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WHTT Flips to Classic Hits!

S

SirRoxalot

So, Mix is over, and it's back to the future for WHTT. Check out the "Special Announcement" from the PD:

http://www.whtt.com/Article.asp?id=1448706&spid=21614

They're rolling a lot of music at the moment, with no live input. The playlist is a little schizophrenic - a few '60s, lots of '70s, some '80s, some '90s, and oddities like "Rock Me Amadeus" to disrupt the flow. It will be interesting to see what they settle on.

My only question? Why not just do a CBS-FM and go back to "Buffalo's Greatest Hits"? Does "Classic Hits 104.1" foreshadow a more generic approach with lots of VT/automation? I don't see any personalities on the website. Is 'HTT becoming a Citadel version of (to borrow a phrase) "repeater radio"? CBS-FM was a hit BECAUSE they brought back a strong air staff. If they're going to bring back the music that was successful for them, they need to bring back some of the talent that goes with that music.
 
SirRoxalot said:
If they're going to bring back the music that was successful for them, they need to bring back some of the talent that goes with that music.
Click to expand...

Rox, good news regarding the change to Classic Hits 104.1.  I guess the question becomes how hungry are those former talents?  With the condition that Citadel is reportedly in, how willing or interested would the talents be in returning to the station?  If my memory serves me right, CBS-FM brought back Bob Shannon, Dan Taylor and a few lesser players and then hired outsiders for other dayparts.  Maybe I'm wrong, even though not optimum, CBS corporate was in a much healthier financial situation than Citadel is at the moment.

Whatever they have in mind, it will be interesting to watch and certainly create some discussion on these boards.  I wonder if a certain Mr. P has heard from Joe Siragusa lately?
 
Knew something was up when I heard the Wicked Wilson Pickett's Land of 1000 Dances in the car on the way home from work and wondering who was playing it! (I usually drive with the scan on). Took me back years and years! Spent a few years in that format at that frequency, then through the change to Oldies. 'bout time someone plays this stuff again. Curious if the same Jocks return, or all VT, like Jack.
 
"They're rolling a lot of music at the moment, with no live input."

First HUGE mistake, and they'd better fix it fast, within days, or this format change will be stillborn.

Classic hits is a format that needs likable live personalities to present it and tie it together. Rochester is a great example of that; Legends 102.7 clobbers Fickle, which seems to be aimed at the same audience, despite the fact that Legends' music mix seems idiosyncratic bordering on crazy while Fickle's music mix makes way more programming sense. But Legends is presented by relatable live humans wall to wall between 6 AM and midnight, and that's the difference. It's a station with a human heartbeat whenever you tune in, while Fickle's only live six or so hours a day on weekdays and canned the rest of the time, and restricts what its jocks say even when it's nominally live.

If WHTT doesn't have a lineup of personalities ready to go no later than next Monday morning at 6 (and even that may be a little late) then even Jack will outperform it in the fall book. If it DOES put the right personalities in place from 6 AM to midnight 7 days a week, then they have a good chance for an outright win in the 25-54 adult music audience battle by next winter. It's up to them; the market is up for grabs, and they can either do it right and win, or do it on the cheap and fizzle just as the economy is starting to show some signs of life again.
 
Well, somebody at WHTT woke up and smelled the coffee! After two and a half years, Mix 104.1 goes the way of Mix 92.9. Seems Western New York listeners didn't get the Mix concept, then or now. WJYE and Star held most of the Women 25-54 and left Mix 104.1 with leftovers. It didn't get better for Mix after the airstaff was thinned out.

The station is using Classic Hits 104 Point 1 as its positioning statement, not using the WHTT call letters, which is unusual given that "HTT" works well with "Hits." The call letters are occasionally used in bumpers. There's a bright new jingle package with Classic Hits 104 Point 1 "sings" and a very familiar voice on the imaging, notably Don Berns.

So far, the format is rotating primarily 70s, secondarily 60s and there are a few 80s titles sprinkled in. Random listening reveals Loves Me Like A Rock -Paul Simon, What A Fool Believes -Doobies, Say You Love Me -Fleetwood Mac, Give A Little Bit -Supertramp, Sir Duke -Stevie Wonder, Piano Man -Billy Joel. From the 60s: Do You Believe In Magic -Lovin' Spoonful, Get Ready -Rare Earth, Rescue Me -Fontella Bass, I Want You Back -Jackson 5 and Bus Stop -Hollies. From the 80s, Higher Love -Steve Winwood, If this Is It -Huey Lewis & the News.

