YAWN OR YAY!

[The Truthsayer]

Doc's station 99.7 did their "old school" weekend. Q-92 is known for them too which are called "back in the day" weekends there. Anything goes formatically, from Led Zeppelin to Til Tuesday to The Time. Is it a good idea? If so, is once a month too often for such a 'feature?' I think its a bad idea but Im curious as to what you radio vets think about this kind of weekend. Should more stations do something like this?
Discuss


I say its not a good idea for a CHR, no matter how small the market is!
This is a good idea for a Jack [which is the format anyway] and maybe a Hot A/C.
NOT CHR/TOP 40 RADIO!!!

Your core CHR demo is 18-34. Especially that younger portion which are college students.
The station they listen to for Leona, Justin, Baby Bash, Miley and Wyclef Jean...suddenly decides they are going to mix in Kansas, Nazareth, and The Eagles in on the weekend
INSTANT CHANNEL CHANGE!

"What is this!?...sounds like my dad's station!!"

92 in Ohio and 99 in Minnesota are taking a HUGE risk. Who's to say they will come back on Monday morning?

STUPID STUPID STUPID!
meanwhile 96.5 KISS FM in Cleveland and HOT 104.7 in South Dakota, they will be churning out the hits all weekend.
Guess where 92 and 99's listeners are going to go? HOT 104.7 if they are from 99 in Minnesota/South Dakota or KISS FM if they are in Ohio

 

[jradiod]

Agreed, but I think you are a bit obsessed with his station.

I think his format with golds from this decade would be a good idea. Not a bunch of 70/80's rock, but hits from 5-10 years ago. Something even the younger demo can have memories about from when they jammed "How You Remind Me" and "Yeah!". Golds do work when the right ones are chosen.

 

[The Truthsayer]

Agreed, but I think you are a bit obsessed with his station.

I think his format with golds from this decade would be a good idea. Not a bunch of 70/80's rock, but hits from 5-10 years ago. Something even the younger demo can have memories about from when they jammed "How You Remind Me" and "Yeah!". Golds do work when the right ones are chosen.

Yea they segued from Edgar Winter Group to Dr. Dre

Will anyone P1 sit through "Frankenstein" to hear "The Next Episode"? HELL NO!
The Dre song is appropriate for a retro weekend but not the Edgar!!

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I think Oldschool weekends are okay, as long as you sprinkle in some currents. However, I personally wouldnt play anything older than 1988 or 1990, and I would stick to the Rhythmic and Rock hits of that decade, even include some Dance music from the mid nineties Dance Boom. I wouldnt play any AC stuff on a CHR, dont play stuff like Celine Dion, and Barbera Streisand. As for older rock, you could mix in stuff like Guns N Roses, Poison, Motley Crue, and even Nirvana, I think Pink Floyd may be a bad choice for CHR, I like Pink Floyd but Chr radio never really played Pink Floyd even when they were new songs.

 

[The Truthsayer]

i agree with jradiod. Would KQRS [classic rock in Minneapolis] play an "all-hit music weekend"? Or how about Pulse 87.7 doing an "all polka weekend"? Why entirely change your format on weekends? it just makes no sense.

You dont even need research to tell you that nobody in the CHR demo wants to hear Walk the Dinosaur by Was (not Was) or Kashmir by Led Zeppelin, thats just plain common sense. Its the same lack of logic as if a country station decides do alternative weekends.

 

[kms575]

Agreed, but I think you are a bit obsessed with his station.

I think his format with golds from this decade would be a good idea. Not a bunch of 70/80's rock, but hits from 5-10 years ago. Something even the younger demo can have memories about from when they jammed "How You Remind Me" and "Yeah!". Golds do work when the right ones are chosen.

Obsessed is putting it mildly!
It's all about market as well as demo, yes? A smaller market (i.e. less stations) needs to serve a larger variety of demographics, hence the wide playlist.
Nothing wrong with going back to the late 80's (minus the hair band ballads) for CHR memories IMHO.

 

[Beejus]

Doctor!

Can you play "Obsession" by Animotion and dedicate it to Truthsayer next time?


