Fl Classic Hits Formats

[Yabadabado1]

Driving through Jacksonville, had a chance to listen to the current incarnation of WAPE. Was not impressed. Matter of fact, drove through FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, VA, WV on way back to Ohio. I could count on one hand the number of decent stations [meaning music I like]. Majority of stations were country or bible-thumpers/Christian music. AM stations, for the most part, non-existent. The few I heard were just feeding stuff to their FM translators. Amazingly, some of the better stations were locally owned mom & pop in the smaller towns bewtween the big cities. If Siruis/XM wasn't so shady with their cancellation/renewal policy I would have pulled over and signed up on the spot and put up with their crappy compression issues.

 

[ScottBurns]

Driving through Jacksonville, had a chance to listen to the current incarnation of WAPE. Was not impressed. Matter of fact, drove through FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, VA, WV on way back to Ohio. I could count on one hand the number of decent stations [meaning music I like]. Majority of stations were country or bible-thumpers/Christian music. AM stations, for the most part, non-existent. The few I heard were just feeding stuff to their FM translators. Amazingly, some of the better stations were locally owned mom & pop in the smaller towns bewtween the big cities. If Siruis/XM wasn't so shady with their cancellation/renewal policy I would have pulled over and signed up on the spot and put up with their crappy compression issues.

Some of the best FM stations in the nation are locally-owned. Many of them have live and local airstaffs, playlists that aren't too tight and repetitive, and serve the local community very well. Before anyone attacks me, I know most of these stations don't subscribe to any ratings service.

 

[ScottBurns]

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.

Forgive me on the history here, John, but wasn't Jacksonville's 107.3 a Jack/Variety Hits station before becoming Planet? I also remember Country on 107.3, but that might have been as far back as the '90s.

X1029 had one heck of a signal. I remember picking it up in Charleston, SC. I guess Cox did not want to "waste" such a good signal on Alternative Rock.

Interesting that Skip Kelly programmed Magic 107.3. His work at WOLL made that station the AC/Classic Hits hybrid that it is today. I can't say I ever listened to Magic 107.3, but was it a similar hybrid format?

I don't see Jacksonville as a bizarre market today; unfortunately, it's very cookie cutter today (with one exception: The Classic Country signals). But it's history is definitely bizarre!

 

[John FL]

Forgive me on the history here, John, but wasn't Jacksonville's 107.3 a Jack/Variety Hits station before becoming Planet? I also remember Country on 107.3, but that might have been as far back as the '90s.

X1029 had one heck of a signal. I remember picking it up in Charleston, SC. I guess Cox did not want to "waste" such a good signal on Alternative Rock.

Interesting that Skip Kelly programmed Magic 107.3. His work at WOLL made that station the AC/Classic Hits hybrid that it is today. I can't say I ever listened to Magic 107.3, but was it a similar hybrid format?

I don't see Jacksonville as a bizarre market today; unfortunately, it's very cookie cutter today (with one exception: The Classic Country signals). But it's history is definitely bizarre!

As I wrote it, it can be confusing, so my bad. Actually, "Planet Radio" was around since the mid-90s or so. It was on a much smaller stick. This was 93.3 which is now home to iHeart's Hip Hop station WJBT The Beat. Through the sale and movement of a neighboring frequency to Flagler Radio, The Beat was able to get on a much better signal. I think that's how it went..haha.

Planet Radio which was WPLA- FM back then replaced WROO Rooster Country in 2005. The old Clear Channel picked up this station when the buying frenzy was going on. But it was 99.1 WQIK that CC wanted to protect and was most interested in. A while back, I read about the history of WROO. Through lots of team effort and hard work, WROO gave WQIK a run for its money beating them in the ratings on occasion. It's an important lesson to remember.

More bizarre stuff. WROO, as a country format, began playing retro pop kind of hits. It made no sense but it was all in the plan to flip the format. We see this elsewhere in radio at times. A station can be doing well. Either neglect or bad programing will result in audience disfavor which is the plan when the company/owners want something else..

So, Planet Radio on the full-market signal 107.3 thrived from 2005 to sometime in 2009 getting great ratings as well as decent revenue. CMG brought X102.9 WXXJ to market as Jacksonville's New Alternative or something like that. The battle went on for about 18 months or so.

I kept some press release stuff from that time and it's almost comical. Eventually "X's" ratings began dropping and as you say, to have an Alternative format on a full market signal didn't make much sense. But to shake up the market as all this did to ultimately see X on a 6000 watt Class A signal. You have to wonder. But what was accomplished was Rock 105 bit the dust to make room for news talk.

The CMG GM said: "X102.9's goal from the start was to build a playlist heavy on freshly minted rock music - something its programmers thought Planet Radio wasn't doing." We thought the music wasn't right for the market, and we thought there was an opening for music done correctly. This is a rock music town."

Meanwhile the G.M. at the old Clear Channel issued a statement regarding replacing Planet with Classic hits WJGH Magic 107.3:

"The Jacksonville market has a diverse mix of station formats, but is lacking a quality format that speaks to music fans of all ages." "We're bringing Magic to the market to fill that void and give listeners the music they've always loved."

So, which is it? I like to think there's a little truth to both. But since 2005 and even 2010, no one can deny that demographics and politics in Jax have changed from what they were. Most press releases are hype and expressions of optimism. The reality is "X" is not a big player in Jax. And there lacks a variety-based classic hits station since 2012 in a market that is quite diverse and not nearly as Southern as it once was.

Anyway, when Magic bit the dust in 2012 flipping to Variety Hits. Jack FM, The River etc. The biggest problem as I saw it was the music focus changed way too often. Skip Kelly was involved with this station. But, I suspect management was driving him crazy. What kept Adult Hits going was there weren't any jocks so that kept the salary expense down at least.

After 6 years, a lot more than was given to Classic Hits Magic, Adult Hits went away and Planet Radio was returned to the market. In its absence, Planet had a number of fan dedication sites and people wanting the format to return. As I mentioned earlier, Planet is a great brand in Jax and today's iHeart obviously agreed.

 

[ScottBurns]

As I wrote it, it can be confusing, so my bad. Actually, "Planet Radio" was around since the mid-90s or so. It was on a much smaller stick. This was 93.3 which is now home to iHeart's Hip Hop station WJBT The Beat. Through the sale and movement of a neighboring frequency to Flagler Radio, The Beat was able to get on a much better signal. I think that's how it went..haha.

Planet Radio which was WPLA- FM back then replaced WROO Rooster Country in 2005. The old Clear Channel picked up this station when the buying frenzy was going on. But it was 99.1 WQIK that CC wanted to protect and was most interested in. A while back, I read about the history of WROO. Through lots of team effort and hard work, WROO gave WQIK a run for its money beating them in the ratings on occasion. It's an important lesson to remember.

More bizarre stuff. WROO, as a country format, began playing retro pop kind of hits. It made no sense but it was all in the plan to flip the format. We see this elsewhere in radio at times. A station can be doing well. Either neglect or bad programing will result in audience disfavor which is the plan when the company/owners want something else..

So, Planet Radio on the full-market signal 107.3 thrived from 2005 to sometime in 2009 getting great ratings as well as decent revenue. CMG brought X102.9 WXXJ to market as Jacksonville's New Alternative or something like that. The battle went on for about 18 months or so.

I kept some press release stuff from that time and it's almost comical. Eventually "X's" ratings began dropping and as you say, to have an Alternative format on a full market signal didn't make much sense. But to shake up the market as all this did to ultimately see X on a 6000 watt Class A signal. You have to wonder. But what was accomplished was Rock 105 bit the dust to make room for news talk.

The CMG GM said: "X102.9's goal from the start was to build a playlist heavy on freshly minted rock music - something its programmers thought Planet Radio wasn't doing." We thought the music wasn't right for the market, and we thought there was an opening for music done correctly. This is a rock music town."

Meanwhile the G.M. at the old Clear Channel issued a statement regarding replacing Planet with Classic hits WJGH Magic 107.3:

"The Jacksonville market has a diverse mix of station formats, but is lacking a quality format that speaks to music fans of all ages." "We're bringing Magic to the market to fill that void and give listeners the music they've always loved."

So, which is it? I like to think there's a little truth to both. But since 2005 and even 2010, no one can deny that demographics and politics in Jax have changed from what they were. Most press releases are hype and expressions of optimism. The reality is "X" is not a big player in Jax. And there lacks a variety-based classic hits station since 2012 in a market that is quite diverse and not nearly as Southern as it once was.

