The Evolution of K-104.7

[wmgcbs]

I haven't been down to Charlotte, lately, but I recently decided to fire up the online player for K-104.7 to listen to my favorite Charlotte station. I was quite surprised. New jingles, and... newer music. Since I last heard K-104.7's regular format (before "Christmas-K" in 2006), about every other song played was released in the 60's or 70's. Now, less and less "oldies" are being played. Believe me, it's not like I can fault anyone at WKQC - lots of AC stations have been dropping the old music (most recently, the new "NY's 106.7," formerly Lite-fm in New York). But that's what made K different for me. It was a nice balance of the old and the new. Now, 80's, 90's and today's music is prevalent.

Don't get me wrong - it's still a good sounding station - I'm sure still a wonderful alternative for listeners who would prefer to avoid Lite's constant "Flashback 70's and 80's" weekends.

Just wanted to point out that observation. I hadn't read anything about it here. Was this a change that took place directly after Christmas?

It was still quite a shock to hear "Hold My Hand" from Hootie and the Blowfish and "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling within five minutes of each other.

 

[haze1268]

Hey great observation, although I must say I haven't noticed a drastic change. We still play The Foundations, Beatles, Supremes, Gloria Gaynor, Alicia Bridges....but I am there alllllll the time so maybe I am just numb to it all. I would say that about 10% of our playlist is oldies...but I could be off on that number. Either way, thanks for listening!!!
HHaze

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I have noticed the shift in music but it does shift back and forth so I don't know if it's a trend. One thing you can be sure of....more changes to come! After all it is radio.

 

[wmgcbs]

Thanks to both of you, Ms. Haze and Mr. Sheridan, for your insight. The two of you sound wonderful on-air at K-104.7. Regardless of how often "oldies" play, K is still one of the best sounding AC stations which I've heard. It's the perfect mix of music - none of the newer songs played take away from the station, like many of the other AC stations in the country.

Also, I'd like to say congratulations after viewing the ratings (12+ at least)! Seems like going after Lite, though maybe an uphill battle at first, was a great idea for CBS-Radio and 104.7! Wish that CBS had put the "Cool Songs" format in New York instead of trying the "Fresh" thing. Best wishes for continued success!

 

[Mike Sheridan]

My ego thanks you, Holly does a better job than I do though. I's still trying to knock the rust off of my act. I had been out of radio for 11 years before coming to "K", much has changed.

We have both worked at "Lite" in the past and when I worked there '90-'94 believe it or not (EZ/Lite) was the underdog. We had some good books but since it was very soft A/C in the beginning most of the other stations didn't take notice.

I wish "Lite" success but hope we have more! After all I don't want to see them get all of the pie!

Listen to "Fresh" again. I think you might find they are really not too different from "K" and there is a good reason for that (hint-hint). Maybe it's programmed to reflect New York.

 

[wmgcbs]

Listen to "Fresh" again. I think you might find they are really not too different from "K" and there is a good reason for that (hint-hint). Maybe it's programmed to reflect New York.

For a better part of the day yesterday, since that storm made it impossible to do much of anything in the northeast, I turned "Fresh" on for a few hours. It's not a horrible station, but as I reviewed the playlist from yes.com, I noticed since the last time I've tuned in, they've added some good music. Unfortunately, some nice AC tunes like "This Kiss," "Sunday Morning," and "If You Don't Know Me By Now," seem to have disappeared. Given time, I think the station can be a success in NYC. It is, after all, just a few months since WWFS has signed on.

As far as being similar to K, I guess if I look at the 80's-current music that you play at K, it is somewhat similar to what plays on Fresh, plus or minus a few tracks. The jingles are OK on Fresh, and I wish that they would let the personalities talk just a bit more. Do I love the station? No. But, is it tolerable? Absolutely. Compared with the all-over-the-place music that WLTW has been playing since the new year, it is a "Fresh" alternative, and I plan to listen to it more often. Adding some more 80's titles might be good, though. One 80's song an hour is too little for me.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

The jingles are OK on Fresh, and I wish that they would let the personalities talk just a bit more.

First of all let me say thank you for those words! These things seem to go in cycles. Right now it's going th other way we are in an even less talk, more music cycle. Expect to hear talk segments get tighter and tighter. Using the term "personalites" is very kind of you and I appreciate it.

Mike

 

[amfmradio1]

Mike,

In my opinion, so-called "personalities" on Radio today are few & far between, depending on the format of the station.

Just like WMGCBS posted, he wishes that Fresh would let the personalities talk just a bit more.

You even eluded to an even less talk, more music cycle, expecting talk segments to get tighter & tighter.

Radio hosts are known as personalities, even though their stopsets consist of nothing more than backannouncing "that was that & this is this on K1047".

 

[haze1268]

Oh my and we JUST had a meeting today that the listeners want us to talk LESS. So guess what we have to do? talk LESS. We are not allowed to have personality anymore...sad, but true....little by little the life gets sucked out of radio. I am thankful that I am not just starting out in the biz and also thankful it is in my blood...or else I would have walked long ago.
HH

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Mike,

In my opinion, so-called "personalities" on Radio today are few & far between, depending on the format of the station.

Just like WMGCBS posted, he wishes that Fresh would let the personalities talk just a bit more.

You even eluded to an even less talk, more music cycle, expecting talk segments to get tighter & tighter.

Radio hosts are known as personalities, even though their stopsets consist of nothing more than backannouncing "that was that & this is this on K1047".

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I agree and I would probably be more comfortable with the term "announcer" rather than "personality".

I know someone who was chosen for a station's research and they said the same thing. They would like to hear the jock talk a little more but FEWER COMMERCIALS. There used to be 3-4 commercial breaks an hour. To get people to listen longer many stations have gone to 2 long commercial breaks an hour and they claim listeners prefer fewer breaks even if they are longer. As a listener I would rather have more frequent shorter breaks. I'd like to hear what others here think about this.

The station doing the research also mentions their website all the time but found that no one in the focus group ever goes there. My other job is in IT. What stations don't realize is people who surf the web while working risk getting yelled at by their employer. Some station websites are even blocked so workers couldn't go there if they tried. You can also forget listening to the station webstream at work. I have seen this slow network traffic at work to a crawl with just one person listening to a webstream. Once home for the day many people with families stay about as far away from the computer as possible. So no matter what the station does, people may never go to the website. Why is this so difficult to understand?