Fl Classic Hits Formats

[John FL]

John, thanks for putting it together. Q105, to me, is preferable to WQOL or WSRZ because Q represents a broader range of CHR of the 80s. While Q's playlist is still too tight and ignores too many songs, it offers more than most Classic Hits stations in the state. For comparison - and I have not researched this empirically - I would bet that Q's playlist is bigger and more diverse than WEAT-FM's. The other thing I prefer about Q105 is that there is still some focus on personalities. Yes, Mason Dixon was beached, but MJ in the Morning still has a lot of heritage in the market.

Thank you. This has been an interesting subject I think. I've especially enjoyed the responses.

I tend to agree with what you are saying. As far as Q105 goes, please understand that I took a look at their song list after a considerable amount of time not checking them out. I saw lots of personal favorites in there. In Tampa, at least, listeners have a choice. If I heard the same songs day in and day out, I'd probably be less enthusiastic than I am now.

WEAT-FM (Sunny 107.9) is a successful radio station and has been for many years. I've told this story many times but it applies to tight playlists. For the "Eagle's" of the world, I've seen listeners complaints about hearing the same songs over and over. But in the same breath they mention loving the songs. There's even a string on the boards about this subject. Songs/artists that are overplayed but you still love them. It's the nature of people. There's certain songs and artists I've heard for decades but I'll listen until the song finishes, then turn off my car radio at my destination.

In Jacksonville, 13 years ago, the old Clear Channel brought classic hits with an AC lean to market. It had all the indications that it would prove successful. But in the end, it all comes down to a top to bottom commitment to win. You can't put in some effort, it must be extraordinary effort. Unfortunately, they were a victim of downsizing initiatives and little else mattered. My feeling is if you can't give a format enough time to grow, don't bother.

Sunny 107.9 and it's owner, Hubbard, demonstrates the teamwork, financial committment, and skillsets to ensure success. Despite extensive holiday advertising for iHeart's WOLL KOOL 105.5, Sunny is THE holiday music station in the Palm Beaches. I predicted this would happen back in December. Their success is well deserved.

Like you, I have my ideas as to what makes an absolutely fantastic classic hits station. But what's important to remember is those stations, such as Sunny 107.9, that make money and are in the top tier in ratings, are going to stay the course with just some minor tweaks along the way. There's a number of stations I enjoy in this neck 'o the woods. Perfect they're not but I'm grateful for what's here.

 

[John FL]

In the last post, I mentioned holiday music. As I thought about how successful that tradition has become, obviously someone started it. NYC's AC WLTW is often credited with starting wall-to-wall Yule tunes. But actually research will tell you, there were a few stations across the country that did it first, more than likely in smaller markets. It's difficult finding more info but it's the nature of the beast. The large markets and big stations get most of the attention. This radio board proves that all the time.

Even with music, there is leadership among radio stations. I've noticed this for a long time. When the major players make music decisions, not matter the format, the followers eventually follow. The reason I brought up this subject in the first place was because of the news that LA's Classic Hits KRTH began playing RAP music. The results of doing this will be observed very carefully.

It brings us to classic hits and its origins. When you see the word "believe" in internet searches on a historic topic, it means no one is really sure. But it is "believed" the term classic hits was first used at WZLX in Boston. And it wasn't because an oldies format was biting the dust. It was an AC that flipped to what could best be described as a pop and softer side of classic rock.

There's a number of things that I've noticed about radio. First off, there's lots of urban legends. There's also hype. There's also jumping on what I call "format du jour" when something looks like it will bring instantaneous success.

What most of us probably recall and it would be accurate, is that the classic hits format spread rapidly as traditional oldies stations were no longer proving viable in both the audience it delivered and the revenue it generated. A great many flips like this happened in the early part of this century.

Interestingly, virtually all of the very early radio stations that described themselves as classic hits were rock-oriented. Now, that surprised me. I thought it was the other way around. With the PPM becoming the "new" radio audience measurement, companies such as the old CBS Radio recognized classic hits had the potential to perform well in the PPM environment.

While I couldn't find any historic information about the term "Greatest Hits," I do know CBS Radio would eventually embrace this as the classic hits format began rolling out to their various stations across the country. Philadelphia's WOGL, and the great results achieved when I believe the Philadelphia market was testing the PPM is often identified as the station that started it all for that company.

I first heard the term "classic hits" in Florida back in 2004 for both Tampa and Jacksonville when CMG introduced "Eagle." I also recall the press releases and it all sounded like they were the creative geniuses behind all of this. No, the format already existed elsewhere. But it's the nature of the business. There's hype and bragging. One thing I did learn was Tampa's Eagle, WXGL, came before WRBQ. I thought it was the other way around.

Obviously, WRBQ offered the "Greatest Hits" type of classic hits where its focus from the beginning was not classic rock but a mix of various genres. According to Wikpedia, "Unlike rival Classic Hits station 104.7 WRBQ, The Eagle doesn't play pop or dance music from artists such as Madonna or Michael Jackson." Oh, it goes further than that but we get the point.

This brings us to the term classic hits itself. According to the research I saw, by the mid 2000s the term classic hits was accepted by the radio community as the official name and recognized by Nielsen as a format classification. That answers the nomenclature question but I never believed this was well thought out.

Without beating a dead horse, I always believed the variety-based and rock-based types of classic hits were different enough to require an "official name" that identified the two distinct types in the format. We see this with AC. There's AC, Soft AC, Hot AC, Rhythmic AC, Urban AC. Excellent descriptions to describe the musical content of a station.

I couldn't find any current info but as near as 2019, there were more classic hits formats in the U.S. than any other. Just in Florida alone, we saw lots of different interpretations of the format. I've long been high on it and I think we see lots of great examples of it right here in Florida. What is the best classic hits station in Florida? It's probably easier to identify ones that are not so good instead.

 

[ScottBurns]

In the last post, I mentioned holiday music. As I thought about how successful that tradition has become, obviously someone started it. NYC's AC WLTW is often credited with starting wall-to-wall Yule tunes. But actually research will tell you, there were a few stations across the country that did it first, more than likely in smaller markets. It's difficult finding more info but it's the nature of the beast. The large markets and big stations get most of the attention. This radio board proves that all the time.

Even with music, there is leadership among radio stations. I've noticed this for a long time. When the major players make music decisions, not matter the format, the followers eventually follow. The reason I brought up this subject in the first place was because of the news that LA's Classic Hits KRTH began playing RAP music. The results of doing this will be observed very carefully.

It brings us to classic hits and its origins. When you see the word "believe" in internet searches on a historic topic, it means no one is really sure. But it is "believed" the term classic hits was first used at WZLX in Boston. And it wasn't because an oldies format was biting the dust. It was an AC that flipped to what could best be described as a pop and softer side of classic rock.

