RQQ...DIEING A SLOW DEATH IT SEEMS...

[NashRadio]

Delta, I was being serious

(I'm a radio outsider. EVERYONE on this board knows more than I do.) I wasn't comparing formats as much as repeaters. I would bet if someone did a study, listing ALL songs a station played-say for a week, and ranked them from most repeating to least, that the list would roughly correlate to ratings (not necessarily by percentage, but by rank #). And not just in Nashville, but most markets above Small.

I'm not happy about that - I HATE it. I want to go a week without hearing the same song. But my guess is 80% of radio listeners want to hear t.s.s.o.a.o* because they don't want to think. They see radio music as Musak [does anyone still use that term?]. As just a background filler, instead of the importance the posters on this board place on it. Again, I HATE that, but I don't know how you change it.

*The same songs over and over

 

[firepoint525]

A more upbeat "Jack FM" (like 107-9 The Track in Indy) might work.
This sure as heck isn't working...they need to do something drastic SOON.
I wish someone would change their format (don't care who) just to
have something different. I'm so bored with Nashville radio. It really
does stink for the most part!

It's somewhat ironic, but Jack actually plays the most variety in Nashville radio these days! :

 

[firepoint525]

Re: Delta, I was being serious

(I'm a radio outsider. EVERYONE on this board knows more than I do.) I wasn't comparing formats as much as repeaters. I would bet if someone did a study, listing ALL songs a station played-say for a week, and ranked them from most repeating to least, that the list would roughly correlate to ratings (not necessarily by percentage, but by rank #). And not just in Nashville, but most markets above Small.
I'm not happy about that - I HATE it. I want to go a week without hearing the same song. But my guess is 80% of radio listeners want to hear t.s.s.o.a.o* because they don't want to think. They see radio music as Musak [does anyone still use that term?]. As just a background filler, instead of the importance the posters on this board place on it. Again, I HATE that, but I don't know how you change it.
*The same songs over and over

My term for what you describe here is "musical wallpaper." :

 

[deltas69]

Re: Delta, I was being serious ok no offense intended..and as i said..i haven't been on the air since 1988..and that was at a podunk am daytimer in gallatin where i did morning drive before i went to the music store i managed the rest of the day..did the radio thing free just to have FUN..and keep the chops up..but..the station was an oldies station and the manager didn't tell me what to do or play, he said this is your town..you know the people..they know you..play what they want...i played what i knew the local audience wanted and it wasn't "my girl" every fifth song..i brought my records(yes thats what we played back then).. from home every morning and took them with me me when i left at nine am..for about six months before i did the show solo, a jock friend of mine and i did a two man show..and i dare say better than whats on the air now..but thats my opinion..and i'm sticking to it..lol.still have the airchecks to listen to every so often...and yes we had more listeners than the other station in town..and were billing quite well for the tiny stick we had..always liked being a big fish in the little pond so to speak..never had to deal with a pd that was so restrictive we couldn't play it pretty loose on the music within broad guidelines..i'm thankful i was in radio when it was still FUN..and was fortunate to have worked with extremely talented and creative people..most of whom went on to bigger stations..and even bigger headaches..

 

[ARDONAVINDA]

Delta, I am on your side for the most part. I couldn't agree more with your mention of FUN radio, what you described about going out on the town with gimmick promotions and fun remotes is what I've been boasting on all of these posts. If you notice most of the Oldies stations usually try and get out and make appearances and give away jet ski's or vintage restored classic cars. The reason that they do that is to stay hip, because of the younger demo that they can attract. The older demo that grew up with that as current Top 40 remembered the hype from the 60's and 70's. So it seems to me to do a classic Top 40 format where you bring back the old jingle packages the top 40 style approach you will grab a younger demo and you will bring back the older demo for nastolgic reasons. I was just getting into radio in 1988 and was listening to Oldies radio then. They were able to play a deeper playlist back then and in 1988 top 40 tunes from 1958 were only 30 years old so you would hear doo wop and Little Richard stuff then, but now that demo is in their 60's and early 70's. They are retired. It's getting harder to hear many post Beatle music let alone pre Beatle. That's why if it was presented in a nastolgic fashion like I've mentioned you could pull off a bit of a wider playlist, you would have to play 1964 - 1982 as your core and 64 to 69 would have to be the biggies. You could spotlight a rare deeper record once an hour and throw in a grand daddy rock and roll icon artist once an hr as well. It could work. But that's just my thoughts on an idol overnight.

