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Telltale signs of an imminent format change.
- Thread starter tall_guy1
- Start date
Today, letting a DJ go is generally and almost always due to cost reductions due to the entry-level recession we are in and to the overall feeling that DJs are not needed or wanted by most people under 55.
Playlists are determined by so many factors that we don't have a format indicator there. There are periods where there are fewer appropriate songs; stations that don't play currents likely only make significant gold library changes once or twice a year.
On many occasions, the station staff does not know of a change until the day it happens.
I just noticed that happening when KCJK switched formats from alternative to active rock. They had an afternoon period once the DJ was let go where there was no announcer and it seemed like they weren't adding much new music during that time period.
Or when a playlist isn't sounding stale when before it was. Sometimes a playlist will be tossed out the window and songs that weren't heard get spins that may not be consistent with format.
Other than a flip to Christmas music before a first of the year Christmas flip, I'm not aware of a telltale sign.
I'm not sure I know that one.
you'll know, when the ownership announces to the staff that no changes are planned...
There was one odd way I figured a format flip might be coming. In Houston, Radio One had an FM All-News format (News 92 FM) on KROI from 2011-14. The transmitter was in mono due to the spoken word content.
One day in the fall of 2014 I noticed they had turned the stereo pilot back on. I thought that perhaps they were just testing it…unless…a format flip to a music format was imminent.
Sure enough, a few days later the news format was axed, and stunting began for what would become Classic Hip-Hop Boom 92.
One day in the fall of 2014 I noticed they had turned the stereo pilot back on. I thought that perhaps they were just testing it…unless…a format flip to a music format was imminent.
Sure enough, a few days later the news format was axed, and stunting began for what would become Classic Hip-Hop Boom 92.
Most signs a station is about to change formats aren’t easily discernible to the average listener. Here are a few:
1) Ownership change
2) Negative cash flow
3) Management change
4) Acquiring a station across town
5) Decline in listener numbers
A jock getting let go usually doesn’t signal a format change, though it could happen before a change. A change in PD could also indicate a format change, and you might notice that one on-air, but I can’t think of too many you'd notice that way.
Sometimes a station will mix it up before a format change to attract curiosity. As in “whatever happened to that station?”
How about stunting that is a sign that a format is about to flip in some cases like when KGO-AM had to shutdown the talk format for a few days with stunting until Cumulus officially announced that KGO-AM is the Sports Betting talk station in the San Francisco area.
If it's here when we hear a about a format flip is about to happen we look at articles over which stations are about to flip on inside radio if the owners and management are hyping up the new station in their market.
If it's here when we hear a about a format flip is about to happen we look at articles over which stations are about to flip on inside radio if the owners and management are hyping up the new station in their market.
There is the overused stunting of the sound of construction equipment.
It took many minutes to figure out what you were talking about, but finally I remembered construction sfx to signal a format change in the 70’s and 80’s. I suppose it could be interesting back in the day, but today listeners would be unamused and uninterested.
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These days, a DJ being fired and not replaced is not a sign of a format change. Maybe in the past. But now it's just cost-saving. Especially if he/she gets replaced by syndicated programming. An AC station north of NYC just got rid of the evening DJ and replaced her with John Tesh.
As mentioned above, a sure way to predict a format change is if a station switches to Christmas music and is NOT either AC, Soft AC, Classic Hits or maybe Hot AC. For any other format, you can be fairly sure the old sound won't be back on Dec. 26. It is more dramatic if the flip occurs well before mid November.
As mentioned above, a sure way to predict a format change is if a station switches to Christmas music and is NOT either AC, Soft AC, Classic Hits or maybe Hot AC. For any other format, you can be fairly sure the old sound won't be back on Dec. 26. It is more dramatic if the flip occurs well before mid November.
Yes this does happen. A probable spike before they change format. Depends on the format though for the most part. If a rock station or classic rock station goes Christmas then the odds go way up they are changing format.
This format technique is presently common, but I do wonder when listeners will tire of it. Radio listenership evolves. I think most listeners depend on continuity. If that gets messed up ratings can definitely fall. That said ratings go up for Christmas usually from the female demo. I think at the end of the day soft rock and AC will have the best results with Christmas formats. What doesn’t work is adding occasional Christmas songs. Might have been the way to do it decades ago, but not today. Go big or go home.
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I’ve also seen this done in reverse when a station is about to flip to a talk simulcast where the stereo carrier is turned off a day or two before the flip, although it seems like more larger market talk stations on FM are leaving the stereo carrier on for whatever reason.
Another change I’ve noticed that is an indicator of what a new format may be when stunting is an adjustment in audio processing. I remember when WHQC in Charlotte, NC flipped from oldies to urban in 2004 - during the stunt, the bass dropped and became very loud and deep during a random song. That change stayed with the new format.
Radio processing is just one part of the equation But I agree different processing is important based on format. Compressed sound always worked best with younger formats. I guess younger ears are naturally attracted to this. You can still hear it on some stations. Yes, it may be more fatigueing but nobody cared.
OK, I've got one. Dayton, Ohio market several years ago, WKSW, Urbana (move-in to Springfield on 101.7) had a CP to move to a city-of-license of Enon, Ohio to be a Dayton move-in on 101.5. Everyone knew a flip was going to happen, but few knew the new format. On the last day, 101.7 signed off for the overnight and the 101.5 was fired up, with the new format, liners, etc, and people on this very board caught it. 101.5 signed back off, 101.7 signed back on, staff said their goodbyes and the new Click 101.5 signed on at noon. (I was also following the consultant on Twitter, who mentioned things like taking 3 days worth of music logs to Dayton).
Even further back, WING-FM in Dayton was Classic Hits and one of the first out-of-Indiana affiliates of the Bob and Tom Show. I was working at Metro Traffic at the time. I guess the "sure sign" was when Clear Channel took Bob and Tom to WTUE. We had heard that the local management was talking to the Howard Stern people, unbeknownst that corporate had planned a flip to "Blazin' Hip Hop and R&B". On the last day of the Classic Rock format, we had heard various times for the flip, and WING-FM played a "goodbye" type song every few songs and we're thinking "NOW", except it wasn't. No, "NOW". No again. It kept happening. We left work, I had someplace to be, and only was going home a few hours later, when the format had flipped. There were an uncharacteristic number of cars in the station parking lot as I drove by.
Even further back, WING-FM in Dayton was Classic Hits and one of the first out-of-Indiana affiliates of the Bob and Tom Show. I was working at Metro Traffic at the time. I guess the "sure sign" was when Clear Channel took Bob and Tom to WTUE. We had heard that the local management was talking to the Howard Stern people, unbeknownst that corporate had planned a flip to "Blazin' Hip Hop and R&B". On the last day of the Classic Rock format, we had heard various times for the flip, and WING-FM played a "goodbye" type song every few songs and we're thinking "NOW", except it wasn't. No, "NOW". No again. It kept happening. We left work, I had someplace to be, and only was going home a few hours later, when the format had flipped. There were an uncharacteristic number of cars in the station parking lot as I drove by.
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