How about 2 format changes for CBS?

[Parttimer]

Once 93.7 goes talk in April when Paulsen starts, what becomes of Star?

CBS just flipped WARW in DC to "The Globe", a AAA (Adult Album Alternative) which plays some newer stuff like Dave Matthews mixed with non-hard-edged rock from the likes of U2, Tom Petty, Springsteen... probably also play newer/lesser known artists who fit in with similar sounds. There are a lot of different ways to tweak the music in this format (some of them have too much Police, Roxy Music and Talking Heads for my taste). Typically the playlists are pretty deep.

Airstaff is low-key, no comedy "all about the music" type personalities. WMMO in Orlando did this really well at its inception under Cary Pall's direction back in the early 90's.

I think it's a format that would do really well in a classic rock town like the Burgh... especially since it would also play a NEW Petty, Springsteen, or Seger CD.

Maybe too close to what Bob is doing, but in the little bit I've heard of that station you're more likely to hear a second-tier Thompson Twins track or something like that on Bob... never hear that stuff in AAA.

Your thoughts?

 

[toddjammin]

I would like to see an AAA station come to the Burgh. It would be something different that we haven't had in a while.

Here's A sample of an AAA Playlist from WFUV in New York according to Yes.com

Bob Dylan- Subterranean Homesick Blues
The Police- Canary In A Coalmine
The Arcade Fire- Black Mirror
Josh Ritter- Kathleen
Joan Osborne- Pretty Little Stranger
Dave Matthews Band- So Much To Say
Son Volt- Bandages & Scars
The Beatles- All My Loving

 

[feeball]

If CBS Radio would be so adventurous to flip two stations in the Pittsburgh, it won't be a back-to-back flip. A K Rock flip is confirmed to talk radio and if there is anything to come with Star, it will probably happen much later.

 

[SteelRocker]

I think WYEP is already AAA. I think switching a Star 100.7 to a AAA wouldn't be such a bad idea either. When I lived in San Jose/S.F. area in the 1990s, KFOG-FM was a very highly respected AAA format and I found myself listening to it from time to time. Will this happen to STAR, I doubt it but nice idea though.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Here's a radical concept they could try.

1. Ignore anything done in any other market.

2. Forget about what to call the new format.

3. Pick a demographic segment here in Pittsburgh, and do some market research to find out what the people of Pittsburgh that you want to reach want to hear. Determine what would work in Pittsburgh on a Pittsburgh audience by researching in Pittsburgh. Find out what will work in Pittsburgh.

4. Play the music that the research in step 3 indicated would work here.

5. Promote it aggressively.

I realize that's a radical concept. I also realize that they're more likely to simply copy something done in Washington, DC, or San Francisco, which will probably fail here because those places are those places and this place is this place. But, that's how radio works, isn't it?

 

[Parttimer]

Yes, WYEP is AAA but if 1% of the market even knows they exist, I'd be surprised.

 

[SteelRocker]

Here's a radical concept they could try.

1. Ignore anything done in any other market.

2. Forget about what to call the new format.

3. Pick a demographic segment here in Pittsburgh, and do some market research to find out what the people of Pittsburgh that you want to reach want to hear. Determine what would work in Pittsburgh on a Pittsburgh audience by researching in Pittsburgh. Find out what will work in Pittsburgh.

4. Play the music that the research in step 3 indicated would work here.

5. Promote it aggressively.

I realize that's a radical concept. I also realize that they're more likely to simply copy something done in Washington, DC, or San Francisco, which will probably fail here because those places are those places and this place is this place. But, that's how radio works, isn't it?

Sounds like we'd have another K-Rock on our hands, but heavy on the classic rock. This area can't get enough Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Steve Miller Band, hair bands, and very little interest in music from today. Then it would be like every other boring station you hear in Pittsburgh.

 

[bradrollinondubz]

If CBS Radio would be so adventurous to flip two stations in the Pittsburgh, it won't be a back-to-back flip. A K Rock flip is confirmed to talk radio and if there is anything to come with Star, it will probably happen much later.

Have fun with the Radio Chick...haha

 

[feeball]

If CBS Radio would be so adventurous to flip two stations in the Pittsburgh, it won't be a back-to-back flip. A K Rock flip is confirmed to talk radio and if there is anything to come with Star, it will probably happen much later.

Have fun with the Radio Chick...haha

I could go in a hundred different directions on the Radio Chick line, but every one of them would lead to trouble. I really don't want another Free FM station because none of them have performed worth a damn.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Steel- I don't believe what you're saying is accurate.

As I mentioned in another thread, I do believe the market likes those old hair bands.

But there also isn't ONE station in the market that caters to that audience. If you can tell me the last time WDVE played a "hair" band that wasn't Def Leppard, let me know.

I know Star in their 80s Fridays (do they still have that?) played "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" by Poison and I've heard "Bad Medicine" by Bon Jovi, too.

Which leads me to ask why the leading classic rock station in Pittsburgh plays hardly any Bon Jovi (with the possible exception of "Dead or Alive"- a video shot here in Pittsburgh), considering they actually played Heinz Field and an arguement could be made they are more popular now than they were 20 years ago.

I like Realist's idea. It's independent- it's a new wave of thinking.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Sounds like we'd have another K-Rock on our hands, but heavy on the classic rock.

If that's what the research show Pittsburghers want to hear, then that's what should be played, right? After all, research is the be-all and end-all of radio. Forget independent thought, imagination, or originality. Those things lead to bad ratings. There are only three things that matter in the radio business, research, research, and research.

This area can't get enough Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Steve Miller Band, hair bands, and very little interest in music from today.

