Overused Cliches in Commercials

[firecop947]

Allen, You are right on target man! I've been the OM/PD who had to "play follow the leader" hell, I needed a job! I do however think that songs that are researched and test well will give you a starting point. Most listeners are button pushers, we need to keep them for as long as we can. I really enjoy this board and the thoughts that keep coming.

You are right... I don't think it was made to be a "bitching and insult" board. :-X

Keep the creativity flowing!

Kris

 

[quadraphonic]

SAD? BLOATED? IRRITABLE? TIRED OF RUNNING THE RAT RACE TRYING TO CLAW YOUR FRIENDS' EYES OUT ON THE INTERNET?
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS GET UP ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND TAKE A TRIP TO BRITNEY'S!
FOR THE BEST IN EXOTIC DANCING!
COME TO BRITNEY'S, AND MAKE IT RAIN!
ATM ON PREMISES 8)

 

[ZAX Double J]

If you have whatever bodily function syndrome/disease then you need.....

The symptoms are worseer than the thing they're trying to get rid of or control.

 

[quadraphonic]

WANTED
DANCING HUNKS FOR NEWD MALE REVUE
Apply 2-4pm BRITNEY'S II
NEAR THE WATERFRONT. ASK FOR LAZY EYE.
Or just look for her.
Former air shifters encouraged to apply​

 

[XTalker]

How about a 10 minute request guarantee.With a 5,000 song library and a 10 minute request guarantee.Do the other stations do that for you??? How about featured artist,years...Today in music history.On this day in music etc....
Nobody is doing these things.Its been so long since they have been done what's old becomes new again...

Allen

Allen is right - don't play follow the leader - be innovative and do fun things with your radio station.

However, variety does not mean more songs - playing the right songs is what is most important. I agree you can have a larger library that most have today, but you have to be very careful to include songs that are 1) familiar, 2) popular with the core audience, and 3) fit the overall mood of the station.

I suspect the "Ten Minute Request Guarantee" with a 5000 song library would attract some decent cume, but the TSL would be low.

Back in the 70s, I was PD of a do-it-yourself, automated, beautiful music station. We started getting complaints about playing the same songs over and over. We even had complaints of playing the same song every day at the same time. The library had about 1500 titles and I knew it wasn't true - but we added more titles just to be sure.

Guess what? The complaints increased! I finally figured it out - more was not necessarily better! After further investigation (and talking to listeners who complained) we determined the problem was unfamiliar songs - not too few. We had been adding some unfamiliar titles by the same artists in order to build the library. People didn't recognize the song - and so they felt it was the same song over and over.

So, we reduced the library to only titles that had been hits - about 1000 titles - and the complaints came to a screeching halt!

The lesson learned was be careful how you react to the repetition complaint and listen to your listeners!

 

[w00t]

^ And ten more pages shall ensue

 

[allenv]

only 5 more woot ;D.....I agree.. but fimiliar is such a broad term...Play the core songs yeah...
But everyone's core songs seem to be the same.Again the musical memory of the listener is
usually very diverse.My point again is everyone is wearing a red shirt....someone needs to wear a purple or green one too....

Allen

 

[allenv]

The term hit is very broad too..

Allen

 

[quadraphonic]

WELL IF YOU WANT TO HIT A BROAD, DON'T DO IT AT BRITNEY'S!
JUST MAKE IT RAIN AT BRITNEY'S!
YOU CAN WEAR YOUR PURPLE SHIRT, OR YOUR GREEN SHIRT, OR EVEN YOUR STATIONWEAR.
OPEN 4AM DAILY! WE GOT THE BEST BREAKFAST BAR THIS SIDE OF SHELBYVILLE!
CORNER OF THE MAIN HIGHWAY AND THE ROAD TO NOWHERE!
LOOK FOR THE DARKNESS AT THE EDGE OF TOWN, YOU'LL SEE THE NEON SIGN RIGHT THERE.

BTW, BRITNEY'S II, STILL TAKING APPLICATIONS! Daily 2-4pm.​

 

[VODood]

Surf,
I simply don't agree with some of what you said.Tight playlist are about 80% of what's wrong with radio today.I'm also a little sick of the insults and you can kiss
my Joey Scarbury ass.10 bucks says you couldn't hold my jock or some others on the board when it comes to music so you go back to playing follow the leader and quit being a jerk.If you wanna be in the disscussion great but this is the fourth or fifth time you've taken a poke at me and others and it needs to stop.I have no qualms with you personally but enough is enough...

