WCBS-FM WILL DITCH ITS "JACK" format and return to "Oldies" next week, according to several industry observers, who attributed the decision to newly appointed CBS Radio CEO Dan Mason.

While popular in other parts of the country, in New York, Jack's computer-selected mix of music and automated radio airplay had a mixed reception at best after its launch in June 2005.
Many listeners claimed a sentimental attachment to the old CBS format, including DJs Bruce Morrow, Norm N. Nite and Harry Harrison. Others objected to the dilution of the pure "Oldies" format of songs from the 1950s-1970s, with more recent artists from the 1980s to the present.

After the switchover, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quoted in the New York Post as saying he would "never listen to that [expletive] CBS Radio ever again."

Previously president of CBS Radio from 1995-2002, when he left to work as a consultant for the radio industry, Mason announced his return to CBS Radio in March. The scrapping of "Jack," as well as his decision to return 92.3 K-Rock to its "Alternative" format, signal a return to formats that were CBS Radio signatures under his leadership.
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=63620&Nid= 32050&p=373343

Can we hope that "Jack" radio everywhere will disappear? I want KISN back!!

Nope I like The Jack Formats better than KISN! Sorry Charlie in Portland is Here to stay!
Although with Charlie, I hope they will add more air talent to the station, so It doesn't sound like a jukebox. I've never heard variety this good EVER on a radio station.

I'll admit I do miss the old KISN a lot, BUT the more I listen to Charlie, the more I'm loving it. While i don't like all the music, At least they have a great variety of songs that are DIFFERENT EVERY DAY instead of the same stale songs played on most stations.
You can't beat the variety of music Charlie has, its pretty damn impressive! The people at my work listen to Charlie and LOVE IT!
I agree with Timberfake Charlie does need more air talent. At least get an afternoon jock.

Not just a Jock though, a show that the Jock can make his or her own and have a little personality and sense of ownership. Those make a big difference and you can hear it on this side of the mic! Pride in Ownership and of a program done right makes a world of difference over someone reading cue cards and you can hear it right off!

I'm an occasional Charlie listener, and you can tell that they have been tweaking the format over the months. A lot less rap (what turned me away from the station) and a greater variety of top 40 tunes over a wider number of years and genres. It is getting better - but not as good as what I think KISN-FM was becoming before they pulled the plug on it.

¢harlie is here to stay because this format is ¢o$t effective to run due to the lack of airstaff and the low-budget station imaging.

I think the imaging on Charlie is halarious. Totally random phrases being yelled out every hour. I think the only reason why Charlie started playing rap music was because they were worried about "movin" taking away all of their female listeners. But judging by the numbers, they don't need to worry about Movin, because that station is Tanking! Im hoping Movin will tank soon, and then Stacey Lynne can join the Charlie morning show. She would be perfect on Charlie, and if given some creative freedom, that station will kick some major A$$! Charlie will be around for a long time! I just hope they get more jocks! Another person I think would be great on Charlie is Tim Taylor, a solid jock who sounded great on Mix 1075.

You Know.....there are those occasion's where the Dollar$ just don't make Cents!

That may be a little hard and unlikely with Charlie an Entercom station and Moooovin a CBS station. They may not like that to well and I thought there were things like no compete clause's or something like that.

I was listening to Charlie this morning and they went from playing Van halen to the Temptations "my girl." Sounded great to me, I love Van Halen and I love The temptations. People are complaining that they want the old KISN back But if you actually listen to Charlie they are playing pretty much everything that Kisn was playing before it switched formats and more. They have a much bigger variety than KISN did, I remember because I listened to KISN a lot right before they switched format. I agree with Timberfake, Stacey Lynn would sound AWESOME on Charlie in the mornings, and Tim Taylor would be a great choice for an afternoon or midday guy on charlie.

Hey DT if a station wants a certain talent bad enough, they will find a way to bring them over. Look at Nelson, 2 days after he left z100 he was over at The Buzz.

¢harlie won't add air staff because that would ¢o$t too much. ¢harlie is ¢heaper to operate (and thus more ¢o$t effective) than KI$N. Thank you, Enter¢om.