But the research proves that Pittsburghers don't have very much interest in music from today. Perhaps it's because Pittsburgh is populated by the people who only look backwards. Those who look forward have moved away to cities that aren't hemorrhaging population and where there are new jobs being created that do not require the ability to say "would you like to super-size that?".

Then it would be like every other boring station you hear in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh radio stations are boring because the research proves that Pittsburghers want to be bored.

I like Realist's idea. It's independent- it's a new wave of thinking.

Which is why it will never, ever happen. I'm surprised Boss Radio hasn't checked in yet to tell me why that idea would never, ever work.

 

[feeball]

The idea about independent research of a station sounds like a good idea. It will never work because corporate suits like to manipulate the system to favor themselves and treat their listeners like nothing more than disposable subjects. Seemingly every time I read a report regarding a radio station's performance I see something along the lines of this:

Male 18-49
or
Female 18-39
and so on...

Age and gender tell me absolutely nothing, they are too generic. And no media agency dares to use ethnicity in their demographics. If that were to happen, a lot of people would find out information that would surprise them. We know not all African Americans listen to WAMO and not all 18-39 year old white females listen to Kiss FM. So why do media reporting agencies have to be so generic when disclosing this information. Also, why would a CHR station care about what a Classic Rock station does in the ratings if it is preconceived that they are going after two different demos? All it seems to be about is gender and age, any personal preferences need not apply.

 

[SteelRocker]

Steel- I don't believe what you're saying is accurate.

As I mentioned in another thread, I do believe the market likes those old hair bands.

But there also isn't ONE station in the market that caters to that audience. If you can tell me the last time WDVE played a "hair" band that wasn't Def Leppard, let me know.

I know Star in their 80s Fridays (do they still have that?) played "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" by Poison and I've heard "Bad Medicine" by Bon Jovi, too.

Which leads me to ask why the leading classic rock station in Pittsburgh plays hardly any Bon Jovi (with the possible exception of "Dead or Alive"- a video shot here in Pittsburgh), considering they actually played Heinz Field and an arguement could be made they are more popular now than they were 20 years ago.

I like Realist's idea. It's independent- it's a new wave of thinking.

Well, K-ROCK is going away in April, but to answer the question about airplay of hair bands, I believe K-ROCK does have a Friday night or Saturday night show called the "Hair Ball". I can't listen to it so maybe its been dropped too.

 

[feeball]

Crock, err, K Rock dropped the Friday night Hair Ball when they dropped Dave Cook off the station. I hope they keep the K Rock name and use the slogan, "More talk, less rock." It just might work better than being called Free FM.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Male 18-49

Maybe things have changed a lot, but when I was 18, I didn't share a lot in common with guys in their 40's. When I was 18, my dad was in his 40's. I guarantee you that we didn't both like the same music. When I was in my 40's, my step-son and I didn't enjoy that much of the same music, either.

I challenge anyone to find anything they can put on the radio other than sports that the majority of guys aged 18 to 24 will enjoy in common with the majority of guys aged 24 to 49.

 

[Parttimer]

AAA doesn't play hair bands or anything particularly hard.

You're looking more at bands like the Police, Petty, Springsteen, Talking Heads, U2, Clapton, Pretenders, Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits... the new Dylan CD gets a lot of play in this format, and a lot of new artists (if you've ever heard of artists like Joss Stone, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Government Mule,the Raconteurs... not exactly household names but really interesting music that doesn't fit the pop, rock, or alternative formats as they exist today).

You might hear a little Zeppelin like "Fool in the Rain" or "Southbound Suarez", maybe a little Floyd but not like DVE where you can hear a Pink Floyd track between 10:10 and 10:20 every morning (and it's been that way for 15 years).

 

[SteelRocker]

AAA doesn't play hair bands or anything particularly hard.

You're looking more at bands like the Police, Petty, Springsteen, Talking Heads, U2, Clapton, Pretenders, Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits... the new Dylan CD gets a lot of play in this format, and a lot of new artists (if you've ever heard of artists like Joss Stone, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Government Mule,the Raconteurs... not exactly household names but really interesting music that doesn't fit the pop, rock, or alternative formats as they exist today).

You might hear a little Zeppelin like "Fool in the Rain" or "Southbound Suarez", maybe a little Floyd but not like DVE where you can hear a Pink Floyd track between 10:10 and 10:20 every morning (and it's been that way for 15 years).

I sometimes listened to KFOG-FM in San Jose/S.F. (at the time owned by Susquehanna), and their AAA format was great. I know what kind of music they play too. When I kept saying a JACK-FM type format would work over on PBRTV.com I was scoffed, but when it did happen, look at the ratings. I think a major AAA station will work too in this area if its programmed correctly.

 

[Radio_Realist]

I think a major AAA station will work too in this area if its programmed correctly.

Well, duh! Anything will work "if it's programmed correctly". That's the definition of "correct programming". If it works, then it's correct. If it doesn't work, then it isn't.

The thing is, once one determines what songs need to be played in Pittsburgh in order for the station to be "programmed correctly", you often end up with something that doesn't fit into some tight little acronymed box any more. AAA, just like CHR, MOR, AOR, and all the other acronymed formats, is what it is. If you change it from something that doesn't work into something that does, then more often than not you've also changed it from what it was to something new.

If you want to know the absolute best format for a station in Pittsburgh, it's PFM*. You program a station with the PFM format, and you'll have a winner.

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* PFM stands for "Pittsburghers' Favorite Music".

 

[Parttimer]

There are days when you remind me of the Monty Python "Argument Clinic" sketch.

 

[SteelRocker]

I think a major AAA station will work too in this area if its programmed correctly.

Well, duh! Anything will work "if it's programmed correctly". That's the definition of "correct programming". If it works, then it's correct. If it doesn't work, then it isn't.

Thank you for the programming lesson. I used to appreciate reading your comments and ideas.