I spin music in a restaurant on Fridays and many of the 'regulars' are 45 - 60 years old. They react favorably to Bruno Mars, Maroon 5 etc. so no surprise a Coldplay song would be played. Perhaps, John Sebastian is programming a modern day Music Of Your Life format lol.
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KOAI Flips to The Wow Factor
- Thread starter johndavis
- Start date
If you are targeting 55+, then it makes sense to test a broad library against that group.
Testing against 55+ has likely never been done for terrestrial radio, so it is impossible that the songs are "tested to death". To the contrary, they have not ever been tested against current 55+ persons in today's concept.
It does not matter how a song has tested against a different group or at a different time.
With national business down, a station with big 55+ numbers just might get on local agency buys and also would be first in line for local direct accounts.
And everything is new about this playlist: it is put together for the first time in this fashion for a senior audience in a top 20 (and almost, now, top 10) market.
That would be a "New or Current" song on the Wow Factor. People have heard ALL of the music that is on this playlist.
Either on the Radio, at a wedding or party, supermarket, etc... It's not NEW as David stated. The same stuff is available via Spotify, Alexa, You Tube, etc...
So what? The purpose isn't to offer songs not played anywhere. Radio isn't in the music creation business. It has to play licensed music. The songs aren't what's different. It's the PRESENTATION. It's a specific curated list made for this platform.
I did not say the music itself was new. I said that the blend and concept are new for this target audience. It's about the curation process, about the songs that you play and how you play them, and just as much about the songs you do not play.
Sean Ross has done his analysis of this station. He admits that he hasn't able to actually hear the presentation, and his opinions are based on the song list on the website.
https://radioinsight.com/ross/180841/first-listen-koai-the-wow-factor-phoenix/
https://radioinsight.com/ross/180841/first-listen-koai-the-wow-factor-phoenix/
It seems to have been selectively geofenced. Houston can listen in, Hartford can't, and apparently neither can Ross, wherever he is. Surprised he doesn't have a contact in Phoenix who could send him an aircheck or maybe find an online radio receiver in the Phoenix area and listen that way. I've checked GlobalTuners.com, and the closest active receiver there is in Tucson.
All the stations on Towers Mtn come in cleanly in much of Prescott. The South Mtn
stations are very weak and suffer from multipath. Only a few stations have translators
that block reception from Phoenix but more seem to show up as time goes by....
Maybe Houston was not geoblocked to let Mike Cutchall listen.
Just came across another re-record in the Wow Factor's library: "Fool If You Think It's Over" by Chris Rea. Honestly, it's hard to find the original version of this song anywhere (even though I believe they played it when it was Soft AC "Oasis") without making a "needle-drop" recording of it.
Since I was geoblocked from the stream, I just drove 400 miles to listen. (OK, not really, but I did just drive to Phoenix.)
On the plus side, the 95.1 signal starts coming in clearly about 100-125 miles northwest of the metro, as soon as the station from "se-LIG-man" fades out. (Who knew?)
On the minus side, I was remarkably unimpressed with the presentation. It just seems like Jack with a lot more '60s and early '70s in the mix, right down to the Announcer With Attitude.
And on the big minus side, although I might be somewhat in the target demo (I'll never admit it), listening to all those ads for term life insurance and similar things really did not make me feel "excited" or "happy" (or "wow") about listening to the station.
Music radio is supposed to be about optimism, but everything about the presentation suggested "looking back," "story of your life," "your musical history," and so on ... all things that kept reminding me the end is nearer than I care to consider.
I'm surprised that this new format has launched with, apparently, so little effort put into it. When the great formats of the past hit the air, it was almost always a BIG DEAL. Now it's just John Sebastian and his freaky iPod on shuffle. Maybe they'll grow into it, and I'll check back from time to time, but it all seems so ... bland.
(ETA, side note: As I got closer to Phoenix, I switched between 95.1 and 94.9. It seems as if the signal on 95.1 might be getting more post-processing than the one on 94.9, making it seem just a tad bit more lively. Or perhaps it's just where I happened to be at the time.)
On the plus side, the 95.1 signal starts coming in clearly about 100-125 miles northwest of the metro, as soon as the station from "se-LIG-man" fades out. (Who knew?)
On the minus side, I was remarkably unimpressed with the presentation. It just seems like Jack with a lot more '60s and early '70s in the mix, right down to the Announcer With Attitude.
And on the big minus side, although I might be somewhat in the target demo (I'll never admit it), listening to all those ads for term life insurance and similar things really did not make me feel "excited" or "happy" (or "wow") about listening to the station.
Music radio is supposed to be about optimism, but everything about the presentation suggested "looking back," "story of your life," "your musical history," and so on ... all things that kept reminding me the end is nearer than I care to consider.
