I was wondering while reading the posts about Radio 106.7...Would Adult Hits work in Columbus, even after the dismal failure of TED FM? Perhaps on 99.7(Replacing the sagging Active Rock Blitz format)? With Dayton recently getting AH Fly 92.9, it made me wonder if this format could make a go of it in Columbus on a decent signal. I have a gut feeling that the format could be successful...on a big signal in Cowtown...Or on a signal bigger than your average high school radio station. ;D
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Would Adult Hits work in Columbus post-TED FM?
- Thread starter alans613
- Start date
Yes, adult hits could work here in my opinion. The problem Ted had was that they actually believed you could play anything and they did it whether it was good or bad. A station that would play a solid foundation of music with an extensive library of "O Wow" material that rotates correctly could make it's mark. You can't do like Ted and be 20 miles wide and 20 miles deep at the same time. I've said it before and I'll say it again that different is good, but don't do different to just be different, but do it to be good. Keep the commerical aspect up front in any "wide" station and you have a shot. In Ted's case it wasn't what they play but what they should not have played that made the difference.
Just remember that the folks that gave you Ted are also the folks hanging on to the Blitz, Talk FM and WMNI. Not the sharpest tacks in the box but they are local and for that I would love to see them win. They could put adult hits or a triple A on the big stick. Move the standards format from MNI and do an update (Red/St.Louis, Martini/Denver, etc.) and put it on the small stick and stick the talk on AM. Nah...to logical!
Bill Harmonic said:
Wait a minute, I'm confused. In the "Radio 106.7" topic, V. Riley posts that Ted's playlist "didn't have any depth to it. It was like they only had 5 songs per year, and once you heard a day's programming you heard the entire library."
Which one of you is right? For what it's worth, my own recollection sides with Mr. Riley's. I DO agree with you about one thing though, Bill -- your comment about North American perhaps not being the sharpest tacks in the box! Man, I could really make WTDA, what would become "Today's 'TDA", something big, and they KNOW it out there! Just give me 6pm to 6am I've told them, a new four-hour "Yesterday's Top Secrets" each night that's then repeated twice, and we'll have "Talk today, tunes tonight, to the top tomorrow!!!" Oh well, same old story -- nobody in the building listens to me ... but nobody in Columbus listens to 103.9's evening Fox Sports crap either.
Yes, of course Adult Hits could work in Columbus. But without a really decent signal, forget it. 103.9 certainly isn't doing any better with Talk-FM. The Blitz change? Not gonna happen with the current ownership and management, unless perhaps ratings fall below 0.5 12+ and revenue falls below what is needed to replenish the coffee supplies.
Like Columbus, St. Louis has lots of rock and AC, but Adult Hits "The Arch" has been a winner all along (with a big signal, and good programming and marketing support, of course -- and DJ's). Ditto in all respects for two other midwestern markets, Louisville (with CC's Louie) and Indianapolis (adding together the two Adult Hits stations there, it's a BIG Adult Hits market, even with all the rock and AC).
Musicwise I think Ted was pretty similar to some highly successful Bobs (e.g., Austin) -- once Ted dumped the soft AC they strangely played early on, e.g. Bette Midler, etc. (that unfortunately stuck around long enough to permanently drive off some first-time samplers). But most Adult formats really demand a good signal, especially coalition formats like Adult Hits. (Not sure "coalition" is the word I'm looking for. But I'm referring to something that's cume driven -- which is exactly what wins big with the PPM, BTW, and PPM's coming, folks!) Anyway, whatever music/positioning/promotion problems Ted had were secondary to signal.
Like Columbus, St. Louis has lots of rock and AC, but Adult Hits "The Arch" has been a winner all along (with a big signal, and good programming and marketing support, of course -- and DJ's). Ditto in all respects for two other midwestern markets, Louisville (with CC's Louie) and Indianapolis (adding together the two Adult Hits stations there, it's a BIG Adult Hits market, even with all the rock and AC).
Musicwise I think Ted was pretty similar to some highly successful Bobs (e.g., Austin) -- once Ted dumped the soft AC they strangely played early on, e.g. Bette Midler, etc. (that unfortunately stuck around long enough to permanently drive off some first-time samplers). But most Adult formats really demand a good signal, especially coalition formats like Adult Hits. (Not sure "coalition" is the word I'm looking for. But I'm referring to something that's cume driven -- which is exactly what wins big with the PPM, BTW, and PPM's coming, folks!) Anyway, whatever music/positioning/promotion problems Ted had were secondary to signal.
dawg4life said:Nu_Roo_2 said:
Why not Columbus? The argument has been made that Columbus is just another cookie cutter market so what difference does it make if it's tried here or in another market?
I've always been a proponent of localism, but I've been re-thinking that stance for Columbus music stations. That's because this is about the *only* market in the top 100+ that doesn't have at least ONE decent-signal station playing a music mix I really enjoy (and many of the ignored "models" are getting great ratings in similar markets). And it's not as if my format preferences are all that limited. They just never seem to choose the right cookie cutter around here.
Just for the record, my observation of Ted was a constant flow of simply the most awful music I have ever heard on any radio station since the late 60's and it seemed to never be the same. Monkeys picking at random could have done a better job. It didn't seem like five songs to me but maybe since it was all so ear crushing bad, I just numbed up shortly after hitting the button. I remember telling someone after a bout of "Dead" FM that I now knew what heroin was like. On second thought heroin had to be better. If the government wants to get rid of waterboarding, maybe they should use tapes of that station. I would think they would work just as good. Isn't there a law here somewhere? It's almost like the locals, let alone the big guys, go out of their way to pick and excute the worst stuff in the worst way in this market. Now Bill, tell us what you really think! Sorry, I try not to get carried away like this and I'll be back on my meds shortly.