Well, they added a morning show at least!

A Good Air Talent is a terrible thing to waste. Hope they do something for her and that station sooner than later. I always liked her show on Rock Hits (even as limited as the programming was) but can't say I ever heard her on the "Spoiler" that now is on that spot on the dial, I just don't like that music.

...of course if "Oldies" becomes a hot format again, the Jack frequency isn't the only place it could go...

NY is going through some interesting changes right now. The very successful WLTW (LITE), (programmed by former PDX'er Jim Ryan) has dropped "Lite" from their name, even though they are basically the same radio station. A new soft AC, "Fresh" has signed on. Both play a lot of 70's & 80's pop hits. My guess is the old CBS-FM (Jack) wants in on some of this action, and will become a 70's-80's oldies station, most likely not using the word "oldies", like the old CBS did. Bring back some of the feel, some of the familiar jocks, but bring the music into a 1971-1986 core, which smacks right at 25-54, if not more of a 35-54. Makes perfect sense.

I heard an aircheck of "Fresh FM" recorded within a few days of sign-on, and the format was heavily 90s and current soft/medium tempo AC. One of their liners included, "...without the older stuff you're tired of." I don't think 70s is their thing.

Back on the topic of Oldies is an article on the Edison Media Research site about a possible resurgence of oldies stations partly due to an exceptionaly good showing for oldies listenership in markets where Arbitron is using new Portable People Meter (PPM) technology.

Randy, yes, you are correct, they are more current than WLTW, but they are not shying away from familiar 80's gold. (mis-spoke on the 70's)...the point is I think CBS-FM wants part of this pie, and Jack is not the ultimate answer.

If you like trainwrecks, today, I was locked into one of those AM only situations and was on KBPS when they dead sequed between some hip-hop song and "In The Ghetto". Also heard: The girl(hey, she's a kid)said "I can't pronounce these weird names."

Here's the NY Times' take on the format change:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/nyregion/07radio.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=sl ogin

An interesting excerpt:

--------

The personal touch was also missed by advertisers, some analysts said.

“With the oldies format, you’ve got more revenue opportunities,” said Tom Taylor, the news editor of Radio-Info.com, a trade Web site.

Advertising spots read by disc jockeys generate more money, he said.

“It’s a result of the general halo that people feel when listening to well-loved personalities on the radio,” he said. “Jack doesn’t read spots. Jack is pretty much jack in the box.”

--------

Maybe - just like the early 1980s - the dearth of automation stations will again give way to personality radio...hey, stranger things have happened!

Yeah! The jock does play an important part in radio, I knew it!
This is good news for dj's across the country that are struggling to find work, and keep their jobs. I think if Stations like Charlie and other jack stations want to continue with success they will HAVE to hire more LIVE air talent, its essential. The canned jukebox idea won't work! So Charlie, Pony up some money and hire more ''LIVE TALENT".

People hold value, machines convey it.

Someday, they will grok this, face it, and be better for having done it.

Grok. Great word. I love that word. Thanks for using it.

By the way, props to Dan Mason, who was smart enough to realize that in his absence, the fools were in charge of the asylum at CBS, and they were investing heavily in formats like Jack and Free FM. Those formats stroked the corporate ego without finding a real audience.

"Grok. Great word. I love that word. Thanks for using it."

It's one of Missing's favorites, a search revealing over thirty uses. Heinlein would be proud.

Digression:

It is absolutely one of my favorites. There is a power in this word, not shared by many other words. It's form is simple, sound distinctive and somewhat catchy in the way "egg" is catchy. The sound is the idea, and stands unique among words, owning it's particular space alone.

There is nothing else like these kinds of words. They stand out no matter when uttered. This is a sort of tease --or subtle hook toward learning about something easily missed.

The simple and pure concept, embodied in the word "grok" is also powerful in the same way the word is. The idea that something can be known to a degree where it simply becomes part of ones own being is profound in that a great many of us simply do not get the experience, or at the least fail to quantify it.

It suggests we all can achieve through work, what some just possess in and of themselves. I believe this absolutely, BTW.

