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WHBQ-FM
- Thread starter MVB13
- Start date
How many threads do you need to make this comment in? Just because you keep repeating it doesn't make it true.
Are you aware how and why format classifications are made? In WHBQ's case, multiple places that actually do classify formats state that it's a Hot AC. In many cases it its subjective, but when most of the places who analyze formats all say it's something (and not necessarily what the station wants it to be), it is.
Why? Let's look at the 5pm hour log the station had today from Mediabase (one of the places that does classify stations). 6 songs were played. 4 currents, 3 recurrents, and 9 golds. The top currents and recurrents are only averaging 63 spins per week. Most CHRs have much tighter rotations with their top songs 90-130 spins per week. The station is targeting a 25-54 audience. In every metric that matters, WHBQ-FM is a Hot AC currently. Could that change with 102.7's flip, possibly but as of now it is not.
Are you aware how and why format classifications are made? In WHBQ's case, multiple places that actually do classify formats state that it's a Hot AC. In many cases it its subjective, but when most of the places who analyze formats all say it's something (and not necessarily what the station wants it to be), it is.
Why? Let's look at the 5pm hour log the station had today from Mediabase (one of the places that does classify stations). 6 songs were played. 4 currents, 3 recurrents, and 9 golds. The top currents and recurrents are only averaging 63 spins per week. Most CHRs have much tighter rotations with their top songs 90-130 spins per week. The station is targeting a 25-54 audience. In every metric that matters, WHBQ-FM is a Hot AC currently. Could that change with 102.7's flip, possibly but as of now it is not.
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When? Z100 in NYC has been doing its rotations like that for at least as long as I've been following the trades, so roughly 20 years.
18:56 P!NK - Trustfall
18:53 SZA - Kill Bill
18:51 Meghan Trainor - Made You Look
18:48 David Guetta / Bebe Rexha - I'm Good (Blue)
18:45 AJR - BANG!
18:42 Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero
18:38 Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holding Me Back
18:33. Nicky Youre-Sunroof
18:30 Coi Leray - Players
18:27 KELLY CLARKSON - SINCE U BEEN GONE
18:20 OLIVIA RODRIGO - GOOD 4 U
18:17 Charlie Puth - Thats Not How This Works (feat. Dan Sh
18:14 Miley Cyrus - Flowers
18:11 Lizzo - About Damn Time
18:08 Dean Lewis - How Do I Say Goodbye
18:03. Ariana Grande-Positions
This is a sample hour of KZPT.
18:53 SZA - Kill Bill
18:51 Meghan Trainor - Made You Look
18:48 David Guetta / Bebe Rexha - I'm Good (Blue)
18:45 AJR - BANG!
18:42 Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero
18:38 Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holding Me Back
18:33. Nicky Youre-Sunroof
18:30 Coi Leray - Players
18:27 KELLY CLARKSON - SINCE U BEEN GONE
18:20 OLIVIA RODRIGO - GOOD 4 U
18:17 Charlie Puth - Thats Not How This Works (feat. Dan Sh
18:14 Miley Cyrus - Flowers
18:11 Lizzo - About Damn Time
18:08 Dean Lewis - How Do I Say Goodbye
18:03. Ariana Grande-Positions
This is a sample hour of KZPT.
WABC, in the 60's, ran the #1 song every 90 minutes. There was, for some years, a timer with a flashing light that went off to make sure it got played on time.
60 spins is just under 3 hours rotation. That is a Hot AC rotation, not CHR. Even some AC's will do around 45 to 60 spins a week on powers.
Every significant Top 40 in the country did anywhere from 90 minute to 120 minute repeats on powers in most of the trajectory of Top 40 /CHR.
The differences were in how many "power" songs there were and how the currents were divided into categories.
Most stations stopped playing 40 to 50 songs back in the 70's. Once we had callout research rather than record sales and request tabulations, we learned that seldom were there more than 18 to 24 "real" hits at any time.
Once we got our mindset adjusted to this lesser number of real hits, many programmers kept a slow rotation category for songs that were dropping off in score but still well liked... sort of "D" currents that were older; that is how "recurrents" were born.
But extremely hot rotations were common going back to the 50's. Think of KOWH in 1962, playing about 18 songs an hour, and a list of 40 songs (that's how the name "top 40" originated) and a handful of new songs... it averages out at less than 2 1/2 hours for all songs, but the "biggies" were played more often and the new songs and lower-20 played less.
And then there were the "real" Mike Joseph "Hot Hits" stations that played about 30 songs total... with no recurrents, no gold and few new releases... over and over and over and over. And got big numbers for a while!
In his book "Rocking America", Rick Sklar (the PD at WABC when it was in its heyday) mentioned that there was actually a period where they played their number one hit once an hour. As far back as I can remember, I'd say that the big AM Top 40 stations in Seattle (KJR and KING) almost certainly played their powers at least every two hours in the seventies -- but that the automated Top 40 stations on the FM band that started popping up had much lower repetitions. A couple decades later, when Radio & Records magazine first started reporting weekly spins in the mid-90s, there were medium market Top 40 stations that spun their powers around 50 times per week, while others were closer to 100 times a week.
