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K-Hits

andrewduong77

andrewduong77

K-Hits is still not doing very well. It's still choking hard in the low numbers at the 22nd place of the market with a 1.9 market share as of January 2012 ratings.

Since Cumulus left WLS-FM as it is, K-Hits has presented CBS failure in the Classic Hits format for the #3 market. :p
 
K-Hits is the fastest growing station in Chicago. Then again, in order to be the fastest growing, you probably didn't have much of an audience to begin with! The station would have been far more successful had it simply gone from Magic 104.3 to K-Hits in '05. CBS is still paying for the bad decisions of the Hollander era.
 
radioman148 said:
WJMK should've never dropped the format in 2005. They gave WLS an opening and they seized it.
Click to expand...
Exactly the reason why! WJMK had been a long time successful oldies station until Infinity dropped it's oldies format for "Jack FM" (Adult Hits). WLS-FM jumps in right after that making the best out of the oldies format and now they had dominated the Oldies/Classic Hits audience in Chicago. It's too late, WJMK can't take it back.

Plus, I heard that WJMK playlist is narrow and repetitive, I guess they do little late 60s, 70s, and 80s music just like every other CBS Classic Hits station whilst WLS-FM does late 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Hmm... I thought the 50s no longer test the 25-54 audience which would likely put WLS-FM in trouble due to aging demographics and bring WJMK up. Oh well, I guess that as long as you maintain the maximum variety and the balance of the late 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s music then you'll be beasting in numbers regardless of your aging demographics in 2012, huh?

I don't listen to oldies/classic hits much at all, but I still tune into some oldies/classic hits sometimes to see what they are playing besides looking at their playlist. I was bored the other day in college and decided to stream stations that I don't normally listen to. I started streaming WLS-FM and I happen to catch them playing "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley from '57, and I was like wow, I don't think a song from '57 would test well in the 25-54 audience, I couldn't imagine that WLS-FM would play this kind of stuff in 2012 and still stand at the 7th place of the 12+ market with a 4.1 market share. Unbelievable!
 
andrewduong77 said:
Plus, I heard that WJMK playlist is narrow and repetitive, I guess they do little late 60s, 70s, and 80s music just like every other CBS Classic Hits station whilst WLS-FM does late 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Hmm... I thought the 50s no longer test the 25-54 audience which would likely put WLS-FM in trouble due to aging demographics and bring WJMK up. Oh well, I guess that as long as you maintain the maximum variety and the balance of the late 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s music then you'll be beasting in numbers regardless of your aging demographics in 2012, huh?
Click to expand...

WLS-FM gets decent 12+ ratings, but its 25-54 ratings are a horror story. In fact, K-Hits is competitive with them 25-54. Checking their playlist recently, WLS-FM plays next to no 50's, and they only play about two 80's songs an hour. Nearly all their music late 60's to mid-70's.
 
K-Hits doesn't play as much '60s as I'd like, but one thing I do enjoy tuning in for is the Beatles songs played at the top of every hour!
 
What CBS needed to do with this station is to move it into an mid 80's to mid 90's station with the playlists they had at B96 back then. It would be super creative, the other cookie cutter formats wouldn't be able to compete, they have the morning team from when these listeners had B96, and it would probably undercut Mix and Lite. Chicago doesn't need another moldy oldies station, and they would do very well with that audience. Too bad, CBS missed a golden opportunity.
 
I never thought about that type of format. I would like it.

You make a good point about them having Eddy and Jobo. They could bring in that group that liked B96 back then.

It would be people 30-45?

I used to listen to B96 and have not turned on in years.

That station is targeted at a younger audience.

This would not hurt them at all.

There is no station, like the one you talked about.

I don't undetstand why they would go back to oldies since they dumped that format for Jack.
 
