Why Isn't 95.7 Using The Jack Format?

CBS has switched 95.7 KKHH to an Adult Hits format, as "95.7 The Spot" with "Your Place, Your Music, Your Way" as the slogan. But CBS owns Jack-FM stations all over the country, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Minneapolis, using the slogan "Playing What We Want." It uses Howard Cogan as its Jack voice. He's even based at KCBS-FM LA.

Yes, I know Jack was on 103.7 some years ago, and wasn't much of a success there. In fact, it still carries the KHJK (Houston's Jack) call letters. But it only uses them at the top of the hour, as an Air 1 Christian Rock affiliate. I'm sure most listeners don't even know this info.

So why invent a new Adult Hits format for Houston? CBS is clearly happy with Jack in four other cities.

You sir, have answered your own questions.

I agree. I would call this a Jack or Bob FM type format. Listenable - but not the classic hits / oldies I hoped for. It has a string of two or three good songs, then a couple of clunkers. There is a reason why some of those late 70's to early 90's songs never charted, or never rose very high on the charts.

rbrucecarter5 said:

I agree. I would call this a Jack or Bob FM type format. Listenable - but not the classic hits / oldies I hoped for. It has a string of two or three good songs, then a couple of clunkers. There is a reason why some of those late 70's to early 90's songs never charted, or never rose very high on the charts.

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Bruce, I couldn't disagree more. I'm 39, right smack in the target demographic. The music selection is spot on. The "string of two or three good songs, then a couple of clunkers" statement applies to me too, but we're probably thinking the same with completely opposite songs. I think of this when I hear "I Love Rock & Roll", "Play That Funky Music", and "They Dropped the Bomb on Me". Old, played out songs that are reserved for wedding receptions and shouldn't be played outside of them.

Otherwise, it's great.

For my demographic, there was previously only one station playing the right songs, assuming one is into rock--94.5 The Buzz. The Eagle skews too old even to keep my ears (I've been waiting for it to adjust more to my generation but it hasn't happened as fast as I hoped {I did hear Nirvana, which was nice} and probably won't morph too fast due to strong ratings so they're definitely accomplishing their goal), Sunny is too soft, and Mix is strongly female skewed (nothing wrong with that). Iheart radio and Spotify have been my friend for a long time; however, it is nice to have a reason to turn on terrestrial radio again.

I've been listening to 93Q on and off the past new years despite not being a country fan because there wasn't a consistent station playing the "right" songs for me. It is probably appealing to me because of the emergence of pop country, which is another discussion for another time.

While I'll miss Hot 95.7's morning drive and PM drive, Spot is an overall win for my demographic and was needed for a long time.

rageradio said:

I know I thought the same thing! It's no different than a Jack-FM format.

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There are lots of stations doing it on their own. One of the best examples is Philadelphia's BEN-FM.

The key thing about the format is the music, not the name.

I don't think that JACK in Dallas/Fort Worth is using the monotone voice guy anymore or the "Playing What We Want" moniker anymore. They have real DJs and play mostly 80s. I think the new slogan is something like "The 80s Live Here" They just played Manic Monday by Bangles, Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode, Rebel Yell by Billy Idol http://jackontheweb.cbslocal.com/ Of course we did just lose 102.1 The Edge (Alternative) after 27 years so who knows what will happen next... It is now called STAR102.1 so we now basically have HOT93.3, Star102.1, 102.9NOW, "More hits less commercials" 103.7 and 106.1 KISS FM that all play basically the same format. Ugh!

The Dallas Jack still uses the national voice guy, though with the slogan "We Love The 80s" instead of "Playing What We Want". The Dallas Jack has also always played those songs, I consider the Star 102.1 format closer to Jack-FM than KISS or NOW.

I kind of see Star being iHearts answer to Jack in Dallas, though CBS has the Dallas Jack running far more Classic Rock than the National Format.

Well, the Jack stations were pretty uniform at the start. But over time, in the big markets, they've been tailored to local tastes. (There's also a satellite-distributed Jack for smaller markets.) KCBS-FM plays more classic alternative, because sister station Alternative Rock KROQ was such an influence in LA 20 years ago. Jack started as a no-DJ format. But as mentioned above, Dallas' Jack does have DJs. When I was in the Seattle/Vancouver area, I could hear both Jacks. Vancouver has DJs on weekdays (not nights or weekends) and Seattle does not. Of course, the Vancouver Jack also had CanCon songs. (Canadian stations have to play a certain percentage of Canadian content.) But when there was no live DJ, Howard Cogan's voice was heard on CJAX. And he was on all the time on KJAQ.