So historically the power rotations on Top 40 stations varied quite a bit. But it seems to have tightened up quite a bit in the past twenty years. So in the nineties a Top 40 station spinning its powers 60 times a week would be reasonable. But not so today.
So historically the power rotations on Top 40 stations varied quite a bit. But it seems to have tightened up quite a bit in the past twenty years. So in the nineties a Top 40 station spinning its powers 60 times a week would be reasonable. But not so today.
Huh? When was that?
Exactly. You beat me to the punch. Playlists were smaller, and the repetition was greater. They also played more commercials. I have the airchecks to prove it.
Two years ago, some iHeart CHRs experimented with cutting currents in heavy to about 90 spins, but they're back up to 125-130 now, and ratings are starting to improve. It's usually only the Top 5 that get the most spins.
The repetition is what keeps the demo so low. Less repetition usually leads to the average age increasing, which is not why you have a CHR.
Radio & Records published radio station playlists and even showed the number of spins they gave songs. So let's pick a date and a station: Here's March 27, 1987 and Z-93 in Atlanta. Their heavies were getting 94 spins. Same with 93Q in Houston. Same with B-96 in Chicago. Seems to be pretty common for CHR radio at that time. Top 40 radio was built on short playlists and playing the biggest hits 12-15 times a day.
Those were huge stations in huge markets that usually repeated songs more.
They're also very popular and therefore leaders in the format. Perhaps you can give specifics about the stations you remember.
In Cincinnati in the mid-'80s, Q-102 was by far the bigger top 40 station, and usually the more repetitive. There was also WCLU, a small AM station, which was usually less repetitive, except for a brief time around 1983-84. I remember WCLU having very fast rotations on really big songs like "Say Say Say" and "I Want A New Drug", but that didn't last long.
Later, I listened to WLAP-FM Lexington a lot, and they weren't as repetitive as Q-102.
Anyone who complains about repetition in Top 40 is probably too old for the format. That's why Hot AC came about. Bigger playlist, some currents, but more gold, and the heavies get played about 50 spins a week. It appeals to a slightly older demo. WLAP switched to Hot AC in the early 90s. Keep in mind that the repetition only lasts as long as the song is in heavy rotation, which is usually only a few weeks. Then they rotate new songs in, and the previous heavies drop to recurrent.
And, for reference, there is an almost complete set of R&R / Radio & Records at R+R / RADIO and RECORDS MAGAZINE - Music and radio industry journal
In the 70's and 80's I was in a market outside the Top 10 (14th to be exact) and on a Hot AC we did about 80-85 weekly spins for the Power category. The Mike Joseph pure CHR did about 120 spins on the top songs, which could be either 1, 3 or 5 songs, depending on how many true powers they felt there were in any given week.
Interestingly, my monitoring, as well what I was told after later hiring one of Mike's ex-PDs, showed that when they had 5 powers, Mike reduced the total playlist in size so that no category had to be cut back in spin frequency when more hourly slots were taken for the powers.
We only saw slower power rotations in cases where a CHR was trying to fill both the Top 40 and Hot AC position in the market, such as the case with KRBE in Houston in many periods in its life.
Sounds like the difference I've heard between standard mainstream country stations and their "young country" challengers/flankers in various markets.
Because he’s obsessed with CHR and format classifications.
In the late seventies and early eighties, lower rotations were also common on the syndicated automated formats that ran on a lot of the smaller market FM stations. I recall Drake-Chenault's XT40 format running their powers at about 50x a week (at least on KSXT-FM in Walla Walla, WA), TM Stereo Rock at about 34x a week (KHQ-FM Spokane, KNWR Bellingham), and Century 21's Z Format seemingly similar in rotations to Stereo Rock (KFFM Yakima, which is still Top 40 today). But repetition was typically much higher in large markets where the stations were live and locally programmed.
I'd say that even after all of those automated formats were long gone, smaller market Top 40 stations tended towards less repetition that their major market counterparts. Through much of the 90s, R&R showed stations like KHKS in Dallas spinning their powers 99x a week, while at (for example) WKRZ Wilkes Barre is was half that.
So far as I'm aware, no Top 40 station in the U.S. regardless of market size rotates their powers as infrequently as WKRZ did back then.
I'd say that even after all of those automated formats were long gone, smaller market Top 40 stations tended towards less repetition that their major market counterparts. Through much of the 90s, R&R showed stations like KHKS in Dallas spinning their powers 99x a week, while at (for example) WKRZ Wilkes Barre is was half that.
So far as I'm aware, no Top 40 station in the U.S. regardless of market size rotates their powers as infrequently as WKRZ did back then.