Star 107.9 Aircheck from November 12, 1998

[Buckeyes2001]

Here is an aircheck I just uploaded from a cassette of the old Star 107.9 recorded on November 12, 1998.

http://www.mediafire.com/?fcbuo9fwq044w8q

 

[V.Riley]

That is great! (minus some of the static at the beginning) But still really great. Thanks for uploading that.

 

[Al Timiter]

Geez, it's practically all static. Terrible quality. But if you really want a little of taste of 1998 and one of the last local attempts at truly something different and innovative, do listen.

 

[gabigley1]

Please post more 107.9 Airchecks from 1998-2000!

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

one of the last local attempts at truly something different and innovative

How so?

 

[V.Riley]

Please post more 107.9 Airchecks from 1998-2000!

Yes I agree with that statement, please post more. Although the station was still STAR 107.9 until July 2001 (July 24th at 6am if I remember correctly).

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

one of the last local attempts at truly something different and innovative

How so?

I know you were asking Al Timiter, but....It was arguably the first all-80's station. Columbus radio hasn't exactly been a hotbed of firsts. But I suppose there could be some that I'm forgetting. What did you have in mind?

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

one of the last local attempts at truly something different and innovative

How so?

It was arguably the first all-80's station.

I thought it was a stupid idea then and I still do now. And the fact that it didn't do much or last long backs that up. Achy Breaky Heart followed by Def Leppard followed by Madonna - wow, that's brilliant. Who doesn't like that kind of music? : Utterly clueless programming.

 

[V.Riley]

one of the last local attempts at truly something different and innovative

How so?

It was arguably the first all-80's station.

I thought it was a stupid idea then and I still do now. And the fact that it didn't do much or last long backs that up. Achy Breaky Heart followed by Def Leppard followed by Madonna - wow, that's brilliant. Who doesn't like that kind of music? : Utterly clueless programming.

That's called variety. Believe it or not, a lot of people like variety. Although, I don't recall STAR 107.9 playing "Achy Breaky Heart" when they were on FM, and I know the Internet version, STAR1079.com does not play that song. Maybe because it was from 1992. If either instance of STAR played it, I'm guessing it would have been during the Edge of 80s where they admitted they do go outside the 80s.

 

[dawg4life]

I think Rewind 103.5/104.3 is programmed 10X better than the old Star 107.9. I remember thinking how cool it was to have an 80's station when it first came on the air and I remember even more so how disappointed I was at Stars music selection and how they were programmed.

I also was not surprised that they failed.

 

[Dave Sarnoff]

I thought it was a stupid idea then and I still do now. And the fact that it didn't do much or last long backs that up. Achy Breaky Heart followed by Def Leppard followed by Madonna - wow, that's brilliant. Who doesn't like that kind of music? : Utterly clueless programming.

That's called variety. Believe it or not, a lot of people like variety.

It's called clueless. Anyone who likes one song is going to hate the next, and change the station. Jamming together songs from completely different formats, when the only thing they have in common is that they come out during the same decade? Idiotic. Desperate.

Radio isn't rocket science. You find a niche and superserve it. Give that audience what they want and can't get anywhere else. Especially if you are a small fringe station like 107.9. You can't program to everybody - it doesn't work and never has, but that doesn't stop people from trying, even today.

 

[KevinFodor]

I thought it was a stupid idea then and I still do now. And the fact that it didn't do much or last long backs that up. Achy Breaky Heart followed by Def Leppard followed by Madonna - wow, that's brilliant. Who doesn't like that kind of music? : Utterly clueless programming.

That's called variety. Believe it or not, a lot of people like variety.

It's called clueless. Anyone who likes one song is going to hate the next, and change the station. Jamming together songs from completely different formats, when the only thing they have in common is that they come out during the same decade? Idiotic. Desperate.

Radio isn't rocket science. You find a niche and superserve it. Give that audience what they want and can't get anywhere else. Especially if you are a small fringe station like 107.9. You can't program to everybody - it doesn't work and never has, but that doesn't stop people from trying, even today.

Dave:

Party foul! Hold on here!

Star 107.9 never played "Achy Breaky Heart". It did play Def Leppard and Madonna, just as CHR stations played both artists when they were hits. (How could they be different formats when all were played on CHR's?)

I was the Program Director for all but about the last 4 months of the station's existence. Let me give you some insight as to what we did, why it was done, where it worked and didn't, and what we were doing that got it back on track right before it left the air:

When we signed the station on in May, 1998...there was no roadmap for how to do an 80's station. We didn't know if it could be done. And there wasn't one consultant who could tell us how to do it. Still, we had consultants.

Our first was totally against the project. He left after getting us on the air. From the day of the launch, I didn't like the sound. We were too soft, too much like Sunny 95.

I wanted to do a music test, but was told I could either spend the money on a music test or marketing. Obviously, we needed marketing. The station debuted at #9 in the market (very respectable for a rimshot Class A) with a 3.1 share 12 plus.

Another consultant came in. I liked him then...I still respect him, but his idea was to play a big E. Alvin Davis style 1200 plus song playlist, filled with rock, pop, dance and urban songs. As the playlist grew, the numbers softened. Even though, most of time, we stayed in the low to mid 2 share range.

Our GM, Bill Cusack was a short playlist guy. I became very uncomfortable with the big playlist...and eventually, the numbers even dipped a trend or a book into the ones. I was convinced we were too broad, musically...and needed research...badly.

The station was then sold from Pittsburgh's Associated Group to local owner Stop 26/Riverbend. In what may have been the only good thing owner Percy Squire ever did with Star, he agreed to give me at least 6 months with a new internet music testing system. After a month and half testing the music, I discovered a trend...all the rock and pop rock was testing on top, all the dance and urban (yes, even Michael Jackson) was testing at the bottom.

To further investigate my suspicions, I called Nick Roberts, Operations Manager at The Point in Dayton. Knowing full well Cox tests everything...Nick gave me the phone number of their consultant, Randy Kabrich, and suggested I put in a call. I did. Any one who knows him knows Randy certainly wouldn't "give away the farm" for free, but he did confirm to me that his research showed the rock and pop rock was driving the bus with this new format idea.

So...we retooled the music based on our music research. What happened? The station went something like this in the monthly trends (I'm doing this from memory, so forgive me if I'm off a tenth of point or so)...1.6 - 2.2 - 2.5 - 3.1...and when the station's final book came in, it was at a 3.4 12 plus. (And, about a 6.5 in demo.)

For all but about one book, Star's cume stayed consistently between 98,000 and 115,000 listeners per week. Given WNCI cumes around 320,000 or so...we were cuming about 33% of their cume every week. We were cuming like a CHR does...that was true of this type of format then...and now. And, given the small power and crappy signal...I think the cume was pretty impressive.

What I do find interesting, by the way: what we were playing at the end was close to what the Brew in Columbus does today...and The Eagle in Dayton does today. Some of you know I work for Cox in Dayton now...I've done a music list comparison of Star and Eagle, so I know of what I speak.

So, why did Star go away? For starters, then-owner Percy Squire was on a one man crusade to make Star the #6 Urban station in Columbus. (I respect Mr. Squire for his legal knowledge...I have a somewhat less generous view of his business acumen.) But the real reason it ended was WBNS-FM jumped out of the oldies format, and management believed oldies could be an "easier sell" to ad agencies. (The ad agencies could never seem to figure out what an 80's station was, and thus, balked on some buys.) I hated to see it happen, but I agreed with their reasoning at the time.

Oddly enough, we discovered opening up the playlist on Friday and Saturday nights with "Friday Night 80's" (which we did after WNCI gave it up) and "Club 107.9" on Saturday nights worked just fine. You just couldn't play all the dance and urban stuff as part of the regular format.

The station took about 4 million dollars out of the market in the not-quite 3 years of its existence. Not bad for a rimshot with about 18 employees.

If I have any regrets, it was not pushing harder for music testing. That's about it. And I defy anyone to call us a failure. It simply wasn't the case.

Despite your opinion, we didn't do it out of "idiocy" or "desperation". In fact, many markets show a big, wide lane of interest in the music of the 1980's. Even today. We were being allowed to "take a chance". (something some of you guys bitch and moan about "the big companies" not allowing people to do.) I was not the inventor, though. The idea was actually brought to me by Star's management. What I saw was a list of popular songs no one was playing at the time. And I agreed to try and make it work.

Did we make mistakes? Yep. Did we fix them? I think we were on to something at the end. (Gee whiz...CD-101 hasn't seen a 3 share 12 plus in a number of years..)

It was only market forces (and an owner who seemed to want to use his stations for purposes of currying political favor) that made it go away.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

I thought it was a stupid idea then and I still do now. And the fact that it didn't do much or last long backs that up. Achy Breaky Heart followed by Def Leppard followed by Madonna - wow, that's brilliant. Who doesn't like that kind of music? : Utterly clueless programming.

That's called variety. Believe it or not, a lot of people like variety.

It's called clueless. Anyone who likes one song is going to hate the next, and change the station. Jamming together songs from completely different formats, when the only thing they have in common is that they come out during the same decade? Idiotic. Desperate.

Radio isn't rocket science. You find a niche and superserve it. Give that audience what they want and can't get anywhere else. Especially if you are a small fringe station like 107.9. You can't program to everybody - it doesn't work and never has, but that doesn't stop people from trying, even today.

Bottom-line:

Love Story, Taylor Swift
Blister in the Sun, Violent Femmes
Express Yourself, Madonna
Black Dog, Led Zeppelin
*** on Feel the Noize, Quiet Riot

That's five songs in a row from tonight's programming on WARH (the Arch) St. Louis. Routinely #1 25-54 -- and near the top 12+ -- for several years. A consistent, big moneymaker for Bonneville. And St. Louis has plenty of full-power stations filling about every niche you can think of. If that's clueless, than clueless can pay off big.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

      Party foul!  Hold on here!

      Star 107.9 never played "Achy Breaky Heart".  It did play Def Leppard and Madonna,  just as CHR stations played both artists when they were hits. (How could they be different formats when all were played on CHR's?)

      I was the Program Director for all but about the last 4 months of the station's existence. Let me give you some insight as to what we did, why it was done, where it worked and didn't, and what we were doing that got it back on track right before it left the air:

[continued...]
   

Some really interesting background and perspective there.  Too bad Star didn't have a full signal and ample budget, but then -- as I lament frequently -- top-notch commercial FM signals are soooo scarce in Columbus relative to market size.

 

[KevinFodor]

Party foul! Hold on here!

Star 107.9 never played "Achy Breaky Heart". It did play Def Leppard and Madonna, just as CHR stations played both artists when they were hits. (How could they be different formats when all were played on CHR's?)

I was the Program Director for all but about the last 4 months of the station's existence. Let me give you some insight as to what we did, why it was done, where it worked and didn't, and what we were doing that got it back on track right before it left the air:

[continued...]

Some really interesting background and perspective there. Too bad Star didn't have a full signal and ample budget, but then -- as I lament frequently -- top-notch commercial FM signals are soooo scarce in Columbus relative to market size.

One more point to ponder here...(and I don't think I have ever told this story on the boards.)

Once sold to Stop 26/Riverbend, we were taking a good hard look at our sister station at 103.1.
From a programmer's perspective, it was a freaking mess. You never knew day to day what you would hear. One morning it would be adult urban, pre-emptable at a moment's notice by an 45 minute speech by Mayor Coleman (who was a good friend of Mr. Squire). If someone had the cash, they'd put a blues or gospel show on at night. That's why the Columbus Clippers games at night. The station didn't have any numbers to speak of, so it was a case of "cash talks, bs walks".

GM Bill Cusack tried very hard to make Mr. Squire understand that a radio station's programming had to be consistent if it was to be successful. That his problems with V-103 had a lot to do with that inconsistency. He also tried to make him understand that there had to be a market in Columbus for what he wanted to put on the air. Simply trying to be a red headed stepchild version of Power 107, or whoever would never work because it would never be as good as what Radio One could make Power, given our budgets of next to nothing.

What did appear to be marginally possible in Columbus at the time, was a direct, head-on challenge to WNCI. (Still then playing mainly Hot A/C...and ignoring the urban trend then evident to be growing in the CHR market.)

So, the parties involved at the time (Bill, myself, and former WNCI jock Pete Dylan who was helping me co-ordinate the move toward more rock on Star...) proposed to make V-103 a Churban CHR. Our point to Mr. Squire was, the station would still be leaned to the Urban community, and that we would be sensitive to that audiences needs and concerns. But, we wanted a racially diverse staff of jocks, some of whom would be voice tracked. (We had been in contact with a couple of former 92X jocks who expressed interest in tracking from out of market.) This was our way of getting a major market sound on a shoestring budget.

Now, we had no pre-conceived notions here. We knew we weren't going to be anymore than, perhaps, a splinter in the side of WNCI. But, we figured if we could rack up a point and a half, or maybe two points 12 plus with the station (which would equate to about a 4 share in 18-34), and combo it with Star's numbers 18-49 and 25-54...we might have something in combo that might have made some reasonably serious money.

But...Mr. Squire would have to give us programming freedom and keep his hands out of the programming. That was, apparently, the deal breaker. It seemed as though, Mr. Squire considered that station his baby and saw some potential of...who knows? Perhaps a lever to get into the political arena, or whatever, and would never give us the go-ahead. Meantime, he continued to try, in vain, to get some big money person (I heard some NBA and NFL stars were being contacted) to try and invest in the company to right the ship financially. It didn't surprise me later when the whole thing collapsed, putting the stations into bankruptcy.

I admit...I don't know the whole story there, and perhaps I don't have every item in proper perspective. These were just my impressions based on things I heard toward the very end. But, now years down the road, it would have been interesting to see how that combo might have played out had we been able to get clearance to try.

 

[xiradiodotcom]

The CHUrban iteration of 103.1 would have been fun. Definitely would have had a following, especially with WNCI being so safe back then. BTW, what was the deal with the 107.9 call change right around the flip to oldies? WJHT 04/23/2001

 

[Buckeyes2001]

Here is some more of Star 107.9 from late 1998. Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?64i9tf43o1b5yfd

http://www.mediafire.com/?45idb2ue24utepk

 

[KevinFodor]

The CHUrban iteration of 103.1 would have been fun. Definitely would have had a following, especially with WNCI being so safe back then. BTW, what was the deal with the 107.9 call change right around the flip to oldies? WJHT 04/23/2001

I had already left the employ of the station by then. However, I have been told by former staffers that was Mr. Squire's attempt to change the station to urban. (Hot 107.9.) It had been so decreed, I was told on almost no notice at all (maybe no more than a day or less)...why it was changed back...well, that's a story I don't know, but I'll bet it's a good one.

 

[the marv]

One thing we will all know about the 107.9 frequency is that it will probably be better known for is the replacement home for anything 97.1 drops. 1991 when 97.1 dropped elevator music for oldies they had it. In 2001 when 97.1 dropped for oldies for Hot AC they switched Star 107.9 to oldies. And of course in 2009 when 97.1 dropped Hot AC for a simulcast of 1460 am 107.9 became Mix 107.9. And this is under their current owner Saga. So it will make us ask ourselves if 97.1 goes back to playing music will 107.9 go sports?

 

[V.Riley]

So it will make us ask ourselves if 97.1 goes back to playing music will 107.9 go sports?

I'm very biased against sports radio programing, so I would hope not that. If they felt the urge to go talk, I'd hope for something like a 24 Hr News programing. Not political, left or right, but just news. The real stuff, not opinion shows.

However, I'm not pushing for them to switch to talk. Music is what I love, so maybe they could do something that is new to the area, Polka station, Electronica-transindental, or something that we don't already have one or more of in Columbus (i.e. not another Country, Sport talk, political talk, etc.).