There's a number of things that I've noticed about radio. First off, there's lots of urban legends. There's also hype. There's also jumping on what I call "format du jour" when something looks like it will bring instantaneous success.

What most of us probably recall and it would be accurate, is that the classic hits format spread rapidly as traditional oldies stations were no longer proving viable in both the audience it delivered and the revenue it generated. A great many flips like this happened in the early part of this century.

Interestingly, virtually all of the very early radio stations that described themselves as classic hits were rock-oriented. Now, that surprised me. I thought it was the other way around. With the PPM becoming the "new" radio audience measurement, companies such as the old CBS Radio recognized classic hits had the potential to perform well in the PPM environment.

While I couldn't find any historic information about the term "Greatest Hits," I do know CBS Radio would eventually embrace this as the classic hits format began rolling out to their various stations across the country. Philadelphia's WOGL, and the great results achieved when I believe the Philadelphia market was testing the PPM is often identified as the station that started it all for that company.

I first heard the term "classic hits" in Florida back in 2004 for both Tampa and Jacksonville when CMG introduced "Eagle." I also recall the press releases and it all sounded like they were the creative geniuses behind all of this. No, the format already existed elsewhere. But it's the nature of the business. There's hype and bragging. One thing I did learn was Tampa's Eagle, WXGL, came before WRBQ. I thought it was the other way around.

Obviously, WRBQ offered the "Greatest Hits" type of classic hits where its focus from the beginning was not classic rock but a mix of various genres. According to Wikpedia, "Unlike rival Classic Hits station 104.7 WRBQ, The Eagle doesn't play pop or dance music from artists such as Madonna or Michael Jackson." Oh, it goes further than that but we get the point.

This brings us to the term classic hits itself. According to the research I saw, by the mid 2000s the term classic hits was accepted by the radio community as the official name and recognized by Nielsen as a format classification. That answers the nomenclature question but I never believed this was well thought out.

Without beating a dead horse, I always believed the variety-based and rock-based types of classic hits were different enough to require an "official name" that identified the two distinct types in the format. We see this with AC. There's AC, Soft AC, Hot AC, Rhythmic AC, Urban AC. Excellent descriptions to describe the musical content of a station.

I couldn't find any current info but as near as 2019, there were more classic hits formats in the U.S. than any other. Just in Florida alone, we saw lots of different interpretations of the format. I've long been high on it and I think we see lots of great examples of it right here in Florida. What is the best classic hits station in Florida? It's probably easier to identify ones that are not so good instead.

Fascinating topic, John, and you made many interesting points.

The splintering of AC formats, which you noted at the end of your most recent post, really made me think about Classic Hits. My guess is that Classic Hits will continue to splinter in much the same way. We will likely see the CHR/variety-based Classic Hits stations move into the '90s, adding songs of any genre that were CHR hits. We are already seeing it with KRTH/Los Angeles, which has added some rap songs. The Rock-based Classic Hits stations, such as CMG's three Florida properties (Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville), will likely stick to '70s and '80s Rock. Like Classic Rock, a format with which there is much overlap, these songs have "stood the test of time" and will have younger fans in the advertiser-friendly demos. Perhaps these stations will include Alternative Rock songs from the '90s that test well (such as Pearl Jam's "Better Man").

Tampa and Orlando are two markets that stand out, as both have the two types of Classic Hits stations (Q105 and 107.3 the Eagle in Tampa and Sunny 105.9 and WMMO in Orlando). Can other markets in Florida sustain both types of stations? There's room in West Palm between Sunny 107.9 and 98.7 the Gater, but Kool 105.5 also plays a unique mix that includes current day-AC and '80s music that would be part of a Rock-based Classic Hits station.

I have argued - without any success on this board - that expanding playlists would draw a larger audience. I've also argued that radio needs to look for some different strategies, especially since both listenership and revenues are falling. I have come to understand the argument that many people have made that most listeners want familiar songs that they like. But how about a hybrid approach? Expand the playlist, yet give the "core songs" - the most popular ones - the most spins. I still do not think that any Classic Hits song needs 14 spins a week, but there are stations that do that (I am sure the Eagle stations are among them, as I find them to be so repetitive that I can't listen).

 

[CentralFL]

Polk County (Lakeland/Winter Haven) has both types.
WWBF 1130 with translator on 102.9 FM - classic hits
WWRZ 98.3 "Max-FM" though not exclusively rock songs, is closer to WMMO and WXGL.

 

[John FL]

Polk County (Lakeland/Winter Haven) has both types.
WWBF 1130 with translator on 102.9 FM - classic hits
WWRZ 98.3 "Max-FM" though not exclusively rock songs, is closer to WMMO and WXGL.

Appreciate the info. As I had mentioned from the start, I looked at Ratings Reports and obviously not all stations subscribe. Lakeland/WinterHaven appears well covered.

I have argued - without any success on this board - that expanding playlists would draw a larger audience. I've also argued that radio needs to look for some different strategies, especially since both listenership and revenues are falling. I have come to understand the argument that many people have made that most listeners want familiar songs that they like. But how about a hybrid approach? Expand the playlist, yet give the "core songs" - the most popular ones - the most spins. I still do not think that any Classic Hits song needs 14 spins a week, but there are stations that do that (I am sure the Eagle stations are among them, as I find them to be so repetitive that I can't listen).

What's true is people like you and me and the other avid radio fans who post on these boards aren't typical listeners. Maybe it's just my nature but I do like to look at effort and skills.

David Eduardo did an amazing job in this string explaining a number of aspects of music testing. Yet, despite all of that effort, there are those who just can't put it all together. I've witnessed a lot of carelessness in how it's executed. That separates the great stations from the Ne'er-do-wells. Listeners play a big role. While they may not be "musicologists," they know a good thing when they hear it. They also tune out when something is just off.

I didn't comment too much about some of the specialty weekend programming I heard. In Pensacola's WJTQ (Jet 100.7), they did an "After the Beatles" weekend featuring the Fab 4 and their many hits. I was pleasantly surprised by that. In fact, when I read Cumulus'/Westwood One statements about the classic hits format, they talked about themed weekends. It's a nice to have as far as I'm concerned.

There's others who put forth the effort but what it does, over time, is present a lot more music titles and even genres than what exists in the standard playlist. There's the playlist and then there's the music library. It never makes sense to play the entire library all the time but to dust off songs for those special occasions to avoid burnout.

Music and how it's scheduled and rotated is a big deal. But there's many other things that make for a successful radio station. There's also political considerations that come into the picture. I'm not talking about Washington DC politics but internal politics of a company. It's not always ratings that determine outcomes. Perhaps I'll expand on that later.

 

[ScottBurns]

Appreciate the info. As I had mentioned from the start, I looked at Ratings Reports and obviously not all stations subscribe. Lakeland/WinterHaven appears well covered.

What's true is people like you and me and the other avid radio fans who post on these boards aren't typical listeners. Maybe it's just my nature but I do like to look at effort and skills.

David Eduardo did an amazing job in this string explaining a number of aspects of music testing. Yet, despite all of that effort, there are those who just can't put it all together. I've witnessed a lot of carelessness in how it's executed. That separates the great stations from the Ne'er-do-wells. Listeners play a big role. While they may not be "musicologists," they know a good thing when they hear it. They also tune out when something is just off.

I didn't comment too much about some of the specialty weekend programming I heard. In Pensacola's WJTQ (Jet 100.7), they did an "After the Beatles" weekend featuring the Fab 4 and their many hits. I was pleasantly surprised by that. In fact, when I read Cumulus'/Westwood One statements about the classic hits format, they talked about themed weekends. It's a nice to have as far as I'm concerned.

There's others who put forth the effort but what it does, over time, is present a lot more music titles and even genres than what exists in the standard playlist. There's the playlist and then there's the music library. It never makes sense to play the entire library all the time but to dust off songs for those special occasions to avoid burnout.

Music and how it's scheduled and rotated is a big deal. But there's many other things that make for a successful radio station. There's also political considerations that come into the picture. I'm not talking about Washington DC politics but internal politics of a company. It's not always ratings that determine outcomes. Perhaps I'll expand on that later.

Max 98.3 has evolved. It started as a Jack-type Variety Hits station, but has moved in the direction of Classic Hits. It has always leaned Rock. Their signal isn't bad in parts of the Tampa and Orlando metros.

I agree about specialty programming. And I also agree that people like us don't represent the majority. But radio is still losing listeners. And revenue is down. Even though I have been threatened with suspension from this board for saying it, I will say it again: Radio should try to innovate and try new things instead of doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result.

You mention burnout. In my biased view, there are no better stations that represent burnout than the Eagle stations in Tampa and Jacksonville. While I listen to much more radio than the average person, it is tiring to turn on the Eagle, listen for an hour, and NOT hear a song I haven't heard the previous day. Take yesterday's 4 PM hour on Tampa's Eagle. They played maybe one song that I'm not sick of hearing. If they mixed in some tunes that get less airplay, it would make me keep the station playing even when I hear a burned out song.

iHeart, I think, is doing a better job with the variety and preventing burnout than CMG.

 

[John FL]

There's nothing wrong with having passion about the things you love. Sometimes, I can see myself in others. The preceding post could have well been written by me 10 or 15 years ago. I've mellowed a lot. I've also learned a great deal from both reading posts on these radio boards and having interactions with the radio pros. I fully understand frustration. In my view, I've been proven right many more times than wrong when it comes to radio.

I was high on the classic hits format even in its infancy. Like anything, it takes time to get it to a point that it becomes something wonderful to behold and a definite plus to a typical cluster. Think of hit TV shows, especially Sitcoms, that run for a long number of seasons. The first season or two are mostly blah. It takes time for the writers to develop the characters and it takes time for the actors to truly get who they are portraying. Ratings are not always good at first.

But it takes a visionary to see past all the obstacles. Radio has them but perhaps not enough of them. I think both oldies and classic hits formats were held back musically in certain respects because if a sister AC was in the cluster, you can bet no one wanted to invite even the most indirect competition. Today, we see a different scenario play out. It took time to get to this place. Classic Hits has certainly proven itself and has the respect it not always had. Bias against the format, for the most part, has been replaced with confidence.

Back in 2005, when WCBS-FM flipped from Oldies to Jack-FM and adult hits, a Renda Broadcasting GM in Jacksonville was giddy by the decision. He used it as justification that his decision to kill their 60s, 70's hybrid oldies/classic hits format was a sound one. What a fool I thought. The evidence was so overwhelming to me that the format had tremendous potential. At that time, I also predicted WCBS-FM would return to doing what their brand was synonymous with and that was good old nostalgia.

Imagine if the powers at CBS Radio remained stubborn as we saw in Jacksonville. Again, from where I sit, it can all be a frustrating experience when opportunity is lost. The truth is Renda and others just didn't want to compete with Eagle. That required certain expenditures and skill sets that market lacked. And so, Jacksonville remained without a true classic hits format from 2005 to 2010.

The old Clear Channel came along in 2010 brought a variety-based classic hits format to Jax. It started out as a great success. That was the result of the guidance and music selections by West Palm's WOLL and MD, at the time, Skip Kelly.

In the previous post, we heard about music repetition. Again, I experienced frustration when by 2011, there were requirements to carry portions of the daily programing with the "new" Premium Choice. It wasn't as good back then as it is now. It was pretty much a disaster. There was one day I counted 14 times the Eagles played in a 24 hour period. The next day, it was the same thing.

Sometimes the same song would play, say right after overnight Premium Choice programing. A song would play at 5:55 AM and heard again at 6:04 AM. Sloppy and no wonder listeners lost interest. -Oh, there's so much more. But the bottom line is the GM back there didn't have the vision for the format either. There were also immediate expectations that were unrealistic. So, it didn't last.

What the future brings, especially with the rock-oriented classic hits formats, I don't know. I am far from being an expert in rock music of the 90s. There will probably be visionaries as well as those who will look for a quick fix. Keep the faith! Radio is mostly in good hands.

 

[ScottBurns]

There's nothing wrong with having passion about the things you love. Sometimes, I can see myself in others. The preceding post could have well been written by me 10 or 15 years ago. I've mellowed a lot. I've also learned a great deal from both reading posts on these radio boards and having interactions with the radio pros. I fully understand frustration. In my view, I've been proven right many more times than wrong when it comes to radio.

I was high on the classic hits format even in its infancy. Like anything, it takes time to get it to a point that it becomes something wonderful to behold and a definite plus to a typical cluster. Think of hit TV shows, especially Sitcoms, that run for a long number of seasons. The first season or two are mostly blah. It takes time for the writers to develop the characters and it takes time for the actors to truly get who they are portraying. Ratings are not always good at first.

But it takes a visionary to see past all the obstacles. Radio has them but perhaps not enough of them. I think both oldies and classic hits formats were held back musically in certain respects because if a sister AC was in the cluster, you can bet no one wanted to invite even the most indirect competition. Today, we see a different scenario play out. It took time to get to this place. Classic Hits has certainly proven itself and has the respect it not always had. Bias against the format, for the most part, has been replaced with confidence.

