Firecracker 400

[scooty430]

I never said I was an "expert", but I have been in the business for many years
and I've seen what consistently works.

Unfortunately, at this high level in LA and all large markets, the whole business is
based on statistics. Arbitron is what the advertising community has adopted as
the form of research they use to determine how they spend their clients money.

Smart programmers play "the game". Big, deep, interesting (to uber-fans) playlists don't work
for most formats. In Oldies, the deeper the playlist, the Older the audience.

The Oldies format, 60s and 70s, won't exist on broadcast radio in 5 years.

Actually, it's broadcast radio itself that won't exist in 5 years.

But the music? People will ALWAYS be listening to things like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles. This is because it's simply great music. It will outlive the people who grew up listening to it.

It's the same reason we fill Disney Hall four times a week to hear Beethoven and Mahler, despite the fact that nobody was alive when that music was new.

Indeed, I wasn't alive when the Beatles broke up, was a little kid when Elvis died, and was too young to ever see Led Zep live. I grew up with Mr. Roboto, Boy George and Duran Duran, and even then, we all knew it was crap. What did we like? The Beatles, Led Zep, Pink Floyd.... In fact the first 45 I bought in the late 70s was Hound Dog backed with Don't Be Cruel. (And no, my Dad didn't like Elvis.)

Today's music is even MORE disposable. This is why so many kids are into classic rock and old school punk.

A smart radio programmer would not just flush this music away, but would find a way to introduce it to a new audience that is SO hungry for something authentic. What is K-Earth going to do in ten years.....Play 80s and 90s only? Will they do only 90s and 00s some day? Good luck.

Better move would be to keep the old stuff, the stuff the whole world loves, then slowly add in newer things that fit.

 

[oldies76]

Their big ratings success was with the Oldies revival of the late 80s to mid 90s. Back then we had two Oldies stations in LA both using much broader playlists than now. The ratings were also higher. Connection?

Anyhow, check out this spacy ad from 1980 (?) that isn't retro.....it's futuristic. No oldies feel at all, though they have the KHJ jingle.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=j-VOttiBVbI

And another one: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MrSQKR6q6e0&feature=related

I remember those ads Scooty, especially #2. This was the time that KRTH was in its heyday (early-mid 80's). Seems certain ones can't accept the real side of all this. They're relying on existing data from within. As a listener, it's a different, more realistic ballgame all together.

 

[oldies76]

But the music? People will ALWAYS be listening to things like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles. This is because it's simply great music. It will outlive the people who grew up listening to it.

It's the same reason we fill Disney Hall four times a week to hear Beethoven and Mahler, despite the fact that nobody was alive when that music was new.

Today's music is even MORE disposable. This is why so many kids are into classic rock and old school punk.

A smart radio programmer would not just flush this music away, but would find a way to introduce it to a new audience that is SO hungry for something authentic. What is K-Earth going to do in ten years.....Play 80s and 90s only? Will they do only 90s and 00s some day? Good luck.

Better move would be to keep the old stuff, the stuff the whole world loves, then slowly add in newer things that fit.

You could not have said this better!! So very true! KRTH eventually will have to change it's ways in order to survive. Look what CBS-FM is already doing, and I'm sure they aren't the only ones changing for the better. NYC is very lucky to have a station like this.

 

[Indielover]

Los Angeles/Re: Firecracker 400

But the music? People will ALWAYS be listening to things like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles. This is because it's simply great music. It will outlive the people who grew up listening to it.

It's the same reason we fill Disney Hall four times a week to hear Beethoven and Mahler, despite the fact that nobody was alive when that music was new.

Today's music is even MORE disposable. This is why so many kids are into classic rock and old school punk.

A smart radio programmer would not just flush this music away, but would find a way to introduce it to a new audience that is SO hungry for something authentic. What is K-Earth going to do in ten years.....Play 80s and 90s only? Will they do only 90s and 00s some day? Good luck.

Better move would be to keep the old stuff, the stuff the whole world loves, then slowly add in newer things that fit.

You could not have said this better!! So very true! KRTH eventually will have to change it's ways in order to survive. Look what CBS-FM is already doing, and I'm sure they aren't the only ones changing for the better. NYC is very lucky to have a station like this.

 

[Indielover]

But the music? People will ALWAYS be listening to things like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles. This is because it's simply great music. It will outlive the people who grew up listening to it.

It's the same reason we fill Disney Hall four times a week to hear Beethoven and Mahler, despite the fact that nobody was alive when that music was new.

Today's music is even MORE disposable. This is why so many kids are into classic rock and old school punk.

A smart radio programmer would not just flush this music away, but would find a way to introduce it to a new audience that is SO hungry for something authentic. What is K-Earth going to do in ten years.....Play 80s and 90s only? Will they do only 90s and 00s some day? Good luck.

Better move would be to keep the old stuff, the stuff the whole world loves, then slowly add in newer things that fit.

You could not have said this better!! So very true! KRTH eventually will have to change it's ways in order to survive. Look what CBS-FM is already doing, and I'm sure they aren't the only ones changing for the better. NYC is very lucky to have a station like this.
[/quote

And Los Angeles is very lucky to have a station like indie 1031...a lesson in music, old and new.

 

[Indielover]

computer issues this eve...sorry for the multiple posts...my intention was to commend indie 1031 for being a lesson in music old and new...while I enjoyed the CBS-FM A-Z last week, it's great to get back to listening to indie.

 

[scooty430]

Probably a good time to remember, once again, how so many so-called "experts" predicted Indie's imminent demise......over three years ago. One went so far as to suggest making airchecks of Indie quickly while you can.

But...it's still around!

 

[BossJock1947]

"So, you are saying that ALL 1.2 million listeners want to hear the SAME 400 songs repeated over and over again, week after week. There's no proof of that at all. Are you 100% positive that ALL 1.2 million different people want to hear the SAME 400 songs all the time? Everyone has their favorites and alot of those songs are above and beyond the basic rotation."

1.2 million is the weekly "Cume" audience - the number of different people who tune in every week.

K-Earth plays around 550 different titles every week. Add more deeper cuts and their audience will get smaller and older.

K-Earth's ratings are actually pretty incredible when you consider the huge Hispanic population.

It's easy to quarterback from the comfort of your Lazy Boy recliner at home. But, K-Earth is not programming to JUST you. Most people want to here the big hits, no matter what era. Check KIIS's ratings. The same thing applies to Gold formats.

For those of you not happy with KRTH i present the NEW KFRC....Live and Streaming SOON.

 

[radio124]

KRTH is digging out some obscure tunes from Mick and the boys as it presents a Stones Summer Weekend. When was the last time you heard Play With Fire?

 

[radio124]

After listening to the last several hours of the Stones weekend it's time to turn off KRTH. While they have pulled out a few obscure gems, overall the repetition is unbearable. For example, Brown Sugar was played this afternoon at 4:32. It was repeated at 8:48. Is there any reason why this burned to a crisp song has to be played every four hours? Oh well, I guess it will be CBS-FM or WLNG for me this weekend!

 

[oldies76]

After listening to the last several hours of the Stones weekend it's time to turn off KRTH. While they have pulled out a few obscure gems, overall the repetition is unbearable. For example, Brown Sugar was played this afternoon at 4:32. It was repeated at 8:48. Is there any reason why this burned to a crisp song has to be played every four hours? Oh well, I guess it will be CBS-FM or WLNG for me this weekend!

It's because they play "Brown Sugar" daily anyways and since it's a "Stones Weekend", they are enhancing it even more, and you get the frequent airplay.

EXACTLY why KRTH's specialties are just that...a specialty in repetition and the same recycled songs, just in a different order to make it sound, like something special.

Catch WCBS-FM this Sunday night for the Top 20 of this week July 1974 (10pm et).

