WLS-FM playlist adjustments

[jt99]

It seems like WLS-FM has finally started making some changes to the playlist. Last week, a decent amount of '80s pop songs were added to the playlist, and now this week it seems the spins for the songs in power rotation were increased. Their powers now appear to be playing every 6-8 hours or so, and the station also seems to now have an even heavier emphasis on '80s titles, cutting down the percentage of spins given to '70s titles. However, it doesn't seem like the '90s have increased much.

With the increase in pop titles, it seems like they're trying to take away from WLIT-FM, which has been at or near the top for many months now. Whereas with the increase in spins for the top songs, it seems like they're trying to emulate a station like KRTH, which does well with younger people as they can often be heard playing a well recognized classic that transcends generations while someone happens to tune in. Personally, I think these changes will help get WLS-FM back near the top like they were a handful of years ago, but we will have to see.

 

[Gregg.]

Nearly all Classic Hits stations seem to be upgrading their playlists. Songs for older listeners are moved out to make way for younger listeners who are just arriving in the Classic Hits audience.

For most Classic Hits stations, the focus is now the 1980s. They are restricting the 1970s to just a handful of big hits by evergreen artists, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, etc. And they are adding compatible 1990s hits.

I'm sure it would be sad to see the list of 1970s songs your local Classic Hits station is dropping, songs you don't think sound that old. But it's all about familiarity for the target audience. Let's remember, if you were a high school freshman in 1987, today you'd be 50 years old.

 

[davideduardo]

Nearly all Classic Hits stations seem to be upgrading their playlists. Songs for older listeners are moved out to make way for younger listeners who are just arriving in the Classic Hits audience.

For most Classic Hits stations, the focus is now the 1980s. They are restricting the 1970s to just a handful of big hits by evergreen artists, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, etc. And they are adding compatible 1990s hits.

I'm sure it would be sad to see the list of 1970s songs your local Classic Hits station is dropping, songs you don't think sound that old. But it's all about familiarity for the target audience. Let's remember, if you were a high school freshman in 1987, today you'd be 50 years old.

Remember, stations in that size market test their library regularly. They always recruit listeners in core of the station's target and test the songs they already play and lots of songs that might now be acceptable to the entire audience.

So, every year there are listeners who aged into the target audience and those who aged out. There are songs that no longer test, either burnt out or with too low an appeal to the youngest listeners. And songs that are now eligible for airplay.

Of course, the key is "how much would you like to hear this song on the radio today?" and not "was it a hit 30 or 40 years ago".

 

[scanman1]

I like the playlist they're using now. It's great for blasting out of my vintage 80's boomboxes.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

For most Classic Hits stations, the focus is now the 1980s. They are restricting the 1970s to just a handful of big hits by evergreen artists, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, etc. And they are adding compatible 1990s hits.

At this point, the number of 1970s hits that are playable should be tiny. You did the math on today's 50 year old, but a 20 year old in 1979 is now 64, well beyond the Sacred Sales Demo.

The classic hits station I worked at in 2015-16 removed most of the 70s music at that time. Especially the disco. We found disco wasn't very popular among the folks born in the mid 1980s, who have been in the classic hits target audience for several years.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

I can't tell the difference. It still sounds like they're trying to mirror the Rock-leaning CHR sound the station had in the 80s which is fine. They take it a step farther by not playing any downtempo songs, so it sounds like a Classic Rock station with some New Wave and Prince, Michael Jackson tossed in, which is fine. The Drive is probably their closest competition

 

[macattack]

I can't tell the difference. It still sounds like they're trying to mirror the Rock-leaning CHR sound the station had in the 80s which is fine. They take it a step farther by not playing any downtempo songs, so it sounds like a Classic Rock station with some New Wave and Prince, Michael Jackson tossed in, which is fine. The Drive is probably their closest competition

That sounds more like they’re going after XRT. XRT loves their New Wave and Prince tracks (they don’t touch Michael Jackson). When you consider that XRT also plays a number of Classic Rock tracks (I just heard “Do Ya” by ELO the other day for example) it really sounds like to me that WLS really wants to pull XRT’s older listeners away by essentially providing nearly the same music without the 90’s and 21st Century thrown in.