Anyway, when Magic bit the dust in 2012 flipping to Variety Hits. Jack FM, The River etc. The biggest problem as I saw it was the music focus changed way too often. Skip Kelly was involved with this station. But, I suspect management was driving him crazy. What kept Adult Hits going was there weren't any jocks so that kept the salary expense down at least.

After 6 years, a lot more than was given to Classic Hits Magic, Adult Hits went away and Planet Radio was returned to the market. In its absence, Planet had a number of fan dedication sites and people wanting the format to return. As I mentioned earlier, Planet is a great brand in Jax and today's iHeart obviously agreed.

John, thanks so much for the extensive history and for correcting my mistakes. Being a nearly five-hour ride from where I live, I don't get to Jacksonville as often as I'd like. I completely forgot that The Planet was on 93.3. I remember picking up WROO in the mid-90s when I was in college in Gainesville. I always thought it sounded solid and I am not surprising that it challenged WQIK.

Your description of WROO's stunting reminds me of what happened with WLDI here in West Palm in the Summer of 1998. Back in November of 1995, then-Star 95.5/WOVV, a CHR, flipped to Country, taking on long-time market leader WIRK. By the early summer of 1998, the ratings were in a tail spin. Within 3 months, 95.5, which was using the calls WCLB, changed from "Country 95.5" to "Thunder Country 95.5" to "Froggy 95.5." I don't know if it was purposeful stunting or if the station was trying to re-brand. Either way, by August, CHR was back and Wild 95.5 was born.

But I digress. One question about Planet. Was it more Alternative-leaning in its earlier years (sort of like WJRR)?

 

[John FL]

But I digress. One question about Planet. Was it more Alternative-leaning in its earlier years (sort of like WJRR)?

My assumption is that Planet did lean Alternative early on. With the many fans of the station, it would be nice if someone could add more depth to the conversation. It's not something I can do justice to so that's all I'll say on that subject.

Back to Classic Hits in Jacksonville. As I mentioned earlier, Eagle launched flawlessly back in 2004. Giving credit where credit is due, CMG was well prepared. Yes, a tight playlist but it got results. Add an aggressive TV promotion and you just knew the company was vested in the success of the format.

Eagle, as far as Florida goes, launched in Tampa first. Perhaps Jacksonville's flipping to Eagle had more perfection about it since Tampa's Eagle enabled a few lessons learned.

Eagle's arrival to Jacksonville sent ripple effects in the market that were felt for quite some time. In my view, radio in Jacksonville was never the same. It actually saw decline. Again, just my opinion. I think others looked at Eagle's success and attempted to minimize or completely eliminate talent. Eagle lacks personality. But in some weird way, it works for them given the music and the vibe of the format. For others formats, going jockless or close to it resulted in boring radio.

It was the combination of major station ownership that in my view saw the market go into decline. There were some good people who jocked but the owners and managers tended to look for the quick fix. But there was something else that lacked in Jacksonville. If you just look at Tampa and Orlando, you'll see what I'm referring to.

CBS Radio was the owner of both Tampa's WRBQ and Orlando's WOCL. The launch of both stations saw a monumental amount of support from senior management. The so called "suits" were in town and it was a top down vested interest in success. There was also a lot of hard word and commitment.

Anything less and the odds at succeeding drop dramatically.Unfortunately, that was the situation with Jacksonville when it came to any attempt to bring to market a format that offered a different side to classic hits.

 

[ScottBurns]

My assumption is that Planet did lean Alternative early on. With the many fans of the station, it would be nice if someone could add more depth to the conversation. It's not something I can do justice to so that's all I'll say on that subject.

Back to Classic Hits in Jacksonville. As I mentioned earlier, Eagle launched flawlessly back in 2004. Giving credit where credit is due, CMG was well prepared. Yes, a tight playlist but it got results. Add an aggressive TV promotion and you just knew the company was vested in the success of the format.

Eagle, as far as Florida goes, launched in Tampa first. Perhaps Jacksonville's flipping to Eagle had more perfection about it since Tampa's Eagle enabled a few lessons learned.