Back in 2005, when WCBS-FM flipped from Oldies to Jack-FM and adult hits, a Renda Broadcasting GM in Jacksonville was giddy by the decision. He used it as justification that his decision to kill their 60s, 70's hybrid oldies/classic hits format was a sound one. What a fool I thought. The evidence was so overwhelming to me that the format had tremendous potential. At that time, I also predicted WCBS-FM would return to doing what their brand was synonymous with and that was good old nostalgia.

Imagine if the powers at CBS Radio remained stubborn as we saw in Jacksonville. Again, from where I sit, it can all be a frustrating experience when opportunity is lost. The truth is Renda and others just didn't want to compete with Eagle. That required certain expenditures and skill sets that market lacked. And so, Jacksonville remained without a true classic hits format from 2005 to 2010.

The old Clear Channel came along in 2010 brought a variety-based classic hits format to Jax. It started out as a great success. That was the result of the guidance and music selections by West Palm's WOLL and MD, at the time, Skip Kelly.

In the previous post, we heard about music repetition. Again, I experienced frustration when by 2011, there were requirements to carry portions of the daily programing with the "new" Premium Choice. It wasn't as good back then as it is now. It was pretty much a disaster. There was one day I counted 14 times the Eagles played in a 24 hour period. The next day, it was the same thing.

Sometimes the same song would play, say right after overnight Premium Choice programing. A song would play at 5:55 AM and heard again at 6:04 AM. Sloppy and no wonder listeners lost interest. -Oh, there's so much more. But the bottom line is the GM back there didn't have the vision for the format either. There were also immediate expectations that were unrealistic. So, it didn't last.

What the future brings, especially with the rock-oriented classic hits formats, I don't know. I am far from being an expert in rock music of the 90s. There will probably be visionaries as well as those who will look for a quick fix. Keep the faith! Radio is mostly in good hands.

Very well said, John. Thank you for the reminder that radio is mostly in good hands.

Reflecting on what you wrote, I can't help compare radio to my favorite sport (baseball). Both radio and baseball have moved to an empirical approach to their business. Baseball has become dominated by saber-metric, math-minded front offices. Radio has become dominated by music tests, repetitive and tight playlists, and too much syndication. While an empirical approach is smart and often leads to more success, it also can drain the fun out of everything.

On the one hand, it is hard to argue with the success of the empirical method. As David likes to point out, KRTH is doing better than ever. On the other hand, radio, on the whole, is losing listeners and revenue is down.

I would at least like radio to be more fun. We are never likely to see a station like the Power Pig (WFLZ/Tampa) again. But radio can do better than the Eagle stations or Jacksonville's Kiss, all of which are not listenable.

I, too, was high on both Classic Hits and '80s formats. But what soured me was the restricted, tight, repetitive playlists. Some owners have done a better job. iHeart does a better job with expanding the playlist and being more strategic about repetition than Cox.

Thanks, as always, for your insights, John.

 

[John FL]

Very well said, John. Thank you for the reminder that radio is mostly in good hands.

Reflecting on what you wrote, I can't help compare radio to my favorite sport (baseball). Both radio and baseball have moved to an empirical approach to their business. Baseball has become dominated by saber-metric, math-minded front offices. Radio has become dominated by music tests, repetitive and tight playlists, and too much syndication. While an empirical approach is smart and often leads to more success, it also can drain the fun out of everything.

On the one hand, it is hard to argue with the success of the empirical method. As David likes to point out, KRTH is doing better than ever. On the other hand, radio, on the whole, is losing listeners and revenue is down.

I would at least like radio to be more fun. We are never likely to see a station like the Power Pig (WFLZ/Tampa) again. But radio can do better than the Eagle stations or Jacksonville's Kiss, all of which are not listenable.

I, too, was high on both Classic Hits and '80s formats. But what soured me was the restricted, tight, repetitive playlists. Some owners have done a better job. iHeart does a better job with expanding the playlist and being more strategic about repetition than Cox.

Thanks, as always, for your insights, John.

Radio has competition. Doubtful that anything could have been done to dissuade people from checking other platforms out and making them a part of their listening experience. We live in a time of instant gratification. If there's a song that I would love to hear, I don't have to wait for a high noon request show on the radio. Yes, that no longer exists. There's probably never a day that goes by that I don't play music that comes into my head on YouTube.

For those who hate commercials and can't find a music format to their satisfaction, there's SiriusXM with a whole bunch of channels. But there's also a whole bunch of overlap songs on many channels too. Everything has a downside but radio has the advantage in being local. Here in Florida, when tropical weather is on the horizon, we make sure our portable radios have fresh batteries. After all this time in a technology world, virtually all of us still turn to radio.

Radio in many ways does mirror society. As far as radio listening being a fun experience, first off "fun" is not a metric in measuring performance. Most people want to tune to their fav station, hear the songs they like, and not hear a lot of DJ banter.

As with anything, there are jocks, whether live and local, or VT, that still can offer a sense of personality, wit, and relevance and convey that in short order. On the subject of classic hits, it's obvious the variety-based ones offer more personality than the rock-oriented types. You might even say the music presented on variety classic hits is more fun to listen to. I think it is. Certainly, there's more songs that will make you feel like getting up to dance.

As is the case with a lot of businesses, there are long-range forecasts. There are formats that have expiration dates. One that clearly comes to mind are decade-specific ones. There's another aspect to playlists that should be considered. If we perceive that a station is getting stale, it may very well be that the company no longer wants to invest in something they plan to unload. It happens a lot.

I did listen to a lot of classic hits stations that stream over the past couple weeks. Oh, some are so much better than others. It will be interesting to see what happens next. The only stations I did not listen to were the Eagle ones and WMMO because there aren't classic hits as far as I'm concerned. Tallahassee's WGLF sounded the most tired to me. The music was just as tired. They seem to do okay in the ratings but from a 25-54 perspective, I would think they aren't setting the world on fire. Perhaps we'll see changes there.

Orlando's WOCL Sunny 105.9 also sounds tired and going through the motions. The morning show will set listening for the rest of the day. But all the political talk I believe has damaged the brand. It would not surprise me if a "More Music Morning" will come next.

Yes, iHeart has done a good job, and much better than they did in the past, with their Premium Choice classic hits programing. The Treasure Coast's WQOL does have some personality elements to it. As I often say, their local midday host, Heath West, does exude personality plus he's interesting. He's also real. His practically lifetime on the T.C. is a huge asset. The addition of West Palm's known quantity, Mo & Sally, was a good decision. You can see that attention is given to WQOL as the format is an important one on the Treasure Coast.

I also liked Tampa's WRBQ. Eventually, the "80s and more" branding will need to make way for something else. I'm not sure if any station uses this but I thought of "The Greatest Hits...Ever" as a good format description.

This subject appears to be winding down and so I'll have some closing thoughts coming up.

 

[ScottBurns]

Radio has competition. Doubtful that anything could have been done to dissuade people from checking other platforms out and making them a part of their listening experience. We live in a time of instant gratification. If there's a song that I would love to hear, I don't have to wait for a high noon request show on the radio. Yes, that no longer exists. There's probably never a day that goes by that I don't play music that comes into my head on YouTube.

For those who hate commercials and can't find a music format to their satisfaction, there's SiriusXM with a whole bunch of channels. But there's also a whole bunch of overlap songs on many channels too. Everything has a downside but radio has the advantage in being local. Here in Florida, when tropical weather is on the horizon, we make sure our portable radios have fresh batteries. After all this time in a technology world, virtually all of us still turn to radio.

Radio in many ways does mirror society. As far as radio listening being a fun experience, first off "fun" is not a metric in measuring performance. Most people want to tune to their fav station, hear the songs they like, and not hear a lot of DJ banter.

As with anything, there are jocks, whether live and local, or VT, that still can offer a sense of personality, wit, and relevance and convey that in short order. On the subject of classic hits, it's obvious the variety-based ones offer more personality than the rock-oriented types. You might even say the music presented on variety classic hits is more fun to listen to. I think it is. Certainly, there's more songs that will make you feel like getting up to dance.

As is the case with a lot of businesses, there are long-range forecasts. There are formats that have expiration dates. One that clearly comes to mind are decade-specific ones. There's another aspect to playlists that should be considered. If we perceive that a station is getting stale, it may very well be that the company no longer wants to invest in something they plan to unload. It happens a lot.

I did listen to a lot of classic hits stations that stream over the past couple weeks. Oh, some are so much better than others. It will be interesting to see what happens next. The only stations I did not listen to were the Eagle ones and WMMO because there aren't classic hits as far as I'm concerned. Tallahassee's WGLF sounded the most tired to me. The music was just as tired. They seem to do okay in the ratings but from a 25-54 perspective, I would think they aren't setting the world on fire. Perhaps we'll see changes there.

Orlando's WOCL Sunny 105.9 also sounds tired and going through the motions. The morning show will set listening for the rest of the day. But all the political talk I believe has damaged the brand. It would not surprise me if a "More Music Morning" will come next.

Yes, iHeart has done a good job, and much better than they did in the past, with their Premium Choice classic hits programing. The Treasure Coast's WQOL does have some personality elements to it. As I often say, their local midday host, Heath West, does exude personality plus he's interesting. He's also real. His practically lifetime on the T.C. is a huge asset. The addition of West Palm's known quantity, Mo & Sally, was a good decision. You can see that attention is given to WQOL as the format is an important one on the Treasure Coast.

I also liked Tampa's WRBQ. Eventually, the "80s and more" branding will need to make way for something else. I'm not sure if any station uses this but I thought of "The Greatest Hits...Ever" as a good format description.

This subject appears to be winding down and so I'll have some closing thoughts coming up.

Thanks for another interesting post, John. I have to accept that I'm in the minority when it comes to my radio preferences. I guess "fun" - which I admit isn't quantifiable - is not something that most people seek in a radio station. Perhaps I am too biased, especially growing up with the Tampa radio wars and listening to The Power Pig, in its waning years, when I was in college.

And you're right about competition. SiriusXM has "fun" on a few of its stations, especially Howard Stern.

You're absolutely right about the variety version of Classic Hits offering more personality. Tampa's two Classic Hits outlets are examples - Q105 having vastly more personality than 107.3 The Eagle. I haven't listened to Tallahassee's WGLF in a few years, but it sounded stale last time I did. When I was growing up, that station was more AOR and Classic Rock-leaning. It has clearly evolved over the years.

Regarding your idea about a "Greatest Hits...Ever" branding, some of the original Oldies stations used variations of it back in the '80s and '90s when such stations focused on '50s and '60s music.

I agree with your comments about WQOL. Mo & Sally are a known quantity on the Treasure Coast anyway, as WOLL's signal does well in the southern part of the TC. In addition, back in the late '90s/early 2000s, Mo & Sally were on Mix 102.3 (now X102.3/WMBX), which also does well in some of the southern TC cities, such as Stuart and PSL. For what it's worth, Mo & Sally were also expanded to Fort Myers (but not Sarasota).

I guess I just have to accept that my version of "fun" terrestrial radio is gone forever.

 

[John FL]

As I looked at many classic hits stations playlists, I couldn't help but think of a past format brand in both Tampa and Jacksonville known as "The Point." It was an interesting enough format and typical Cox (CMG) in that there was a tight playlist. Outside of 80s Alternative, there wasn't too much else. When you dive into 80s music, it's quite an interesting music decade. No doubt, the phenomenon that was MTV made hits out of songs that perhaps without that would have floundered.

There was a time in the early part of this century and even late 90s where we saw 80s as a format name in the ratings reports. "The Point" was ahead of its time playing the very late 70s, 80s and early 90s up to around 2010 and 2011. This was very classic hits but the music was too "modern" to be called that back then. The format could have gone on longer in my view but it faced internal competition with "Eagle."

There's always those radio stations and formats that become the darling of the company. Eagle was in that category. It was a success from the get-go. But we also can't forget that the company was responsible for one of the best launches I ever experienced. Complain about tight playlists if you will but there was focus and there was obvious research. I can't speak for Tampa but in Jacksonville, there was extensive TV advertising. No doubt, the company was vested in success and that's what was earned.

It's amazing to me that others can launch formats, whether classic hits or others, sounding so haphazard and ill-prepared. We should never be surprised that the public will give a thumbs down. I've always been both a "best practices" kind of guy that looks at what has proven successful elsewhere and a "lessons learned" guy who sees many mistakes by which radio can learn a thing or two.

Florida has had an affection for 80s music for quite some time. Besides the Point, if you got to hear Miami's former AC 97.3 The Coast, you were treated to 80s themed weekends. In all my travels and experiences, I don't think any other station anywhere came close to what they did. There was also personality. With streaming, I always marveled at the comments in social media from around the world. As far away as Europe, they just loved 'Gnarly Charlie' and so did I.

I also miss the likes of Gary Williams who was that stations' PD. He eventually went on to "Easy" and did an amazing job there too. I don't know if he's landed anywhere in radio. Hopefully he did. Talented people like that are on the outside looking in. It's sad to see that.

Gnarly Charlie was on at various times but our overnights was morning in Europe. Talk about getting you up out of bed with a bounce in your step. I admit to missing all of that. We heard the word "fun" before and yes between the music and the high-energy jocks, there was an incentive to listen and for long periods of time.

People change. Sadly, many have the attention span of a flea and radio responds to that. I remain very high on themed weekends and specialty programing. It not only shows effort but it does allow for the playing of certain songs that are not aired on a regular basis. They aren't in the grand fashion they once were but for the typical listener who just want to hear the music without a lot of clutter, it seems a good compromise.