 

[101tm]

I looked over their last played and it seems the same to me.

 

[JackindaBox]

My guess is that they are trying to target both XRT and WLIT as well as The Drive. Plus, other stations that are classic hits may compete with stations like "Lite FM" in New York, "KOST 103.5" in LA, or "Warm 106.9" in Seattle since those stations play 80s as well. I think it is to increase people's familiarity with the station but some could tweak due to competition from Classic Rock or AC-based stations as well as a competitor Adult Hits station like "Jack FM".

 

[JackindaBox]

I looked over their last played and it seems the same to me.

I think it looks somewhat different than earlier this month though, definitely less 70's. I think most Classic Hits mix in New Wave nowadays anyways. AAA stations in general don't seem to touch Micheal Jackson in my opinion.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

My guess is that they are trying to target both XRT and WLIT as well as The Drive. Plus, other stations that are classic hits may compete with stations like "Lite FM" in New York, "KOST 103.5" in LA, or "Warm 106.9" in Seattle since those stations play 80s as well. I think it is to increase people's familiarity with the station but some could tweak due to competition from Classic Rock or AC-based stations as well as a competitor Adult Hits station like "Jack FM".

WLIT much less. They removed downtempo music from the playlist a few years ago. They used to play a ton of it.

The Drive is really their direct competition.

Much of the format mirrors WLS in the 80s to an extent. Not all of it. They leave out the downtempo songs and the R&B. Very heavy on the Rock and New Wave as 94.7 was at the time. There's airchecks around online from around 1984, you can get a general idea of what they are doing. B96 also was heavy on Rock and New Wave for a period in the Mid 80s, around 1984, 1985.

Most major market Classic Hits stations have added a lot of 90s and some 2000s into the mix. WLS added some, but it's extremely limited. The Drive is also a major Classic Rock station that has avoided 90s up until recently. Now they play some early 90s on The Drive.

WLS really didn't have anything to give anybody nostalgia for in the 90s.

 

[Gregg.]

I think you'll find that Michael Jackson and Prince are the most popular African-American artists on both Classic Hits and Adult Hits. I don't think an hour goes by when Jack-FM or a similar Adult Hits station doesn't play either Jackson or Prince. But as noted above, while Prince is heard on AAA stations, along with Tracy Chapman and Bob Marley, not Michael Jackson. He's too pop.

Some Classic Hits stations only play those two. No Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, etc. I guess the theory is these stations don't want to turn off listeners who grew up hearing AOR stations that never played African-American artists. Maybe they'll be OK with Jackson and Prince but really prefer the white rock-oriented artists they know... Journey, Tom Petty, REO Speedwagon, The Rolling Stones, Pat Benetar, Boston, etc.

In addition to Jackson and Prince, Jack-FM will also occasionally play some African-American artists as an almost-novelty song. Can't Touch This, She's A Bad Mama Jama, Low Rider, Hypnotize, Super Freak.

 

[macattack]

I think you'll find that Michael Jackson and Prince are the most popular African-American artists on both Classic Hits and Adult Hits. I don't think an hour goes by when Jack-FM or a similar Adult Hits station doesn't play either Jackson or Prince. But as noted above, while Prince is heard on AAA stations, along with Tracy Chapman and Bob Marley, not Michael Jackson. He's too pop.

This is a small part of the legacy of Prince’s management. They took note of Jackson’s struggling to win over the rock audience and also Prince being a guitar virtuoso himself and started crossing his songs to rock radio throughout the 80’s. I don’t believe any of Prince’s songs smashed on rock radio but IIRC some of them did pretty well and successfully expanded Prince’s audience. That legacy is shown in him being played alongside David Bowie and Duran Duran as universally accepted AAA gold while Jackson is generally not outside of an appearance of “Beat It” once in a blue moon.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

This is a small part of the legacy of Prince’s management. They took note of Jackson’s struggling to win over the rock audience and also Prince being a guitar virtuoso himself and started crossing his songs to rock radio throughout the 80’s. I don’t believe any of Prince’s songs smashed on rock radio but IIRC some of them did pretty well and successfully expanded Prince’s audience. That legacy is shown in him being played alongside David Bowie and Duran Duran as universally accepted AAA gold while Jackson is generally not outside of an appearance of “Beat It” once in a blue moon.

