well as CBS supplied variety shows like Art Linkletter's House Party and Arthur Godfrey. Their morning DJ for probably a decade was Bob Crane, who left only when his acting career had taken off with Hogan's Heroes. KFI in Los Angeles was another full-service station in that era.
Mike Joseph’s “Hot Hits”
Al Ham’s Music of your life.
The ephemeral - Active rock of the late 90s
Full service, news / community intensive Full service AMs
Urban Contemporary.
And MOR – You don’t hear the term anymore.
Al Ham’s Music of your life.
The ephemeral - Active rock of the late 90s
Full service, news / community intensive Full service AMs
Urban Contemporary.
And MOR – You don’t hear the term anymore.
- Status