Eagle's arrival to Jacksonville sent ripple effects in the market that were felt for quite some time. In my view, radio in Jacksonville was never the same. It actually saw decline. Again, just my opinion. I think others looked at Eagle's success and attempted to minimize or completely eliminate talent. Eagle lacks personality. But in some weird way, it works for them given the music and the vibe of the format. For others formats, going jockless or close to it resulted in boring radio.

It was the combination of major station ownership that in my view saw the market go into decline. There were some good people who jocked but the owners and managers tended to look for the quick fix. But there was something else that lacked in Jacksonville. If you just look at Tampa and Orlando, you'll see what I'm referring to.

CBS Radio was the owner of both Tampa's WRBQ and Orlando's WOCL. The launch of both stations saw a monumental amount of support from senior management. The so called "suits" were in town and it was a top down vested interest in success. There was also a lot of hard word and commitment.

Anything less and the odds at succeeding drop dramatically.Unfortunately, that was the situation with Jacksonville when it came to any attempt to bring to market a format that offered a different side to classic hits.

You hit the nail on the head, John. The old CBS Radio division had a great deal of hands-on management. Their jocks worked under a union contract and their stations largely were free of voice-tracking. I love WRBQ under CBS; they had Jo Jo Kincaid in afternoons and there was a good variety of music. There was also a lot of Buzz when WOCL went from Alternative to Classic Hits. Both stations still have a great deal of loyalty in their markets.

Speaking of Orlando and CMG, it seemed that WMMO fell into line with the Tampa and Jacksonville Eagles. It just never adopted the branding. WMMO has always had more personalities than the two Eagles. Unfortunately, however, they laid off their longtime afternoon drive jock, Hildi, who had been in the market for decades.

As a fan of CHR, I am also curious about the demise of WAPE-FM. I know "demise" is a strong word, but that station is about as cookie-cutter and boring a CHR as I have heard in a long time.

 

[vw86]

Speaking of Orlando and CMG, it seemed that WMMO fell into line with the Tampa and Jacksonville Eagles. It just never adopted the branding. WMMO has always had more personalities than the two Eagles. Unfortunately, however, they laid off their longtime afternoon drive jock, Hildi, who had been in the market for decades.

It took 10+ years after the Tampa and Jacksonville Eagle stations launched, but I believe it was 2014-2015 when WMMO essentially flipped to The Eagle without actually acknowledging a flip. If you look at the "Recently Played" on the websites they share music logs now. And it took Rick Stacy killing Sunny with his conservative, false rants and vanilla-fying the playlist and jocks the rest of the day, but WMMO seems to win the Classic Rock/Classic Hits battle each month now.

 

[upstate29651]

To the Planet discussion:

WPLA originated on 93.3 back around 1992-93. It was initially an alt-rock station, like WJRR when it went on the air. It had a big following but was somewhat hindered by it's C2 stick up in Nassau County.

Eventually, the format was dropped and WJBT (which was on 92.7) moved their format to 93.3. 92.7 was "deeded" to the Daytona market and once WEAS 93.1 in Savannah agreed to drop to C1 (it was either a full C or C0, I forget), that allowed 93.3 to move to the Hogan Rd. tower farm and go C1.

Nostalgia did bring the Planet name back to radio, this time on 107.3, booting WROO. This time around, it was more active in presentation. It also brought back Lex and Terry to the local airwaves (despite them trashing Jax when they left Rock 105 years earlier...I will never understand why Jax still supports them...). With changing music tastes in the rock spectrum, upstart X102.9 came along and killed off WIVY (I think?). During this time (or around this time), Clear Channel sold/swapped the 106.5 frequency to Cox, who placed a re-broadcast of 690 WOKV on it. X continued to advance against Planet and its stale playlist and eventually killed it off with the "Jack" format.

X also killed Rock 105 (RIP) but it was clear that something big was up, as Rock 105 transitions to Rock 104.5, a very aggressive active rocker. This was meant to (temporarily) satiate the loss of Planet. But, it was a ratings loser and probably by design as it didn't last a year. Then, WOKV was moved to 104.5 where it remains today. X's alternative format eventually fell out of favor and it was demoted to 106.5, as a "flanker" for the classic "hits" station on 96.9. Cox moved in an 80's-centric soft rocker on 102.9.