Allen

Surf has some programming cred. I know who he is. Believe me he does. And he's right, tighter playlists increase cume. It's an unmistakeable fact. Sad but true. But, especially with library formats, those tight lists burn quickly since the music is so old and not rotating in new tunes every week like CHR or even country. Therefore the art of the library massage is all so important. As are theme weekends to re-brand the Fried 350 your playing. Same for countdowns and features. More contemporary formats even do theme weekends and countdowns (AT40).

Tight playlists go back to the dawn of Top 40. That's why it's called Top 40. The same 40 songs every 2 hours. It works (again, sad but true).

 

[ZAX Double J]

Surf,
I simply don't agree with some of what you said.Tight playlist are about 80% of what's wrong with radio today.I'm also a little sick of the insults and you can kiss
my Joey Scarbury ass.10 bucks says you couldn't hold my jock or some others on the board when it comes to music so you go back to playing follow the leader and quit being a jerk.If you wanna be in the disscussion great but this is the fourth or fifth time you've taken a poke at me and others and it needs to stop.I have no qualms with you personally but enough is enough...

Allen

Surf has some programming cred. I know who he is. Believe me he does. And he's right, tighter playlists increase cume. It's an unmistakeable fact. Sad but true. But, especially with library formats, those tight lists burn quickly since the music is so old and not rotating in new tunes every week like CHR or even country. Therefore the art of the library massage is all so important. As are theme weekends to re-brand the Fried 350 your playing. Same for countdowns and features. More contemporary formats even do theme weekends and countdowns (AT40).

Tight playlists go back to the dawn of Top 40. That's why it's called Top 40. The same 40 songs every 2 hours. It works (again, sad but true).

However not ALL of the 40 are being played on these "legacy" formats today that's the point. It's always the same top 10 or 15 songs. I've never quite understood cume, but as I said before the ratings system is too antequated for today's listener. You can't put a turbocharged super V-8 engine in a Pinto and call it new. It's still a Pinto no matter what you do same goes for the ratings. Just because you may emply new technology to the old techniques doesn't make it new or better. Believe it or not just because a song only made it to number 40 for say one week, people will remember it becuase that same song may have been a huge regional hit that got some national exposure somewhere. My point is if you just took the top 100 songs from each year from 1970-1989 you'd have 1900 songs to choose from, now figure in all the songs that didn't make it to the year end countown that were on the charts during the year that at least another 500 to the list that's now 2400 songs that you could have to rotate with. Now you have your same 300 that we all know WILL play as your tight playlist that still gives you 2100 songs that you can roatate. I should think that you CAN keep a legacy format fresh with 2100 songs! However even on Top 40 stations they rarely played the whole 40 every two hours they physically CAN'T do that that's why AT 40 was a 4 hour show. About 10 songs is all you really can play an hour maybe 12 if you're lucky and you have 24 hours to play so that gives you 288 you can REALISTICALLY play in one DAY. Now going by everyone's 300 song play list it rotates every day so, you hear the same songs every day, but having 2100 different songs to choose from this would greatly freshen up that rotation.

 

[quadraphonic]

YOU WANT CUME! COME TO BRITNEY'S!
WE CRANK OUT THE HITS!
OUR 3000-SONG PLAYLIST IS SURE TO PLEASE
EVEN THE MOST DISCRIMINATING TASTE!

Air talent in station gear get in for half-price. Britney's may cause itching and redness at the injection site. Consult your doctor if your playlist lasts over four hours, as severe enjoyment may occur. Some customers have reported other side effects. As always, ask your doctor.​

 

[allenv]

One of my favorite things to hear is a commercials that plays on June 16th with the phrase
"Its a brand new year at(insert business name).Somebody's got slackass disease..

Allen

 

[VODood]

Surf,
I simply don't agree with some of what you said.Tight playlist are about 80% of what's wrong with radio today.I'm also a little sick of the insults and you can kiss
my Joey Scarbury ass.10 bucks says you couldn't hold my jock or some others on the board when it comes to music so you go back to playing follow the leader and quit being a jerk.If you wanna be in the disscussion great but this is the fourth or fifth time you've taken a poke at me and others and it needs to stop.I have no qualms with you personally but enough is enough...

