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Unusual Song Selection for KTWV The Wave

G

Gregg.

I think 94.7 The Wave is a great station, one of my favorites. That was true when the station started as a New Age outlet, then moved to Smooth Jazz and now as a Rhythmic AC/Classic Soul station.

As I write this, I'm hearing "Freedom Overspill" by Steve Winwood. Great song. But I don't know of any other station, other than a Classic Rock outlet, which would play this song that peaked at #20 in 1986. Certainly not a Rhythmic AC.

I also hear plenty of vocal songs left over from the old Smooth Jazz years... by Sade, Anita Baker, Norah Jones, Phil Collins, Gloria Estefan, etc. Most AC stations have long abandoned these artists as being too soft, especially Rhythmic AC stations. While KTWV isn't always soft, it certainly goes softer than any other station on the dial. (Now I'm hearing "By Your Side" by Sade.)

It also goes older than any other station on the dial. One or two 1960s or early 70s songs are heard each hour, often from Motown. Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & The Pips. Not even a Classic Hits station goes this far back anymore. Yet The Wave also plays a handful of current hits and recent hits. The playlist spans from the 1960s to 2017.

One more unique feature... The three major dayparts, AM, midday and PM, are all staffed by women. Again, I don't know of any station where that is true.

But it works. The station is usually #2 in the ratings, and often makes the top 5 in the 25-54 demo. In LA, that's not easy to do.
 
Gregg. said:
But it works. The station is usually #2 in the ratings, and often makes the top 5 in the 25-54 demo. In LA, that's not easy to do.
Click to expand...

While it spent most of 2016 around 9th or 10th in 25-54, it has moved up to 6th, then 5th and now 4th in the last book.
 
Gregg. said:
As I write this, I'm hearing "Freedom Overspill" by Steve Winwood. Great song. But I don't know of any other station, other than a Classic Rock outlet, which would play this song that peaked at #20 in 1986. Certainly not a Rhythmic AC.
Click to expand...

My theory about this is Steve is on tour now, and will be playing shows in Southern California soon. Perhaps this is a set-up to a ticket give-away?
 
Gregg. said:
It also goes older than any other station on the dial. One or two 1960s or early 70s songs are heard each hour, often from Motown. Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & The Pips. Not even a Classic Hits station goes this far back anymore. Yet The Wave also plays a handful of current hits and recent hits. The playlist spans from the 1960s to 2017.

But it works. The station is usually #2 in the ratings, and often makes the top 5 in the 25-54 demo. In LA, that's not easy to do.
Click to expand...

Going to have to check them out. Looks like a great lineup of songs here (at least according to their "last played" tab). And certainly a lineup that other large stations are not willing to do in L.A. Playing a rotation that involves that many years is something worth looking at. Nice to have a K-Surf type playing golden oldies and then KTWV with many R&B and 70's-90's classics. Being #2, they are doing something right!
 
TheBigA said:
My theory about this is Steve is on tour now, and will be playing shows in Southern California soon. Perhaps this is a set-up to a ticket give-away?
Click to expand...

I checked out two solid days of playlists and that Winwood track was played just once. It really sticks out in comparison to the rest of the playlist, which is a soft-leaning mostly-r&b and neo-soul mix. Scratching my head now. Did some jock "go rogue" and play a personal fave? Was there a computer slip-up and a song from another station's library aired?

Never mind. "Higher Love" was just played. So it may be some sort of pay-for-play scheme to hype a concert ticket giveaway. But you'd think they'd be playing Winwood more than once every couple of days if they were really into the concert hype, wouldn't you?
 
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CTListener said:
But you'd think they'd be playing Winwood more than once every couple of days if they were really into the concert hype, wouldn't you?
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The shows aren't for a couple weeks, so the airplay might increase as they get closer.

I looked at Winwood's setlist for this tour, and it's very broad, from every part of his career.
 
TheBigA said:
The shows aren't for a couple weeks, so the airplay might increase as they get closer.

I looked at Winwood's setlist for this tour, and it's very broad, from every part of his career.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the big deal is. Winwood's 80's music, particularly the "Back in the High Life" material, has been played before on smooth jazz and classic R&B formats for decades, much as Boz Scaggs' late 70s music has been as well. They both fit the format. In fact, I have even heard "Arc of a Diver" on classic R&B radio before and I believe Winwood's music was a staple on KTWV's original New Age format (the format was really only about 50% "new age", the other 50% being comprised of mainstream artists like Winwood and Steely Dan that have a jazz element to their music.)
 
CTListener said:
So it may be some sort of pay-for-play scheme to hype a concert ticket giveaway.
Click to expand...