For many busy people, this kind of thing sits well below the radar. Simply knowing it is possible then provokes thought and action toward perhaps experiencing this with awareness and control, instead of just having it happen --or never having it happen! This is not unlike a waking dream.

When one uses the word "grok", the hook is cast in the hopes others might be provoked into sharing something wonderful.

We had a thread here a while back about the "zone". That place where thought and action are one --nirvana for those who enjoy an art --whatever art it may be.

Anyone, having been in the zone, has truely groked something, and doing so has experienced one of our higher states of being. I know, sounds goofy, but it's really something not taken lightly, if you think about it for a moment. I consider this a special thing and when I have time, work to cultivate it, nurture it and explore it.

[For what it's worth, engaging in this --seeking to experience this, changes one in subtle ways! --surrender to the change, become malleable and grow and maybe become more, maybe just become different! The self is not absolute, IMHO. "Fear is the mind killer" -- Herbert]

Regarding Heinlein: To think anything I've ever written would make him proud would be a thoughtless boast. As a young kid, I read his works and those of others: C.S. Lewis, Silverburg, Bradbury, Herbert, Tolkien, Zlasney, Le Guin, Piers Anthony, etc...

Each of these authors bring to us a place and time that is realized fully enough to be missed in a fashion, not unlike that felt when one returns from a great vacation, or a particularly memorable time and place.

That little pang of wanting, inspires us to consume more and explore ideas we would ordinarily be too self absorbed with the day to day business of living to explore and benefit from.

In this advocacy lies a thing of sheer beauty that cannot be denied. It is our spirit of creativity that defines us and ideally, empowers us to bigger and better things.

Say what you want about the fantasy and fiction genre. It literally changed my life at a time when there was very little inspiration. I have fond memories, from a rather troubled childhood, exploring places and times where there are things I've yet to experience and ideas that change me with the consumption and integration of them. Honestly, gave me a reason to get up in the morning!

Sure there is a lotta crap, but the gems shine brightly long after those who rendered them, with such precision and clarity, for us are gone.

When I ran into "grok" for the first time, I looked it up and began to think just a bit differently about some things. Enjoy the ride --I do.

...KBPS(AM) when they dead (segued) between some hip-hop song and "In The Ghetto". Also heard: The girl(hey, she's a kid)said "I can't pronounce these weird names."
Actually, 1450 is a nice station to try to listen to, and when they're playing something good - extra bonus! Was the 'weird names' comment during the news? Hey, gotta give 'em credit for trying. With all the talk about liner cards, mandated topics on skinny women that sing like crap, what's going on at 12th Ave. is actually a breath of fresh air. Someone said on another thread they wished Charlie FM had DJs? Try 1450 KBPS.

It was the news, in a way, blended into the rest of the program. I never said it was bad, just different.

As a listener, I think the idea of a Jack/Charlie format with 2 or 3 tiers might be worth a try. Each tier would have the huge library/playlist, but skewed toward a particular demographic. The itunes player on my PC has vintage R&B, lame pop, Black gospel, zydeco, NC-17---and other stuff all loaded on it.

I am sorry to see that someone screwed up a perfectly researched format like JACK. Hopefully they will be fired, and Dr. Bunson Honeydew and his crew over at Muppet Format Research Labs can come up with another jockless winner. How 'bout another go round with JAMMIN OLDIES........

So, the personal touch was missed by advertisers huh? Live reads generate more money huh?

Dear Frank, did you hear that?

Somehow I feel vindicated.

Agreed newflyer. I enjoy 1450 often --and in some great sounding AM Stereo too.

LOL @ Roger. Jammin' oldies.... That's just funny! I'm thinking Pretty Ricky, mixing up the Tokens, Tremlos, etc....

Roger: You're becoming a harpie. You never let facts get in the way of your opinions. You and I exchanged posts in early June. To quote me:

"Jack worked in a couple cities for a couple books, and the world jumped on the bandwagon WITHOUT RESEARCH. Ask those who know how the decision to flip KKSN to Charley was made. Historically, deep track stations have done well for 6 months to a year during the "gee whiz I haven't heard that in a while" phase. Then they remember why they haven't heard it. Then they go back to the station that plays their favorite songs.

Alice, Free, and Jack aren't formats, they're marketing brands for the Adult Contemporary, FM talk, and 70's classic hits formats. In the past few years a number of groups have bought into the idea that the brand is more powerful than the product. (Almost no one thinks McDonalds makes a really good hamburger - but they sell more of them than anyone else.) Jammin' Oldies was not researched prior to launch, and in L.A. it only took K-earth one research study to verify that it wasn't going to be successful."

GEEEEZZZUS.... Lighten up and rent a sense of humor. You spend way too much time taking me to task when I choose to be less technical. You sure seem to get a lot of satisfaction showing your smarts. You would have made a great 3rd grade teacher.

In fact, I just viewed the Animaniacs Boxed set and in it there is a character who reminds me of you. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (the cute one) get a new teacher. You should watch it. She is dead on you.

I think A live entertaining airstaff is important to the success of a station. I realize some can't afford it. But many can and don't. They don't go head to head for listeners, and are perfectly content to snipe for a narrow segment of audience put them with their cluster of narrow segmented audiences and hope the group as a whole pulls enough numbers to interest the agencies.

We have different idea on the value of live airstaff. I think you emphasize the business side and think technology will take care of the programming side.

You neglect the people connecting with people angle, and listenership drifts off to other sources that does the tecno angle so much better.

You created a passive audience, then complain that radio is being assaulted from too many other competitive sources, yet the industry continues to neglect the one area where they can excel. PEOPLE TO PEOPLE LIVE LOCAL FOCUSED...

QUIT NIT PICKING between brands and formats... you interchange terminology when it suits you.

When I listed Alice Jack and Free, you knew which "FORMATS" they represented so the brand was interchangable with the format. Coke and Pepsi are BRANDS, but Say get me a cola and you won't get a canada dry, it will be pepsi or coke. No one would confuse JACK with Free or Alice. Each was a NAME (brand)for a format Not one Jack talk or Free 70s classics was there?

As I say, lighten up. You get more honey with flies, than blood from turnips.

I imagine if shown a Marx Brothers movie, you would wonder why they torment Margaret Dumont rather than laugh at the action and dialogue.

...Then again, maybe JACK failed because it lacked content BETWEEN the music. No one to relate the music to the listener. But like so many other juke box formats, we will never know.
SOMETHING IS MISSING, but the dollar signs are blocking the view.

What genius in radio ever thought that radio could compete with IPODs?

Safe to say it was not someone from programming.

Sure radio can "shuffle" songs but that is only half of the success of the IPOD... the other half of course is that the library is personally selected by the IPOD owner.

Radio can never do that. In fact that would not even be "broadcasting" it would be extreme narrowcasting.

Ultimately anybody with an IPOD wants to hear their own music. not somebody elses researched guess at what they want to hear.

People historically turn to radio for reasons other than the chance to hear random music.

What is truly amazing is the number of successful stations/GM's etc that got sucked into killing a heritage station for a trendy fluke of a format.

Researched guess is an oxymoron... like military intelligence.

exactly, just like military intelligence!

Now, Now.....I beleive there to be intellignece in our military but have severe concerns with the "Executive Idiocracy" that runs the show!

Add:
That'd make a great political party "The Idiocratic Party"

How long has Charlie been on the air for????
Correct me If Im wrong, BUT isin't it still kicking ass in the ratings??

Yes it is, and its getting great RATINGS!

END OF STORY!!! Im so happy that a station that is playing deeper tracks is doing well. Charlie is BY FAR THE BEST STATION portland has EVER HAD!! The variety is awesome and PEOPLE ARE LISTENING! LIKE IT OR NOT, ITS DOING WELL!
There are plenty of people in portland who are tired of hearing these stupid, Overplayed BURNT OUT songs like "1999" By Prince. Im glad some stations are thinking outside the Box because Charlies playlist is HUGE, it is WAAAAAAAAy bigger than Kisn's. I already got tired of KIsn's format before they switched!
As far as the jocks on charlie, Im betting more air talent will be added!

CBS FM Flip Thursday afternoon:
http://www.cbsradio.com/press_center/releases/pressrelease131116-07-09-2007.html

It says Jack FM on the player, but it's the new Wcbs Fm New York.
http://cbsplayer.streamtheworld.com/index.php?CALLSIGN=WCBSFM

Just listened to the flip. Wow. They even got the mayor of NYC to proclaim this "WCBS returns to NYC day". You can't buy publicity like that!

Wouldn't it be something if this CBS-FM flip makes underperforming stations around the country drop their robojock formats for personality radio?

That would be like the early 1980s all over again.

"That would be like the early 1980s all over again."

just like my wardrobe!

:-D

If Charlie is smart, they will start adding more live jocks on the station. WCBS Flipped because people wanted their favorite personalities back on the air! I can think of a LOT of great personalities that would sound awesome on Charlie like
Charlie Girl, Stacey Lynne, Tim Taylor.

My favorite internet station, rhythmandgold.com flipped to "The return of WCBS-FM, NYC!!"

I'm listening...no, I'm BLASTING a 128k stream in stereo through my computer's subwoofer sound system. You see, I haven't used the sound system in quite a while, and I needed to clean the dust out of the speakers...WOW!

The music, the imaging, the HEAVY personality...it's all here.

Memo to stations in ALL formats: this resets the standard that great radio is made of...
Portland's K-Hits, take note of what your sister is doing. You too, Charlie...

Even KOOL-FM here in Phoenix (which is definitely no slouch of a "greatest hits" station for over 35 years) can pick up a few pointers...

Simply amazing!!

Here is my question, If a station is doing well in the ratings, WHY can't they add more staff??? I can understand why an underperforming station can't, but a station like Charlie should be able to add more personalities. If K-hits can have a live air staff on almost all air shifts, Why can't charlie???

I think you are right Buns....add Michael Wood to that list also....he had some great pipes as well! His show was always entertaining and full of energy!

How about this for Charlie Fm
Stacey Lynne joins the morning show.
9-2pm- Charlie Girl
2-6pm- Tim Taylor

Charlie sounds like a lifeless jukebox during the day! It has great high energy in the morning, than dies off after the show is over.
Bring in more personalities, FUN CONTESTS and you'll have a winner. The music sounds great, now just add some air talent!

>>WCBS Flipped because people wanted their favorite personalities back on the air!<<

Wrong.

WCBS flipped because Arbitron is rolling out the PPM in NYC this fall - and the test in Philadelphia showed a BIG ratings gain for the CBS Oldies station there.

That made bringing back CBS-FM a no-brainer.

ADD:
6-10pm Michael Wood

or put em on together and you'd have the "Tim N' Wood Show"

..."If Charlie is smart, they will start adding more live jocks on the station."

Seems like that has been the mantra since Chuck became Chuck....

no one is listening yet, but can I have the overnights as long as you are passing out shifts?

Listened a little today, sounds good. Heard one of the jocks say "greatest hits of the 50's, 60's, 70's, and now the 80's." Now that is a wide swath! (Even back at Eugene's KOOL a couple of years ago it was just 60's & 70's!, and the 60's effectively started with '64!)

According to CBS press release and R&R information -- you shouldn't have heard them mention or play anything from the 50's. The jocks are also much more 70's based...Dan Taylor and Bill Lee. Lundy phoned in his congrats.

"At approximately 12:45 p.m. ET Thursday (July 12), CBS Radio began the much-anticipated process of flipping adult hits WCBS (Jack FM)/New York back to the oldies format it abandoned two years ago with a year-by-year ’60s-’80s montage that included music clips, news sound bites, jingles and an awesomely over-the-top, phoned-in message from retired WCBS-FM/WABC legendary personality Ron Lundy. Then, at the stroke of 1:01 p.m., WCBS-FM (101. 1 - The Greatest Hits of the `60s `70s and `80s) was reborn with the Beach Boys' “Do It Again” -- and not, as some New York radio watchers had long-hoped for, “Hit The Road, Jack.”