Licensing fees? I doubt it's much, considering CBS, I'm sure, is paying a flat rate for four stations. It shouldn't be that much more to add a fifth. And you get ready-made logos and other imaging material immediately. No need to think up new slogans or websites. And really, does "95.7 The Spot" have the same ring as "95.7 Jack-FM"? The Spot, really? "What are you listening to?" "Oh, it's 95.7 The Spot." Is that better than "I'm listening to Jack-FM."

"Your Place, Your Music, Your Way"... does that sound better than "Playing What We Want"? Your place, your music, your way sounds like a chain of healthy restaurants, like Panera Bread. Not like a bold radio station.

Gregg. said:

Licensing fees? I doubt it's much, considering CBS, I'm sure, is paying a flat rate for four stations. It shouldn't be that much more to add a fifth. And you get ready-made logos and other imaging material immediately. No need to think up new slogans or websites.

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Huh? We're talking about a major market. They don't need some company in Canada to create a logo, imaging, or slogan. You should ask yourself what does a company get by licensing Jack. A brand name? Big deal. A voice? Big deal. A music library? Big Deal. There's no benefit at all.

Could've called it Sam-FM for Sam Houston.

I am certainly glad that it fills your musical needs. I don't think we are that far apart musically based on your comments. When I said clunkers, I referred to songs that did not chart, or did not chart very high. Music fans in the era made their judgement - it does no good to challenge that by playing songs that never were popular. I could program a whole oldies format based on the "B" sides of 45's, it doesn't mean anybody would listen. They were "B" sides for a reason. A very few became hits, but that is another topic.

You can't focus group a format like this. Your sample size is so small that you will get the weird niche favorites of the people in the room. I like some weird songs myself. That doesn't mean I would subject others to them. Jack, Bob, and Spot formats are good dial-across stations. Find a song you like, listen, maybe they play two or three you like, then something you never heard of before. Mostly awful. Tune out to another station, come back later. I did that with Bob FM last week on a Frys run when Cypress radio faded out. A good song, a bad song, I was gone. The Spot is little different. If they stuck to songs that were popular, they couldn't lose. But some track buried on a late 80's album put there to get the album up to 12 songs when the artist only had 11 good ones - its not radio worthy. It wasn't in the 80's, its not now. Spot does what it does, same as Bob or Jack. A welcome addition to Houston radio. My new set and forget favorite station? Not really.

rbrucecarter5 said:

I am certainly glad that it fills your musical needs. I don't think we are that far apart musically based on your comments. When I said clunkers, I referred to songs that did not chart, or did not chart very high. Music fans in the era made their judgement - it does no good to challenge that by playing songs that never were popular. I could program a whole oldies format based on the "B" sides of 45's, it doesn't mean anybody would listen. They were "B" sides for a reason. A very few became hits, but that is another topic.

You can't focus group a format like this. Your sample size is so small that you will get the weird niche favorites of the people in the room. I like some weird songs myself. That doesn't mean I would subject others to them. Jack, Bob, and Spot formats are good dial-across stations. Find a song you like, listen, maybe they play two or three you like, then something you never heard of before. Mostly awful. Tune out to another station, come back later. I did that with Bob FM last week on a Frys run when Cypress radio faded out. A good song, a bad song, I was gone. The Spot is little different. If they stuck to songs that were popular, they couldn't lose. But some track buried on a late 80's album put there to get the album up to 12 songs when the artist only had 11 good ones - its not radio worthy. It wasn't in the 80's, its not now. Spot does what it does, same as Bob or Jack. A welcome addition to Houston radio. My new set and forget favorite station? Not really.

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I've just looked at the last 8 hours of songs played and I only see one song (a real outlier, from Ryan Ferris from 2013 per Google) that I didn't immediately recognize. No B sides or deep album cuts that I can see. It looks to me like they're playing popular radio songs, albeit mostly 15+ years old.

wildthangjim said:

It looks to me like they're playing popular radio songs, albeit mostly 15+ years old.

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Good idea. There's a reason why they're popular songs. Play what's popular.

wildthangjim said:

I've just looked at the last 8 hours of songs played and I only see one song (a real outlier, from Ryan Ferris from 2013 per Google) that I didn't immediately recognize. No B sides or deep album cuts that I can see. It looks to me like they're playing popular radio songs, albeit mostly 15+ years old.

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Is it possible they are refining the format? Or are we getting something over the bird from LA, Nashville, NY?

rbrucecarter5 said:

Or are we getting something over the bird from LA, Nashville, NY?

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CBS Radio doesn't work that way.