;D

 

[The Truthsayer]

CHR = CONTEMPOARY HIT RADIO

CHR = CONTEMPORARY HIT RADIO
Dictionary.com defines "CONTEMPORARY" as: Current; modern
The last time I checked, the following titles did not even REMOTELY qualify as "current" or "modern:"

FOUR SEASONS - December 1963
TACO - Puttin' on the Ritz
TECHNOTRONIC - Pump Up the Jam
BLONDIE - Heart of Glass
THE GAP BAND - You Dropped A Bomb On Me
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
ONYX - Slam
EDDIE MURPHY- Party All the Time
BEE GEES - Stayin Alive
METALLICA - Enter Sandman
2 LIVE CREW - Me So Horny (Excusable, as a CHR gold.. I'll give you this one)
ABBA - Dancing Queen
PAT BENATAR - Shadows of the Night
WHITESNAKE - Here I Go Again
GEORGE CLINTON - Atomic Dog
'TIL TUESDAY - Voices Carry
THE JAMES GANG - Funk #49
OL DIRTY BASTARD - Got Your Money (Again, excusable... barely)
HAMPTON THE HAMPSTER - The Hampsterdance Song (YUCK!!!)
ELVIS COSTELLO - Pump It Up

All of those records played in TWO hours on an early Saturday morning [late Friday night not including the 4 currents]. Granted, it was 12-2am, but my point is the same. For kicks and giggles, lets look at a couple hours that would actually be RATED BY ARBITRON [whenever this place becomes a rated market], since were gonna be in the Spring book:

NSYNC - It's Gonna Be Me (Excusable, barely)
COREY HART- Sunglasses at Night
CYNDI LAUPER - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
GUNS N' ROSES - Sweet Child O' Mine
TAG TEAM - Whoomp! (There It Is)
DURAN DURAN - Hungry Like the Wolf
BLACK SABBATH - Iron Man
MILLI VANILLI - Girl, You Know It's True
THE GO-GO'S - We Got The Beat
TONE LOC - Funky Cold Medina (Excusable, as a CHR gold.. I'll give you this one)
MARVIN GAYE - Sexual Healing
THE FUGEES - Killing Me Softly
THE WHO - I Can't Explain
NELLY - #1 (Excusable)
ALICE IN CHAINS - Them Bones
VAN HALEN - Right Now
EURYTHMICS - Sweet Dreams
VANILLA ICE - Ice Ice Baby (Barely excusable)
TITO NIEVES - I Like It Like That
BACKSTREET BOYS - As Long As You Love Me (Again, excusable... barely)

Doctor_Radio, that was between 12-2PM on a Sunday afternoon... in the book, minus currents from SARA BAREILLES-Love Song, DANITY KANE-Damaged (stiff), RAY J-Sexy Can I (too unfamiliar to attempt to save face for what your radio station is SUPPOSED to be, alongside the other crap), USHER-Love In This Club, THE KOOKS-Always Where I Need to Be (way too unfamiliar, it's a stiff on alternative radio and in the UK, yet alone shouldn't be played on a CHR) and SEETHER-Fake It (not appropriate for CHR and has been testing HORRIBLY with the few stations that are playing it).

At least your station is back to regular CHR now but what if those listeners you alienated for three days like Hot and wont come back to your station because of those outrageously stupid weekends? Eddy Grant, Dexys Midnight Runners, Kansas, Gloria Gaynor, Foghat, Black Sabbath and the like are not "old school". not even close.

 

[kms575]

Doctor!

Can you play "Obsession" by Animotion and dedicate it to Truthsayer next time?


;D

I love that song! And, I like some CHR too. Maybe I should move to Minnesota!

 

[The Truthsayer]

Hi folks
Thanks for doing your 70's and 80's fest for 3 days!
Alot of Minnesota and South Dakota residents will now be enjoying Jan Jeffrie's hard work :

I never knew that Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins "Easy Lover", Wild Cherry "Play That Funky Music" and Journey "Wheel in the Sky" are hot CHR tracks with the college crowd these days.

So, Open House Party has been broadcast from Marshall for how long now, Doctor? That's great, I may just come visit. I've always been a fan of John Garabedian, Kane and now Kannon.

Goo job you found some 3 year old as a board-op for OHP, since you FINALLY figured out program my long lost brother, Scott Studios, to run liners during the show. And I love the new legal ID that covers up OHP's Top of the hour. You found the spot for a dry legal and learned how to use it!

