JACK FM

[BruceNYC]

This entire issue of Jack in NYC is "water under the bridge". I think we should look ahead to the future, not back to the past.

 

[Barry]

I’d like Jack to return, perhaps on a suburban station.

 

[vw86]

Remember that JACK was programmed locally for New York and featured a playlist unique to WCBS-FM. Smaller markets use the national feed, but larger markets program their own music for JACK. In fact here in 2024, there are many Variety Hits stations that could easily pass for modern day Classic Hits and vice versa.

 

[dcowboy7]

This entire issue of Jack in NYC is "water under the bridge". I think we should look ahead to the future, not back to the past.

"If you ignore the past, you jeopardize your future."
Satine (Obi's gf) in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

"Water under the bridge" great Adele song they should play that.

 

[Weiserguy]

"Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it" -- George Santayana

"History doesn't repeat itself verbatim, but it does mutate in unpleasant ways." -- Weiserguy

 

[Loverofradio]

"Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it" -- George Santayana

"History doesn't repeat itself verbatim, but it does mutate in unpleasant ways." -- Weiserguy

Jack probably could and should go to 94.7 and tailor it more classic alternative and target suburban signal it hits. If the block fails.

 

[gr8oldies]

Remember that JACK was programmed locally for New York and featured a playlist unique to WCBS-FM. Smaller markets use the national feed, but larger markets program their own music for JACK. In fact here in 2024, there are many Variety Hits stations that could easily pass for modern day Classic Hits and vice

My wife's car with the SiriusXM subscription is in the shop waiting for a part and for our snow removal system (the sun) to melt the snow and ice we got last week, so we've had our local Jack on in the car. (I believe Knoxville and co-owned Nashville have it programmed in-house) and was surprised it's still mostly 80s.

 

[Gregg.]

Remember that JACK was programmed locally for New York and featured a playlist unique to WCBS-FM. Smaller markets use the national feed, but larger markets program their own music for JACK. In fact here in 2024, there are many Variety Hits stations that could easily pass for modern day Classic Hits and vice versa.

Aww, I think that's what the Jack-FM executives would tell stations. "Yes, we'll tailor it to your market. Now, just sign here." Then they'd simply plug in the Jack-FM every other market got with a few minor adjustments.

After all, how much can they change it for each market? It's a very specific format. And I think financially it would be impractical to reinvent it for NYC vs. Chicago vs. Denver (all cities that once had Jack but no longer). Maybe there are a few Garth Brooks songs in rotation in Dallas that you don't get in Baltimore. But how much can you tinker with it?

I live in the NYC market. I heard the NY version of Jack-FM. I couldn't tell the difference from all the other Jack stations. It was about 40% Modern Rock, 50% Classic Rock and 10% out of format songs including some almost-novelty hits like Can't Touch This, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Funky Cold Medina and She Blinded Me with Science.

Even today, try listening to Jack in various big markets. The Audacy app gives you Los Angeles, Dallas and Minneapolis. The iHeart app gives you Baltimore, Nashville and Seattle. They both give you the national Jack-FM heard in San Antonio and smaller markets. They really all sound the same.

I'm not complaining. I LIKE Jack-FM. I enjoy the music mix and the snarky Jack comments. But if you believe the sales pitch that they'll tailor Jack to your market, I have a used Studebaker to sell you. Only 20,000 miles. A little old lady simply drove it to church on Sunday!

 

[TheBigA]

Aww, I think that's what the Jack-FM executives would tell stations. "Yes, we'll tailor it to your market. Now, just sign here." Then they'd simply plug in the Jack-FM every other market got with a few minor adjustments. But if you believe the sales pitch that they'll tailor Jack to your market, I have a used Studebaker to sell you.

The way it works with KCBS in LA is they have a local PD who programs JACK for LA. Same with Dallas. It's not programmed by SparkNet. So no, THEY don't tailor it to your market. You have the right to tailor it yourself but still use their brand. JACK is a brand, and you license the brand. Some markets have local personalities too.

 

[Gregg.]

OK, let's compare the playlists of KCBS-FM Los Angeles and KJKK Dallas for the last 90 minutes. Tuesday morning, 6:30 Central, 4:30 Pacific. I labeled each song A for Modern Rock, B for Classic Rock and C for an Out-of-Format song.

Note that each station played "Linger" by The Cranberries and "Under The Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Each was fairly divided between Modern Rock and Classic Rock. For Out-of-Format songs, KCBS-FM played Rick James' "Super Freak" while KJKK played two Michael Jackson songs, "Beat It" and "Billy Jean." I'm not sure how much more alike both stations could be!

KCBS-FM Los Angeles 93.1

Soft Cell -- Tainted Love -- A
Red Hot Chili Peppers -- Under The Bridge -- A
Rick James -- Super Freak -- C
Heart -- Barracuda -- B
The Verve -- Bitter Sweet Symphony -- A
Bon Jovi -- Living on A Prayer -- B
Tears for Fears -- Everybody Wants to Rule The World -- A
Journey -- Anyway You Want It -- B
No Doubt -- Sunday Morning -- A
Pink Floyd -- Another Brick in The Wall -- B
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark -- If You Leave -- A
Billy Idol -- Dancing with Myself -- B
The Cranberries -- Linger -- A
Joan Jett -- Bad Reputation -- B
Flock of Seagulls -- I Ran -- A

--------

KJKK Dallas 100.3

Green Day -- Brain Stew -- A
Michael Jackson -- Billy Jean -- C
The Beatles -- Come Together -- B
The Cranberries -- Linger -- A
AC/DC -- You Shook Me All Night Long -- B
Linkin Park -- What I've Done -- A
Billy Joel -- Piano Man -- B
Blues Traveler -- Run Around -- A
Pat Benetar -- Heartbreaker -- B
Naked Eyes -- Always Something There to Remind Me -- A
Red Hot Chili Peppers -- Under The Bridge -- A
Michael Jackson -- Beat It -- C
Whitesnake -- Here I Go Again -- B
REM -- Losing My Religion -- A
UB40 -- Red, Red Wine -- A
Def Leppard -- Pour Some Sugar on Me -- B
The Lumineers -- Ho Hey -- A

.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

So 90 minutes with your personal classifications indicates…what, exactly? (And the songs aren’t out of format, they’re part of the adult hits format)

 

[TheBigA]

OK, let's compare the playlists of KCBS-FM Los Angeles and KJKK Dallas for the last 90 minutes.

It's a radio format. I can post playlists of three stations with different owners in the same format and they're playing similar songs because those songs are core to the format. That's what format radio is all about. What I'm saying is that KCBS isn't programmed by someone at SparkNet, but by a local PD who has his own system of scheduling the songs that are in the format. If you don't understand that, then you don't understand how format radio works.

 

[dcowboy7]

Both need more variety/black artists its too rocky only RJ & MJ are in those playlists.