 

[deltas69]

the point about the older listeners being 60ish and above is misunderstood by ad agencies..when my dad was 60..he was OLD..my peers my age and older still think like they are 20 for the most part..yea there's grandkids and gray hair..but we refuse to go gently into the geritol night..i have several friends that like myself ride and restore vintage motorcycles..from the 60's of course..class reunions are a party hearty affair..once the usual wall flowers call it a night right after dinner..usually around 7:30..we dance to funky colmedena, as much as james brown i feel good.we're not gonna do any rap crap..but get down boogie..let it happen..point being todays 60 year old is not the 60 year old in 1960...yea ..it hurts a little more the next day than it did 40 years ago..but it doesn't stop us..and not just my particular group of friends..but my age group in general...but consultants, ad men, etc..haven't noticed it yet..as for the classic cars they used to give away..i'd put my sales staff in them..cameros,mustangs,gto's,cudas all with a vanity plate with the call letters..rolling promos..wouldn't use the real cars..too expensive..but clone some good clean daily drivers with ac/air and mags..as for the playlist..mine runs for 8 days/24/7 without repeating a song if i want it to..and every song was played on wmak/wkda/wlac/wls/wabc/cklw...not a loser in the 4000 song file..very few from the fifties..primarily from 1960 to 1990..

 

[NashRadio]

I'll wrap my part up with this

Sure I'd like to see a station play 4,000 oldies. I'd like to see any station in any format not play the same 300 over and over. But who's going to do it? In my opinion, the big companies are scared of not even surviving, much less making hugh profits. As time goes on, they are going to become MORE, not less, conservative. As I said before, I HATE IT.

 

[Tibbs4]

playing it safe = quicker death . look at the bright side.

 

[olebud]

Delta:

..as for the classic cars they used to give away..i'd put my sales staff in them..cameros,mustangs,gto's,cudas all with a vanity plate with the call letters..rolling promos..wouldn't use the real cars..too expensive..but clone some good clean daily drivers with ac/air and mags..

Pat....you might take a look at Taylor on Radio from this site. Stations are cutting everywhere, including sales. Sales staffs, at least those still there, in many instances are working without being reimbersed for gas, lunches, etc. Their commissions have been altered with so many goals they're expected to make or not get the full commission that one sales person I know went from a five figures commission a month to a seventeen hundred dollar check after the the change. You have to believe that was at least a more than 1800 dollar decrease if the five figures was only 10-thousand dollars.
When I was at Clear Channel, there was a Hummer and a couple of other vehicles with flat tires because they weren't being used any more.
I could be wrong (wouldn't be the first...won't be the last) but the radio station you're dreaming of exists only in your home...and that may be as close as you ever get.
And on that HAPPY note.....good night David, good night Chet...

 

[deltas69]

the radio station you're dreaming of exists only in your home...and that may be as close as you ever get....oh yea..i know..been listening to my play list for a while..and i know sales reps are being cut..but as long as we're dreaming about that magic station..might as well do it right.. ;D as for the cars..i still have dreams about my first car..a 64 GTO..dream i find it..buy it back and drive it..strange..i just realized in the dream..there's never any music on..you know..i may just throw up an internet station on shoutcast..i think i could afford their smallest package..i think that allows maybe 20 listeners...but those would be 20 strunned listeners at the format..you know what i have,,so i'm sure you'd agree..

 

[oldies5161]

the radio station you're dreaming of exists only in your home...and that may be as close as you ever get....oh yea..i know..been listening to my play list for a while..and i know sales reps are being cut..but as long as we're dreaming about that magic station..might as well do it right.. ;D as for the cars..i still have dreams about my first car..a 64 GTO..dream i find it..buy it back and drive it..strange..i just realized in the dream..there's never any music on..you know..i may just throw up an internet station on shoutcast..i think i could afford their smallest package..i think that allows maybe 20 listeners...but those would be 20 strunned listeners at the format..you know what i have,,so i'm sure you'd agree..

Pat, I bet I could put one on that would rival yours as I have an oldies collection that an Oldies station would be envious of. ;D

 

[NashRadio]

Delta (Pat?) Let us know if you do the Shoutcast thing

nm

 

[firepoint525]

the radio station you're dreaming of exists only in your home...and that may be as close as you ever get....oh yea..i know..been listening to my play list for a while..and i know sales reps are being cut..but as long as we're dreaming about that magic station..might as well do it right.. ;D as for the cars..i still have dreams about my first car..a 64 GTO..dream i find it..buy it back and drive it..strange..i just realized in the dream..there's never any music on..you know..i may just throw up an internet station on shoutcast..i think i could afford their smallest package..i think that allows maybe 20 listeners...but those would be 20 strunned listeners at the format..you know what i have,,so i'm sure you'd agree..

