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Philly 80s Battle is On

A

AM/FMRAINMAN

I was listening to Ben-FM this past weekend and they have been playing some really good 80s songs. They are digging deep into the vault and there no slogan was now "Nobody Plays more 80s...duh." I am not sure if this is a dig at WOGL. It sure sounded like it. I wonder if this will change WOGL's playlist. Last month they did rebound with better numbers...but I think they are being prodded by WBEN. Any thoughts on this?

This reminds of when Eagle 106 went after WCAU FM Hot Hits and they decided to go oldies instead of competing head to head against them.

I do like the presentation of WOGL, but the Ben-FM's playlist is far superior to me.
 
AM/FMRAINMAN said:
I was listening to Ben-FM this past weekend and they have been playing some really good 80s songs. They are digging deep into the vault and there no slogan was now "Nobody Plays more 80s...duh." I am not sure if this is a dig at WOGL. It sure sounded like it. I wonder if this will change WOGL's playlist. Last month they did rebound with better numbers...but I think they are being prodded by WBEN. Any thoughts on this?

This reminds of when Eagle 106 went after WCAU FM Hot Hits and they decided to go oldies instead of competing head to head against them.

I do like the presentation of WOGL, but the Ben-FM's playlist is far superior to me.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a weekend special to me. See if you hear any of the more obscure/forgotten '80s titles on Monday, when all the regular commuter and at-work listeners are back.
 
CTListener said:
Sounds like a weekend special to me. See if you hear any of the more obscure/forgotten '80s titles on Monday, when all the regular commuter and at-work listeners are back.
Click to expand...

Certainly there was a weekend special element to it, so far as how deep they went. They do now seem to skew more heavily 80s (and more pop in the mix), so there's some validity to taking a good natured poke at their rivals. That said, I don't believe for one minute someone at Enterom is quaking in their boots making adjustments to WOGL based on WBEN. Keeping very close tabs? Absolutely. Throwing some zingers of their own into the mix, perhaps. Easy enough to do. But WOGL remains in a stronger position--there appears to be room enough for both to do their thing currently without making any rash moves.

The 30 year old battle between the CHRs...hmmmmmmm. Eagle was the strongest incarnation of a competitor 98 faced up at 106 (though I was a big fan of Z 106 and their Ross Britain morning show, I was clearly one of the few). CBS had a fair point about the difficulty of selling the format, and Eagle was able to come in from the "adult" end, while Power was becoming a...well, power unto itself on the urban side. That the music is the same as that era is an amusing coincidence, but whereas Eagle came on with a bang, Ben has meandered around the same range more or less for years.
 
Glancing at the BEN-FM playlist, it doesn't look much different than it did a few months ago.
 
>>>I do like the presentation of WOGL, but the Ben-FM's playlist is far superior to me.<<<

I know that some songs are common between each station. But they really are not the same format. Ben-FM is Adult Hits, WOGL is Classic Hits. Ben plays more of the songs that were once heard on a Rock station 20 or 30 years ago, while WOGL is more like a Top 40 of 20 or 30 years ago. Ben rarely plays a song that failed to air on a WMMR or WYSP of that era... or WIFI when it was "Rock of The 80s." WOGL plays plenty of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, etc. who were never heard on Rock stations.

They're both enjoyable stations, with WOGL's DJs vs. John O'Hurley as the sarcastic voice of Ben-FM.
 
I was down in Philly late last week for my hospital appointment and while we were waiting for close to two hours at Temple, I killed some time by listening to WOGL and Ben FM and from what I heard from you guys, I heard more 80's tunes on WOGL then in the months past when their old PD was in charge. I also put on Ben FM and they are a bit more rock oriented than WOGL in regards to the 80's. So from my perspective, I think it's hard to decide who has the better playlist, but I do like Ben FM's imaging, especially the "quotes" read by game show host John O'Hurley.

So, you're right. Ben is rock oriented, while WOGL is pop oriented.
 
Ben-FM is hands down my favourite station in philly at this point. It used to Radio 104.5 but they are a near joke at this point. Ben FM plays far better rock for me. Classic grunge like Nirvana and green day and some great 80s pop too. Hell I even heard them play Veruca Salt "Seether" a few nights ago. MAJOR props to them!
 
I do not believe they are 80s rock heavy. It looks to me they are more 80s pop but play a little more 80s rock than WOGL. Here is are 2 hours of Ben.