This left 96.9 as the only station that could remotely be classified as "rock". iHeart apparently saw this and recognized the hole in the market. Reaching back as a nostalgic nod to the past, "Planet" was resurrected on 107.3 with Lex and Terry (again....sigh) brought back. Planet is now mostly (maybe full time) voice tracked out of Orlando and Cleveland. The sound is about 40/50/10 Classics/Gold/Currents.

 

[John FL]

I thought I'd revisit the topic of classic hits in Florida. That's the subject of this string but, at least for this post, there's something else going on. We often hear about people growing out of a format's desired demo. There's another dimension to that in feeling like you're a duck out of water for lack of a better way of saying it.

It may have been over the last week or so but in the L.A. board, the subject of Classic Hits and KRTH came up once again. As I sometimes do, I like to give a listen so I can better understand the comments. As has long been the case with that station, it's not one that I like enough to want to listen to it via streaming. That wasn't the case with some classic hits formats that I would listen to via streaming for hours at a time sometimes. All east coast stations such as NYC's WCBS-FM, or Philadelphia's WOGL (when it was a really good station when they featured 70s soul), or Miami's WMXJ when it was Magic 102.7.

In listening to KRTH, I came upon songs I wasn't familiar. I thought, "no big deal. It's a west coast station and they are bound to play songs I don't know as there are regional favorites."

Closer to home, during this past week, I heard our Classic Hits station on The Treasure Coast, WQOL, play a few songs in which I was not familiar. For a guy like me, it left me a little rattled. For many years I talked about my love affair with music. Not to brag but my batting average in figuring out what would be a big hit, a turntable hit, or a dud was quite exceptional. But that was a very long time ago.

I was in the car when I heard a few unfamiliar tunes. I glanced at the radio monitor but by time I got back into the house and did this or that, I forgot the songs and the artists. Oh, there was a time my recall was solid. Perhaps a lot has to do with how much a song pulls you in. Honestly, I didn't care much for what I was hearing. But I had a feeling these songs may have been from early this century.

It may have been 6 months or so ago I heard "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush on WQOL. My first assumption was this was a 90s song because I wasn't familiar with the tune. I consider myself an expert when it comes to 80s music. Because I really loved the song even with just one listen, I had no trouble remembering the title. I researched the song and to my surprise it was from the 80s but became a popular tune because of a Netflix show, "Stranger Things."

A couple more observations. iHeartMedia continues to impress me with their Premium Choice Classic Hits brand. While I completely understand the need to keep moving that music sweet spot forward, I'm just finding myself like a deer in the headlights at times. Here's where smart rotations help. If I hear a song enough times, I'll formulate an opinion about the song. I'm probably typical of most listeners. On stations such as WQOL, I like quite a lot of what they feature. The harder rock selections will find me back to our Soft AC, WOSN, so at least there are still options.

It was just 5 years ago when I moved to The Treasure Coast that WQOL was branded as an oldies format. Musically, they were mired in the 60s and 70s. It's a big transformation to what exists today. I can just imagine what the next 5 years will bring!

Listeners certainly have options. But for me, I find it interesting learning about newer music and artists. Yes, my heart will always be with much older music because that's the music I grew up with. Heck, even today Publix featured a song I never heard.

Anyway some ramblings from someone who is trying hard to stay relevant. Thanks for listening!

 

[John FL]

As written, I can understand why there's general consensus with what I said in the prior post as no one challenged my comments. Actually, the fact that a radio station or format updates its music is not really news. But, I think it goes a little further than that.

On the often discussed to death subject of 25-54 or whatever "money-demo" of your choice, I have to wonder if the stakes of performing well are even higher today than they have ever been. One of my assumptions has been that the very largest markets tend to be more cutting age in making changes in music direction and in the music selection process itself as we've seen in say, the L.A. radio discussions involving KRTH.

My feeling has long been that smaller radio markets such as The Treasure Coast take a slow and deliberate course in making changes. It's understandable. Let the larger markets do the experimenting and extensive research that can be quite expensive. Over time, one can figure out what works and what doesn't. I also realize each market is different so I'm not advocating copycat radio. There are title selections featuring popular artists that are "no-brainer" as playlist adds.

As for The Treasure Coast and iHeart's Classic Hits WQOL and Premium Choice programing that's simulcast in a similar market such as Sarasota, adding Whitney Houston tunes doesn't invite undue risk. What concerns me the most is "slow and deliberate" appear to be replaced with moving at a much more accelerated pace. So, the question is are the stakes that much higher to attract younger demos in the current economic environment?