Allen

Surf has some programming cred. I know who he is. Believe me he does. And he's right, tighter playlists increase cume. It's an unmistakeable fact. Sad but true. But, especially with library formats, those tight lists burn quickly since the music is so old and not rotating in new tunes every week like CHR or even country. Therefore the art of the library massage is all so important. As are theme weekends to re-brand the Fried 350 your playing. Same for countdowns and features. More contemporary formats even do theme weekends and countdowns (AT40).

Tight playlists go back to the dawn of Top 40. That's why it's called Top 40. The same 40 songs every 2 hours. It works (again, sad but true).

However not ALL of the 40 are being played on these "legacy" formats today that's the point. It's always the same top 10 or 15 songs. I've never quite understood cume, but as I said before the ratings system is too antequated for today's listener. You can't put a turbocharged super V-8 engine in a Pinto and call it new. It's still a Pinto no matter what you do same goes for the ratings. Just because you may emply new technology to the old techniques doesn't make it new or better. Believe it or not just because a song only made it to number 40 for say one week, people will remember it becuase that same song may have been a huge regional hit that got some national exposure somewhere. My point is if you just took the top 100 songs from each year from 1970-1989 you'd have 1900 songs to choose from, now figure in all the songs that didn't make it to the year end countown that were on the charts during the year that at least another 500 to the list that's now 2400 songs that you could have to rotate with. Now you have your same 300 that we all know WILL play as your tight playlist that still gives you 2100 songs that you can roatate. I should think that you CAN keep a legacy format fresh with 2100 songs! However even on Top 40 stations they rarely played the whole 40 every two hours they physically CAN'T do that that's why AT 40 was a 4 hour show. About 10 songs is all you really can play an hour maybe 12 if you're lucky and you have 24 hours to play so that gives you 288 you can REALISTICALLY play in one DAY. Now going by everyone's 300 song play list it rotates every day so, you hear the same songs every day, but having 2100 different songs to choose from this would greatly freshen up that rotation.

Cume, simply put, is the number of people coming to the party at any one time, stick his/her head in the door to see what is going on (familiar song) and then decides whether to stay or go. TSL is the total number of party goers that hang around longer than the "passers by".

How's this one for imaging..

T - Type
S - Style
L - Length

Great way to write, produce and schedule your station's imaging. Imaging should be scheduled and rotated like a song, and placed on a clock(s) accordingly. Clock hour to hour should be diverse to keep imaging fresh and unpredictable, ie never at :05 every hour is a shotgun sweep played, even if it's produced differently. One hour schedule a shotgun at 05, the next hour make it an image promo or AM show sweep. Rotate them around the clocks like songs to keep it unpredictable...prevents staleness.

 

[allenv]

That's a great explanation Chuck..You are a pretty sharp dude.

Allen

 

[12 In a Row]

Surf,
I simply don't agree with some of what you said.Tight playlist are about 80% of what's wrong with radio today.I'm also a little sick of the insults and you can kiss
my Joey Scarbury ass.10 bucks says you couldn't hold my jock or some others on the board when it comes to music so you go back to playing follow the leader and quit being a jerk.If you wanna be in the disscussion great but this is the fourth or fifth time you've taken a poke at me and others and it needs to stop.I have no qualms with you personally but enough is enough...

Allen

Surf has some programming cred. I know who he is. Believe me he does. And he's right, tighter playlists increase cume. It's an unmistakeable fact. Sad but true. But, especially with library formats, those tight lists burn quickly since the music is so old and not rotating in new tunes every week like CHR or even country. Therefore the art of the library massage is all so important. As are theme weekends to re-brand the Fried 350 your playing. Same for countdowns and features. More contemporary formats even do theme weekends and countdowns (AT40).

Tight playlists go back to the dawn of Top 40. That's why it's called Top 40. The same 40 songs every 2 hours. It works (again, sad but true).

However not ALL of the 40 are being played on these "legacy" formats today that's the point. It's always the same top 10 or 15 songs. I've never quite understood cume, but as I said before the ratings system is too antequated for today's listener. You can't put a turbocharged super V-8 engine in a Pinto and call it new. It's still a Pinto no matter what you do same goes for the ratings. Just because you may emply new technology to the old techniques doesn't make it new or better. Believe it or not just because a song only made it to number 40 for say one week, people will remember it becuase that same song may have been a huge regional hit that got some national exposure somewhere. My point is if you just took the top 100 songs from each year from 1970-1989 you'd have 1900 songs to choose from, now figure in all the songs that didn't make it to the year end countown that were on the charts during the year that at least another 500 to the list that's now 2400 songs that you could have to rotate with. Now you have your same 300 that we all know WILL play as your tight playlist that still gives you 2100 songs that you can roatate. I should think that you CAN keep a legacy format fresh with 2100 songs! However even on Top 40 stations they rarely played the whole 40 every two hours they physically CAN'T do that that's why AT 40 was a 4 hour show. About 10 songs is all you really can play an hour maybe 12 if you're lucky and you have 24 hours to play so that gives you 288 you can REALISTICALLY play in one DAY. Now going by everyone's 300 song play list it rotates every day so, you hear the same songs every day, but having 2100 different songs to choose from this would greatly freshen up that rotation.

Yikes, no offense but this is a receipe for disaster.
Us radio geeks THINK the listeners want 2,100 songs, because we're tired of playing the same songs over and over again.

This formula has been tried many many times before.
Each and every time, it was a monumental failure.

Radio and it's assorted formats are a "feel", just like a restaurant.
I feel like Top 40.
I feel like Country.
I feel like Rock N Roll.
I feel like Classical.

I feel like a burger.
I feel like a steak.
I feel like chicken.
I feel like something upscale.

If they tune in or drive-thru, they EXPECT Top 40 hits, Country, Rock, Classical, Burgers, Steak, Chicken, upscale.
You best be serving up what they feel like, otherwise they're gone.

Back in the AM Top 40 hey days, power songs-The Top 7 to 9 songs were played every 2.5 hours.
In AM and PM drive, they rotated every 90 minutes.

As soon as a station PD/MD increased the playlist, the numbers went downdowndown.
As soon as they tighened the list, the numbers went back up again.

I stopped over thinking years ago. Just play the hits and win.

BTW, marketing and selling ice cream has been around since 1851.

Top 3 best selling brands 154 years later?
They are still in 2008

3-Strawberry
2.Chocolate
1.You guessed it---------Vanilla

154 years later and they still want whats good, and comfortable.
Apply this to radio, play the hits and win.

When I get tired of playing the hits, I turn down the monitor.

 

[w00t]

To be fair I would like to stop and point out for a second that surfdude was also the PD of one of Raleigh's worst stations ever, "Star 96.9 and 102.9" pre-70s format. Back when it went from an 80s format to "All #1's this week!" to pretty much everything else you can imagine.

Methinks he knows from experience that a station with no format is destined to fail. That one ended up 94,000 watts smaller than it began and en Espanol.

That said, (I think) he's now PD of Y102.9/.3. Great station but limited coverage drags it down quite a bit.

 

[ZAX Double J]

Surf,
I simply don't agree with some of what you said.Tight playlist are about 80% of what's wrong with radio today.I'm also a little sick of the insults and you can kiss
my Joey Scarbury ass.10 bucks says you couldn't hold my jock or some others on the board when it comes to music so you go back to playing follow the leader and quit being a jerk.If you wanna be in the disscussion great but this is the fourth or fifth time you've taken a poke at me and others and it needs to stop.I have no qualms with you personally but enough is enough...

Allen

Surf has some programming cred. I know who he is. Believe me he does. And he's right, tighter playlists increase cume. It's an unmistakeable fact. Sad but true. But, especially with library formats, those tight lists burn quickly since the music is so old and not rotating in new tunes every week like CHR or even country. Therefore the art of the library massage is all so important. As are theme weekends to re-brand the Fried 350 your playing. Same for countdowns and features. More contemporary formats even do theme weekends and countdowns (AT40).

Tight playlists go back to the dawn of Top 40. That's why it's called Top 40. The same 40 songs every 2 hours. It works (again, sad but true).