The WHTT website does remind one of the Sabres' blue and gold uniforms, which intentionally or otherwise, fits well with the 70s, 60s and 80s rotation. It's not quite CBS-FM, but the addition of a few former WHTT air personalities would certainly help drive the format and sustain it through the challenges that are sure to come. Listeners who felt they were without a radio station that catered to their tastes will be thrilled to hear 60s and 70s again on the 104.1 frequency. The format appears to be aimed directly at Persons 45-54, 45-64.
 
It's the format they should have been doing all along. And someone asked, I still heard John Tesh doing a liner for the new format. His show can probably still be utilized, but if I were them I'd ditch it and bring back Tom Kent.

Hmmmm, where's the on-air lineup on the website?
 
It seems that sometime in the 90’s this malformed idea took hold: introducing a format change by running “jockless” for a few weeks.

“We want to ‘establish’ the new sound of the station before bringing in lowly disc jockeys” is the rationale. Ten-freakin’-thousand songs in a row. (not that ‘HTT is necessarily doing this, but you know it happens a lot)

In other words, “the disc jockeys really aren’t important to what we’ll be doing, anyway. Besides, we’ll be saving a few thousand on payroll for a while – wink wink.”

More demeaning crap from the format geniuses. How about bringing your air personalities in before the format change, bringing them up to speed on the format, and letting them shine from day one?

Sorry if I sound like a crusty old curmudgeon.

Nick Seneca
 
No Bill Lacy this morning. I'm guessing that the mid-day VT from Tammy Oakland - who's way too young for the format, and not very good anyway - may be history. PD Joe Siragusa in afternoons is essentially free, and familiar with the format, so I expect he'll be back. Tesh liners said he'll be back.

I get the feeling that this was sprung in a hurry, and they may be running jockless until they can get the mid-day situation resolved. My fear is that they're installing more satellite equipment so they can plug in one of Citadel's pre-canned formats.

If they want this to work, they need to be live and local from AT LEAST 6A-7P, and they need to really drive the format locally on weekends, especially 10A-7P.

They've been using Tom Kent on Saturday night, but I have to say that I'm not overwhelmed by his presentation, and the numbers haven't been stellar. To me, he and Tesh are a toss-up, and Tesh probably has a contract with some time to run.
 
SirRoxalot said:
No Bill Lacy this morning. I'm guessing that the mid-day VT from Tammy Oakland - who's way too young for the format, and not very good anyway - may be history. PD Joe Siragusa in afternoons is essentially free, and familiar with the format, so I expect he'll be back. Tesh liners said he'll be back.

I get the feeling that this was sprung in a hurry, and they may be running jockless until they can get the mid-day situation resolved. My fear is that they're installing more satellite equipment so they can plug in one of Citadel's pre-canned formats.

If they want this to work, they need to be live and local from AT LEAST 6A-7P, and they need to really drive the format locally on weekends, especially 10A-7P.

They've been using Tom Kent on Saturday night, but I have to say that I'm not overwhelmed by his presentation, and the numbers haven't been stellar. To me, he and Tesh are a toss-up, and Tesh probably has a contract with some time to run.
Click to expand...

Although Lacy-less this morning, his voice has been heard on a few promos espousing the benefits of the "new" format. Mildly amusing, the old "Mix" logo is the header for the "On Air Playlist" page. Comparitively speaking, the new WHTT "frisbee" logo is an improvement over the girly colored Mix elipse.

As it stands, the station seems to be positioning itself against Jack in the radio "ipod battle." Given Jack's gains in the Spring book, that may be exactly what WHTT wants to do for a few days, perhaps a week. Will it take local personalities to move this format beyond another notch on the format wheel that's been spun on 104.1 for the last five years?

~takes moment to ponder~ Wonders where the emoticons are, now that he needs one.

Dunno.

Lee Rust's incisive post in another thread makes me wonder if customers (i.e., listeners) even care anymore. Maybe we've all moved on. Maybe this format change is just a radio geek moment for posters and readers here and nothing but another fender-bender to be noted and passed without long term effect on the Kensington Expressway of life.
 
How much talent dose that group need to blow through, before the "leadership" learns is about the people. Want a great radio station? Employ & Retain The Best People!
 
Pay-to-Play said:
How much talent dose that group need to blow through, before the "leadership" learns is about the people. Want a great radio station? Employ & Retain The Best People!
Click to expand...

Do you mean that Farid & Judy aren't "The Best People"???
 
Smart move by them. I guess the "Mix" format didn't fit well with its listeners who wanted classic hits back on its frequency. Plus, they can't compete with WJYE and Star 102.5, in whom both stations target the female audience of 25-44.

Speaking of Star, in my opinion is not the best Hot AC station around. They sometimes mix in with old music, and at one point they played one of Barry White's song according to YES.com. In addition, their imaging is outdated and I believe their jingle package is also outdated, sounding like they were from the late 80's/early 90's than almost most of the Hot AC stations currently uses today(I haven't listened to them online for a while). WHTT tried its best to compete with Star but things simply didn't go well.
 
Element9 said:
There's a bright new jingle package with Classic Hits 104 Point 1 "sings" and a very familiar voice on the imaging, notably Don Berns.
Click to expand...

It's not me. Whoever it is must have awesome pipes, though. ;) (as youcan see, the emoticon function isn't working properly on this site period)
 
Sorry, Element...but I'm about as certain as can be that the imaging voice is not Don Berns. Love Don, but that sounds to me like Jim Merkel from Pittsburgh.
 
Here's what All Access has to say about the WHTT lineup going forward, and it represents both good news and bad news;

"JOE SIRAGUSA continues as PD and the current MIX 104.1 air staff stays put. JOHN TESH continues at night. "

The good news is that Bill Lacy apparently stays in mornings. Siragusa also knows what he's doing as PD, but these days a PD probably shouldn't try to carry a regular airshift as well. They need to bring back Jim Pastrick for middays, and recruit popular market veterans for live shows afternoons and nights.
 
Bob1370 said:
Here's what All Access has to say about the WHTT lineup going forward, and it represents both good news and bad news;

"JOE SIRAGUSA continues as PD and the current MIX 104.1 air staff stays put. JOHN TESH continues at night. "

The good news is that Bill Lacy apparently stays in mornings. Siragusa also knows what he's doing as PD, but these days a PD probably shouldn't try to carry a regular airshift as well. They need to bring back Jim Pastrick for middays, and recruit popular market veterans for live shows afternoons and nights.
Click to expand...

if i were the "Former Mix Staff" i wouldn't take their word for it that they will be "Staying".. like it was said, "it's like putting lipstick on a Pig"...
 
I just turned on Classic Hits at 10:30am and heard Bill Lacy do a break. At this point of the morning, I assume it was a voice track. But it's good to know Bill is still gainfully employed at the station. And I agree with Bob Smith that they need to bring back Jim Pastrick and another vet (Harv Moore?) to add personality to the Classic Hits format.
 
Lacy will be more comfortable with Classic Hits than he was with "Mix". He still needs a news reader / side-kick - and "borrowing" Chris Klein from 97-Rock ain't the answer. Lacy has been doing 5:30 - 11 for a while now.

The days of an off-air PD are simply out of the question at Citadel. Joe's only got one station to program, so he's going to have to do an airshift. In an ideal world, he'd pull mid-days - likely part live, part VT - and bring back Pastrick for PM Drive. I doubt that will happen, but I think it would be a great idea.

The cuts at Citadel have come back to bite them in the ass, but they're in so much trouble now that I don't think that they've got any money to straighten things out. With the latest write-down of another BILLION in station values, they're so far under water that they can't tell which way is up. Don't be surprised if they quietly start another round of cuts. My guess is that it will happen in dribs and drabs to avoid stirring up enough negative publicity to get the attention of the lenders.
 
This has truly been one of the most underwhelming format switches of all time. One look the Spring arb, and then a sheepish switch back to what they were once known for, musically anyway.

No stunting, nothing interesting to make us wonder what might happen next, just a quiet format switch in the middle of the night during a quiet Buffalo summer.

Sad how little creativity is left in this once proud business.
 
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