While I realize my observations are not scientific, they nonetheless show a challenging business environment. In the business district/Vero Beach downtown, I've noted a number of mom & pop businesses and restaurants that have bit the dust. These are places I've dined at or used their services. The biggest issues involved are not getting workers and supply-chain issues. For those who don't know the area, much of The Treasure Coast is home to retirees and seasonal residents. Financially, many of them don't need a job.

Ballpark, it was maybe 18 months ago or so that iHeart added some 90s titles into the Premium Choice Classic Hits music mix. But then, they throttled back, for whatever reason, to mainly 70s and 80s. Just over the past couple weeks, it's not just 90s adds but a relatively few titles from this century as well. One song I noted was Train's "Drops of Jupiter" from 2001. Again, you may say "this is the trend." All I'm saying is not too long ago it was 70s and 80s music. Now, there has been a 2 decade advancement. True, it's not the dominant focus but still it's a little surprising given WQOL's and Premium Choice's track record.

My take is given the business environment, iHeart is making significant changes in its programming. From the business of radio perspective, I can appreciate all of that. But, in my view, there's plenty of 90s titles that haven't been explored yet in the programing. To jump into the 21st century comes with certain risks for smaller markets with significant older demos. Perhaps, we'll see a throttle back just like we saw when they jumped into the 90s and apparently realized it was too quick and too excessive.

Let's hope they don't mess around too much with WQOL. This is a heritage station on The Treasure Coast and one I'd hate to the station needing to recover from self-inflicted wounds.

 

[John FL]

Interestingly, another big-market classic hits station, WCBS-FM in NYC has earned a lot of conversation regarding their increased rotation of 90's music. Obviously, this is the trend and there's nothing new with all of this. But what's noteworthy is the biggest markets do get the lion's share of response.

There's a whole bunch of classic hits stations in Florida but none of them get the kind of attention of say a KRTH, WCBS-FM, or a WOGL. But what's a safe bet is change is not only inevitable but we're already experiencing it. I saw a typical day or two of the playlist via Mediabase and all I can say is, it's well thought out.

I didn't realize it but when I commented about iHeart's Premium Choice programing concerning my own local classic hits station, WQOL, that there is a strategy involved when introducing "newer" music. In the case of WCBS-FM, I'm seeing a good percentage of titles (more than half) of songs that have been a part of the playlist, on and off in some cases, for quite some time.

In The Treasure Coast's WQOL, what I saw was a reduction in 90s songs maybe a year ago but now they are back in a more definite and heavier rotation. I suspect that in music tests, the targeted audience would be familiar with many of the songs but just in case they weren't, they would have been exposed to these songs on the station at one time or another. Perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder.

While this is not scientific, it's nonetheless a personal observation. There's a guy who lives a few doors down the street from me. It just so happens our paths cross a lot outside the community so I've gotten to know him better so we meet up on occasion. He's 38 years old. When I was in his truck one day, WQOL was playing on his radio. He commented that he never listened to this station except when he visited his parents etc. His comment was liking some of the music the station plays.

Bingo. That's what it's all about. You're not going to make inroads into the younger 35-54 end of the demo unless you give them something they'll enjoy. I get it.

Over the last couple weeks, I've especially enjoyed listening to Sirius XM's "Love" that features just 70s hits. I believe this is only available on the app and it's not an actual channel. Sometimes I need a break from traditional radio. As the world goes by, it's just like having a security blanket of familiar and preferred music. Ah, there was a time I was that 38 year old like my neighbor old and virtually every radio station wanted me as a listener. And so it goes...

 

[Alex Browne]

John, I always enjoy your commentary -- and in this case about a format I have IN THE PAST listened to. I know I'm a troglodyte: I'm 70 years old, grew up on Top 40 music in New York in the 1960's and '70s, and graduated to Oldies music radio after that. When we moved to Florida from the Midwest eight years ago, WQOL was still Oldies, and it was my primary station. But as ALL the now "Classic Hits" stations began dropping the 1960's and then the '70s (I mean, how can you advertise yourself as "[name the location]'s Greatest Hits" and not play the Beatles or Elvis or Motown??), I found myself enjoying (and listening to) the stations less and less -- in my case WQOL.

This has been especially trying for me since I am a big fan of terrestrial radio. I have worked in (and been an advocate for) terrestrial TV and radio for over 45 years -- I am proud to call myself a broadcaster!! But there is nothing for me to listen to musically on terrestrial radio on the Treasure Coast anymore (except for some jazz and standards music on WQCP public radio on the weekends). So this terrestrial radio guy is now listening almost exclusively to '60s Gold on Sirius -- music no longer available on terrestrial radio here. When I occasionally switch back to WQOL or WEAT in the car, my wife howls at the music and the commercials.

So I find what has happened to Classic Hits radio a very sad thing for me: it has killed my interest in terrestrial radio. I'm probably not alone.

 

[exdjted]

John, I always enjoy your commentary -- and in this case about a format I have IN THE PAST listened to. I know I'm a troglodyte: I'm 70 years old, grew up on Top 40 music in New York in the 1960's and '70s, and graduated to Oldies music radio after that.

So I find what has happened to Classic Hits radio a very sad thing for me: it has killed my interest in terrestrial radio. I'm probably not alone.

Classic Hits, by definition, targets the 35-54 demo, which is a moving target. Something that was a hit to someone who was 20 in 1975 is a Super Hits Oldie to a programmer. The person at the low end of the target demo was born somewhere between 1983 to 1989. Which means their musical sweet spot will be from 1994 to 2000.

I'm 60, and I find my definition of Classic Hits to be the 80s, which is when I started in Radio. I happen to listen a lot to 'That 70s Channel' online when I want something from my teen years.

 

[101tm]

I’m surprised no one (unless I missed it) mentioned WDUV in Tampa. It has a LOT of classic hits elements and could musically pass as a classic hits station. Its core is 80s pop and pop/rock. It’s not as aggressive as WMXJ or WRBQ but somewhat similar, although I know CMG prefers to call the format soft AC or gold AC and that’s likely what it’s sold as. However, you could look at just the playlist and it could pass as classic hits.

When WMMO went more towards classic rock from its prior “mellow rock” sound, that didn’t help SunnyFM.

 

[CentralFL]

Sunny FM is also its own worst enemy. The morning show is way too political. It is like an AM radio talk show with music.

 

[101tm]

Sunny FM is also its own worst enemy. The morning show is way too political. It is like an AM radio talk show with music.

I agree, but looking at the PPM that came out, Sunny is above a 7 share 6+. WMMO is still #1, but it will be interesting to see if this is just an outlier or if they’re on to something.

 

[Old top 40 fan]

WDUV sounds like classic hits no matter if it’s called AC. Thoughts ?

 

[John FL]

Per the previous posts regarding WDUV, I would agree that the station certainly has more of a classic hits vibe than a Soft AC/AC. It's obvious that format branding is designed as part of the selling package. When I created this post, I only looked at the designation of classic hits in the various market ratings reports.

As much as I personally prefer The Dove from 10+ years ago, there was certainly strategy at work to improve WDUV's billing while at the same time not negatively affecting their designated Classic Hits brand The Eagle.(WXGL) For what it's worth, both stations do well and neither threatens the other.

I believe this advances the wide-held view that the Eagle brand of classic hits is more classic rock than anything else. It's not truly classic hits like many other Florida stations such as Miami's WMXJ, Tampa's WRBQ, or Orlando's WOCL etc. but it is what it is.

Head to Daytona Beach and there's WLOV "Love 99.5, Daytona's Greatest Hits." It's every bit of a Softer AC but it's sister station is the legendary Classic Rocker WHOG. Given the amount of rock often found on Classic Hits playlists, even the variety ones, it's easy to see why WLOV is positioned as it is.

As far as political talk on Orlando's Sunny FM goes, Audacy no doubt had to sign off on this. It would be interesting to have heard the pitch for all that or a written business case discussing the risks if that's even done. As a previous poster mentioned, Sunny is still among the top tier stations. Is WMMO's top of the heap ratings an outlier? Is WOCL on to something as we get more into the thick of the political season? Time will tell.

 

[John FL]

Per the last post, I thought of another station/format that had all the traits of a really good variety-based classic hits station. That was when CMG launched WEZI in Jacksonville with the "EASY" brand. It was a no-brainer as Cox had a proven track record with Easy in Miami and to a large extent Tampa as well with WDUV.