What does the future bring with regard to classic hits? I have a feeling we will know soon enough.

 

[ScottBurns]

As I looked at many classic hits stations playlists, I couldn't help but think of a past format brand in both Tampa and Jacksonville known as "The Point." It was an interesting enough format and typical Cox (CMG) in that there was a tight playlist. Outside of 80s Alternative, there wasn't too much else. When you dive into 80s music, it's quite an interesting music decade. No doubt, the phenomenon that was MTV made hits out of songs that perhaps without that would have floundered.

There was a time in the early part of this century and even late 90s where we saw 80s as a format name in the ratings reports. "The Point" was ahead of its time playing the very late 70s, 80s and early 90s up to around 2010 and 2011. This was very classic hits but the music was too "modern" to be called that back then. The format could have gone on longer in my view but it faced internal competition with "Eagle."

There's always those radio stations and formats that become the darling of the company. Eagle was in that category. It was a success from the get-go. But we also can't forget that the company was responsible for one of the best launches I ever experienced. Complain about tight playlists if you will but there was focus and there was obvious research. I can't speak for Tampa but in Jacksonville, there was extensive TV advertising. No doubt, the company was vested in success and that's what was earned.

It's amazing to me that others can launch formats, whether classic hits or others, sounding so haphazard and ill-prepared. We should never be surprised that the public will give a thumbs down. I've always been both a "best practices" kind of guy that looks at what has proven successful elsewhere and a "lessons learned" guy who sees many mistakes by which radio can learn a thing or two.

Florida has had an affection for 80s music for quite some time. Besides the Point, if you got to hear Miami's former AC 97.3 The Coast, you were treated to 80s themed weekends. In all my travels and experiences, I don't think any other station anywhere came close to what they did. There was also personality. With streaming, I always marveled at the comments in social media from around the world. As far away as Europe, they just loved 'Gnarly Charlie' and so did I.

I also miss the likes of Gary Williams who was that stations' PD. He eventually went on to "Easy" and did an amazing job there too. I don't know if he's landed anywhere in radio. Hopefully he did. Talented people like that are on the outside looking in. It's sad to see that.

Gnarly Charlie was on at various times but our overnights was morning in Europe. Talk about getting you up out of bed with a bounce in your step. I admit to missing all of that. We heard the word "fun" before and yes between the music and the high-energy jocks, there was an incentive to listen and for long periods of time.

People change. Sadly, many have the attention span of a flea and radio responds to that. I remain very high on themed weekends and specialty programing. It not only shows effort but it does allow for the playing of certain songs that are not aired on a regular basis. They aren't in the grand fashion they once were but for the typical listener who just want to hear the music without a lot of clutter, it seems a good compromise.

What does the future bring with regard to classic hits? I have a feeling we will know soon enough.

I, too, remember The Point stations. There were more of them across the country, and didn't they have an "'80s and More" format? I think you indicated that above in your description.

I also have fond memories of listening to the late Gnarly Charlie's '80s show. It's too bad that the show did not move over to Magic once Coast became CHR. It would have fit there.

I think we'd agree that even with the variety hits version of Classic Hits, most Classic Hits stations lean Rock. That's why I think the future of Classic Hits is with '90s Rock-leaning songs that test well. The variety-based Classic Hits stations will sound somewhat like WEAT in West Palm. The Backstreet Boys will mix with, say, some of Pearl Jam's softer songs.

 

[John FL]

I also have fond memories of listening to the late Gnarly Charlie's '80s show. It's too bad that the show did not move over to Magic once Coast became CHR. It would have fit there.

I think we'd agree that even with the variety hits version of Classic Hits, most Classic Hits stations lean Rock. That's why I think the future of Classic Hits is with '90s Rock-leaning songs that test well. The variety-based Classic Hits stations will sound somewhat like WEAT in West Palm. The Backstreet Boys will mix with, say, some of Pearl Jam's softer songs.

Actually, Gnarly Charlie did wind up doing a Saturday night show on Magic 102.7. If you blinked, you would have missed it.

What happened at the old Magic happens quite often in radio, especially when a new company becomes the owner. It happens as well when a company has a new direction in mind. Performance improvement can begin but in the eyes of the decisions makers, it's still an event that happened too late.

It was sometime in late 2013 or early 2014 that Lincoln Financial hired Ken Layne as the PD. I was actually excited by that news because Ken was with Magic (when it was Majic with a J) many years (over 2 decades) earlier during the station's "hey day." He instituted the 80s themed weekends. While it was not entirely what "The Coast" did, it was close with many great rhythmic and "Freestyle" hits. There were some exceptions in that there was a tad more rock hits in the mix than what Coast had offered.

A song that I recall getting significant airplay during the 80s weekends was Church's "Under The Milky Way." Magic, in my view, was developing a distinct sound. During the week it was mainly 70s and 80s hits. Ken Layne also brought back a small number of 60s singles which were gone under the previous PD.

The concept behind all of this was the development of a Top 40 type station for adults. Quite by lucky chance, I was in Broward County visiting family and just a few blocks away from a Magic remote broadcast with Mindy Lang. This may have been a half hour or so before the start time. As a bonus, the late Stuart Elliott (96X etc.) was also there. He and Mindy were long-time friends. I had quite the conversation about the music and the direction of the station. It was priceless. Both knew me from these boards as well when I was "JohnJax."

I corresponded a good deal with Stuart Elliott after meeting him. He knew his stuff is all I will say. In the end, it was his opinion that the Magic "brand" had taken way too many hits. It was highly probably a new owner would make changes. And that's what Entercom, at the time, by late 2015 did doing the Christmas thing and then rebranding as The Beach as the new year 2016 began.

Today, I think had they hired Ken Payne even a couple years earlier, a rebrand or even a flip to something else was highly probable. Obviously, I was a big fan of Magic 102.7. Oh, and Gnarly Charlie sounded very much at home there too, albeit a relatively short time.

 

[John FL]

My last post recalls the amount of change that took place earlier this century as oldies formats either evolved or flipped to something else. That something else was often classic hits. As is usually the case, there are those who took on the challenge extremely well. There's a lot of great stories of radio stations that took a slow and methodically course updating the oldies playlist until it got to the point that a new format designation and sometimes even a new brand name. Then there were those who blew up what they had and moved in a completely new direction.