I'm surprised that this new format has launched with, apparently, so little effort put into it. When the great formats of the past hit the air, it was almost always a BIG DEAL. Now it's just John Sebastian and his freaky iPod on shuffle. Maybe they'll grow into it, and I'll check back from time to time, but it all seems so ... bland.
(ETA, side note: As I got closer to Phoenix, I switched between 95.1 and 94.9. It seems as if the signal on 95.1 might be getting more post-processing than the one on 94.9, making it seem just a tad bit more lively. Or perhaps it's just where I happened to be at the time.)
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Exactly. This is the part of appealing to boomers that the boomers don't understand. There is a stark contrast between the music and the advertisers, and that's just how it is. When these songs were new, the stations were appealing to 18-34, and the advertising was aimed at that demo. Now they're aiming at 55+, and the main advertisers for that demo are insurance companies, drug companies, financial services, and My Pillow. Lots of 1-800numbers. The ads are longer because it takes more time to explain the products. Lots of fast-talking disclaimers. Unless the station hires a lot of local sellers and pounds the pavement for local money, they'll continue to run the depressing national spots. They're probably hoping for big audience numbers before they do that. So it may improve in a few months. In the meantime, get used to the phrase "use only as directed."
94.9 is a 250 watt translator, so unless you're right in its pattern your car radio is going to blend to mono and make it sound pretty dead.
I'm really surprised the station didn't sign on with an airstaff. The Oasis had some good jocks, but they seem to be relegated to reading traffic reports right now.
As someone who used to keep the needles moving at KOY when it targeted a 55+ audience, there is a lot of direct money to be found for that audience in Phoenix. It's there for the taking, and they'll pay more than remnant rates.
I gotta say, as probably one of the few people to notice there was no "W" on the radio station news bulletin in the opening sequence of the movie "Joker," this would be the first pre-set I have added in a long time. I'd have no problem whatsoever with other local stations (**cough,cough** 93.3 **cough,cough**) taking this approach - like a hodgepodge of 80's-era KZZP mixed with present-day KSLX and pre-flip KDKB. Smart move - props to John Sebastian.
According to Pat Downey's music forum, the following CD's have the original version:
(S) (4:46) Mystic Music/Warner Special Products 3523 Good Times (LP version)
(S) (3:32) Eric 11514 Hard To Find 45s On CD Vol. 8: Seventies Pop Classics (45 version)
(S) (3:32) Time-Life 21232 Classic Soft Rock - The Air That I Breathe (45 version)
(S) (3:32) Time-Life 31980 Classic Soft Rock (Box Set) (45 version)
(S) (3:31) Time-Life 24013 Romancing The 70s (Box Set) (45 version)
(S) (3:31) Time-Life 24010 Romancing The 70s - Precious And Few (45 version)
(S) (3:32) Star Vista 30250-D The Best Of Soft Rock - The Air That I Breathe (45 version)
(S) (3:32) Star Vista 30262-D The Best Of Soft Rock (Box Set) (45 version)
(S) (4:45) Culture Factory 1034 Whatever Happened To Benny Santini? (LP version)
It's also available on TM GoldDisc 208N. So, you're right, unless you can locate a copy of one of the above CD's, only a re-recording is available.
I would have thought veteran radio programmers would be so detailed into getting the product right. It's time for Sebastian to swap the re-records for the original versions.
Someone mentioned "dorks who hang out on a radio board" like us, who obsess over obscure stations, illegal nighttime power, translator minutiae, call letters and other stuff the Average Joe is generally ignorant of. There are many more of "them" than there are of "us."
Could the same be true of people who can tell whether the recording of a 41-year-old song they hear on the radio is original or not? Discussion here of dying format elements like '60s/'70s oldies seems to attract a large number of, for lack of a better term, oldies dorks -- amateur musicologists who double as radio dorks. Those people can instantly tell the 1978 "Fool" from the re-recorded "Fool." But how many of KOAI's non-radio dork listeners will notice anything amiss, or complain loudly even if they do realize that the original isn't being played? I'd wager that the number would amaze and disappoint many of our regular posters.
Another thing to remember: To the average listener, John Sebastian isn't famous -- well, not the radio programmer; a decent percentage might associate the name with "Welcome Back" or the Lovin' Spoonful. So our outrage that a "veteran radio programmer" would be so slipshod in acquiring music for his format brainchild is shared by exactly zero people who don't frequent radio boards or work in radio.
Bottom line: Don't look for the re-recorded songs in the library to go anywhere. There's nothing in it for the station or the format's guiding light. KOAI won't lose significant listenership if some of the songs it plays aren't the originals, and making an effort to play only the originals will gain the station no new listeners, just win back the handful of radio/oldies dorks who jumped ship after the first few bars of latter-day Chris Rea.
Prior to spending over 20 years in the radio business, the only John Sebastian I knew of was in a band called Lovin' Spoonful and sang a song about a fictitious teacher, lol.
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