Take Me Home Tonight
All Summer Long
Shout
Never Surrender
Uptown Girl
Is This Love
Only Wanna Be With You
Summer Nights
If you Leave
Superfreak
Hard to Handle
Destination Uknown
Missing You
Smooth
What Have I Done to Deserve This?

Every Breathe You Take
The Boys of Summer
New Sensation
Jessie's Girl
Welcome to the Jungle
Obsession
End of the Line
We Got the Beat
Funky Cold Medina
We Belong
Let's Go A** The Way
Hungry Like the Wolf
My Own Worst Enemy
Upside Down

I only counted a few rock songs out of this list. They are just as poppy as WOGL in my mind.
 
Well, that is a bit more pop-leaning than I would have guessed. That last one, Upside Down, is that Diana Ross? I would not have guessed Ben would play Diana Ross. (May I suggest you include the artist as well as the song in future posts, since there are several titles that have been used in different songs. I'm sure "Shout" is Tears for Fears, not The Isley Brothers. Same for "Missing You." I assume that's John Waite, not Diana Ross or Tina Turner.)

I guess Ben is moving more pop and WOGL is moving more rock, but not quite meeting in the middle.
 
Speaking demographically, the '80s stuff probably *is* the middle. WOGL is hanging onto the younger Boomers, while Ben-FM is a brand that, to my ear, has been aimed right at Gen-'X'ers since it came on. Question is how long WOGL will continue sprinkling in a handful of well-testing '70s classics. Musically, "Still The One" doesn't typically appeal to the Paula Abdul listener. I suspect it's a temporary attempt to hold on to the youngest Boomers for now. I also suspect many radio people would be astounded to discover just how many thousands of non-radio types in 2018 still think of this station as "Oldies 98."
 
Ben saved WOGL from being Jacked in 2005. Back then 98.1 was playing 50s, 60s and 70s, no 80s. Ben shared little with WOGL.
It wasn't a good idea to dump oldies for 98.1 Jack FM with Ben around. What makes it a good idea to go head to head now?
 
nkd said:
Ben saved WOGL from being Jacked in 2005. Back then 98.1 was playing 50s, 60s and 70s, no 80s. Ben shared little with WOGL.
It wasn't a good idea to dump oldies for 98.1 Jack FM with Ben around. What makes it a good idea to go head to head now?
Click to expand...

The core of the demographic has shifted. In order to add younger listeners, and keep their listenership from being only those 55+ and difficult to sell ads for, they need to keep adjusting the music mix to focus on that sweet spot of the demographic. A decade ago, that mean't not as much 80s music. Now, the 80s are right in the middle of the target.
 
atthestars said:
The core of the demographic has shifted. In order to add younger listeners,
Click to expand...


Actually the demographic has stayed the same. The problem is the people who were once in that demographic have aged. So the music has to change in order to reach the same demographic, which is basically 35 to 55. And the music will continue to change. We're probably saying the same thing, but in a different way.
 
TheBigA said:
Actually the demographic has stayed the same. The problem is the people who were once in that demographic have aged. So the music has to change in order to reach the same demographic, which is basically 35 to 55. And the music will continue to change. We're probably saying the same thing, but in a different way.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I realized I worded that poorly, but got too busy to go back and edit!
 
AM/FMRAINMAN said:
I do not believe they are 80s rock heavy. It looks to me they are more 80s pop but play a little more 80s rock than WOGL. Here is are 2 hours of Ben.

Take Me Home Tonight
All Summer Long
Shout
Never Surrender
Uptown Girl
Is This Love
Only Wanna Be With You
Summer Nights
If you Leave
Superfreak
Hard to Handle
Destination Uknown
Missing You
Smooth
What Have I Done to Deserve This?

Every Breathe You Take
The Boys of Summer
New Sensation
Jessie's Girl
Welcome to the Jungle
Obsession
End of the Line
We Got the Beat
Funky Cold Medina
We Belong
Let's Go A** The Way
Hungry Like the Wolf
My Own Worst Enemy
Upside Down

I only counted a few rock songs out of this list. They are just as poppy as WOGL in my mind.
Click to expand...

Why would a radio station use asterisks for the word "All" in the song "Let's Go All The Way", by Sly Fox?
 
Perhaps, the software thought the L's were S's.
 
WOGL is a "Classic Hits" station?? A Classic Hits isn't one without 50s, 60s, 70s, and some 80s...<Now that's a Classic Hits station.
 
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