Will Houston Get An Oldies/Classic Hits Station?

[amisdead]

Both stations are are not very good.

Explain why. I'm curious as to why you'd say that.

Compared with KSCS and The Wolf (KPLX) in Dallas, both 93Q and KILT are dogs, even though the market sizes are similar. Not even in the same league.

 

[radiogooroo]

Oldies? Pick any eastern rimshot. With the exception of the Liberman station that simulcasts on a western rimshot, I don't think you could do any worse.

I know this may be blasphemy to you fans of ping-pong stereo, but broadcasting in mono on one of those sticks would probably help the signal, and I don't think it would be that detrimental to an oldies format.

 

[rageradio]

What's 'ping pong stereo?

 

[ChuckTiller]

Both stations are are not very good.

Explain why. I'm curious as to why you'd say that.

John, I spent 13 year at KILT and I know the difference between good personality radio and bean counter radio. That is what we have at both stations, bean counter radio. Now, remember it is my opinion which is purely subjective. However, John, you've been doing this a long time just like I have, since 1972 for me. I'd like to think I've acquired enough knowledge through all those years about this business to know what I'm talking about. You've been there, too. You know the difference.

 

[johndavis]

Compared with KSCS and The Wolf (KPLX) in Dallas, both 93Q and KILT are dogs, even though the market sizes are similar. Not even in the same league.

Again, explain. I don't hear Dallas radio on a regular basis. What's the difference?

 

[poops]

Surprised no one has mentioned KGBC filled this role very nicely for a year or more recently before the owners' inexplicable move to air Chinese radio or whatever. I loved listening to it when I lived in League City, and you could get the signal across much of the Houston area.

schmave, I was right there with you listening to KGBC, but I knew that it's demise was inevitable (wasn't happy about it, but it never lasts for long). Now I do my best to either pull in KKHA Bay City, or Cool 92.5 in Beaumont. It is kind of a toss up on whose signal overrides the other at times. When I'm closer to the beach, I get Beaumont, and when I'm near Lake Jackson, KKHA comes in better. What's amazing, the format seems to work in smaller cities, but to bring for some reason, those in charge don't believe it will work here. That's why when I'm at work or at home and want to listen to radio, I live stream either of those two stations, KSHN (Liberty/Dayton) or KBGO (Waco). When I'm driving it's either 1070, 740, or a cd with my own playlist.

poops

 

[johndavis]

John, I spent 13 year at KILT and I know the difference between good personality radio and bean counter radio. That is what we have at both stations, bean counter radio. Now, remember it is my opinion which is purely subjective. However, John, you've been doing this a long time just like I have, since 1972 for me. I'd like to think I've acquired enough knowledge through all those years about this business to know what I'm talking about. You've been there, too. You know the difference.

You know, I'm not a bean counter, but I've heard a lot of bad "personalities" on the radio. Given the choice between irrelevant rambling setting up a lame punchline or a music sweep, I'll take the music sweep. In the years when I was out of the business doing software, I never once sat in traffic asking "would you just let the DJ talk some more?" It was always "will someone just shut up and play a !@&*)ing song?"

As the song goes, the good old days weren't always so good. Of course, this opinion probably won't get me invited to the next radio reunion... but no jock should ever get in the way of the rest of the radio station. Give me emotion, give me passion for the music, but for me the best jocks know how to do that in as few words as possible over a ramp. To my ears, one of the best jocks in the country plugs in a well used set of Koss cans in every afternoon on one of the stations you deride... and you'll never hear him complaining off mic about bean counters stifiling his personality because he knows how to make the most out of every break. There's someone who also fits that bill over at the other station, I just don't know him or her. But that's why they're there and why I spend more time building studios than I do behind a mic.

 

[bigtom101]

You know, I'm not a bean counter, but I've heard a lot of bad "personalities" on the radio. Given the choice between irrelevant rambling setting up a lame punchline or a music sweep, I'll take the music sweep. In the years when I was out of the business doing software, I never once sat in traffic asking "would you just let the DJ talk some more?" It was always "will someone just shut up and play a !@&*)ing song?"