 

[scooty430]

Let's give KRTH some credit: their weekends are improving. We recently had the "summer hits" weekend, which had some pretty unusual tunes. Now we have the Stones weekend, and I must say when I got in my car and heard "Not Fade Away" come out of the speakers, I was shocked. Pleasantly. I haven't heard that on the air since the early days of KLSX. So it is a start.

Heck, I even endured Saturday In The Park and Wolly Bully right afterward, just in case something else cool was coming. Normally as soon as I heard either of those tired tunes I'd be on another channel.

At least it's not "Parade of Hits," which they once again used last weekend. I invite anyone from K-Earth to explain what the "parade of hits" theme entails, and how it differs, in any way, from the normal playlist.

 

[BossJock1947]

If KCBS-FM can have 900-1200 songs in their library, there's no reason why KRTH couldn't do likewise.

If it were up to me, KRTH wouldn't play any song more than twice a day--it's totally unnecessary for them to pound songs the way they do.

There's a group of programmers who think 300 is the number of oldies you should play. Another group believes 350-500, while others think 700-1000 is about right.

Of course all of them will tell you THEIR list is the right one. Why? Because RESEARCH tells me

 

[surfdude]

KCBS plays music from four decades, KRTH two.

The Jack-FM format is all about "we play anything". The key is every other song is a big hit, and the next one is at least familiar.

One of you mentioned listening to K-Earth to hear an "obscure gem", that won't win big in any format.

K-Earth's slogan is the greatest hits of all time. Not Fade Away, while a cool song for a Stones fan, is not
one of the greatest hits of all time. It's probably unfamiliar to a majority of Oldies listeners, especially under 50.

Complain all you want, but for any Oldies station to survive, it must attract listeners under 55. The only way to do it, is to play the biggest, most familiar hits.

While it's fun to discuss Oldies music and cool old songs, I like them too, the reality for survival from a
programming standpoint is different, and not nearly as interesting.

 

[SoCal Tom]

It's OK to narrowcast a few songs in a music library; however, it's not my cup of tea. I want a variety of stuff and KCBS-FM ("Jack FM") seems to fit the bill moreso than the rest.

KRTH drives me up a wall with their endless repeating of the same stuff day after day. My biggest gripe is that if a specific artist or group is to be spotlighted, the station should play everything that the artist or group recorded, and not just the stuff that made the Billboard Top 100. I do admit that The Stones did a lot of good stuff over the years; however, as in anything, they made a few clunkers as well. Let's hear them too. I mean, how much trouble would it be?

 

[davideduardo]

There's a group of programmers who think 300 is the number of oldies you should play. Another group believes 350-500, while others think 700-1000 is about right.

Untrue. Programmers really are not a part of this decision. Each format or format varient in each market has a music test sweet spot at which point all the songs above a certain score will be playable and enjoyable to nearly all format listeners. For some it is 110 songs, for other formats it is 600 and for still others it is 800.

Of course all of them will tell you THEIR list is the right one. Why? Because RESEARCH tells me

Of course it is research. You wouldn't want, today, to try to have one person, the PD, decide what listeners want to hear, would you?

When we call research by what it is, "asking the listeners what they like and don't like" nobody disagrees. Yet when we call research research, it is somehow demonized by many.

 

[davideduardo]

KRTH drives me up a wall with their endless repeating of the same stuff day after day.

KRTH is one of the biggest gainers, after KBIG, in the PPM. It benefits from familiarity.

My biggest gripe is that if a specific artist or group is to be spotlighted, the station should play everything that the artist or group recorded, and not just the stuff that made the Billboard Top 100. I do admit that The Stones did a lot of good stuff over the years; however, as in anything, they made a few clunkers as well. Let's hear them too. I mean, how much trouble would it be?

Horrible trouble. PPM is very intolerant of mistakes and of unfamiliarity. Listeners disappear in droves when presented with either.

That's why Indie is at less than half its diary range... bad signal, lots of unfamiliar music.