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RadioDiscussions Administrators
101 CBS FM
- Thread starter 1069_KIFR
- Start date
All of this was spelled out in full detail in the purchase contract with Entercom. The same applies to KCBS-AM in SF and KCBS-FM in LA.
See below:
http://www.insideradio.com/wcbs-and...cle_bbc05cae-ed07-11e6-890e-ab2748f450bc.html
See below:
http://www.insideradio.com/wcbs-and...cle_bbc05cae-ed07-11e6-890e-ab2748f450bc.html
Radio Radio Listener
Regular Participant
And besides, why would Entercom want to change the name of CBS-FM? If they do have that idea in mind, it would be conflicting for NYC listeners, albeit short of CBS-FM's flip to Jack FM.
Also, remember when WLTW changed names from "106.7 Lite FM" to "New York's 106.7" circa 2007? That didn't go too well, so they went back to becoming "106.7 Lite FM," even as they slowly become more uptempo.
Also, remember when WLTW changed names from "106.7 Lite FM" to "New York's 106.7" circa 2007? That didn't go too well, so they went back to becoming "106.7 Lite FM," even as they slowly become more uptempo.
The sooner they get rid of CBS branding the better. The 80s+ music does not reflect the CBS-FM calls and the current archaic imaging that sounds more like WABC in the 70s. NYC stations back in the 80s-90s that had similar playlists distanced themselves from anything sounding even remotely like WABC yet here with CBS-FM embracing it. So they are not doing a good job reflecting that period.
To put it another way, it is pretty weird listening to CBS-FM, since I like the 80s-90s playlist but I tune out because of the AM sounding audio, the 70s pop thrown in, the old man reverb bumpers and the CBS-FM calls are a huge turn off. They kept an image that is more fitting for the 70+ crowd that likes 50-70s music and WABC with Cousin Brucie. But the music they are playing now just not fit.
To put it another way, it is pretty weird listening to CBS-FM, since I like the 80s-90s playlist but I tune out because of the AM sounding audio, the 70s pop thrown in, the old man reverb bumpers and the CBS-FM calls are a huge turn off. They kept an image that is more fitting for the 70+ crowd that likes 50-70s music and WABC with Cousin Brucie. But the music they are playing now just not fit.
It's a powerful, memorable brand. So much so that Entercom made sure they could use the letters until at least 2037.
But it reflects what today's 35-54 audience wants to hear, and they are today's target audience.
You are confusing the attempt by FM stations to sound different from WABC with listener "feelings" about what sounds good as a presentation style today. It's obviously working.
It is a mistake that is generally mocked by most people under 60.
I agree, they got that part of it right. I believe they would do better if they simply got rid of that archaic branding that had no place on NYC radio stations playing modern music in the 80s-90s.
I am not confusing anything. Reverb, Cousin Brucie type DJ's and all that went with that died with WABC and the like in the 70s. For nostalgia you only had some of that with the "Oldies" station, CBS-FM and certainly not on any other NYC station playing modern music in the 80s or 90s.
The 80s-90s music on CBS-FM is working in spite of them using branding from the wrong period simply because it is one of the few places people can go who want to hear that genre and period of music.
You have documented proof?
More likely is that the existing listeners in 35-54 of CBS-FM are used to the name, and likely really don't care what radio sounded like in 1980. There are nearly 1.6 million weekly users of CBS-FM under the age of 55, and that is the group the station is targeting. As the #4 cume station in 25-54 in the market, and #3 in 25-54 share, the strategy seems to be working.
All good stations evolve, so between new management and the passage of time, I'd expect them to be constantly revising the imaging.
My point is that the FMs in the early 80's tried to sound, purposely, very un-WABC. It was a competitive strategy that was intended to "make" the WABC sound to be stale.
Yet the leader of the pack, Scott Shannon, was right in the middle of the switch to FM music listening back then. I'd assume that CBS-FM appreciates his style and likes the station to sound like a good fit.
Where are you getting the idea that the station sounds like WABC in the '70s? They have an imaging voice that sounds like ones used on CHR in the '80s, and a jingle package that sounds more like today's (not-so-soft) AC jingles than anything else. Their morning guy pretty much *was* FM CHR in the '80s, and their afternoon guy's gigs before CBS-FM were on Hot 103/97 and the "new" KTU. Okay, they still have a pre-Jack jock (Dan Taylor) on in middays, but he was also on Mix 105 in the '90s, and I think he's been able to adapt to CBS-FM's current sound just fine.
I'm not even saying this to defend the station, as I'm not really a fan of their current sound myself. But the station has been moving away from the WABC sound since around 2013, and bears very little resemblance to it (or to pre-Jack CBS-FM) now. Plus, you can't argue with the station's success as David Eduardo pointed out.
I'm not even saying this to defend the station, as I'm not really a fan of their current sound myself. But the station has been moving away from the WABC sound since around 2013, and bears very little resemblance to it (or to pre-Jack CBS-FM) now. Plus, you can't argue with the station's success as David Eduardo pointed out.
Y2kTheNewOldies
Walk of Fame Participant
Entercom will just change the management of WCBS FM and the rest of the NYC cluster of the former CBS owned radio stations. I know 92.3fm has been changed recently for Alt 92.3fm. But then again nothing is going to happen here.
Bill from White Plains
New Participating Member
Yes. What a great idea. Kill the powerful brand name of a popular station that very recently was #1 in the #1 market in the country. Genius.
Kemosabe
Star Participant
WABC's influence didn't end the day the music died. Scott Shannon, in catapulting 100.3 FM from "worst to first" in less than three months, used excerpts from Musicradio 77's last day to proclaim, "the tradition continues." Shortly after WHTZ's meteoric rise, ABC-owned WPLJ switched from AOR to Top 40. With its JAM jingle package, Hit Radio 95 began sounding much like a cross between Z100 and a reboot of Musicradio 77.
And that fits with Scott's career, including stops at #1 Top 40 station WMAK-Nashville in the early 70's, followed by WQXI and WPGC and then WRBQ in the Tampa Bay area... all stations very much part of the traditional-mold Top 40 station. The success in New York was not an "FM novelty" for Shannon as he had been doing FM for his past several gigs. The success was to take advantage of FM's sound with a better executed, more exciting sounding Top 40.
I never said the station was not a success. It is just that deep "CBS-FM" voice sounds silly and does not match that era. It matches CBS-FM more closely than it does the different incarnations of WAPP, WPLJ, and WHTZ, etc. It is still basically "CBS-FM" just with different music.
They succeeded in spite of being called "CBS-FM" with that dopey DJ voice and AM sounding audio. No doubt they could do even better in demos if they tweaked that a bit.
AbrahamJSimpson
Walk of Fame Participant
"No doubt" based on what evidence?
Huff
Administrator
Actually PLJ started its flip from AOR to CHR just over a month before Z100's launch as a preemptive move. (PD Larry Berger initially denied the shift as a full flip to the trades, but was readily admitting it after after Z100's launch.)
JULY 1983:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com.../RR-1983-07-22-OCR-Page-0003.pdf#search="wplj chr%22
OCTOBER 1983:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com.../RR-1983-10-28-OCR-Page-0028.pdf#search="whtz wplj%22
They were CHR but did not ID like an oldies station. They had a fresh sound, heck even CBS-FM ID's back then sounded more fresh than today.
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