• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Viable Format?

B

Barry

I have been listening to satellite radio's brand new channel, Mosaic. It's surprisingly enjoyable.
It plays pop music from the 90's and 2000's. But with very few currents, they can reduce repetition and offer a lot of variety.
Is this a concept that could work here, maybe on a suburban FM?
Mosaic Music
 
Last edited:
TheBigA said:
So you're talking about a pop version of The Block?
Click to expand...
No. I believe The Block focuses on the 90's. Mosaic plays songs from the 90's and 2000's, apparently including the occasional current. And it is not an urban format. It resembles a Hot A/C, with most of the very recent songs removed.
 
TheBigA said:
Haven't Hot ACs dropped most of their currents anyway?
Click to expand...
No, not really. Using KBIG in LA as a good example, 30% of spins and 13% of the library are currents. About 10% of spins are recurrents and 60% of spins are gold.

In general, such stations have around 15 true currents. That pretty much fits Clifton's old statement that "there are never more than 17 real hits at any time".
 
Barry said:
Mosaic avoids all that repetition by hardly playing any currents.
Click to expand...

The currents and the repetition are what make it younger than AC. Removing that makes it more of a traditional AC.

So it's traditional AC without the 80s. Which are now getting played in classic hits.
 
TheBigA said:
The currents and the repetition are what make it younger than AC. Removing that makes it more of a traditional AC.

So it's traditional AC without the 80s. Which are now getting played in classic hits.
Click to expand...
Nope.
It's hard to imagine a traditional AC without the 80's (and some 70's). And many if not most of the songs on Mosaic are too recent for classic hits stations.
I believe the music on this channel reaches a sort of sweet spot.
 
Barry said:
It's hard to imagine a traditional AC without the 80's (and some 70's).
Click to expand...

Get ready, because they're starting to age out. I looked up WLTW, and they play some currents too, although not as frequently.

OK, so Hot AC without currents becomes Hot Hits. (recent classic hits) There's your brand.

Will it work? It depends. There will be duplication with other stations, and so it will cannibalize certain formats.

Sirius doesn't care if one format cannibalizes another because they own satellite with no competition.
 
Last edited:
TheBigA said:
Just looked it up...4 songs in heavy with 80 spins a week, then another 12 with 40 spins a week. That's a lot.
Click to expand...
It's pretty normal in markets where there is both a CHR and a "regular" AC on either side of the Hot AC.
TheBigA said:
Get ready, because they're starting to age out. I looked up WLTW, and they play some currents too, although not as frequently.
Click to expand...
AC's have always played a short list of "mature" currents. The difference is in the number of songs and the rotational turnover.
TheBigA said:
OK, so Hot AC without currents becomes Hot Hits. (recent classic hits) There's your brand.
Click to expand...
"Hot Hits", the trademarked concept, was 100% currents with a fast burn cycle. The true Mike Joseph implementations were not total pioneers, although they would go on new songs by big, safe artists almost out of the box.

One of the PD's I hired later had been PD for the original Hot Hits station and we analyzed the thinking together. A big part of it was to build the expectation that one of your very, very favorite songs would be heard in the next 15 minutes or so. They did not sell this concept... they just made it an expectation by performance.

They were also very good at recognizing that burn had to be anticipated and songs that approached the "burn cliff" had to be shoved over and off the air before they were damaging.
 
TheBigA said:
Mike's trademark has lapsed. I looked it up.
Click to expand...
I know that. What I was referring to is the "hot hits" concept Mike developed, not the licensed use of the name which did not always represent the format concept. And that is why I used "was" and not "is" in the context.

"Hot Hits" from Mike was not just rotations; it was the intensive use of jingles, the energy level, the timing of talking over the intros and a lot more, right down to logos and contests and promotions.

I competed with stations Mike consulted for nearly 30 years. Mike's staff was not exactly fond of him, and they even went on strike against his practices once at WKAQ and KQ-105. My favorite picket line sign had Mike's head on the body of a rat and the legend, "Mike Joseph - Rata" written on it.
 
I think listeners will by and large be able to understand without the need to adapt the slogan. A few nitpicky people still can’t get the concept of pop rocks just up the “dial,” but they can’t drive every move.
 
Mosaic got splintered off of SiriusXM's "The Blend" channel, which switched from mainstream AC to gold Soft AC (what they call "classic nice and easy pop hits").
 
dcowboy7 said:
I heard "easy on me" by adele.
They should really change their station slogan then.
Click to expand...
"Easy on Me" is apparently the only current being played, and perhaps the only song that falls outside the parameters. We have a noncommercial station here, WJMJ Hartford, that plays most everything from the mid-'50s to the mid-'10s, but that Adele song is the only current I've ever heard on it in my three or four years of regular listening. Does it fit the format? Check this last 10 played and decide for yourself!
All for Love -- Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting
Rolling Stones - Satisfaction
John Mayer - New Light
Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed
Jigsaw - Sky High
Roy Orbison - You Got It
Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky
Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Fleetwood Mac - Sara
Four Tops - Walk Away Renee
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom