KOLA

[michael hagerty]

I can't fathom why you would think that programming to the specific likes and dislikes of a station's audience would be boring or predictable or monotonous. To a listener, hearing one song they like after another is not "predictable" but enjoyable...

When a regular listener over time figures out that "Low Rider" and "Cisco Kid" are the only songs by WAR that are ever played, then it becomes those three adjectives you mentioned above.

Add "Spill the Wine", "All Day Music", "Slippin' Into Darkness", World is a Ghetto", "Gypsy Man", "Me and Baby Brother", "Why Can't We Be Friends", "Summer" and "Galaxy" and man, you've got yourself one heck of a station!

According to the online log, KRTH has played "Spill The Wine" and "Why Can't We Be Friends" as well as "Low Rider" and "Cisco Kid" in the past two days.

I don't have time to scroll back further, but it wouldn't surprise me if they also played "All Day Music", "Summer" (especially in summer) and "Me and Baby Brother".

"Slippin' Into Darkness" and "The World Is A Ghetto" are both a little dark for the mood Classic Hits usually tries to convey, "Gypsy Man" peaked at #15 and "Galaxy" was their first huge stiff...stalling at #39. The album did even worse...stopping at #48.

 

[michael hagerty]

I can name a few very good sounding stations that do very well in their respective markets...Their playlists clearly more extensive, flexible and more fun to listen to! You'll hear songs on any of these 3 stations that you'd never hear on KRTH!

-KONO/101.1....San Antonio
-KKLZ/96.3......Las Vegas
-KOOL/94.5......Phoenix

These stations blow KRTH's music mix right out of the water!

Research is overrated. Not insignifcant, not worthless, but overrated! It paints Programmers and Corporate suits into a predictable, boring, corporate-sounding box!

GREAT programming still comes in part, from the gut! An instinctual feel for the market, with an instinctual feel for playing the "good stuff". The guys and/or gals programming at the above mentioned, seem to be able to walk the fine line...The result is great sounding, non-stale, successful, fun-to-listen to radio!

Give em all a good listen online and you'll hear the difference!

I wasn't hearing that much of a difference in KONO's music, so I pulled their list from noon to 5 today:

http://www.kono1011.com/lsp/?action...-from_day=0&filter-to_time=17&filter-to_day=0

About the only surprises I see are Barry Manilow's "Mandy", Air Supply's "Every Woman In The World", Gap Band's "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" and A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)". Nice (at least the Gap Band and Flock of Seagulls), but nothing earth-shakingly different from KRTH.

KKLZ's list this afternoon (http://www.quuit.com/Quu/playlist/79) has a few surprises, too (Louis Armstrong...J.J. Jackson...Meat Loaf)...but again, the bones are basically the same.

I can only imagine those songs test well in their markets. These aren't mom and pop seat-of-the-pants operations. KONO is owned by Cox, KKLZ by Beasley (which used to own KRTH).

 

[michael hagerty]

Billboard archives on Google Books are a marvelous resource.

Doing some digging, I find that Bob Hamilton took KRTH back to oldies, dumping currents and playing music from 1955-1980 in the late summer or early fall of 1985. In June of 1986, he moved to KSFO/KYA San Francisco as PD.

Also, the ratings I posted are fall books through 1979, spring books after that (too small to make out on my iPhone last night). So Hamilton gets credit for the boost in numbers in the spring 1986 book (a 3.5 from a 2.5 in spring 1985).

 

[oldies76]

...so help me, if I find out this is one of my friends pulling my leg...

??? ???

 

[oldies76]

Doing some digging, I find that Bob Hamilton took KRTH back to oldies, dumping currents and playing music from 1955-1980 in the late summer or early fall of 1985. In June of 1986, he moved to KSFO/KYA San Francisco as PD.

No question, KRTH was good in the mid 80's....heck I even remember a true request show on Saturday night, that lasted for 4 or 5 hours. As long as the song was in format, it could be requested and aired. The Saturday Night Request Show!!

 

[Thomps2525]

It isn't me! You all know I'm not the leg-puller I used to be.