As the song goes, the good old days weren't always so good. Of course, this opinion probably won't get me invited to the next radio reunion... but no jock should ever get in the way of the rest of the radio station. Give me emotion, give me passion for the music, but for me the best jocks know how to do that in as few words as possible over a ramp. To my ears, one of the best jocks in the country plugs in a well used set of Koss cans in every afternoon on one of the stations you deride... and you'll never hear him complaining off mic about bean counters stifiling his personality because he knows how to make the most out of every break. There's someone who also fits that bill over at the other station, I just don't know him or her. But that's why they're there and why I spend more time building studios than I do behind a mic.

Every company and every jock is a different situation - the gentlemen with the well worn Koss headphones (cranked to 11 ) you speak of is a pro and one of the best jocks on the air. Period. I'll find his Z100 video aircheck on youtube and just sit in awe of the ability to be entertaining like that, and I hope someday I can be half as good. A great jock is a great jock - but I think Mr. Tiller is lamenting the fact that great jocks are getting fewer and fewer on the dial, largely in part due to cutbacks.

While the financial cuts that radio has gone thru may not have hurt his ability to be entertaining, I have an example where a full timer down the hall was replaced by a part timer (this guy did a drive time shift and was APD/MD), and the quality of the product hasn't been the same since. Many places have 1 person doing double duty, or triple duty, for the same salary just to hang on to a job. How many PD's oversee multiple stations where years ago they just oversaw one? While this does not immediately lead to a poor product, over time the cumulative (no pun intended) leads to the weakening of the brand and employees that are burnt out and doing their best to tread water. The worst part of deregulating radio was the dark side of taking on all that debt to buy properties - firing people to make the bottom line look better and worrying about the consequences later.

I will say Cox is one of the better outfits - I have a friend who works for Cox on Long Island, and has nothing but great things to say about it. They treat him well, and have grown him along to be a promising air personality and talented at skills ranging from production to scheduling music. I have also heard from others who didn't have a great experience with the company, but not everyone will have a great experience for various reasons.

It seems that the companies that never took on great amounts of debt (Cox & Greater Media to name two) are better to work for than publicly held companies that have to appease investors rather than advertisers or listeners. But when all the large groups start voicetracking and consolidating duties and jobs en mass...well, it signals that it is ok for everyone else to do the same.

The tide seems to be turning back to local programming and investing in talent - stations near me have re-instituted live shifts where they were tracked before, and have dumped satellite programming to go local. Hopefully more will do the same - after all...have to have some training ground for the next generation of personalities.

 

[willdav713]

I'm sure CBS would not allow Entercom to flip one of their properties, since CBS owns KILT. As far as KKBQ is concerned, no 'war' has been won. Both stations are are not very good. The listeners simply tolerate them because their is nothing else to choose from. They go back and forth in the ratings. There are no winners, but only losers....the listeners!

I always get CBS and Entercom mixed up mainly because I live in Austin and San Antonio and I know CBS sold stations to both Entercom, Univision, and BMP Radio.

I meant CBS not Entercom, CBS used to own KKMJ, KJCE, and KAMX and sold it to Entercom. KJXK, and KTSA sold to BMP. Austin's 104.3 sold to Univision.

 

[600kogo]

One thing that people on here keep talking about is playing the 50's into the 60's, but the problem is that music has been played to death!! And that with Classic Hits/Oldies, Classic Rock, and Classic Country that if you stay stagnant in that genre the station dies!! The reason why KRTH in LA, KLUV Dallas, and KCOL Beaumont do so well is because they ahve grown the format up to the mid 80's. The people that would listen to this station and make it viable are in their mid 30's to the mid 50's. And being 35 I know all of the 50s and 60s music but I am burnt out on it too. But the post beatles music up to the mid 80's has such a large variety to pull from that has not been on the air in MANY years that you could have a 10,000 song play list and barely scratch the surface, and have an amazing station. One thing I have noticed since moving to Houston is that none of the radio or tv owners take this market seriously!! In LA and Dallas and New York they do, and even in Saint Louis, and Nashville, but here in Houston its mainly satellite feeds and terrible voice trackers. Its the same way in San Diego it is programmed so bad that CC, CBS, and BCA are killing that market as well.