My job took me all over the country and Florida. I first heard "Eagle" when I was in Tampa for a company project. Some of my teammates lived in the Tampa/St. Pete area and talked about "the new station." I listened to it one night in my hotel room. My first thought was the format would never make it to Jacksonville where I lived at the time. (2004)

I thought this because Jacksonville already had two classic rock stations as well as an 80s station mentioned earlier with the Point brand. Eagle back in 2004 was far closer to sounding like classic hits in its earlier years with heavy rotation of artists such as The Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, and Heart to name a few. There were alternative 80s too and what The Point played and rock from the 60s and 70s that was heard on the Cox cluster's legendary and very popular station "Rock 105." (WFYV-FM)

If there was ever a time that I was naive and wet behind the ears about radio, it was then. The oldies station in Jacksonville, WKQL Cool 96.9, had already advanced its music to a more pop 70s sound. Gone were the 50s and virtually all of the early 60s. The imaging had changed as well as the presentation style of the jocks. There was a new PD in place who hailed from CBS Radio. It appeared the next step was to simply change the "Good Times and Great Oldies" branding to "Jacksonville's Greatest Hits."

Many of us were shocked and surprised that did not happen. A 70s based station would not have interfered with "102.9 The Point" and Cool's pop orientation would have not affected Rock 105. The Point took a big hit in the ratings and was never the same again. The brilliant people at Cox Jacksonville also brought a new Alternative format to the cluster replacing The Point. There were 3 rock stations in the Cox cluster in 2010. I can't make this up.

The truth is it was only a matter of time that Rock 105, eventually Rock 104.5, bit the dust. As much as I am not big into rock music, I was very saddened by what happened. Rock 105 performed well for its owners over many decades. It deserved better. But, the Cox management was moving all its news/talk formats to full markets signals or close to that and that's what happened.

If I recall correctly, CMG had 7 oldies stations across the country. 5 of them flipped to rock-oriented classic hits, one to a variety type classic hits, and one a country format. It's clear just how high CMG was with the concept of rock leaning classic hits.

I often think how different the radio landscape would have been in Jacksonville had the old Cool 96.9 simply evolved as we saw elsewhere. We'll never know. What I explained is simply the business of radio. Some of it may not make sense, especially when we see improved performance, but the owners do trump public opinion sometimes.

 

[ScottBurns]

John, thank you for some thought-provoking posts.

There seems to be an attitude that some markets are more Rock-oriented and others are not. Some of the consultants with whom I have corresponded often tie it to demographics. My home market of West Palm Beach, at one point (early 2000s), had two Alternative stations. That number is now zero. The market has only one Rock station - 98.7 the Gater, a Classic Rocker. While WOLL and WEAT-FM both play some Rock songs, the former is more of a Classic Hits-AC hybrid and the latter, as you know, is a variety-based Classic Hits station. I have asked why West Palm Beach does not have any other type of Rock station, and the answer always seems to be demographics.

Regarding Jacksonville, I have wondered why there is no real Classic Rocker there. Is it because the Eagle covers that ground already? I guess I would describe 107.3 the Planet as AOR or Mainstream Rock, similar to WJRR/Orlando.

By the way, do you have an opinion on 107.3 the Planet? I know you're not a big Rock fan. The Planet seems to share some jocks with WJRR (such as Dickerman).

If I am remembering correctly, Cox abandoned Rock 104.5 and its Orlando rocker on 96.5 around the same time. And both were dumped to move Conservative Talk onto the FM dial (CMG has since replaced the Conservative Talk format with a Spanish-language one). It sounds like some of the moves that you describe were company-wide initiatives and did not necessarily take into account local dynamics.

I must have completely forgotten that Gnarly Charlie went to Magic for a little bit. Thanks for the reminder! I'd be very curious to hear any audio of his time there. I'll check YouTube.

 

[John FL]

John, thank you for some thought-provoking posts.

There seems to be an attitude that some markets are more Rock-oriented and others are not. Some of the consultants with whom I have corresponded often tie it to demographics. My home market of West Palm Beach, at one point (early 2000s), had two Alternative stations. That number is now zero. The market has only one Rock station - 98.7 the Gater, a Classic Rocker. While WOLL and WEAT-FM both play some Rock songs, the former is more of a Classic Hits-AC hybrid and the latter, as you know, is a variety-based Classic Hits station. I have asked why West Palm Beach does not have any other type of Rock station, and the answer always seems to be demographics.

Regarding Jacksonville, I have wondered why there is no real Classic Rocker there. Is it because the Eagle covers that ground already? I guess I would describe 107.3 the Planet as AOR or Mainstream Rock, similar to WJRR/Orlando.

By the way, do you have an opinion on 107.3 the Planet? I know you're not a big Rock fan. The Planet seems to share some jocks with WJRR (such as Dickerman).

If I am remembering correctly, Cox abandoned Rock 104.5 and its Orlando rocker on 96.5 around the same time. And both were dumped to move Conservative Talk onto the FM dial (CMG has since replaced the Conservative Talk format with a Spanish-language one). It sounds like some of the moves that you describe were company-wide initiatives and did not necessarily take into account local dynamics.

I must have completely forgotten that Gnarly Charlie went to Magic for a little bit. Thanks for the reminder! I'd be very curious to hear any audio of his time there. I'll check YouTube.

My employer brought me to Jacksonville in 1997. At that time, Jacksonville was an outstanding radio market in my view. Eventually my role was in Project Management and marketing. I saw lots of demographic information to include forecasting about population. I saw Jacksonville as a radio market that was not as inclusive of the community as it could have been. It was also ignoring its illustrious past.

The old WAPE when it was an AM Top 40 station back in the 60s and 70s was quite close to the likes of NYC's WABC. For a relatively small market, WAPE had that "big town sound." While the playlist wasn't as heavy in Motown/Soul of say what was heard in NYC or Philly, it was still a really good representation. In the 90s, WKQL continued with the concept of Motown, Soul & Rock 'n Roll. It was highly successful.

AC WEJZ continued with that concept to a degree as well. 'EJZ was always an AC/Variety Classic Hits type station. It worked and they were always color-blind when it came to the music. Yes, rock and country have performed well there. But so have other genres.

My opinion of 107.3 The Planet is that it has proven to be an outstanding brand. Before moving to full market signal 107.3, Planet was on a small stick and as I recall they still got decent numbers.

Cox flipped The Point around 2009 or so to Alternative Rock X102.9 (WXXJ) specifically targeting "Planet" with guerilla warfare type tactics like making fun of the jocks, the music, and all the commercials. Planet did have a good commercial load as they had at least 4 jocks as I recall on salary. X1029 was automated and could well afford long music marathons with less commercials.

The bottom line is the old Clear Channel was getting their butts kicked and revenue had suffered. Planet was a good cash cow. By 2010, CC threw in the towel and brought Classic Hits WJGH (Jacksonville's Greatest Hits) to market in late 2010. As we've discussed in this string and elsewhere, it was West Palm's WOLL and it's MD, Skip Kelly, who scheduled all the music and put it all together. Branded as Magic 107.3, the formats opening months were sensational with Top 5 25-54 showings. Jacksonville was so ready for a station like this.

A while back, one of the jocks at the old WAPE from the 1970s, posted on the Jax radio board that "No station can be better than the G.M." At first I didn't understand that statement but eventually it's one I came to embrace. I saw how true that was. To not get into too many weeds, all I will say is I never saw a radio station anywhere that had such incredible bad luck as WJGH. Anything that could go wrong,went wrong. Unfortunately, the clock kept ticking to turn things around despite all the obstacles.

"Magic" was gone in early 2012. To this day, I consider iHeart's decision to not support the station and ultimately pulling the plug on it was a mistake I'd put in the catastrophic category. The potential was certainly there. CC/iHeart was just not a stretegic company in Jacksonville. There was only 1 AC. What they could have done, similar to what WEAT does in West Palm, would have paid dividends. Their airteam was also quite experienced. Ironically, the station had met its target audience goals in its last months. This so often happens. Like "High Noon," when you're time is up it's up.

Jacksonville is a bizarre radio market is all I can say.

 

[davideduardo]

The old WAPE when it was an AM Top 40 station back in the 60s and 70s was quite close to the likes of NYC's WABC. For a relatively small market, WAPE had that "big town sound." While the playlist wasn't as heavy in Motown/Soul of say what was heard in NYC or Philly, it was still a really good representation. In the 90s, WKQL continued with the concept of Motown, Soul & Rock 'n Roll. It was highly successful.

Remember, in the 60's and into the 70's WAPE was a daytimer... a huge one, but daytime only. The dominant Top 40 station was Belk's WPDQ on 600 which was the same version of the format of stations like Quixie in Atlanta or WLOF in Orlando or WLCY in Tampa / St. Pete.

In 1970, Belk contracted to sell WPDQ to Mooney Broadcasting (WKGN, WMAK, WDSR) but Belk's legal issues put that on hold; Mooney bought CHR WUNO in San Juan instead... and that proved to be an initial disaster for Mooney as the station dropped to last in the market in the first 6 months. But it was fortunate for me as Mooney hired me to turn the station around.

 

[John FL]

Remember, in the 60's and into the 70's WAPE was a daytimer... a huge one, but daytime only. The dominant Top 40 station was Belk's WPDQ on 600 which was the same version of the format of stations like Quixie in Atlanta or WLOF in Orlando or WLCY in Tampa / St. Pete.

In 1970, Belk contracted to sell WPDQ to Mooney Broadcasting (WKGN, WMAK, WDSR) but Belk's legal issues put that on hold; Mooney bought CHR WUNO in San Juan instead... and that proved to be an initial disaster for Mooney as the station dropped to last in the market in the first 6 months. But it was fortunate for me as Mooney hired me to turn the station around.

Interesting. I have to wonder if this is the same Belk that had department stores too. There was one in Jax and it was really a nice store.

Yes, I know of WPDQ as well. I've heard many talk of WAPE's daytime signal that could be heard well enough from at least S. Carolina to a lot of Central Florida. A big reach. But again, the point was to show that even in the S.E. U.S., there were fans of music by artists of color.

 

[gr8oldies]

My last post recalls the amount of change that took place earlier this century as oldies formats either evolved or flipped to something else. That something else was often classic hits. As is usually the case, there are those who took on the challenge extremely well. There's a lot of great stories of radio stations that took a slow and methodically course updating the oldies playlist until it got to the point that a new format designation and sometimes even a new brand name. Then there were those who blew up what they had and moved in a completely new direction.

My job took me all over the country and Florida. I first heard "Eagle" when I was in Tampa for a company project. Some of my teammates lived in the Tampa/St. Pete area and talked about "the new station." I listened to it one night in my hotel room. My first thought was the format would never make it to Jacksonville where I lived at the time. (2004)

I thought this because Jacksonville already had two classic rock stations as well as an 80s station mentioned earlier with the Point brand. Eagle back in 2004 was far closer to sounding like classic hits in its earlier years with heavy rotation of artists such as The Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Pat Benatar, and Heart to name a few. There were alternative 80s too and what The Point played and rock from the 60s and 70s that was heard on the Cox cluster's legendary and very popular station "Rock 105." (WFYV-FM)

If there was ever a time that I was naive and wet behind the ears about radio, it was then. The oldies station in Jacksonville, WKQL Cool 96.9, had already advanced its music to a more pop 70s sound. Gone were the 50s and virtually all of the early 60s. The imaging had changed as well as the presentation style of the jocks. There was a new PD in place who hailed from CBS Radio. It appeared the next step was to simply change the "Good Times and Great Oldies" branding to "Jacksonville's Greatest Hits."

Many of us were shocked and surprised that did not happen. A 70s based station would not have interfered with "102.9 The Point" and Cool's pop orientation would have not affected Rock 105. The Point took a big hit in the ratings and was never the same again. The brilliant people at Cox Jacksonville also brought a new Alternative format to the cluster replacing The Point. There were 3 rock stations in the Cox cluster in 2010. I can't make this up.

The truth is it was only a matter of time that Rock 105, eventually Rock 104.5, bit the dust. As much as I am not big into rock music, I was very saddened by what happened. Rock 105 performed well for its owners over many decades. It deserved better. But, the Cox management was moving all its news/talk formats to full markets signals or close to that and that's what happened.

If I recall correctly, CMG had 7 oldies stations across the country. 5 of them flipped to rock-oriented classic hits, one to a variety type classic hits, and one a country format. It's clear just how high CMG was with the concept of rock leaning classic hits.

I often think how different the radio landscape would have been in Jacksonville had the old Cool 96.9 simply evolved as we saw elsewhere. We'll never know. What I explained is simply the business of radio. Some of it may not make sense, especially when we see improved performance, but the owners do trump public opinion sometimes.

The CMG oldies station in the Dayton, Ohio market flipped to the 80s oriented "The Point". It later went on to simulcast WHIO (AM) and its News-Talk format.

 

[davideduardo]

Interesting. I have to wonder if this is the same Belk that had department stores too. There was one in Jax and it was really a nice store.

Yes, same one. His legal issues involved practices in the stores that jeopardized his ability to hold an FCC license.

Yes, I know of WPDQ as well. I've heard many talk of WAPE's daytime signal that could be heard well enough from at least S. Carolina to a lot of Central Florida. A big reach. But again, the point was to show that even in the S.E. U.S., there were fans of music by artists of color.

Rock 'n Roll took over Top 40 radio in the mid-60's and the early influencers were people like Alan Freed who played loads of Black music. The format was loaded with Black songs, from Little Richard to Motown and all the years in between and from Chubby Checker to Nat "King" Cole.