Exactly Nashville, it was and still could be a golden opportunity for them. It is somewhat similar in idea to the whole "Gen-X" radio format heard in some other markets, but this could take a decidedly Chicago twist and have everything from Fun Factory and Chumbuwamba to Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody) and mid 90's pop and dance flavors, get Bad Boy Bill to do some old school dance mixes on Saturday nights, have Brian Middleton mix some stuff up, have fun with it. Instead its more old moldy oldies that WLS has, and every other cookie cutter classic hits format has. I bet it would cut into The Mix and the Lite, and away from Rewind, because some of those people don't want to hear new Kesha and Chris Brown music. It would be fun and exciting, and how would the other cookie cutters program against it? It just might work, slice enough away from them, let WLS face the inevitable problems CBS saw coming from a mile away that mixing old 50's and 60's music into a decent 70's and 80's mix is damn near impossible without ticking off a segment of the population, and now you have a format that, with that pop/dance leaning sound to it now, can continue to grow and take the spot of "The Mix" and Lite when the current listeners of B96 decide they are no longer interested in the newest Soulja Boy mix and want to listen to a little Ludacris and Adele music. it can be cross advertised. The programmers are all still in the building, it would cost nothing to bring the music out and play it. They have the veteran morning show, and would be very in tune with the people listening and their slightly more atuned grown up tastes without having to spin another Bee Gee's "Stayin Alive" for the 576 thousandth time. lol But hew, what do I know, I'm just a B96 fan from back in the day.
 
I agree Dekalb, the K-hits format is utterly boring and there is no reason for a crappy second oldies format here. WTH is wrong w/ Chicago radio LOL 2 oldies stations, 2 spoken word stations, 2 classic rockers and I can go on and on. It's sad that nobody is willing to try and be innovated in this market. Your idea would be a good a idea and CBS should run with it.
 
I think CBS should flip K-Hits back to the Jack FM format. I know the Jack FM format may not work well in other markets and this very own Chicago market today. But Hey! Who knows? It may work again. Chicago needs the Jack FM format back that plays all the variety hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and Today's since WLS-FM already seized the Oldies/Classic Hits hole in the market that covers all the songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Why did CBS relaunched WJMK with an Oldies/Classic Hits format again when the market has already been seized by another Oldies station since they dropped their Oldies format for a Jack FM (Adult Hits) format in 2005. They shouldn't flipped to Jack FM the first place, but maybe they did for a good reason and it was good afterall and they should have kept the Jack FM format even if it wasn't performing very well in numbers. The market Oldies/Classic Hits listeners had been taken by WLS-FM.
 
radioman148 said:
WJMK should've never dropped the format in 2005. They gave WLS an opening and they seized it.
Click to expand...

exactly. I couldn't believe when they dropped Jack and "tried" to go back to oldies. Too late. and its true, some people won't care and listen to both stations regardless. But die hard listeners of the original jocks will stick with WLS.

...and now we have two ALT stations, unles of course you don't want to count AM.
 
polenta3 said:
radioman148 said:
WJMK should've never dropped the format in 2005. They gave WLS an opening and they seized it.
Click to expand...

exactly. I couldn't believe when they dropped Jack and "tried" to go back to oldies. Too late. and its true, some people won't care and listen to both stations regardless. But die hard listeners of the original jocks will stick with WLS.

...and now we have two ALT stations, unles of course you don't want to count AM.
Click to expand...

Or an alternative station (WKQX-LP) that's actually a TV station, since 87.7 (actual frequency 87.75) is the audio of channel 6. After 2015, WKQX-LP will either have to be a TV station, or go off the air. They can't continue going around pretending to be a radio station on a TV license after that time. ATSC isn't compatible with analog audio & currently not compatible with HD Radio.
 
haha! That's true. I guess they figure they're going to make more cash in the next three years as ALT vs. smooth AC. My guess is with that signal, they aren't.
 
EnergyDeKalb2 said:
What CBS needed to do with this station is to move it into an mid 80's to mid 90's station with the playlists they had at B96 back then. It would be super creative, the other cookie cutter formats wouldn't be able to compete, they have the morning team from when these listeners had B96, and it would probably undercut Mix and Lite. Chicago doesn't need another moldy oldies station, and they would do very well with that audience. Too bad, CBS missed a golden opportunity.
Click to expand...

Very little music from the 90's works. So far, at best, there's about 100 songs that test well from the entire decade.
 
Great idea on the new Retro 80/90s format of 104.3! Is someone from K(rap)-Hits listening? "Moldy Oldies"... Great description of what they have now.
 
The 60s through 80s playlist is what I'd prefer they use. Adding a bunch of 90s pop songs to the list would turn the station into crap.
 
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