Mike Is Tightening His Belt

[TJMPRO]

Just a comment on MIKE-FM.

I've noticed as of late the lack of depth in Mike's play list. When they first signed on the play list was deep and I was impressed, even listened longer than I thought I would.. Shortly after the flip from Star you heard more funk, disco, and even some bizarre 80's songs that you only heard on 80's specialty nights on other stations (lost 45's ect).

I decided to take a look at Mike's play list over the past week (through Mediabase) and was disappointed to learn that there are only about 600-700 songs in rotation AND Mike's play list was almost song for song what KCBS (JACK-FM) in Los Angeles plays.

Mike is sounding more like a watered down classic hits/AC station than a true Variety Hits Station. They have done away with any reference to "Your Ipod on Shuffle" slogan. I think Mix does a better job on their "Whatever Weekends" than MIKE does on a full time basis.

One seriously has to wonder if in a year.... Will MIKE-FM still be around?

 

[Jacko]

I've noticed this too, but keep in mind, most radio listeners don't listen to any particular radio station for extended amounts of time. A lot of people don't notice the repitition like we seem to.

Jacko<P ID="signature">______________
I live for my dream,
And a pocket full of gold.
</P>

 

[Eli Polonsky]

> One seriously has to wonder if in a year.... Will MIKE-FM
> still be around?

I guess it all depends on whether the ratings go up, or go down (especially after tweaking and tightening the playlist).

Mike, Jack, etc... could be a flash-in-the-pan, or it could be, as a friend of mine put it, the oldies station for the younger generation.

 

[neanderpol]

I never get the "IPOD" reference.

>> They have done away with any reference to "Your Ipod on Shuffle" slogan.

This is one of the worst ideas ever.

WHY would you let the audience know that there's an even better alternative to your radio station? I have an ATRAC music player. 4600 songs in it. No imaging. No commercials. 100% digital content. And I have 100% control of what gets played. Radio can not give me any of those things. Ever. No matter what station, or how widely programmed it is. I hit "shuffle", and am suprised with every song that follows. Everything from James Brown, to Porcupine Tree. It's true variety.

So, referencing any other music source that's potentially superior to radio is a shot in the head IMHO.

Oh...and let's not give Apple the free advertising. Why mention a product that I can go purchase? Is that not free advertising? How much is a sponsorship worth? So, not only are we as an industry telling people that we're "almost as good as having your own personal jukebox", we're losing revenue by telling people what product will eventually make us obsolete.

Silly. Just bad.

 

[DBCooper]

Re: I never get the "IPOD" reference.

> we're losing revenue by telling people what
> product will eventually make us obsolete.
>
> Silly. Just bad.
>


Gah. Here's a spot I had to read during a live traffic report. Talk about Irony:

GET GREAT DEALS ON SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO AT RADIO SHACK. ENJOY 100% COMMERCIAL-FREE MUSIC-EVERY GENRE,UNLIMITED CHOICE, COAST TO COAST. SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO, AT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD RADIO SHACK.<P ID="signature">______________
Formula for success:
Rise early, work hard, strike oil.
--J. Paul Getty</P>

 

[raccoonradio]

> Just a comment on MIKE-FM.

We play everything, HAH.
Yes, I also noticed the moving away from the Star sound but doesn't
Entercom offer the old Star mix as a streamcast online? So they figure
people can get it there.

> there are only about 600-700 songs in rotation AND Mike's
> play list was almost song for song what KCBS (JACK-FM) in
> Los Angeles plays.

I thought it was supposed to be 1,000 or 2,000 song rotation...


> One seriously has to wonder if in a year.... Will MIKE-FM
> still be around?

If ratings don't hold, tune in to Mike Adams, weeknights on
Sports Radio 93.7 FM.<P ID="signature">______________
I am the REAL raccoonradio (2 c's). Accept
no substitutes!</P>

 

[raccoonradio]

Re: I never get the "IPOD" reference.

No imaging. No commercials.
> 100% digital content. And I have 100% control of what gets
> played.

I think people are buying a lot of those "mini FM transmitters" so they can
play their Ipods/mp3 players in their cars. I bought one too, but for a different purpose. I don't have one of those digital players, but at work I use the
FM trans. to hear
stations doing the baseball playoffs (no more WEEI now that the Sox are
gone)--WAMG, WCBS, WBAL, etc. I attach it to a mini-boombox and it relays the
signal to me listening on a Walkman (tuned to the given freq) in the mail
sorting area.

But most people will do the same--hook up the mini FM trans. and play Ipods that way in their cars. (Or let's say you have a CD player in your car but not
cass. You bring a Walkman along and beam the signal from that to your
car stereo)

 

[Oldbones]

> I've noticed this too, but keep in mind, most radio
> listeners don't listen to any particular radio station for
> extended amounts of time. A lot of people don't notice the
> repitition like we seem to.
>

Indeed, by focusing the station as a mostly 80s/90s gold (with a few 70s and current/recurrent hits thrown in) they are probably making the station <u>more</u> attractive than they ever could have by playing "Harper Valley PTA" into "Welcome To The Jungle". Very few peoples' tastes are that broad.

 

[neanderpol]

Re: I never get the "IPOD" reference.

> Gah. Here's a spot I had to read during a live traffic
> report. Talk about Irony:
>
> GET GREAT DEALS ON SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO AT RADIO SHACK.
> ENJOY 100% COMMERCIAL-FREE MUSIC-EVERY GENRE,UNLIMITED
> CHOICE, COAST TO COAST. SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO, AT YOUR
> NEIGHBORHOOD RADIO SHACK.
>

Our company doesn't take that revenue.

If it's contained in barter spots, we omit any reference to the thing we don't acknowledge.

 

[UncleAL]

Mike Is Like your iPod

> Just a comment on MIKE-FM.
>
> I've noticed as of late the lack of depth in Mike's play
> list. When they first signed on the play list was deep and I
> was impressed, even listened longer than I thought I would..

I listened to Mike early on. Unlike my iPod I couldn't hit the SKIP button, so I changed stations. They played a few great cuts that I had not heard for awhile. Then they would segue to something I couldn't stand hearing. I was punching away from Mike too often to make it worthwhile to even punch it in.

The iPod slogan made me laugh. Sure it takes time and often money to program and load your iPod. Mike was trying to say that Mike did all the work for you, it's your iPod on the air. Just without the songs YOU (buy and) load on YOUR iPOD. Plus, many people have different types of music depending on their mood (almost like dayparting).

I imagine their own research was showing that their playlist was a bit too wide and varied. Just a thought.

Jockless radio. Remember ARKO the friendly robot?

 

[chitchatjf]

> > I've noticed this too, but keep in mind, most radio
> > listeners don't listen to any particular radio station for
>
> > extended amounts of time. A lot of people don't notice
> the
> > repitition like we seem to.
> >
>
> Indeed, by focusing the station as a mostly 80s/90s gold
> (with a few 70s and current/recurrent hits thrown in) they
> are probably making the station more attractive than they
> ever could have by playing "Harper Valley PTA" into "Welcome
> To The Jungle". Very few peoples' tastes are that broad.
>

"Harper Valley PTA" into "Welcome To The Jungle".

THAT is what I want!

Live up to the trademark "We play EVERYTHING!"