The "new" WCBS-FM is much more like Portland's K-Hits.

Maybe Broadway Bill Lee made a mistake! (mentioning the 50's!) Or, perhaps for you conspiracy theorists, it was just a way to welcome back the older listeners!

All Access listed WCBS-FM's first hour of music. I've added year released:

DO IT AGAIN - Beach Boys [1968]
DECEMBER 1963 - Four Seasons [1975]
RESPECT - Aretha Franklin [1967]
DON'T STOP - Fleetwood Mac [1977]
SUMMER IN THE CITY - Lovin Spoonful [1966]
RIGHT BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED FROM - Maxine Nightingale [1976]
SATISFACTION - Rolling Stones [1965]
ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG - Billy Joel [1978]
DO YOU LOVE ME? - Contours [1962]
JACK & DIANE - John Mellencamp [1982]
TWIST AND SHOUT - Beatles [1964]
YOU SHOULD BE DANCING - Bee Gees [1976]
PRETTY WOMAN - Roy Orbison [1964]
MONY MONY - Tommy James & The Shondells [1968]
LAST DANCE - Donna Summer [1978]

http://www.musicradio77.com/

scroll down & listen to Ron Lundy's final show on WCBS....Magnificent radio.

wonder if they have a no two songs from the same decade back to back policy........

Usually oldies radio uses something a bit narrower. (Most oldies listeners don't think in terms of decades, except to lump everything from before their time as 50's.) Year of release is included in the song's coding, then a rule of "at least 5 years" or "at least 7 years" apart. Then a second set of coding for the extreme. At many of the old-time oldies stations, it was "one 50's per hour". Looking at the WCBS clock, I wouldn't be surprised if its one 80's per hour.

http://www.infinitedial.com/2007/07/first_listen_the_return_of_wcb.php

[Quote]How about this for Charlie Fm
Stacey Lynne joins the morning show.
9-2pm- Charlie Girl
2-6pm- Tim Taylor

Charlie sounds like a lifeless jukebox during the day! It has great high energy in the morning, than dies off after the show is over.
Bring in more personalities, FUN CONTESTS and you'll have a winner. The music sounds great, now just add some air talent![quote]

Tim is doing traffic for 104.1 The fish....Im sure he would love his own show!

I listen to KHITS a fair amount, and while I think its the best station around, for me, I do wish they would play some Bobby Darrin, Early Elvis, Chuck Berry, Supremes, maybe some Bobby Rydel(sp), Rickey (not rick) Nelson, Roy Orbison (besides than pretty woman), etc.

You get your wish this weekend.

Craig--
Any details?

I suppose I should have paid attention to the fact you were talking about KHITS

K-Hits is having another Crusin' with K-Hits weekend. It's great to hear those early rock 'n' roll songs on the radio again. Hopefully, they can find a regular home in the K-Hits library.

CHARLIE NEEDS MORE JOCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm beginning to wonder if they plan on locally programming their HD2 when it gets on the air. It's almost like this is a test.

Uh, could this be a reaction to the WCBS-FM switch?



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Interviews will start immediately! If you’re interested in learning more about this exciting career opportunity, please send your cover letter (including compensation expectations) and résumé to JACKmanager@sparknetcommunications.com.

the vibrant JACK FM ® radio brand,


Wow, wonder if these guys could sell pre eaten and digested gourmet dinners....

Vibrant Huh? Exciting as an undercooked TV dinner.

Too bad we got past the Generic packaging craze of White packaging with the product name in black.

Remember BEER... and the dozens of other products that were on the shelves?

Some of these Radio "BRANDS" remind me of that time. GENERIC RADIO

You're listening to..... RAY-D-OH. Keep it tuned right here. Now, more of your familiar favorites commercial free, right after these local messages.

OOOH maybe I better trademark the RADIO brand before somebody steals it and creates generic radio................

oops too late.

Very few scribes who cover radio actually 'get' radio. David Hinkley of the NY Daily News gets it, as he proves in this piece on the thinking behind the new WCBS-FM.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2007/07/17/2007-07-17_lost_in_the_50 s.html

Great article...thanks for sharing, Rich!

Even though I am a small to medium market radio DJ, or was until last Christmas and on the lower rungs of the 'Radio Karma' stairway to heaven ...I have found that a successful radio station always has have overt and forceful localized personality. A jukebox doesnt have much of a personality, except for the one on Happy Days and that only because the " Fonz " had the touch and lent his own personality to the stupid damn jukebox.

IMHO whatever the music base and however you put the music together you need a REAL HUMAN BEING with some talent in communication and functional brain lives in or near the community of license, and has an emotional connection to the people in it and can be entertaining and has enough sense to not be too overbearing, and also someone who is tailored well to the musical/public service and informational format elements at hand.

We need a return to "Public interest" in our presentations on broadcast radio. You can make lots of money and still do some low overhead and non-labor intensive local public service announcements. These go a long long way in developing a loyal returning audience who are likely to check the correct box in the ARB booklet.

Over here we have 'Bob' FM. Jockless, of course and they do a lot of liners , use some guy that lives in Chicago, I think. Lots of cutesy bits about being backed up on the Blue Bridge ( one of our Columbia River bridges) in the morning and afternoon traffic rush and how you can cool your heels by listening to BOB fm...music of the 80s 90s and whatever....( big emphasis on whatever )....So...what a drag it all is...just like eating canned chickpeas and Catsup for dinner

Like in the real estate business,selling or buying a house; its all about LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION...in broadcast radio I believe is all about LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL. Few of the programming gurus believe this anymore..evidently...

I don't get this hype over "variety". Sure, most stations over play many songs to death. But what is worse...playing fewer songs, most of which you like...or playing more songs, half of which you like? Variety would be good if it was a variety of songs you liked. But a variety of good songs/bad songs is not a good thing.

Besides, most of the songs played on this station are songs that were previous hits, so these old songs have already been overplayed back when they were hits. So what Charlie has created is a lot of songs, most of which have already outworn their welcome and, unless you like EVERYTHING, many songs you never even liked in the first place.

The word "variety" comes from the listeners. If you talk to them about radio that's a word they will often use to describe radio they would like to hear.

Igor nailed it. In the early 80's, when radio first started widely using research, "variety" came up over and over again (unaided)as key term for listeners describing both what they wanted in a station, and what their favorite station played.

And we found that as soon as a station started pounding the idea that they played "the best variety" of ____(hits, country, rock, favorites, fill in the blank)they dramatically improved in that image - even among their most loyal listeners. Stations previously getting "credit" for repetition could flip the image in 6 months, just by claiming variety. They didn't have to change their playlist! "New" is another potent word that radio (as well as burgers, laundry soap, etc) have used to their advantage.

As a sidebar, when I started doing radio research, radio was still asking what station "played the same songs over and over" and taking the results as a negative. Research methodology advises that although the researcher may think such a phrase is a negative, the respondent may not. You have to be more direct. We changed the question to "plays the same songs too often" which removes all doubt. Eventually almost all broadcast researchers followed suit. And it turned out "over and over" and "too often" were definitely NOT the same question.

And as a sidebar to my sidebar, the CHR in the market virtually always owns the "repetition" image, often by a 4 to 1 margin, due to its young audience always looking for the newest, and its limited playlist. Anytime an AC / Country / ClassicRock etc. station "won" the repetition issue, it was in serious life-threatening trouble.

"New" may be potent, but as I understand it, the Federal Trade Commission says a consumer product you can buy off the shelf can be claimed as "new" for six months. I've heard a couple of radio stations over the years claim to be "the NEW Variety 104.5" for TWO YEARS!

That strains credibility, to say the least!

I worked for a station and ownership that used 'NEW' in the same liners and Jingles over and over from early 2001 to March or April of 2004. The P.D finally, without permission from corporate, hacked up these production images as best as he could to remove the 'New'. He/we got so many complaints about it from just people on the street or at events. I heard about it from people I knew at my 'day job'.

Our P.D. still caught hell from his 'betters' over doing it, which is the saddest element to this story !

jack radio has been replaced by movin it seems like. any thoughts on jack?