Evolution of Hits1 and The Pulse

[101tm]

I just got SiriusXM in a new car after about a 4-5 year hiatus from it and wanted to share a few observations.

I have to admit, The Pulse and Hits 1 have changed a ton, and actually for the better.

Back in 2015-2017, I found Hits1 really bad music wise. They weren't really playing a lot of hits that were rhythmic, and it almost had a weird adult top 40 sound by spinning a lot of older hits heavily and some just strange selections. Now, they sound like a straight up big market CHR as I would have expected them to. They're actually spinning everything that is an actual hit right now, and it's much more in line with the charts. Not sure when this change happened, but it's good they've ditched the gold leaning adult sound.

The Pulse has come a LONG way from when I last had SXM from 2015-2017. Much more along the lines of a Hot AC or Adult Top 40 now. Several years ago they wouldn't have touched anything rhythmic (even if it was a hit on Hot AC), but now they're playing Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, etc - all current Hot AC staples. Several years ago, it sounded like they were using an outdated Hot AC formula that eschewed most rhythmic material and they were still clinging to established acts like Rob Thomas, Train, Goo Goo Dolls, etc., even for current hits that weren't really doing well on Hot AC. There were a lot of top 10 Hot AC tracks The Pulse would ignore because they were too rhythmic.

I know the point of SXM is to be an alternative to terrestrial radio, but I do feel their CHR and Hot AC equivalents (as well as other formats that are reported to Mediabase) should at least play what's on the charts and what they claim to as these are mainstream channels. It's nice to see them doing that now.

PopRocks is a pretty cool channel, but I do wish they'd throw in a few currents every now and then instead of cutting off at 2020. It'd make for a nice variety and a more contemporary AC counterpart to The Blend. Venus is a really cool channel also that I hate didn't take off on the main birds. I can best describe it as a rhythmic adult top 40 crossed with a rhythmic CHR. They aren't heavy on hip hop like rhythmic CHR's are, they mix in pop hits as well as some older rhythmic hits from the 2010s.

 

[DXingRadio]

PopRocks debuted in 2017, surely taking the weight of "classic hot AC" songs off of The Pulse.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Pop Rocks does have fresh popped Friday or some such similar name to play newer music.

I kind of miss the Pulse playing some of those previous acts. The current version leaves me cold, but so be it.

 

[david]

I know the point of SXM is to be an alternative to terrestrial radio, but I do feel their CHR and Hot AC equivalents (as well as other formats that are reported to Mediabase) should at least play what's on the charts and what they claim to as these are mainstream channels.

SXM as an alternative to terrestrial radio - this issue hasn't been a thread topic here dating back to at least 2018, so reviving it. IMHO, many of the SXM channels lean too similar to terrestrial radio, diminishing the service's USP (unique selling proposition). Terrestrial's KRTHs and WCBSs burn songs to a crisp, which is why the oh-wow spins occasionally encountered on channels like 70s on 7 are a treat, but they seem all too rare. 80s on 8 seems even less capable of surprising with something rare and forgotten. Even some of the channels up in the 300s seem to be very mainstream.
Thoughts?
PS... Sean Ross addresses this issue in his latest article - https://radioinsight.com/blogs/214911/supersoft-ac-the-60s-on-73-and-dialing-around-siriusxm

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Personally, when I’m listening to, say, 80s on 8, I usually cringe at the “lost hit” each hour. It’s usually garbage—an “oh yuck”, or “oh wow” in the worst context. I like the lack of commercials, to a degree the hosts. Even the endless repetition of the weekly top 40 countdown is a turn off. Something like 8 plays of the same set of songs, many best left behind? Not a selling point. 😀

 

[DavidEduardo]

SXM as an alternative to terrestrial radio - this issue hasn't been a thread topic here dating back to at least 2018, so reviving it. IMHO, many of the SXM channels lean too similar to terrestrial radio, diminishing the service's USP (unique selling proposition). Terrestrial's KRTHs and WCBSs burn songs to a crisp, which is why the oh-wow spins occasionally encountered on channels like 70s on 7 are a treat, but they seem all too rare. 80s on 8 seems even less capable of surprising with something rare and forgotten. Even some of the channels up in the 300s seem to be very mainstream.
Thoughts?
PS... Sean Ross addresses this issue in his latest article - https://radioinsight.com/blogs/214911/supersoft-ac-the-60s-on-73-and-dialing-around-siriusxm

For several years, I was in charge of 5 Spanish language channels for XM. We had very specific instructions to play broader playlists. We had a Top 40, a rock, a tropical, a Tejano and a Regional Mexican channel.

The challenge with the individual programmers was to find songs to play beyond what we knew from our terrestrial experience to be actual hits. All our local market experience showed us there were never more than about 15 to 20 real current hits at any time, so we ended up with a batch of adds each week and a lot of recurrents in faster than comfortable rotations.

We even had Lee Abrams address our annual programming workshop (NOT my idea) and he pushed the "wide" playlist idea for terrestrial radio. There was a belief that people really wanted to hear much more new music and deeper playlists.

Since I ran our in-house research division, I could see how songs performed as we did about 100 music tests and dozens of perceptuals a year. We knew that each format self-defined its own library depth. The key point was that people over about 25 in our target audience segment rapidly lost "music exploration" interests once they reached the job/marriage/car and rent payment age and did not want to hear as many new songs.

Of course, the Hispanic community is younger overall and forms families at a bit younger age, too. So there is not a strict cross-cultural equivalent, but the idea that lots of adults want lots of new songs and lots of under-performing gold was just wrong.

We lost the channels when XM stopped selling commercials on music services. But trying to do listenable formats with lots of weak songs was very frustrating.

We tried all kinds of excuses for playing deep cuts, like once an hour accompanying a big song by a core artist with another one that was unknown or never promoted. But all that did was add songs to each hour that were not favorites for listeners who were not looking for huge quantities of deep cuts.

Songs are "rare and forgotten" because they stiffed out, not because anyone neglected to play them. We knew about the songs, knew how they performed on music tests and did not play them because they were "old and ugly", not hidden gems.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

SiriusXM fired Kid Kelly as VP/Pop back in January 2020. I'm sure that's what led to the changes as they refocused on playing actual hits and dropping all the unfamiliar non-charting new songs after that.

Pop Rocks has also turned into a very good sounding channel after seeming as though it was trying to find its way when it first debuted. At its core is a lot of late 90s-2000s alternative, but they don't position it as such.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

IMHO, many of the SXM channels lean too similar to terrestrial radio, diminishing the service's USP (unique selling proposition).

I'm not convinced that being too similar to FM radio is a bad thing. On the occasions that I've had SiriusXM available to me (I've never subscribed), I've felt their programming was inferior to regular FM radio because they played their niches too tight.

For example, there is an "Outlaw Country" and a "Prime Country" channel. As far as I can tell, there is zero playlist overlap between them.
If you take any terrestrial classic country station, that plays George Strait or John Anderson, there's a high probability they also play some of the "Outlaw" artists of the 70s/80s like Hank Jr., Charlie Daniels Band, and Waylon Jennings. Having a few songs in the playlist with a different texture can be useful in the right dose.

For several years, I was in charge of 5 Spanish language channels for XM. We had very specific instructions to play broader playlists. We had a Top 40, a rock, a tropical, a Tejano and a Regional Mexican channel.

The challenge with the individual programmers was to find songs to play beyond what we knew from our terrestrial experience to be actual hits. All our local market experience showed us there were never more than about 15 to 20 real current hits at any time, so we ended up with a batch of adds each week and a lot of recurrents in faster than comfortable rotations.

Part of the problem is the lack of commercials. That's 2-3 extra songs per hour, so you've either got to add more songs or decrease the rotation period. Also, I don't think SXM music channels have talk-heavy morning shows, so you don't get to rest the playlist for 4 hours each day like many terrestrial stations do.

 

[CTListener]

Part of the problem is the lack of commercials. That's 2-3 extra songs per hour, so you've either got to add more songs or decrease the rotation period. Also, I don't think SXM music channels have talk-heavy morning shows, so you don't get to rest the playlist for 4 hours each day like many terrestrial stations do.

The Highway's morning show is very talky.

 

[K6JHU]

Actually the Unique Selling Point is on channels that do not try to duplicate terrestrial radio or are just not available. The real USP are up in the 70's - Classical, jazz, blues, Broadway, kids. Sirius/XM kind of recognizes that buy they certainly don't push it.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Actually the Unique Selling Point is on channels that do not try to duplicate terrestrial radio or are just not available. The real USP are up in the 70's - Classical, jazz, blues, Broadway, kids. Sirius/XM kind of recognizes that buy they certainly don't push it.

Also Howard Stern. But the attraction of commercial-free mainstream radio formats shouldn't be dismissed. It's incredible how many stores play those stations. Hits 1, The Blend and Pop Rocks are the ones I hear most often.

 

[TheBigA]

It's incredible how many stores play those stations. Hits 1, The Blend and Pop Rocks are the ones I hear most often.

Sirius has a special deal for store owners. They pay a set rate, and Sirius pays any music royalties. If the store gets a call from ASCAP or BMI, they just say they play Sirius For Business, and they're covered.

Music for Business

With SiriusXM, there is something for every restaurant, office & retail outlet. Choose SiriusXM Music for Business, and let our music work (and rock) for you!

www.siriusxm.com

 

[101tm]

I'm not convinced that being too similar to FM radio is a bad thing. On the occasions that I've had SiriusXM available to me (I've never subscribed), I've felt their programming was inferior to regular FM radio because they played their niches too tight.

For example, there is an "Outlaw Country" and a "Prime Country" channel. As far as I can tell, there is zero playlist overlap between them.
If you take any terrestrial classic country station, that plays George Strait or John Anderson, there's a high probability they also play some of the "Outlaw" artists of the 70s/80s like Hank Jr., Charlie Daniels Band, and Waylon Jennings. Having a few songs in the playlist with a different texture can be useful in the right dose.

This exactly has been my main bone to pick with SXM as long as I’ve been a subscriber. I get having niche channels for a lot of formats, such as rock, separate jazz channels, etc but I’m not a fan of their “hard” cutoffs.

Take the Mosaic channel, which is new, and pretty good. 90s and 00s only. Nothing from 1989 or 2010-2012 or so that may fit. PopRocks is strictly 90s, 00s, 10s. They can play something from 2019 that’s still a recurrent on some formats but they won’t touch anything newer even though it would fit.

Y2Kountry recently expanded their playlist to include more recent stuff, but Prime Country is another example that only plays 80s and 90s. Willies Roadhouse doesn’t always go that far up in to the 70s so a lot of late 70s country is sort of missing.

Lithium I believe still only plays 90s Alt rock unless they’ve expanded it. Classic vinyl/Rewind are limited to two strict decades as well even though there could be some tracks right before and after their cutoff that would fit but don’t fit inside the two decades.

Terrestrial radio doesn’t do this and never really has. I get it with the decades channels, but it’s a shame there can’t be sort of a “classic rock” station that spans a few decades, an AC that’s 80s to now (SXM no longer has a mainstream AC so unless it charts on CHR or HAC it may not be played on the platform at all). Just allow a little overlap. Personally I would love a 70s/80s hit station which they do have on the app, a “Jack FM” type station, etc.

Of course there are exceptions, such as the updated Blend which plays 70s/80s/90s soft AC, The Spectrum, Road Trip Radio, RockBar etc but I just wish every channel other than the decade channels and certain specialty rock channels didn’t have such hard beginning/end dates. A lot of times it takes a year or two for music to start to define a decade, and a couple years after it for it to change.

 

[scanman1]

Personally, when I’m listening to, say, 80s on 8, I usually cringe at the “lost hit” each hour. It’s usually garbage—an “oh yuck”, or “oh wow” in the worst context. I like the lack of commercials, to a degree the hosts. Even the endless repetition of the weekly top 40 countdown is a turn off. Something like 8 plays of the same set of songs, many best left behind? Not a selling point. 😀

That's one of the reasons I like the channel, because they don't just play the same old songs you here all the time everywhere.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

My experience has been when something is lost, there's a good reason

All in good fun