I listened to Ted a lot, and I never heard Celene Dion, even back when they played some soft AC (or maybe it was just so traumatic my mind erased the memory). But, hey, even though I don't really agree, I'll gladly jump on the "Ted's music sucked" bandwagon if it means someone will be more likely to give Adult Hits a deserved shot locally. But don't bother unless it's a good signal.
I'll get on the TED FM's music sucked big time bandwagon. I remember listening to it for 20 minutes(When I could pick up the station driving through Columbus)and thinking, "Man, these guys don't get this format, do they?". Too much sleepy stuff and not enough rock to drive the format(Fly 92.9 does this to perfection-and NO JARRING TRANSITIONS!). Yes, a trained monkey could've done a better job of picking music than the guys at NABCO did. You could tell they didn't get the format just by listening. The crap signal didn't help, and it is still a failure as TALK FM("Talk" about a bad name for a station). ;D
alans613 said:
Well, please have Fly 92.9 fly to Columbus so that we can have something worth listening to here. We'll trade you Skybus for Fly (Skybus was started by a guy from Dayton, anyway).
BTW, doing a little memory jogging, I think maybe I do recall being aghast at hearing Celene Dion in Ted's first month. But really, the soft AC was 100% bye-bye after the first month or two. Maybe some reactions here are supporting my contention during Ted's early days that a bad first-impression can greatly impede further progress (and sap like Bette & Celine would be a great way to make a bad impression). BTW, Ted definitely rocked at times. They even played Led Zep.
K
kentuckymedia
Guest
A well programmed Adult Hits that was aimed at an older crowd (per WLZT / WODB) could fair well in Columbus.
I wouldnt be too surprised to see Saga launch a format of that spectrum on 102.5 once moved into the area. Most signs are pointing on Saga grabbing the signal. It would help when cross-selling WSNY and WJZA.
The Brew is the other thing that comes to mind, the station kinda screws the pig when it comes to a station wanting to do a well programmed Adult Hits.
I wouldnt be too surprised to see Saga launch a format of that spectrum on 102.5 once moved into the area. Most signs are pointing on Saga grabbing the signal. It would help when cross-selling WSNY and WJZA.
The Brew is the other thing that comes to mind, the station kinda screws the pig when it comes to a station wanting to do a well programmed Adult Hits.
kentuckymedia said:
It was the other way around in Milwaukee: the pig screwed the Brew, as Saga's WHQG the Hog knocked down WQBW the Brew a few notches.
Seriously, I wish the Brew would go Adult Hits instead of the not-sure-what-it-is format they have today. Without a meaningful positioner or consistency in the music (virtually straight-ahead Classic Rock one day; Classic Rock plus Prince & Tears for Fears the next) it's really hard to figure out what they want to be when they grow up.
Nu_Roo_2 said:
Okay, that does it, I can't take it anymore -- since you've now mentioned the Zeppers in not one but TWO of your most recent posts, Nu (you hard rocker you!), here's my Featured Artist pairing involving them. Use your Lakehurst, New Jersey imagination and see if you can figure out why these two bands are coupled together -- Led Zeppelin + (drum roll, please ...) Crispy Ambulance! Okay, the high drama's over, you can all now breathe again.
I know, I know, some of you might be thinking "CRISPY WHO???", but just because you may not have all of their albums in your record collection doesn't necessarily make them bad. See, the groups that everyone already knows are for the most part boring (normally I wouldn't make such an outlandish comment but I got ready for the big game tonight by starting my drinking at 1 this afternoon), but you take a band that not too many people know, a band that's different ... well, hey, it's like what I heard the guy on Radio 106.7 say a few hours ago; he said, "Different is good!" But then after that he unbelievably said something dumb -- "106.7" -- whereas I would have followed that remark with the stunning " ... And xerox is bad! 106.7 WRXS -- your Radio Xerox Station!!" Yeah, I know that some might question the logic of airing such a message, but I think it'd be so funny that once it happened a few times and word got out about it, EVERYONE would tune in to hear what COMPLETELY STUPID "plug" the station would come up with next!!!
Okay, time for my prediction on the score tonight. I'm gonna say OSU 24, LSU 23. I graduated from the University of Florida in 1977 and sort of feel sorry for the Buckeyes after the terrible thing that happened to them at this time last year, so I'm hoping that they can rebound and knock off a team that, well, let's face it, ISN'T EVEN HALF AS GOOD AS THE GATORS WERE!!! (Um, granted, my Gainesville boys slipped a little bit in '07, but uh, well, you know ...)
Ted was not a format as much as it was a reason to see a chiropractor about the whiplash.
WARH is not the biggest FM stick in St. Louis, BTW...I worked there when it was KWK-FM. It does OK but has its challenges. All the more reason to admire their work.
Adult hits can be a home run if you do it right. That means listening to the audience first and foremost. And not talking down to them a la the snarky "we do what we want" positioning crap.
WARH is not the biggest FM stick in St. Louis, BTW...I worked there when it was KWK-FM. It does OK but has its challenges. All the more reason to admire their work.
Adult hits can be a home run if you do it right. That means listening to the audience first and foremost. And not talking down to them a la the snarky "we do what we want" positioning crap.
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