Happy late easter everyone
-The Prophet. my friends call me NexGen

 

[Beejus]

Hi folks
Thanks for doing your 70's and 80's fest for 3 days!
Alot of Minnesota and South Dakota residents will now be enjoying Jan Jeffrie's hard work :

I never knew that Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins "Easy Lover", Wild Cherry "Play That Funky Music" and Journey "Wheel in the Sky" are hot CHR tracks with the college crowd these days.

So, Open House Party has been broadcast from Marshall for how long now, Doctor? That's great, I may just come visit. I've always been a fan of John Garabedian, Kane and now Kannon.

Goo job you found some 3 year old as a board-op for OHP, since you FINALLY figured out program my long lost brother, Scott Studios, to run liners during the show. And I love the new legal ID that covers up OHP's Top of the hour. You found the spot for a dry legal and learned how to use it!

Happy late easter everyone
-The Prophet. my friends call me NexGen

Truthsayer. You DO realize you've become a laughing stock, don't you?

 

[Beejus]

Doctor!

Can you play "Obsession" by Animotion and dedicate it to Truthsayer next time?


;D

I love that song! And, I like some CHR too. Maybe I should move to Minnesota!

And Doctor! You don't even have to try to schedule it at a time when you think TruthSayer would be listening, because it looks like he listens ALL THE TIME!

: ;D

 

[kms575]

Doctor!

Can you play "Obsession" by Animotion and dedicate it to Truthsayer next time?


;D

I love that song! And, I like some CHR too. Maybe I should move to Minnesota!

And Doctor! You don't even have to try to schedule it at a time when you think TruthSayer would be listening, because it looks like he listens ALL THE TIME!

: ;D

...and right after Obsession, you could throw in a hit from the '50's or '60's. Watch this board really light up!

 

[mistermicrophone]

Alot of Minnesota and South Dakota residents will now be enjoying Jan Jeffrie's hard work :

uuummmm....yeah....weren't you just dissing Jan last week on this board? Worried about karma? You know, that country station you program!?!

By the way, the 3 yr old board-op you referenced, is that who Doc's station hired to replace YOU when you were fired??

 

[indebiz]

Re: CHR = CONTEMPOARY HIT RADIO

CHR = CONTEMPORARY HIT RADIO
Dictionary.com defines "CONTEMPORARY" as: Current; modern
The last time I checked, the following titles did not even REMOTELY qualify as "current" or "modern:"

FOUR SEASONS - December 1963
TACO - Puttin' on the Ritz
TECHNOTRONIC - Pump Up the Jam
BLONDIE - Heart of Glass
THE GAP BAND - You Dropped A Bomb On Me
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
ONYX - Slam
EDDIE MURPHY- Party All the Time
BEE GEES - Stayin Alive
METALLICA - Enter Sandman
2 LIVE CREW - Me So Horny (Excusable, as a CHR gold.. I'll give you this one)
ABBA - Dancing Queen
PAT BENATAR - Shadows of the Night
WHITESNAKE - Here I Go Again
GEORGE CLINTON - Atomic Dog
'TIL TUESDAY - Voices Carry
THE JAMES GANG - Funk #49
OL DIRTY BASTARD - Got Your Money (Again, excusable... barely)
HAMPTON THE HAMPSTER - The Hampsterdance Song (YUCK!!!)
ELVIS COSTELLO - Pump It Up

All of those records played in TWO hours on an early Saturday morning [late Friday night not including the 4 currents]. Granted, it was 12-2am, but my point is the same. For kicks and giggles, lets look at a couple hours that would actually be RATED BY ARBITRON [whenever this place becomes a rated market], since were gonna be in the Spring book:

NSYNC - It's Gonna Be Me (Excusable, barely)
COREY HART- Sunglasses at Night
CYNDI LAUPER - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
GUNS N' ROSES - Sweet Child O' Mine
TAG TEAM - Whoomp! (There It Is)
DURAN DURAN - Hungry Like the Wolf
BLACK SABBATH - Iron Man
MILLI VANILLI - Girl, You Know It's True
THE GO-GO'S - We Got The Beat
TONE LOC - Funky Cold Medina (Excusable, as a CHR gold.. I'll give you this one)
MARVIN GAYE - Sexual Healing
THE FUGEES - Killing Me Softly
THE WHO - I Can't Explain
NELLY - #1 (Excusable)
ALICE IN CHAINS - Them Bones
VAN HALEN - Right Now
EURYTHMICS - Sweet Dreams
VANILLA ICE - Ice Ice Baby (Barely excusable)
TITO NIEVES - I Like It Like That
BACKSTREET BOYS - As Long As You Love Me (Again, excusable... barely)

