-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
MORE changes in NYC - BIG NEWS Scott Shannon retires soon from CBS-FM
- Thread starter maestromaster
- Start date
OK, I'll bite...So what was/is Scott Shannon's "secret sauce"? From what I've read, aside from the Pirate Radio situation on the west coast, nearly every station he directed, regardless of city or location, turned to gold and shot to the top in the ratings. But what does he know or do that other PD's and MD's have not or could not? I've watched a few interviews of him on YouTube going back to his days at Z100. His interviews are really nothing extraordinary, he doesn't have a "voice of God" or particularly great pipes, and from the time he was on Z100 and had darker hair, a beard and was heavy set until now when he looks quite different, he's mostly always, as some people would say, had a "face for radio".
I don't mean any of those comments to "slam" him or to be derogatory or disrespectful, as the guy is obviously a titan in the radio business and as I mentioned, throughout much of his career, almost every station he touched, turned to gold. So again, what his is "secret sauce" and what is/has he been able to do, that other competing stations and PDs could not?
I don't mean any of those comments to "slam" him or to be derogatory or disrespectful, as the guy is obviously a titan in the radio business and as I mentioned, throughout much of his career, almost every station he touched, turned to gold. So again, what his is "secret sauce" and what is/has he been able to do, that other competing stations and PDs could not?
Tightened playlists to play the "hits," along with fast-paced presentation and lots of promotions.
Having worked with Scott both when I managed a station he was group PD for and also as PD of a station he supervised, I know that that is an over-simplified answer.
Scott was focused on carefully introducing new music and playing the currents in the right rotations, but he was also aware of the need to program the right gold according to the daypart. The playlists were no tighter than comparable stations at any point in time.
But the key was the mood of each jock according to the shift, with a good awareness of who was listening in each one. Contests emphasized the strengths of the station, with a lot focused on the music, the artists and lifestyle event. All that worked because he created a real team spirit within the stations that was comparable to any winning team... it was a feeling that made everyone work together.
He does not.
That's a great start, but it must be an oversimplification. If it was just as easy as tightening playlists and having lots of promotions, every PD and MD would do it and their stations would then become tops in their markets as well. Obviously if Scott went city to city and his stations had big success everywhere he went, and he took Z100 from last to first in such a short time span, topping a few handfuls of stations in the process and continued to stay on top, there had to be more in his "bag of tricks" than just playing only hits with quick presentations and promotions.
You're right, it is. But it's true. Some very talented programmers have a great ear and can cater to an audience, which I think Scott has. It also doesn't hurt, at least in the case of Z-100, that the station went from barely noticed to shooting up to #1 when he took the reins in 1983--the "worst to first" story--when in reality, he introduced an FM Top 40 station to New York, which didn't have a true FM top 40 yet. A similar situation happened two years previous in Providence when WHJY flipped from beautiful music to AOR. They shot up to an 8.8 first book, overtaking the existing AOR-ish WBRU. Yes, New York and Providence are two totally separate markets, but the point I'm trying to make is sometimes, you just hit it at the right time. I think Scott is a great programmer, but I also think he hit the lottery with launching Z-100 at the time he did. If WPLJ went top 40 before Z-100 signed on, things might be a little different.
From what I understand, WPLJ did go Top 40 before Z100 signed on.
They did, as a pre-emptive measure. However, the Z100 product proved to be vastly superior for a number of reasons and it stood little chance competing.
MTNProductions
Banned
After Scott Shanon leaves on December 16th, I’m not going to listen to WCBS-FM anymore. Because the station is starting to go downhill due to an abundant of 80’s music.
I remember back in the day when it was “New York’s Oldies Station” where they played 50’s and 60’s music and the good personalities like Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Cousin Brucie, Dan Ingram, Bob Shannon, Dan Daniel and many more.
I love the oldies a lot better than the current ones, but it’s time for me to switch to oldies. And starting January 2nd, I will be listening to my new favorite, Van Ritchie on WGNY-FM’s “Fox Oldies” where he will be taking over Scott Shannon’s place starting in 2023. JJ Carter, another favorite of mine is returning to WBPM replacing Bob O on “Fox Oldies”, except he will only be heard on Saturdays, not on a daily basis. I was at my new job and they are blasting WBPM and JJ Carter is way better than Bob O. So I decided to give up Bob O’s midday show to go to WBPM with JJ Carter. And then, John Gabriel on WROW’s “Magic 590/100.5” will be doing afternoons replacing Randy Turner at 2PM. We shall see.
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and I get not liking that era of music or whatever, but to say it's going "downhill" due to 80's music is a bewildering statement when you consider how successful it is across a number of demographics. If anything, it has been on the upswing.
I remember back in 1984 and sure CBS-FM was oldies but they did mix in a few new songs here and there. Like a few recent hits by Madonna, Tina Turner and Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire".
I was forced to listen to it because where I worked by liked that they mixed in a few new songs with 50s, 60s, and 70s.
I was forced to listen to it because where I worked by liked that they mixed in a few new songs with 50s, 60s, and 70s.
NYRadioFan22
Banned
And it's not just 80s music, they also have 90s and, dare I say, 2000s!!!!!!!!!!
Your personal music preference not matching up with the station is not indicative of a station going down hill, assuming you agree with the previous post.
NYRadioFan22
Banned
For years I've been wishing for them to become a true oldies station again, playing 50s through the 2000s. Look at Q104.3, they play Classic Rock from the 60s through 2000s as well!!! If they can make it work, CBS FM can too!!!
Nobody who wants to make money in CHR can play 60's and most 70's Top 40 hits. Rock is totally different,
You have mentioned this in another thread and we’ve already been through why that isn’t going to happen.
You say that like it's a recent change. CBS-FM has been mostly '80s for at least five years now, maybe even longer.
MTNProductions
Banned
Next week will be his final show on WCBS-FM. I recorded plenty of Scott Shannon during his final month when he was on WCBS-FM starting from December 1st until now through December 16th which would be his last show. What’s going to happen when Scott Shannon leaves, I am done with WCBS-FM. Starting next week, I will start a new thread called “I Am Officially Done With WCBS-FM” and I will discuss about the station, the personalities that we all know from the 50 years including Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Bill Brown, Bob Shannon, Bobby Jay, Don K Reed, Cousin Brucie, Dan Taylor, Dan Daniel, Max Kinkel, Mike Fitzgerald and more, right up to Scott Shannon, and how did the music on the station has changed during the last 50 years from the “Golden 101” as an oldies station to the “Greatest Hits” station including too much 80’s and 90’s with the exception of mostly from the 2000’s, and where did all of the longtime fans including myself would be going next. We will find out next week when Scott Shannon doing his final show on WCBS-FM.
I got 6 airchecks of Scott Shannon so far, I will record 6 more shows left including the final “Weekend Blast-Off” segment, and the final 5 shows featuring my favorite morning person, Scott Shannon. I am a fan of his show, and I have so many airchecks of Scott from his days at Z100, WPLJ and WCBS-FM. I will look forward to record six more morning shows starting tomorrow and the last 5 morning shows that I will be recording starting on Monday. I will be posting links to Scott Shannon’s morning show later on.
I got 6 airchecks of Scott Shannon so far, I will record 6 more shows left including the final “Weekend Blast-Off” segment, and the final 5 shows featuring my favorite morning person, Scott Shannon. I am a fan of his show, and I have so many airchecks of Scott from his days at Z100, WPLJ and WCBS-FM. I will look forward to record six more morning shows starting tomorrow and the last 5 morning shows that I will be recording starting on Monday. I will be posting links to Scott Shannon’s morning show later on.
- Status