Ok can Classic Hits work yes but it has to be the late 60's-mid 80's, and dont play alot of classic rock because the arrow and the eagle have burned out that music bad!! play the pop/soul/AC hits primarily. That makes money!

 

[radiogooroo]

What's 'ping pong stereo?

That's the term I've always heard used to describe how some oldies had ALL of some instruments in one channel and ALL of some other instruments (or vocals) in the other channel. Goofy, unnatural sounding stereo effect.

 

[mrh1960]

If you were going to put an Oldies stations on the air in Houston, Entercom should flip KILT AM and FM (KKBQ won the Country war) and name it "The Big 610 & 100.3 Your music is back" emphisis on the AM first. Why? Because before KILT-AM was Country they were Top 40, if they insist on Country move it to 101.1. Put Album Rock Oldies on 100.3 HD2 and name that KILT HD-2 100.3 Houstons Super Rock Classics, Not Classic Rock Album Rock Oldies with Heavy Metal emphasis play the exact same songs as KILT 100.3 did before the flip to Country. Now that would generate an audience.

Agreed...FM100 before it turned country was outstanding...

 

[ChuckTiller]

You know, I'm not a bean counter, but I've heard a lot of bad "personalities" on the radio. Given the choice between irrelevant rambling setting up a lame punchline or a music sweep, I'll take the music sweep. In the years when I was out of the business doing software, I never once sat in traffic asking "would you just let the DJ talk some more?" It was always "will someone just shut up and play a !@&*)ing song?"

As the song goes, the good old days weren't always so good. Of course, this opinion probably won't get me invited to the next radio reunion... but no jock should ever get in the way of the rest of the radio station. Give me emotion, give me passion for the music, but for me the best jocks know how to do that in as few words as possible over a ramp. To my ears, one of the best jocks in the country plugs in a well used set of Koss cans in every afternoon on one of the stations you deride... and you'll never hear him complaining off mic about bean counters stifiling his personality because he knows how to make the most out of every break.
[/quote]

Yes, John, there are a lot of so called bad personalities. They usually do not last long. A lot of them get in a major market long before they are ready. Some get in who will never be ready. They are warm bodies and get hired because they can read a flip card.

Back in 1987, I went out to an Exxon out on the Gulf Freeway to surprise one of my listeners with some KILT goodies. He and I had a discussion about radio. I asked him why he listened to the radio. He said, "I listen for the music, but I want to hear people who play it." Thus, I'm sure there are many who do listen for the people to entertain them with the music.

As far as brevity in utilizing the intro long and short, I learned how to utilize that in the late 1980s when KILT went from "Continuous Country Favorites," to "12 In A Row, FM 100, KILT." Sometimes I would play "30 in a row," 100 Minutes of ...." You get the picture. It wasn't long before I went to number one on the all night shift and held that position until I went off the when the night shift was split between two people instead of three in 1996.

To clarify your 'deriding ' statement, I am only disparaging the bean counters and not the station itself or its people on the air. Both cats on both KILT and KKBQ in the afternoon do a great job with the tools they are given.

As far as complaining is concerned, you don't urinate from where you drink. To do so, is a detriment to one's income.

 

[ChuckTiller]

Every company and every jock is a different situation - the gentlemen with the well worn Koss headphones (cranked to 11 ) you speak of is a pro and one of the best jocks on the air. Period. I'll find his Z100 video aircheck on youtube and just sit in awe of the ability to be entertaining like that, and I hope someday I can be half as good. A great jock is a great jock - but I think Mr. Tiller is lamenting the fact that great jocks are getting fewer and fewer on the dial, largely in part due to cutbacks.

While the financial cuts that radio has gone thru may not have hurt his ability to be entertaining, I have an example where a full timer down the hall was replaced by a part timer (this guy did a drive time shift and was APD/MD), and the quality of the product hasn't been the same since. Many places have 1 person doing double duty, or triple duty, for the same salary just to hang on to a job. How many PD's oversee multiple stations where years ago they just oversaw one? While this does not immediately lead to a poor product, over time the cumulative (no pun intended) leads to the weakening of the brand and employees that are burnt out and doing their best to tread water. The worst part of deregulating radio was the dark side of taking on all that debt to buy properties - firing people to make the bottom line look better and worrying about the consequences later.

I will say Cox is one of the better outfits - I have a friend who works for Cox on Long Island, and has nothing but great things to say about it. They treat him well, and have grown him along to be a promising air personality and talented at skills ranging from production to scheduling music. I have also heard from others who didn't have a great experience with the company, but not everyone will have a great experience for various reasons.

It seems that the companies that never took on great amounts of debt (Cox & Greater Media to name two) are better to work for than publicly held companies that have to appease investors rather than advertisers or listeners. But when all the large groups start voicetracking and consolidating duties and jobs en mass...well, it signals that it is ok for everyone else to do the same.

The tide seems to be turning back to local programming and investing in talent - stations near me have re-instituted live shifts where they were tracked before, and have dumped satellite programming to go local. Hopefully more will do the same - after all...have to have some training ground for the next generation of personalities.

Well said.

 

[bigtom101]

Back in 1987, I went out to an Exxon out on the Gulf Freeway to surprise one of my listeners with some KILT goodies. He and I had a discussion about radio. I asked him why he listened to the radio. He said, "I listen for the music, but I want to hear people who play it." Thus, I'm sure there are many who do listen for the people to entertain them with the music.

There are. This email arrived in my inbox after I got off the air on Saturday, and its a great example of why I love doing what I do:

" Hi Tuner!
Fabulous show.
I am enjoying your doo wop show.
Please pass on to mgmt that the music without great enthusiastic DJs like you who know and love this music is meaningless.
We all have home compilations of this great music. YOU and others give it new life.
Please don't "let the music do the talking" let the DJs do the talking!!!
Richie
Marlboro NJ
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry"

Personalities do matter...so long as they bring something to the table. You won't get an email like that about someone who just reads the liners and says the calls on command.

I also enjoyed the fact that a oldies listener sent an email from a smartphone

 

[ChuckTiller]

>Patch through K-Earth 101 on KLOL and it will be heaven on Earth! (At least for me.)

It would be for all of us...that's why they call it "The Greatest Hits on Earth"<<


Well, if that ever happened, I guess for selfish reasons I vote to patch in 101.1 WCBS FM!

;D
[/quote]

I think it's a great idea. Put it on KLOL. A simulcast would be easy with today's technology. Plus, it would be cool to hear a New York station. It would certainly be different than the others. Although the traffic reports wouldn't help Houston getting to work, I would still do it anyway.

 

[stan]

Personalities DO matter! This is where radio began to lose listeners and influence.

If only the bean counters would wake up and smell the coffee.

 

[poops]

>Patch through K-Earth 101 on KLOL and it will be heaven on Earth! (At least for me.)

It would be for all of us...that's why they call it "The Greatest Hits on Earth"<<


Well, if that ever happened, I guess for selfish reasons I vote to patch in 101.1 WCBS FM!

;D

I think it's a great idea. Put it on KLOL. A simulcast would be easy with today's technology. Plus, it would be cool to hear a New York station. It would certainly be different than the others. Although the traffic reports wouldn't help Houston getting to work, I would still do it anyway.
[/quote]

I don't know Chuck???? Maybe New York traffic reports might help the Houston Traffic????? LOL

Poops

 

[CaptainShowbiz]

Throw my vote in for converting KLOL to Oldies/Classic Hits. Enough Mexican music already! Anyway, their ratings are not so caliente. We have one great Classic Rock station and one wanna-be CR Lite station that is so boring it'll drive you to Pandora. Sure, run Parker's show here--he could make it a touch more generic for us. You people volunteering your music libraries crack me up, though. This is pro major-market radio, and access to the music is not a concern. To begin with, expect a playlist of no more than 350 tunes on your new Oldies station, post-Beatles to early 80s.

 

[bigtom101]

>Patch through K-Earth 101 on KLOL and it will be heaven on Earth! (At least for me.)

It would be for all of us...that's why they call it "The Greatest Hits on Earth"<<


Well, if that ever happened, I guess for selfish reasons I vote to patch in 101.1 WCBS FM!

;D
[/quote]

Only if it means Jackie Robbins gets to be your sidekick...then you've got my vote!