Mister hagerty, on another message board in January 2011, I posted KRTH's entire 1087-song active playlist, with peak position and year of chart debut shown for each song. Three years later, a lot of those titles are no longer played: Peggy Sue, All I Have To Do Is Dream, Wonderful World (Cooke), Do You Want To Dance (Freeman), Goodnight My Love (Belvin), A Hundred Pounds Of Clay and many others. In 2014, there are around a thousand titles. The list begins with the fifth post at http://xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=88117&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

 

[oldies76]

I posted KRTH's entire 1087-song active playlist, with peak position and year of chart debut shown for each song.

It's almost like KRTH could make a huge A to Z special with those songs!!

 

[oldies76]

About the only surprises I see are Barry Manilow's "Mandy", Air Supply's "Every Woman In The World", Gap Band's "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" and A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)". Nice (at least the Gap Band and Flock of Seagulls), but nothing earth-shakingly different from KRTH.

"I Ran ( So Far Away)" was a big hit in 1982, nice to hear it today. Looks like this station is digging a bit deeper than KRTH.."Lead Me On" is a surprise as well as "Mandy". I'll have to check KONO out more!

 

[davideduardo]

Looks like this station is digging a bit deeper than KRTH.."Lead Me On" is a surprise as well as "Mandy". I'll have to check KONO out more!

Keep in mind that the determining factor at KONO is the fact that the San Antonio market has an Hispanic majority, 80% of whom are English dominant.

While LA is 40% Hispanic, and 50% of Hispanics are Spanish dominant, San Antonio is 50% Hispanic, with only 20% being Spanish dominant. The Hispanic culture has shaped San Antonio for 20 or 30 decades.

 

[davideduardo]

I can name a few very good sounding stations that do very well in their respective markets...Their playlists clearly more extensive, flexible and more fun to listen to! You'll hear songs on any of these 3 stations that you'd never hear on KRTH!

-KONO/101.1....San Antonio
-KKLZ/96.3......Las Vegas
-KOOL/94.5......Phoenix

These stations blow KRTH's music mix right out of the water!

Each of those markets is ethnically and demographically different from LA.

San Antonio is 50% Hispanic, and 80% of Hispanics are Spanish dominant. Nearly 70% of the KONO 25-54 cume is Hispanic.

Las Vegas has different age distributions from LA, and is far less Hispanic than LA or SA. So KKLZ has 70% "Other" cume composition.

Phoenix is another city full of people not born there. KOOL has been an erratic performer in 25-54, dipping as low as 16th in the November book.

What you have proven is that each market does its own research and plays the songs the local listeners want to hear.

 

[michael hagerty]

KOOL has been an erratic performer in 25-54, dipping as low as 16th in the November book.

Which explains the revolving door of PDs there the past few years (4 in 5 years?)...and why CBS went for a big gun in Dave Shakes.

By contrast, Jhani Kaye is coming up on 8 years as PD at KRTH and did 22 at KOST.

 

[oldies76]

Keep in mind that the determining factor at KONO is the fact that the San Antonio market has an Hispanic majority, 80% of whom are English dominant.

Well, been hearing KONO most of this morning and I'm impressed! They are airing some songs that others don't play. "Lost in Love" by Air Supply? "Truly" by Lionel Richie? They also seem to lean more into disco hits as well and some of the softer A/C hits of the late 70's and early 80's, which is also missing from stations, like K-Earth 101 and KOLA.

They seem to be leaning 45-55, since most of what I'm hearing is mid 70's to early 80's.

 

[oldies76]

By the way David, how is it that Houston, Tx (according to the San Antonio/Austin board, KONO thread) does not have a classic hits station, in such a large metropolitan area? Supposedly an AM 860, which might be getting interference from AM850 is the only resourse for oldies in Houston, according to a poster on that thread. Is that the trend for classic hits stations, or is it just an unfortunate situation there.

 

[davideduardo]

leaning 45-55, since most of what I'm hearing is mid 70's to early 80's.

KONO's cume is 70% Hispanic in a market that has been driven by Latin culture and taste for a couple of centuries.

Obviously, the music that tests there is going to be quite a bit different from that of any other city in the US.

 

[davideduardo]

By the way David, how is it that Houston, Tx (according to the San Antonio/Austin board, KONO thread) does not have a classic hits station, in such a large metropolitan area?

A lot of people have asked that question. It's a viable format, but the major operators who have full C signals seem to have successful formats on all of them...