Pay for play requires sponsor identification, the equivalent of saying "this song was presented by PQR Records". If it did not, then it is likely an intentional play under the thought that an artist date in the market heightens interest in the artist's songs. Until we got the manic prosecutions of people like Eliot Spitzer, I used to favor increasing rotations on big artists that were coming to town, even if my station was not involved directly; it was something that listeners seemed to react favorably to.
 
Yeah, checking KTWV's mediabase page: http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/7/stationplaylistrequest.asp?c_let=KTWV-FM, I notice the wave is apparently beginning to lean Rhythmic. I even saw B.o.B's Nothin On You and Bruno Mars' That's What I Like listed on that list. I mean, since when has the wave played any rap? I know that one particular b.o.b song isn't hardcore but it's still weird. Who agrees that this is a sign that this station will eventually evolve into an upbeat Rhythmic AC station with the soft, jazzy slow jams being slowly woven out?
 
cer1992 said:
What about K-Earth 101? What's the earliest decade of hits that still get played on there?
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The earliest decade is really the 70's, and the median year is 1983. Looking at an era map, there are 12 70's songs played in the last week, vs. 229 from the 80's (more than half from 1982-1984) and 40 from the 90's. There were about 330 titles played in the most recent week.
 
cer1992 said:
Yeah, checking KTWV's mediabase page: http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/7/stationplaylistrequest.asp?c_let=KTWV-FM, I notice the wave is apparently beginning to lean Rhythmic. I even saw B.o.B's Nothin On You and Bruno Mars' That's What I Like listed on that list. I mean, since when has the wave played any rap? I know that one particular b.o.b song isn't hardcore but it's still weird. Who agrees that this is a sign that this station will eventually evolve into an upbeat Rhythmic AC station with the soft, jazzy slow jams being slowly woven out?
Click to expand...

It's been a rhythmic AC since just after KKHT flipped to Urban in February of 2015. Obviously, as they built their core and did music tests, they have improved the music mix. It looks like they must have tested somewhere in April or early May, giving rise to the most recent additional growth and improving 25-54 demos.
 
ChannelFlipper said:
I don't know what the big deal is. Winwood's 80's music, particularly the "Back in the High Life" material, has been played before on smooth jazz and classic R&B formats for decades, much as Boz Scaggs' late 70s music has ) been as well. They both fit the format. In fact, I have even heard "Arc of a Diver" on classic R&B radio before and I believe Winwood's music was a staple on KTWV's original New Age format (the format was really only about 50% "new age", the other 50% being comprised of mainstream artists like Winwood and Steely Dan that have a jazz element to their music.)
Click to expand...

Winwood's Valerie (released 1982) was a staple of Classic Hits stations for years. It seems like it would fit fairly well in this format.
 
DavidEduardo said:


The earliest decade is really the 70's, and the median year is 1983. Looking at an era map, there are 12 70's songs played in the last week, vs. 229 from the 80's (more than half from 1982-1984) and 40 from the 90's. There were about 330 titles played in the most recent week.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that the 60s are completely gone now on K-Earth? I ask for comparison purposes in that the Portland station still plays one every two hours or so.
 
semoochie said:
Are you saying that the 60s are completely gone now on K-Earth?
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Yes....the daily influx of "Brown Eyed Girl" and others has finally ended on that station. But you can certainly enjoy hundreds of them on K-SUR 1260, L.A.'s newest oldies station.

http://laoldies.com/
 
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I wonder then, what will replace the 60's Brown Eyed Girl and the 70's Hotel California as K-Earth's most over-played song from the 80's? Take On Me?
 
AM FM listener said:
I wonder then, what will replace the 60's Brown Eyed Girl and the 70's Hotel California as K-Earth's most over-played song from the 80's? Take On Me?
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Out this way, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" would have to be a contender. It was among the first '80s songs to be added to the playlists of classic hits stations I listen to, and it's still in power rotation on the ones that are still in the format today. Of course, Lauper is a New Yorker, so maybe the song doesn't test as well in LA.
 
AM FM listener said:
I wonder then, what will replace the 60's Brown Eyed Girl and the 70's Hotel California as K-Earth's most over-played song from the 80's? Take On Me?
Click to expand...

Take your pick from these songs all played the same amount last week:

Take On Me
Girls Just Wanna...
If You Leave
I love Rock and Roll
Beat It
Our House
Don't Stop Believin'
1999
Sweet Dreams
 
DavidEduardo said:


Take your pick from these songs all played the same amount last week:

Take On Me
Girls Just Wanna...
If You Leave
I love Rock and Roll
Beat It
Our House
Don't Stop Believin'
1999
Sweet Dreams
Click to expand...

Wow, no Katrina and the Waves' "Walkin' on Sunshine"?

Possibly the most overplayed 80s hit ever. The only thing "Brown Eyed Girl" has on it is 20 more years of over-exposure.
 
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