Soccer Dad

Hit the road jack?

I wasn't too happy two years ago when my favorite Oldies station changed formats.

Now I see at Elie's Expositions, that the JACK experiment may have run its course.

It's interesting because in recent months DC's oldies station changed formats to classic rock. And the classic rock station, in response, became a world class rock station. World Class Rock apparently differs from classic rock in that having been on the charts isn't as much of a requirement now. (This includes a rather annoying change to including a social conscience. I listen to music for enjoyment.)

I wouldn't mind JACK if it were an option to go alongside a classic rock and an oldies station. But I really like my oldies and didn't at all like not having an oldies station. Will Baltimore's Jack revert? I can only hope, though it won't happen for at least another 5 days when the current station has its summer concert.

Yes it's nice when a station doesn't have a playlist and the JACK format apparently marked a realization among the radio bean counters that most listeners agree. But a decade ago the conventional wisdom among radio programmers as that people enjoyed repetition. So if the JACK format hits the road, will we see oldies stations that have more variety than in the past?

UPDATE: Some perspective at the Daily News.

When the decline seemed to continue, management had the playlist tightened - from maybe 1,200 songs "back in the day" to more like 300. That is, just the biggest hits, the ones everyone loves in the focus groups, played over and over.

This can induce burnout in people who listen to the station a lot, the core listeners - and the truth is that in the months before the format change in June 2005, a whole lot of listeners were complaining that they were tired of hearing "Happy Together" every couple of hours and that with more and more '70s ballads creeping into the mix, it didn't feel like their station any more anyway.

There are many who feel another programming approach might have worked better. Moot point. While WCBS-FM was still a profitable and popular station in June 2005, new CBS Radio President Joel Hollander decided to make a pre-emptive strike.

The company would change the format before WCBS-FM turned into the late popular standards station WNEW-AM, whose listeners were also incredibly loyal, but on the average were also well past the age where most advertisers are interested.

WCBS-FM would become Jack, whose music was centered in the '80s and thus would by definition attract a younger audience.

Whether you agree with the decision or not, that's why Hollander made it - and looking at it purely from a business standpoint, he wasn't being vindictive or irrational. Especially when you remember that WCBS-FM wasn't his only concern in June 2005.

He also knew that come December 2005 several dozen of his CBS stations were going to lose Howard Stern, who he estimated brought in 10% of the radio division's revenue. That's a huge hit, and it meant the company was much less able to absorb declines at a WCBS-FM.

jack radio format, oldies.