Premium Choice has toned it down

[carolinaradio]

I know that it was discussed quite a while back that Clear Channel's premium choice format for AC was pretty aggressive and modern. They were playing a lot of Rihanna, Nickelback, Jordin Sparks, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga type stuff. I know KRBB/Wichita, WMGF/Orlando, WSRW/Grand Rapids, WBBQ/Augusta, GA, and other stations are still using it.

Well, from the looks of it, they have toned it down and are less current-focused and are more conservative in that department (I remember them playing Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" when it was hardly on the AC chart it seems). More gold based with 70s and 80s...still some aggressive songs in there ("Wanted Dead or Alve" as an example), but it has greatly improved in recent months. A lot of those songs that just "didn't fit" are gone. Nice job CC.

 

[Seltzer]

I know that it was discussed quite a while back that Clear Channel's premium choice format for AC was pretty aggressive and modern. They were playing a lot of Rihanna, Nickelback, Jordin Sparks, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga type stuff. I know KRBB/Wichita, WMGF/Orlando, WSRW/Grand Rapids, WBBQ/Augusta, GA, and other stations are still using it.

Well, from the looks of it, they have toned it down and are less current-focused and are more conservative in that department (I remember them playing Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" when it was hardly on the AC chart it seems). More gold based with 70s and 80s...still some aggressive songs in there ("Wanted Dead or Alve" as an example), but it has greatly improved in recent months. A lot of those songs that just "didn't fit" are gone. Nice job CC.

20 plus year old songs by Bon Jovi are not aggressive at all by 2011 standards.

 

[atlantaboy]

I think it depends on the market - in smaller markets like Augusta there's no Hot AC, so I think it might make sense to be a little more modern, especially at night, to attract those listeners - but in markets like Orlando I don't think there's any reason to try and compete with an established HAC station that's already there

I'm just surprised that Clear Channel would want the same programming for Augusta GA as they would for Orlando

 

[johnbasalla]

I think they like the same programming nationwide because it saves them money.

 

[carolinaradio]

I don't see a huge problem....these stations sounded pretty much the same before they started airing premium choice. PC isn't mandatory, they just choose to use it.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I know that it was discussed quite a while back that Clear Channel's premium choice format for AC was pretty aggressive and modern. They were playing a lot of Rihanna, Nickelback, Jordin Sparks, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga type stuff. I know KRBB/Wichita, WMGF/Orlando, WSRW/Grand Rapids, WBBQ/Augusta, GA, and other stations are still using it.

Well, from the looks of it, they have toned it down and are less current-focused and are more conservative in that department (I remember them playing Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" when it was hardly on the AC chart it seems). More gold based with 70s and 80s...still some aggressive songs in there ("Wanted Dead or Alve" as an example), but it has greatly improved in recent months. A lot of those songs that just "didn't fit" are gone. Nice job CC.

20 plus year old songs by Bon Jovi are not aggressive at all by 2011 standards.

Yes they are. And what has the songs' age got to do with anything?

 

[radiolover78]

20 plus year old songs by Bon Jovi are not aggressive at all by 2011 standards.

What does age have to do with anything? Songs like "You Give Love a Bad Name" or "Wanted Dead or Alive" are very aggressive for an AC format. They actually don't belong on an AC station.

 

[mikl73]

I guess if you think the same people are the prime target of an AC station today verses 20 years ago.

Lots of AC stations killed off Disco shows and Solid Gold Sunday type shows because their demo was getting too old. A 30-40 year old today would not find Bon Jovi offensive where many 30-40 year olds 20 years ago did think it was too loud.

I agree that they don't sound right on most AC stations. I worked at one that was very heavily day-parted when those where hits and the station played them. Not during the workday really. Wanted Dead or Alive could be played late in the afternoon and You Give Love A Bad Name was after 7pm only.

 

[imhomerjay]

20 plus year old songs by Bon Jovi are not aggressive at all by 2011 standards.

What does age have to do with anything? Songs like "You Give Love a Bad Name" or "Wanted Dead or Alive" are very aggressive for an AC format. They actually don't belong on an AC station.

They most certainly do if it resonates with the target audience and they accept it there. Welcome to 2011...glad to have you.

 

[atlantaboy]

20 plus year old songs by Bon Jovi are not aggressive at all by 2011 standards.

What does age have to do with anything? Songs like "You Give Love a Bad Name" or "Wanted Dead or Alive" are very aggressive for an AC format. They actually don't belong on an AC station.

It seems like most current AC listeners don't agree with that though...

For some reason, middle-aged Baby Boomers wanted to hear songs that were "soft" (no Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Kiss, etc.) - but it seems that middle-aged Gen Xers don't feel the same way

Technically, AC means "Adult Contemporary" - there's nothing in that title that even implies that the music needs to be "soft"

 

[atlantaboy]

Just wanted to add something here...

In the 80s and 90s, ACs had tons of "soft" core artists from the 70s/80s/early 90s to choose from (Elton John, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Whitney Houston, etc.) - But AC stations today are looking at the music of the late 80s/90s/early 2000s, and I just don't see a lot of "soft" artists they can use as "cores"

 

[carolinaradio]

I've heard the 90s (1990-1999, I guess) considered a lost era, but I consider about 1987-2002 to be lost. 2002 saw the beginning of a resurgance for the format that continued in to the late 00s.

I think there is still good AC material, but not as much as we had been hearing.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Elton John, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Whitney Houston

Referring just to their softer tunes, this looks like a list of core artists from adult standards.

 

[vchimpanzee]

20 plus year old songs by Bon Jovi are not aggressive at all by 2011 standards.

What does age have to do with anything? Songs like "You Give Love a Bad Name" or "Wanted Dead or Alive" are very aggressive for an AC format. They actually don't belong on an AC station.

It seems like most current AC listeners don't agree with that though...

For some reason, middle-aged Baby Boomers wanted to hear songs that were "soft" (no Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Kiss, etc.) - but it seems that middle-aged Gen Xers don't feel the same way

Technically, AC means "Adult Contemporary" - there's nothing in that title that even implies that the music needs to be "soft"

If you look at just those words, that's true.

Broadcasting Yearbook, as it was called then, called the "soft rock" stations "MOR". The adult contemporary stations were more like hot AC was in the era when AC was really soft but no longer had The Carpenters or Barry Manilow. One station that comes to mind that was listed as "adult contemporary" was WXIK. They played "Roundabout" by Yes and "Industrial Disease" by Dire Straits. And a bunch of other songs that weren't "soft".