WCBS-FM (NYC) changes format - and fires all the hosts...

[Indyellen]

@JimSox5

The Jack has gotten to Indy as well. I haven’t listened to it, nor do I know whether or not it took over another station, as I don’t know Indianapolis radio too well. But I do know that this all just seems terribly cold-hearted, and kind of scares me as a college DJ with thoughts of making a career of it.

Jack took over the oldies station here in Indy, too. That particular corporation (not ClearBabble but a smaller one) had a wildly popular 80’s retro station which they ditched in favor of “family friendly” (i.e. Christian) music, then they took the oldies station which had been on for years & converted to Jack. sigh

Personally I listen to 101.9 WKLU (the Clue) which plays 4 commercials an hour and plays “classics from the 80’s & 70’s…and ‘whatever’”. They have a net presence too. It’s a lot better than Jack or Hank or ClearBabble. The station is owned by a radio geek & has real dj’s.

So there are options.

[Cemetery_Savior]

We in Chicago (Hello, 5que!) already had two of these “iPod” stations (maybe 4).

Early last year, we got “The 9” (three different frequencies), whih was a total mish-mosh of songs, played with few commericals. Honestly, it’s a great station (from my POV).

However…we already HAD WXRT, which was very close to that style. Then, 101.9 went that way (OK…they’re slow, but they’re trending that way), and now we have “Jack”.

This all seemed to happen once “The 9” got the Billboard “Best Radio Station” award for 2004. Then, every station has to present as an amalgam of all that is good.

Normally, I would be irritated by 4-5 stations going to the same format at the same time. However…I have 6 presets on my car. As far as I can figure, with 5 presets for music (NPR for the other), I’ll plug all for these “iPod” stations, and be virtually assured of getting somthign good once in a while.

Does that make sense?

-Cem

[ZebraShaSha]

@Jeep's Phoenix

This happened recently in my area. The local Oldies channel, a regional fixture for decades that broadcasted on FM and AM, converted to “the at-work station” format – in other words, nothing but lame-ass soft pop. I don’t listen to it, so I’m not sure what happened to the DJs. Then the only '80s channel converted to a variety format, but it’s mostly the worst of the Oldies. That station appears to have kept all of its DJs though.

I listen to John Boy and Billy in the mornings and Flashback on Sunday mornings – both on rock stations. Otherwise, I listen to CDs now.

Are you talking about Oldies 93? If so, damn, that really does suck. I wouldn’t know because I usually am not in the car and if I am, I listen to Que Pasa Radio, 1470 am. However, whenever I was a kid, I listened to that oldies station almost exclusively, except for the ocasional old alt-rock 94.5.

[MikeG]

Cem, that is exactly what I do. I mainly keep it on NPR but switch to 9 or XRT when I want some music. I would kill for an iPod, I drive a lot, 17000 miles in the last 5 months and I could use some diversity.

[Jackmannii]

@JohnBckWLD

Clear Channel aside, it was inevitable…If not regrettable.

A few years back, the safe-as-milk corporate program director truncated WCBS’s suitable-track playlist down to +/-650 songs ([sup]1[/sup]). Let me say that again in classic WCBS-FM on-air personality reverb:

The DJs were only allowed to play music from a list of 650 songs. This on an oldies station that was alleged to be the home of the AM-Pop. Do the math, that’s 25 songs per year from the years 1955-1982 ([sup]2[/sup]). Variety died, constant repetition became the norm and ratings went down the toilet.

This sort of restrictive playlist has always seemed to be the norm for “oldies” radio - repeating ad nauseam the same Super Hits with there being virtually no chance of hearing anything which might provoke the thought “Hmmm, it’s been a long time since I heard that one.”

I once was a DJ at a station that played a primitive precursor to Jack radio. We rotated current pop and country hits along with syndicated material that featured a mishmash of Golden Oldies from the 40s through the 60s. You could get Sinatra, Olivia Newton-John, the Beatles and Roger Miller in sequence. What a barf-fest.

Part of the thinking behind the concept of suddenly changing formats and tossing the old crew out the door probably has to do with getting the old fans off the station’s case as soon as possible. Draw out the switchover, and you’ve got to deal with the protests and letter-writing campaigns for that much longer.

It’s all about the pursuit of that mythical 18-49-year-old demographic.

[Evil_One]

@Jackmannii

It’s all about the pursuit of that mythical 18-49-year-old demographic.

Exactly. Think about it. I’m 43, nearing the top end of that demo. I can’t really relate to anything before 1975 or so. So it doesn’t suprise me at all to see that format being abandoned. Think about what will happen in ten years or so. The eighties will start to be viewed the same way that sixties music is today.

“Oldies” will consist of rap and Korn, etc. Wonderful.

The only saving grace may be a phenomenon that I have noticed in the past few years. Musical taste is moving away from time period to genre for many people. I work in a high school and AC/DC and Def Leppard are played at the school dances. Soon, 15 year olds and 50 year olds will like the same thing and radio will have to adapt. They will likely do that with limited playlists of mass-appeal hits.

[JimSox5]

Speaking as a person turning 19 later this week, I like 60’s and 70’s music a hell of a lot more than the vast majority of music from the mid-80’s through the present.

[gotpasswords]

@Jackmannii

This sort of restrictive playlist has always seemed to be the norm for “oldies” radio - repeating ad nauseam the same Super Hits with there being virtually no chance of hearing anything which might provoke the thought “Hmmm, it’s been a long time since I heard that one.”

Ah, at least now I know why I can’t stomach the thought of listening to oldies.

Here in San Francisco, we’ve got a “Max” station that appears to be Jack’s brother.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

I’ve discovered Audio Books, borrowed from my local library.

Lovely!

[WolfpackJeep]

@ZebraShaSha

Are you talking about Oldies 93? If so, damn, that really does suck. I wouldn’t know because I usually am not in the car and if I am, I listen to Que Pasa Radio, 1470 am. However, whenever I was a kid, I listened to that oldies station almost exclusively, except for the ocasional old alt-rock 94.5.

No, it was Oldies 100.7. From what I can find online, Oldies 93 still seems to be around. There is another Oldies station – 107.9 – that I can sometimes pick up here, but it broadcasts from somewhere near the coast.

[Queen_Tonya]

We’re special in Detroit, not only did we get Doug instead of Jack, neither our big classic rock station or the oldies one got the ax but a top ten station did. I dunno what they called themselves, pop or rap or whatever, they played whatever was current on Mtv’s TRL.

Kinda sad now hearing the DJs pop up doing guest spots on all the other local shows, just doing anything to get on the air no matter how silly.

[dalej42]

I knew there was a reason I just signed up for satellite radio. It really is worth the 12.00 per month. In Dallas, Jack was one of the better radio stations. NPR and Air America are nice, but I like the variety on satellite radio.

[Beware_of_Doug]

@mhendo

Welcome to the clearchannelization of American radio. Make it all the same, with programming coming from a central studio and broadcast though local stations manned only by a technician to ensure that the signal gets though. Fire local DJs, get rid of local content and local interest. Make money.

Except they don’t necessarily make money. All they do is please the marketing drones, who will generally forgive an underperformer as long as it sticks to the formula.

[Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd]

I didn’t know about this until I read it in the newspaper… Yeow.

At least I still have Q104.3. Right?

[mhendo]

@Beware of Doug

Except they don’t necessarily make money. All they do is please the marketing drones, who will generally forgive an underperformer as long as it sticks to the formula.

Well, maybe certain individual stations don’t make money, but the system by which they are acquired and run certainly does. I mean, companies like Clear Channel might contain a certain number of ideologues, but in the end they’re in business for the bottom line. If they allow some channels to run at a loss, they do so with overall proift very firmly in mind.

[Mtgman]

@phouka

I hadn’t realized that Jack FM in Dallas had taken over a previous station. I thought it was a completely new one. I have really enjoyed listening to it since I moved back, mostly because I’m sick and tired of DJs talking over the beginnings and ends of songs. At first, the playlist was really extensive, but over the last couple of months, I’m hearing a lot of repeats. They seem to be blanding out.

Add to that their treatment of the DJs in New York, and I guess I’ll be switching to another format. Dang it.

Jack FM in Dallas replaced 100.3 KJMZ. KJMZ was a station which mostly played the broadcast-suitable rap and hip-hop along with hosting Tom Joyner’s morning show. The station has had a very troubled history. It also was “100.3 WILD FM” fairly recently, but it was a Latino station at one point IIRC and it was rap music as long ago as I can remember. That’s at least four rebrandings of the station before it became “Jack FM”.

Enjoy,
Steven

[Charlie_Tan]

http://www.jack.fm/

This lists all stations that have changed. And it’s not CC but Infinity.

BTW - 650 songs seems like a lot for NY. I’d go for no more than 400.

[NothingMan]

I’ve been a radio pro for over 8 years now.

The “Jack” is the new hot format in the business. It is sweeping into almost every market in the country. Essentially this is the backlash against most other formats that have a small and precise playlist. Most Jacks follow the same concept…“IPod on shuffle”, “we have corporate out of our hair”, “we play what we want”, etc. Its smoke and mirrors, basically Jack is just a much much bigger playlist. Its worked well in many parts of the country…however like all things new only time will tell if the format holds up.

Also I wanted to point out that Jack is not one station being simulcast but rather a concept and imaging package purchased by a station in your market. They are all individual stations. Just as all “Mixes”, or “Oldies” or “Xs” are diferent from place to place.

As to the fate of your DJ friends: that sucks. Guess what? We as radio pros know full well going into a job that we can be fired at anytime on anyday. The station may underperform in the ratings…lets fire the DJs. The station may not make budget because the sales staff didn’t sell enough ads…lets replace the air staff. But lets look at this situation as a whole:

Every job has its good and bad points. Radio is a whole lot of fun to work in. Hell, did I say “work”? I haven’t worked a day since I started in this business. I get to go on the air and be an idiot and play great music and talk to interesting people. I get free food and free movie pases and free cds and free concert tickets. I walk into a station event and people are excited to meet me…guys buy me drinks, girls give me phone numbers, listeners act like I’m a celebrity. I am not a celebrity - I’m just a guy with a really cool job. Thats the good.

Heres the bad: Long wacky hours. I get one day a week off. I cannot call in sick - I can call in and ask if I can call in sick, and I may (and have) be told no. (I actually had one program director tell me “can you be sick at the end of the week?”). And yes, the inevitable nasty, never-saw-it-coming firing. Theres a common belief that everyone in this industry has at least one of these firings in their career if not three or four. In fact some would tell you you aren’t truly a radio pro until you’ve experinced one of these events - a sort of baptism by fire if you will.

Want to hear about my nasty firing? Sure, OK I’ll share the pain: I was a music director and night jock for a double frequency station here in town: “Mix 95.7 and 106.7”. We had only around for about a year and hadn’t really been given a chance - jocks swapped around constantly, five PD changes in 12 months, etc. There was an all staff meeting for the building (four stations owned by one company). The management told everyone that there was a big exciting announcement to be made. Alright cool. Around 10AM one Wednesday morning we all shuffle into the large conference room where they unveil a big banner with a flashy red and yellow logo on it. Guess what the logo read. It said “Oldies 95.7 and 106.7”. Thats how I and my staff found out we were being fired. They had security escort us out of the building. No fuss, no mess - just “see ya , bye”.

So in summary: When the radio business is good, its great. When the radio business is bad, its terrible. Those of us who work in it are aware of this and understand its a trade-off. Those jocks from WCBS will be fine, I bet most will have new jobs within a month or so…maybe even right across the street at another station in town.
Keep listening.

~NM

[Brynda]

At least in Nashville the DJs got hired immediately. There was such an stink about Jack taking over the oldies station that another station switched formats and hired the oldies jocks within the week. One of the morning DJs was Coyote McCloud, who is a Nashville institution. He has been working in Nashville radio since the 70’s.

[Catamount]

@Jeep's Phoenix

There is another Oldies station – 107.9 – that I can sometimes pick up here, but it broadcasts from somewhere near the coast.

It broadcasts from right down the street from my house. I like it. If it ever gets Jack-ified, you’re all invited over to my place for a good old-fashioned Viking funeral for the station.

I’ve recently discovered the local college station and it’s miles better than the other stations on the radio (except NPR at any time except when Fresh Air is on). They play a decent variety of music, they have a ska and reggae show, and I always hear something new. Other than that, it’s either NPR or my friend the CD player. It’s not the repetition on the other stations I mind so much as it is the car commericals.

The WCBS switchover ranks in the top ten crappy format changes in the last twenty years. It narrowly beat out the Sunny-FM/WLNK changeover in the mid 1990s in Charlotte. Three days of nonstop construction noises. :eek: :mad: