I should probably describe the station I listen to.
The man who owns it was morning DJ on a similar station 30 miles away. He decided he wanted to own a station and the longtime owners were selling it. He has done the morning show, and for a while his son did an afternoon show. There were Stardust affiliates in every direction and he chose Memories, which was a lot like what the station was already doing early in the day. He dropped the ESPN programming but kept Paul Harvey, which had run on the station for decades.
In 2006 Stardust became Timeless Favorites, and since there were several other stations doing that and Memories was combined with Stardust, he went with America's Best Music, which to me sounded better than Stardust had. And then it just kept evolving, especially after the Jones takeover; now it has gone back into reverse. ABC News still airs at the top of the hour, and it's the long version--not the brief one Stardust affiliates could air. The afternoon show sounded weird with some uptempo AC and classic hits that had no place in the format. And the morning show, which had been more conservative musically than what aired the rest of the day, was now more uptempo. It still is, but it has gotten more conservative, with the occasional "Material Girl" or "Physical". That annoying afternoon show is history. Also the morning show has national and local news, contests such as "Name That Tune" and sometimes an interview with a notable local person or someone representing an important event. There are lots of commercials for local businesses. Mike Huckabee replaced Paul Harvey, and after his three-minute show there is a "six-pack" of the most requested songs. The styles of music can vary quite a bit from one day to the next. One day it might include "Exodus" or Bert Kaempfert or "Friendly Persuasion" and another day "Hey Jude" or "A Little More Love" or one very weird day "Born in the U.S.A." If the station owner isn't there the music has tended to be very off-the-wall if the son was there (REO Speedwagon, .38 Special, Doobie Brothers) but is now under more control.
There is high school football on Friday night, and I think basketball and baseball games air too. American Legion baseball airs in the summer, there is a local college's football and basketball and the coaches' show live from some restaurant. The station owner does play-by-play for a lot of these games. Carolina Panthers football airs on the station as well, and sports for a major college when it doesn't conflict. They used to have the Atlanta Braves but another station in town has that. When there is an election they have results. Sometimes they have political debates. They air job listings during some commercial breaks, and there is a feature for senior citizens during others (eat right, exercise, dispose of pills properly), usually preceded by an ad for a retirement community.
Sunday mornings are church services, some local, and most of those with narrow-minded yelling preachers that say essentially that everyone must agree with them or else (in one church that produces "Amen"s). A syndicated beach music show airs on Saturday mornings.
Another station in town calls itself "News radio", and they seem to have a heavy emphasis on sports. There is a local morning show but I think syndicated talk programs air the rest of the time. But one gets the impression from my station that it's actually the one you should turn to for news. I will admit, when there was a serious fire, one of the worst in the city's history, they only briefly interrupted America's Best Music. That may have changed later in the day.
A couple of more things to say about Mike Huckabee. His noon show is shorter than Harvey's was--three minutes, just like the morning show. It is followed by obituaries. And the afternoon show may or may not end at the start of a song. Of course, Carl Hampton will ften say he played a song when, in this case, he didn't.
The man who owns it was morning DJ on a similar station 30 miles away. He decided he wanted to own a station and the longtime owners were selling it. He has done the morning show, and for a while his son did an afternoon show. There were Stardust affiliates in every direction and he chose Memories, which was a lot like what the station was already doing early in the day. He dropped the ESPN programming but kept Paul Harvey, which had run on the station for decades.
In 2006 Stardust became Timeless Favorites, and since there were several other stations doing that and Memories was combined with Stardust, he went with America's Best Music, which to me sounded better than Stardust had. And then it just kept evolving, especially after the Jones takeover; now it has gone back into reverse. ABC News still airs at the top of the hour, and it's the long version--not the brief one Stardust affiliates could air. The afternoon show sounded weird with some uptempo AC and classic hits that had no place in the format. And the morning show, which had been more conservative musically than what aired the rest of the day, was now more uptempo. It still is, but it has gotten more conservative, with the occasional "Material Girl" or "Physical". That annoying afternoon show is history. Also the morning show has national and local news, contests such as "Name That Tune" and sometimes an interview with a notable local person or someone representing an important event. There are lots of commercials for local businesses. Mike Huckabee replaced Paul Harvey, and after his three-minute show there is a "six-pack" of the most requested songs. The styles of music can vary quite a bit from one day to the next. One day it might include "Exodus" or Bert Kaempfert or "Friendly Persuasion" and another day "Hey Jude" or "A Little More Love" or one very weird day "Born in the U.S.A." If the station owner isn't there the music has tended to be very off-the-wall if the son was there (REO Speedwagon, .38 Special, Doobie Brothers) but is now under more control.
There is high school football on Friday night, and I think basketball and baseball games air too. American Legion baseball airs in the summer, there is a local college's football and basketball and the coaches' show live from some restaurant. The station owner does play-by-play for a lot of these games. Carolina Panthers football airs on the station as well, and sports for a major college when it doesn't conflict. They used to have the Atlanta Braves but another station in town has that. When there is an election they have results. Sometimes they have political debates. They air job listings during some commercial breaks, and there is a feature for senior citizens during others (eat right, exercise, dispose of pills properly), usually preceded by an ad for a retirement community.
Sunday mornings are church services, some local, and most of those with narrow-minded yelling preachers that say essentially that everyone must agree with them or else (in one church that produces "Amen"s). A syndicated beach music show airs on Saturday mornings.
Another station in town calls itself "News radio", and they seem to have a heavy emphasis on sports. There is a local morning show but I think syndicated talk programs air the rest of the time. But one gets the impression from my station that it's actually the one you should turn to for news. I will admit, when there was a serious fire, one of the worst in the city's history, they only briefly interrupted America's Best Music. That may have changed later in the day.
A couple of more things to say about Mike Huckabee. His noon show is shorter than Harvey's was--three minutes, just like the morning show. It is followed by obituaries. And the afternoon show may or may not end at the start of a song. Of course, Carl Hampton will ften say he played a song when, in this case, he didn't.