As I recall, they promoted the music citing songs that weren't heard in Jacksonville for a long time. That was certainly true. While Easy was only on a 6000 watt stick, I figured the strategy was to give AC WEJZ a little haircut in upper end 25-54. I've long dabbled in creating classic hits playlists. At the time, I estimated 2/3 of the songs Easy featured were also on my list with the exception of songs like Streisand's "Woman in Love" and Gino Vanneli's "Living Inside Myself" both of which got a heavy rotation. BTW, Gino's tune was the first song played on Jax's Easy. Ironically, Easy had far more classic hits elements to it than sister Eagle which has long been highly rock-focused.

There was speculation Easy would move to a full market signal, which eventually happened. Given what I know about Jacksonville and the business of radio, I figured the uniqueness in the music would all go away and more of the same would follow. Overall, classic hits formats in Florida and elsewhere appear to be in a paralysis.

As much as we can point to sticking to long-established business practices that deliver key demos that attract advertisers, there's elements to classic hits and other formats as well that are simply lacking. While I would love to present a checklist of items, it's more a feeling I get. Perhaps it's the lack of creativity in programming, a perceived lack of effort if we make comparisons to the past, or just the feeling a lot of radio is just going through the motions. I used the word "paralysis' before and I believe it plays a big part.

I've long talked of the "fire" that existed in the business back in the days the AM powerhouse stations gave it all they got to compete with the growing FM challenges. While we all know what eventually happened, I still wonder what would have been had AM Stereo become a reality. Not to repeat all the things that have been discussed as to the reasons that didn't fly, it's one of the first times I used the word paralysis to describe the events. Also, if you truly think about it, radio has tended to fear competition with itself. The AM band can die and it makes it far better for those who own stations on the FM. It's also short-sighted. Conventional radio just doesn't offer as many formats as you can find elsewhere. A healthy AM band? Who really knows what that would have meant for radio?

When alternative platforms, such as satellite radio, were born, I figured HD Radio would enable conventional radio to offer more formats in a market. We've all heard all the arguments about why HD Radio never became a big part of the industry. After it's all said and done, I think protecting the cash cow(s) was the ultimate objective. Call it paralysis or whatever, but we just didn't see 10 or more new formats in a typical market.

I discovered Pandora early on. What I especially loved was the intuitive nature of it. It knew what I loved and gave me lots of it. Eventually, I got to SiriusXM. It's where I've been locked on exclusively for the last 2 months or so. I would much prefer to listen to local radio but even here on the Treasure Coast, I sense paralysis or fear to venture into more creative ways in presenting the music.

On the business of radio side, we know classic hits formats MUST continuously update its musical sweet spot. But, how it's done leaves a lot to be desired.

Many of you are probably aware that WCBS-FM in NYC, a brand synonymous with older music, flipped from oldies to Jack FM some time ago. That lasted about 2 years or so. When Classic Hits debuted there, extraordinary effort was made to familiarize the listeners with the musically changes since oldies played. They did this with daily music features. You can call it specialty programming.

There was one such feature that I thought was pure genius. It was something like "first and last song." It was an artists first and last hit. An example was Dusty Springfield's 1964 hit "I Only Want to be With You" followed by her teaming up with The Pet Shop Boys in the 1988 hit "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" Talk about familiarizing both upper end and lower end 25-54 and beyond with the new musical direction! For what it's worth, I was not familiar with that Pet Shop Boys song but it became a favorite.

Fast forward to today. In iHeart's Premium Choice programming that The Treasure Coast WQOL's features, "new" songs will play with no talk-up, nothing mentioned about the song, no effort to aquatint listeners with the artist/song which in my case saw tune-out.

While I realize I am not in the money demo, I am still a consumer. I am not hearing local spots and so I'm not supporting local business as well as I could. But again, I feel as though the business of radio has its plus sides but it's also lost that fire I spoke of earlier. There is little incentive to listen for extended periods. Oh, then there are the commercials that go on for an eternity.

Sirius is doing many music specials for Memorial Day weekend on their various channels. There's a good deal of creativity in my view. As I've been listening mainly to the 70s channel and jocks like "Magic Mike" and "Jay Beau," it sounds like radio that once was and something I loved. The bottom line is no one should settle when there's so many other choices out there.