Doctor_Radio, that was between 12-2PM on a Sunday afternoon... in the book, minus currents from SARA BAREILLES-Love Song, DANITY KANE-Damaged (stiff), RAY J-Sexy Can I (too unfamiliar to attempt to save face for what your radio station is SUPPOSED to be, alongside the other crap), USHER-Love In This Club, THE KOOKS-Always Where I Need to Be (way too unfamiliar, it's a stiff on alternative radio and in the UK, yet alone shouldn't be played on a CHR) and SEETHER-Fake It (not appropriate for CHR and has been testing HORRIBLY with the few stations that are playing it).

At least your station is back to regular CHR now but what if those listeners you alienated for three days like Hot and wont come back to your station because of those outrageously stupid weekends? Eddy Grant, Dexys Midnight Runners, Kansas, Gloria Gaynor, Foghat, Black Sabbath and the like are not "old school". not even close.

Atomic Dog is excusable, in my opinion. I think most of the upper end of 18-34 would recognize the beat if they heard. They might not know exactly WHAT it is or WHO it's by, but they'd recognize the track.

Tag Team, Fugees, and Technotronic all would also be excusable.

 

[JStew]

SEETHER-Fake It (not appropriate for CHR and has been testing HORRIBLY with the few stations that are playing it).

Sorry, not true. Below is WDJQ's research. This song is not any harder than Finger Eleven-Paralyzer.

Rank Song Title Artist Rec Score Tired 1's 2's 3's 4's 5's U's
1 Fake It Seether 96% 4.02 21% 5% 7% 16% 23% 48% 4%
2 All Around Me Flyleaf 71% 3.92 11% 5% 11% 16% 25% 43% 29%
3 Never Too Late Three Days Grace 99% 3.85 32% 7% 9% 20% 18% 45% 1%
4 Low Flo Rida 98% 3.82 43% 8% 4% 23% 25% 39% 2%
5 Crush Crush Crush Paramore 92% 3.81 18% 5% 7% 28% 24% 37% 8%
6 It's Not My Time 3 Doors Down 68% 3.78 11% 6% 14% 13% 30% 37% 32%
7 Life Is Beautiful Sixx A.M. 77% 3.73 16% 9% 9% 21% 21% 40% 23%
8 With You Chris Brown 99% 3.64 30% 10% 9% 22% 25% 34% 1%
9 Sorry Buckcherry 99% 3.60 38% 13% 9% 19% 22% 36% 1%
10 Feels Like Tonight Daughtry 98% 3.55 31% 8% 12% 25% 27% 28% 2%


Also a 25 year old would have been born in 1983 and a 34 year old was born in 1974, so I'm sure they'd have heard every one of those songs. Doc, you may want to play a few hot currents every hour mixed in with the back in the day songs. We've done this for a few years and it does help maintain the younger listener. One of our highest rated hours is our Old Skool Lunch M-F Noon-1, if your competition isn't doing one, you should talk to your managers and see if you can give it a shot. We've moved it toward the 90's as the base, but we definately will play a 70's here and there.

 

[JStew]

Gotchya...I was under the impression that the Back In The Day list was 80's & 90's songs back to back with no currents, thanks for clearing that up.

As far as research, that's exactly what you should do for YOUR market!

 

[pdmarc]

Doctor:

I would point out to you that mediabase and bds both offer barter options for a couple of spots per day at most. It's a great way to have some tools at your fingertips without really strapping any budgets. Both offer the opportunity to create a custom panel of stations, so you can choose 8-12 stations in markets which are demographically similar to yours and have a pretty good barometer of what is likely to work or not work in your market. Makes for a great gut-check and can help filter the other research to which you do have access.

 

[pdmarc]

Cool I thought you might, but it wasn't clear from your earlier comments.

 

[jjmac]

Hey doc, I'm not sure if you've answered this before, but do you use ANY kind of research?

RadioTraks is a pretty decent online system that, if you use it right, can be a pretty good barometer of your P1s. Doug Burton runs it - former radio guy. It's free - we used at my old station because we were cash strapped as well. Just something to consider if you're looking for an option.

www.radiotraks.com