Prince and Michael Jackson were also on MTV when they were leaning AOR. I believe they considered it an AOR radio format on TV at the time. There was an outcry about the lack of African-American artists which led them to basically change the music more toward CHR. The label threatened to withhold MJ's videos in order to make that happen.

 

[macattack]

Prince and Michael Jackson were also on MTV when they were leaning AOR. I believe they considered it an AOR radio format on TV at the time. There was an outcry about the lack of African-American artists which led them to basically change the music more toward CHR. The label threatened to withhold MJ's videos in order to make that happen.

You are correct.

 

[JackindaBox]

WLIT much less. They removed downtempo music from the playlist a few years ago. They used to play a ton of it.

The Drive is really their direct competition.

Much of the format mirrors WLS in the 80s to an extent. Not all of it. They leave out the downtempo songs and the R&B. Very heavy on the Rock and New Wave as 94.7 was at the time. There's airchecks around online from around 1984, you can get a general idea of what they are doing. B96 also was heavy on Rock and New Wave for a period in the Mid 80s, around 1984, 1985.

Most major market Classic Hits stations have added a lot of 90s and some 2000s into the mix. WLS added some, but it's extremely limited. The Drive is also a major Classic Rock station that has avoided 90s up until recently. Now they play some early 90s on The Drive.

WLS really didn't have anything to give anybody nostalgia for in the 90s.

WLIT I believe went Soft AC and added a lot of softer songs though they probably went a bit more uptempo but still in the genre.

 

[mjb1124]

Did they hire someone to succeed Wade Linder (who moved to KQRS Minneapolis this summer) as PD? If not, someone higher up at Cumulus must be making adjustments.

 

[JackindaBox]

93.9 Lite FM still does the Christmas music thing and is doing a guessing contest on when it will flip. Could be Nov. 1 or late as Nov. 10 for all we know but it will probably be Nov 1 @ 4 pm like last year. We will have to see after Sunday or next week to see when they will flip.

 

[pjc1961]

Did they hire someone to succeed Wade Linder (who moved to KQRS Minneapolis this summer) as PD? If not, someone higher up at Cumulus must be making adjustments.

Yes, on 10/23/2023: Todd Cavanah, previously at Audacy Chicago (VP of Programming).
In particular in programming at B96, 104.3 Jamz + US99.

Todd Cavanah Handed The Programming Reins Of WLS-FM Chicago.

Veteran Chicago radio programmer Todd Cavanah joins Cumulus Media as PD of classic hits WLS-FM. Cavanah spent three-plus decades with Audacy Chicago – and its predecessors Entercom and CBS Radio

www.insideradio.com

Cavanah Named PD of WLS-FM/Chicago

• Cumulus Media has appointed Todd Cavanah as the new Program Director of Classic Hits 94.7 WLS-FM/Chicago. It's safe to assume that Cavanah knows his way around the market, having spent the past 33 years across the street with Audacy Top 40 B96, where he was first named PD in 1993. He also...

ramp247.com

 

[scanman1]

Yes, on 10/23/2023: Todd Cavanah, previously at Audacy Chicago (VP of Programming).
In particular in programming at B96, 104.3 Jamz + US99.

Todd Cavanah Handed The Programming Reins Of WLS-FM Chicago.

Veteran Chicago radio programmer Todd Cavanah joins Cumulus Media as PD of classic hits WLS-FM. Cavanah spent three-plus decades with Audacy Chicago – and its predecessors Entercom and CBS Radio

www.insideradio.com

Cavanah Named PD of WLS-FM/Chicago

• Cumulus Media has appointed Todd Cavanah as the new Program Director of Classic Hits 94.7 WLS-FM/Chicago. It's safe to assume that Cavanah knows his way around the market, having spent the past 33 years across the street with Audacy Top 40 B96, where he was first named PD in 1993. He also...

ramp247.com

Awesome! Most definitely a worthy successor.