Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 question

[jsu5381m]

How many stations in the U.S. still air the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40? I know many Clear Channel top 40 stations dropped Rick Dees when Rick left Premiere Radio Networks. Were stations owned by Clear Channel forced to drop Rick Dees when he left Premiere, or did stations do this on their own and why?

 

[wxman76]

I'm not sure what the exact number is, but it doesn't seem like a lot anymore. Can anyone name some affiliates that still air Rick?

Clearchannel aside, I think a lot of PDs wanted a younger up and comer that is more of a household name to their core demo.

 

[zman]

We air it on our top forty station WIVQ/WSTQ FM in Peru Illinois, I think WBNQ 101.5 in Bloomington Illinois still airs it and I think it is also on in Kewanee Illinois although I can't think of the station. Based on that I would guess it is on in mainly smaller markets. at least around here.

 

[Rob Mackenzie]

Cumulus' WHOT/HOT 101 in Youngstown, OH airs it on Sunday 8a-Noon. (I got my start in the biz running the board for the show back in 2003)
CC's WKDD in Akron, OH airs the Hot AC version Sundays 8p-Midnight.

Not sure the times, but I'm fairly certain Clear Channel's WVKS in Toledo still airs Rick, I want to say its on Saturday mornings.

 

[jsu5381m]

I wonder why the marketing staff at Rick Dees don't try harder to get his show on in markets with a second top 40 station that's non Clear Channel owned (such as 99 DJX Louisville) or non Clear Channel owned HOT AC stations?

 

[mistermicrophone]

I wonder why the marketing staff at Rick Dees don't try harder to get his show on in markets with a second top 40 station that's non Clear Channel owned (such as 99 DJX Louisville) or non Clear Channel owned HOT AC stations?

What's with the obsession of CC and non-CC stations? A good syndication company will try to get it on whatever station they can, regardless of ownership.

Casey Kasem's show started to sound dated and Rick Dees was the good alternative. Rick's show started to sound stale and programmers are leaning towards Seacrest. When Seacrest is on his way out in 15 years, it'll be someone else.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

My hometown of louisville ky airs it on the hot ac the max wxma owned by mainline broadcasting.

 

[Primitive]

Yipes! Clear Channel can sure screw your carreer when they decide to...

After Los Angeles, the next biggest market to carry his show is Kansas City, Market #32!

Here's a list from Mediabase...

KMVN-FM Los Angeles 2 Rhythmic AC
KLZR-FM Kansas City 32 Hot AC
KMXV-FM * Kansas City 32 Top 40
WMC-FM * Memphis 49 Hot AC
CKEY-FM * Buffalo 52 Top 40
WXMA-FM * Louisville 53 Hot AC
WKGS-FM * Rochester 54 Top 40
WRVQ-FM * Richmond 56 Top 40
KHKZ-FM * McAllen 58 Hot AC
WXKB-FM * Ft. Myers 62 Top 40
KQMQ-FM * Honolulu 64 Top 40
WKRZ-FM * Wilkes-Barre 70 Top 40
WWST-FM * Knoxville 71 Top 40
WKDD-FM * Akron 74 Hot AC
WFMF-FM * Baton Rouge 80
WNTQ-FM * Syracuse 82
WVYB-FM * Daytona Beach 85
WVKS-FM * Toledo 88 Top 40
WABB-FM * Mobile 93 Top 40
WHLG-FM * Ft. Pierce, FL 96 AC
WZEE-FM * Madison, WI 99 Top 40
WMXL-FM Lexington, KY 105 Hot AC
WDOD-FM Chattanooga 107 Top 40
WZYP-FM * Huntsville 109 Top 40
WXLO-FM * Worcester, MA 112 Hot AC
WXLK-FM * Roanoke, VA 115 Top 40
WHOT-FM * Youngstown, OH 119 Top 40
WYOY-FM * Jackson, MS 120 Top 40
KZXY-FM Victor Valley 121 Hot AC
KSME-FM * Ft. Collins, CO 123 Top 40
WQSM-FM * Fayetteville, NC 130 Hot AC
KPSI-FM * Palm Springs, CA 133 Hot AC
KKPN-FM * Corpus Christi, TX 136 Top 40
KQXY-FM * Beaumont, TX 138 Top 40
WMGB-FM Macon, GA 155 Top 40
WAEV-FM Savannah, GA 157 Top 40
WFHN-FM New Bedford, MA 178 Top 40

In Canada, he's on in all of the Top 6 markets.

