I agree that the Star is quite different. I should have been more specific.
The morning shows, well, that's no contest. Bill and Amanda are far more reserved for the most part, whereas Ken and Kitty seem to have a lot more energy (and fun). On any given morning, you can tune in to Ken and Kitty and listen to them go at each other. Some people like that, some don't.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it? Why am I telling my listener to do that? There's also a bit that runs saying "right now we're gonna play a little Xbox 360" followed by several seconds of electronic noises. What does that have to do with a 25-50 female (their demo)? If anything, Star's target listener has a boyfriend or husband that probably plays too many games, so why remind them of it? My point here is, hip and young is great but it also needs to appeal to the target listener or it's not good use of air time.
I wasn't suggesting verbal bashing for the on-air effort. You don't have to bash the competition to talk yourself up, and in fact I think that's usually a bad idea. People don't like pissing matches. I think we agree that the "different" part is already there, so why not play up those strengths? Taking a page from the recently departed Mojo, here's a suggestion: "You know that feeling you get when you find twenty bucks in your pocket? Listen to the Star and you'll feel like that all day long." Strong, non-destructive imaging and positioning is part of the execution.