Pat, I bet I could put one on that would rival yours as I have an oldies collection that an Oldies station would be envious of. ;D

Why? They wouldn't play it even if they had it!

 

[beatlenut]

I got in on this late... forgive me. I believe there is a fine line between playing the same songs over and over, and playing all the oldies. I don't believe in audience testing, either. A programmer has to go on a gut feel, taking what he/she has learned about what makes or breaks a record. There's no law that says you can't check out the competition, but don't base your playlist on what everybody else is doing. Even Oldies' tastes change over the years. Stop playing certain songs that have burned out from so much airplay and pull out some of the songs that were not afraid to be played when they were new and became bonafied hits.

I hate to harp on this because I feel like the songwriter who has only one hit and writes a book on how to write a hit song... I've had lots of radio success stories, but my biggest was when I worked at a station that went without a PD for 4 months. Music was still being programmed, about 8 songs too many each hour. I dumped the songs that were burned out and played others that weren't heard much. I went from a 6 to a 10 in one demo, and was #3 and #4 in every other demo. I'll be the first to admit it was the music before the personality, but the format was ALL 80's!

To make a long story even longer, I got a raise, the station hired a PD, the ratings went down, the PD lost his job and then I lost my job as part of a budget cut.

The point is, and again this is my opinion, any (music) format can work if it's done right. It doesn't matter how good the consultant (thinks he) is or how much was paid for the latest music test, it comes down to whether the PD knows what he's doing.

To all who read this in its entirety, thank you. Now we return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

 

[smartestguyintheroom]

WRQQ is a Cumulus station, right? That answers all the questions. Remember, Lou wants another $10 million in his paycheck in 2009. Nothing else matters.

 

[Tibbs4]

What Beatlenut is saying is true. Con-sultants program music for a national market, not taking any of the local flavor into account. The
cheap stations pay for this list, like they couldn't do it on their own, and then don't update the music. It burns on for a year or two and the
ratings plummet. When 97.1 was 80's before the short intervention, if you will, all 30 songs, which were some of the most boring, most
overplayed back in the 80's were run into the ground causing listener fatigue. It was freshened up, but was cut back down before the
results were allowed to sink in. The same thing happened when it went current again. Sounded okay for a while, then was great for a few weeks and then boom...back to drab...playing it safe is bad business....

When it's live and local, you can keep if fresh. Back in the 80's, we programmed the music based up weather and season. We rocked more in the afternoon and night. Sunny days, we'd play more upbeat music. Everybody listened and loved it. You never really knew what you were going to get. It wasn't extreme, but it was constant evolution. Made listeners wonder...what's next. Now you get the same rotation of bland songs, overtested and overdone...a death march and today's "programmers" scratch their head wondering why they can't get a 3.0 or better.

Look at Lightning 100 --- consistent ratings for years, but not stellar. Went to consulted music to try to improve the numbers. They don't
sound as local or friendly anymore and while there is some good music on the station, it's predictable. This is Nashville, not just any other city in America. Have they screwed it up? The numbers are down. Why? It sounds like a computer. VT-ing. Pure and simple, the local flair is
gone and there are lots of choices on the net for these listeners to enjoy. And that formats listener is checking alternative sources.

 

[Tibbs4]

RQQ sounds different again this week, but will anyone notice?

 

[jimnmidtn]

I noticed Friday morning they started running "Quality Rock" liners sprinkled in with their regular liners. I noticed the music changed Friday night. They say they are now playing the whole spectrum of rock. But like you said, will anyone notice or care.

 

[ShadowB]

Very true Tibbs2! Your post is right on..Sure "tested" music can work...for a wile but you can't keep playing them over and over AND over all the time! Look at Jack..when they first came on they played stuff that hadn't been played in Nashville in years...still do I guess and they have been at the top or near it from day one. Seems they would play an "Oh Wow" song from time to time. It's great to hear them but it isn't a "wow" when it's played every day!
~Kent~

 

[beatlenut]

When I worked at Star 97, I asked a caller what she liked most about the station. In her own words and with the most serious voice she could muster, she said, "Because you guys play the same great songs over and over!" I laughed so hard. There is an oxy-moron in that sentence. But hey, we made one person happy.