However not ALL of the 40 are being played on these "legacy" formats today that's the point. It's always the same top 10 or 15 songs. I've never quite understood cume, but as I said before the ratings system is too antequated for today's listener. You can't put a turbocharged super V-8 engine in a Pinto and call it new. It's still a Pinto no matter what you do same goes for the ratings. Just because you may emply new technology to the old techniques doesn't make it new or better. Believe it or not just because a song only made it to number 40 for say one week, people will remember it becuase that same song may have been a huge regional hit that got some national exposure somewhere. My point is if you just took the top 100 songs from each year from 1970-1989 you'd have 1900 songs to choose from, now figure in all the songs that didn't make it to the year end countown that were on the charts during the year that at least another 500 to the list that's now 2400 songs that you could have to rotate with. Now you have your same 300 that we all know WILL play as your tight playlist that still gives you 2100 songs that you can roatate. I should think that you CAN keep a legacy format fresh with 2100 songs! However even on Top 40 stations they rarely played the whole 40 every two hours they physically CAN'T do that that's why AT 40 was a 4 hour show. About 10 songs is all you really can play an hour maybe 12 if you're lucky and you have 24 hours to play so that gives you 288 you can REALISTICALLY play in one DAY. Now going by everyone's 300 song play list it rotates every day so, you hear the same songs every day, but having 2100 different songs to choose from this would greatly freshen up that rotation.

Yikes, no offense but this is a receipe for disaster.
Us radio geeks THINK the listeners want 2,100 songs, because we're tired of playing the same songs over and over again.

This formula has been tried many many times before.
Each and every time, it was a monumental failure.

Radio and it's assorted formats are a "feel", just like a restaurant.
I feel like Top 40.
I feel like Country.
I feel like Rock N Roll.
I feel like Classical.

I feel like a burger.
I feel like a steak.
I feel like chicken.
I feel like something upscale.

If they tune in or drive-thru, they EXPECT Top 40 hits, Country, Rock, Classical, Burgers, Steak, Chicken, upscale.
You best be serving up what they feel like, otherwise they're gone.

Back in the AM Top 40 hey days, power songs-The Top 7 to 9 songs were played every 2.5 hours.
In AM and PM drive, they rotated every 90 minutes.

As soon as a station PD/MD increased the playlist, the numbers went downdowndown.
As soon as they tighened the list, the numbers went back up again.

I stopped over thinking years ago. Just play the hits and win.

BTW, marketing and selling ice cream has been around since 1851.

Top 3 best selling brands 154 years later?
They are still in 2008

3-Strawberry
2.Chocolate
1.You guessed it---------Vanilla

154 years later and they still want whats good, and comfortable.
Apply this to radio, play the hits and win.

When I get tired of playing the hits, I turn down the monitor.

I did not say that you could base the whole format on these 2100 songs even I know you can't do that, no in fact I accounted for the "hits" as you say, these 2100 are the remaining songs from the charts that can be placed within your days music schedule to liven up the mix. I don't think that one or two of these songs an hour are going to kill any station and if they do, then those songs should have NEVER been produced, played on the radio, and sold to anyone but they did and they should be played because they were played even if it was only on AT40 they were played. I guess the debate will go on forever.....

Even I could understand the analogy with Cume and TSL. I've never had anyone explain it in that simple of terms. Thanks!

 

[allenv]

Its a fun debate and i enjoy it alot.No one is wrong.. We all have good things to add and again alot of PD's GM's,Om's etc.... lurk on this board though most would never admit to it
There is alot of trying to figure out who is who..thats why I use my real name..There is no doubt I'm Bill Benjamin...

 

[surfdude]

Haven't been here for a week. First - Allen I was not attacking you in any way.
Sorry you felt that way.

I, like many of you, have been in radio for a long time. My personal preference is a deep, long
playlist for gold based formats. My experience, 30 years, 25 in Top 50 markets(PD in Charlotte, Norfolk, and Raleigh), has shown me time and time again, that stations with the tightest playlist of HITS - wins.

Woot - I didn't launch Star-FM, but I will take some credit that it didn't reach great heights in the ratings.
It did OK. The billings were good and we actually had some decent rating books.
At least 90% of the in market listening was on 102.9 (1700 flamethrowing watts). The 96.9 signal did not help us much.
Star failed, in part, because the playlist got to big and wasn't focused. Lesson learned, again.
All the 80s stations eventually failed and went away.

I don't know what any of this has to do with the thread topic?!

Two that I hate---
"Locally owned and operated"
"We've been serving_____for over 25 years"
Neither of those statements means anything to the listener/potential customer.

www.asapaudio.com