 

[jsu5381m]

Wow, Rick did get screwed. At least he is on in super small radio markets such as Star 94 Florence, AL and Hot 102.9 Gadsden, AL. Too bad Star 94 Atlanta dropped Rick Dees. Maybe Q 100 can pick it up instead.

 

[the golden boy]

Given that WFMF, WZEE and WVKS are Clear Channels, that would nullify the reasoning that CC forced their stations to drop Rick. I'm inclined to believe that it's because AT40 sounds fresher with a younger host in Ryan Seacrest.

 

[Primitive]

Given that WFMF, WZEE and WVKS are Clear Channels, that would nullify the reasoning that CC forced their stations to drop Rick. I'm inclined to believe that it's because AT40 sounds fresher with a younger host in Ryan Seacrest.

I doubt it was mandated, but I'm sure you'd be inclined to take programming produced by your own company. When Shadoe Stevens was on American Top 40, and stations found the Billboard chart less and less relevant, there was a slow and steady loss of stations. This has happened very quickly.

That said, Rick could freshen up the sound effects once every 15 years or so. One of my first jobs in radio included op'ing that show, and I swear to god, many of the same laugh sound effects are STILL being used today. I have heard them literally hundreds of times.

I'd be interested in the opinions of others. Do you find Seacrest's show to be too non-music based? I remember the year-end show and Fergie had the number one song, and he was more excited about talking about a fued between Fergie and Nelly Furtado, then conference calling Fergie and her mom, than he was about unveiling the biggest song of the year for listeners. And the way he delivers some of the celebrity news sounds like a 16 year-old girl on the phone with a friend rather than a guy hosting a radio show.

I also hate the whole, "The rumour is that _____ is expecting a baby. We'll talk to her later in the show and get all the details!" Then later when the person says it's not true, he says, "Oh , I knew it wasn't true, but I wanted to ask." That stops just short of misleading the listeners for a few hours. Or the time he said that he said he was growing tired of all of the gossip about a celebrity (Britney, I think) and wondered why people kept bringing it up, but meanwhile AT 40 had been doing just that every single week for the two years!

Maybe I'm too old, but I find that the music gets lost in the shuffle on that show.

 

[mistermicrophone]

I'd be interested in the opinions of others. Do you find Seacrest's show to be too non-music based?

Anyone can find a list of the 40 hits of the week and within 5 minutes they can be downloaded and played back in order in an iPod. Considering you have one of the most credible celebrity news sources in the country anchoring the show, I think this is a good direction for this particular show.

 

[MassMusicMan]

That said, Rick could freshen up the sound effects once every 15 years or so. One of my first jobs in radio included op'ing that show, and I swear to god, many of the same laugh sound effects are STILL being used today. I have heard them literally hundreds of times.

Is he still doing the bit where he gives somebody beauty tips, and then the caller says "thanks Rick, I KNEW you'd know?" That got old pretty quickly. That, and the "Super Dees" intro.

 

[Primitive]

That said, Rick could freshen up the sound effects once every 15 years or so. One of my first jobs in radio included op'ing that show, and I swear to god, many of the same laugh sound effects are STILL being used today. I have heard them literally hundreds of times.

Is he still doing the bit where he gives somebody beauty tips, and then the caller says "thanks Rick, I KNEW you'd know?" That got old pretty quickly. That, and the "Super Dees" intro.

Wow, I had forgotten that. I haven't heard that in a while, but really don't listen often. That bit was funny, because the advice was so specific that a man, especially his age, could never possibly be expected to know the answer, yet he did. That would have been a funny bit ONCE. But yet, they did it over and over again for many months. Ugh.