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Small town stations with a more personalized sound.

In the late 1970's KAAY Little Rock would sign off on Sunday night for maintenance. The background music they used was Dave Brubeck's "Take Five."
 
KXO-AM in the Imperial Valley (CA)..pop music from the 60s and 70s, local announcers, CBS news TOH, followed by Imperial Valley-oriented news. And the wait times at the Border POEs.
Great station, when I am out in SoCal I always tune in to them if I'm in El Centro area....they put out a great signal too, especially for 1000 watt on a graveyard channel; you can hear them along I-10 in the Indio area, and all around Imperial Valley. good assortment of oldie/AC.
@CTListener
One of my old stations, WDDH 97.5 plays a 12 minute "the national anthem as never before heard" every day at 12noon
Here in New England Bob Bittner's "Memories Stations ( WJTO Bath/Brunswick ME; WJIB Cambridge/Boston; and WBAS West Yarmouth/Hyannis Cape Cod) play an instrumental Star Spangled Banner at Noon, AND Kate Smith's "God Bless America" at 9AM."
 
More stations have died over the misunderstanding of the word "variety" than I can count.

If one does one-on-one interviews with real listeners (not focus groups which, unless moderated by an exceptional and rare expert) you find that the word "variety" does not mean lots of songs or more songs. It actually means "my favorite songs and none of the songs I don't like".

Which means listeners really do not like variety at all, for the most part.
I say for the most part as there are those of us (who aren't run of the mill radio listeners) that do.
 
JH Radio. You are correct. There are those music explorers like us that love hearing the songs not normally played but the issue comes in what those songs are. It is very hard to create a list that is safe that most music explorers all like. Since most radio listeners are not like us and music explorers tend to like the same songs the non-music explorer likes radio goes that direction.

Speaking of variety, my best friend and I are on the same page on about 50% of the music we like. The 50% we don't like is pretty much: he loves it and I can't stand it. For his wife, it's much the same. The stuff she likes for her musical choices are about 70% what my best friend and I like. It's the other 30% neither of us care for.

Funny thing. My best friend complains about radio's small music library. As soon as he finds a station that plays more than just the consensus songs, he listens, mumbling about it being the same stuff until an unfamiliar song plays and he goes to the next station.
 
Not just daytimers. Fulltimers, most of which signed off around midnight even into the 60's, signed off with "official information" and the Star Spangled Banner or Dixie or some state song like "The Eyes of Texas are Upon You". Even most of the 24 hour stations were off at midnight on Sunday for maintenance and also did a sign-off announcement
How did 12noon become the time for playing the National Anthem when not signing off? Seems like midnight, the start/end of the day is more appropriate.
 
How did 12noon become the time for playing the National Anthem when not signing off? Seems like midnight, the start/end of the day is more appropriate.
More people are listening at noon than midnight. Many country stations want to wrap themselves in Old Glory at every opportunity -- look at how many have red, white and blue logos -- so why not play the anthem in the middle of the day rather than the middle of the night. The old signoff anthem tradition was never intended to attract or impress a large audience.
 
More people are listening at noon than midnight. Many country stations want to wrap themselves in Old Glory at every opportunity -- look at how many have red, white and blue logos -- so why not play the anthem in the middle of the day rather than the middle of the night. The old signoff anthem tradition was never intended to attract or impress a large audience.
That does make sense. I remember KOOL in Phoenix played it at noon. They also jumped on the post 9/11 patriotic bandwagon. Country and older leaning stations seemed to be the ones doing it. Last time I heard it on KOOL was early 2007. I'm sure they are no longer playing it, like a lot of others.
 
The old signoff anthem tradition was never intended to attract or impress a large audience.
Curiously, how did that tradition get started? It used to be pretty much standard procedure.
That does make sense. I remember KOOL in Phoenix played it at noon. They also jumped on the post 9/11 patriotic bandwagon. Country and older leaning stations seemed to be the ones doing it. Last time I heard it on KOOL was early 2007. I'm sure they are no longer playing it, like a lot of others.
92 Moose in Augusta Me. did it well into the 10s, not sure if they still do or not. What's interesting is that they were/are a CHR.
 
In a town outside Charlotte NC a daytime only station that played standards, easy listening and classic country (not at specific times, but just whenever the owner wanted) signed off with "The Lord's Prayer".
 
That does make sense. I remember KOOL in Phoenix played it at noon. They also jumped on the post 9/11 patriotic bandwagon. Country and older leaning stations seemed to be the ones doing it. Last time I heard it on KOOL was early 2007. I'm sure they are no longer playing it, like a lot of others.
For KOOL, it went all the way back to the days when Tom Chauncey owned it. AM, FM and TV would all ID at 12 noon with "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. KOOL (AM, FM, TV, whichever applied), Phoenix." He had sold TV and just re-purchased the AM to go with the FM when I arrived in town in 1986 and, coming from Las Vegas, I was a little stunned to hear that as a legal ID.

He sold the radio stations to Adams Communications later the same year, and the IDs got a lot simpler.
 
For KOOL, it went all the way back to the days when Tom Chauncey owned it. AM, FM and TV would all ID at 12 noon with "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. KOOL (AM, FM, TV, whichever applied), Phoenix." He had sold TV and just re-purchased the AM to go with the FM when I arrived in town in 1986 and, coming from Las Vegas, I was a little stunned to hear that as a legal ID.

He sold the radio stations to Adams Communications later the same year, and the IDs got a lot simpler.
I certainly remember the KOOL-TV ID, voiced by Homer Lane, and pictured on the screen, a pair of hands in prayer, along with a waving American flag, and those very words captioned on the screen This wasn't Trinity Broadcasting or other religious broadcaster, but the Phoenix CBS affiliate. Not sure how viewers would react if it was done these days
 
I would suggest that even back in the "good old days," there were non-Christian viewers who weren't appreciative of religious-themed IDs. As one of those people, I'm very happy to live in an era that's (marginally) more accepting of the idea that there's no one universal faith or belief system we all follow.
 
I certainly remember the KOOL-TV ID, voiced by Homer Lane, and pictured on the screen, a pair of hands in prayer, along with a waving American flag, and those very words captioned on the screen This wasn't Trinity Broadcasting or other religious broadcaster, but the Phoenix CBS affiliate. Not sure how viewers would react if it was done these days
"Blessed is the nation who's God is the Lord. KOOL-TV Channel 10, Phoenix... on tape."

They ran that ID just about all the time in the mid '70s, either with "on tape" or "on film" depending on the situation. I think it goes back to at least the mid '60s.
 
He sold the radio stations to Adams Communications later the same year, and the IDs got a lot simpler.

If it was anything like KISS-FM in San Antonio during its brief tenure as oldies, the ID's got a lot simpler while the positioners became mouthfuls.

”Remember the station you're hearing this weekend is the station you listen to all weekend long, Oldies Radio 99.5 The New KISS-FM!”

If I'd have been working there and having to say that, I'd just about have to brush my teeth afterward!
 
If it was anything like KISS-FM in San Antonio during its brief tenure as oldies, the ID's got a lot simpler while the positioners became mouthfuls.

”Remember the station you're hearing this weekend is the station you listen to all weekend long, Oldies Radio 99.5 The New KISS-FM!”

If I'd have been working there and having to say that, I'd just about have to brush my teeth afterward!
Wow, and I thought "KZZP 104.7 FM, the number one hit music station" was a long one!
 
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