MORE changes in NYC - BIG NEWS Scott Shannon retires soon from CBS-FM

[DavidEduardo]

If I remember correctly, beeing a foreigner from the other side of the planet, most stations close to the Top 40 format in LA kinda panicked and drop DJs to go more sweepers/music. I dont have the copies no more but i believe that both "Billboard" and "Music & Media" discussed this a few times. They shivered that the "Worst to first from NYC" came to LA. And after some time it normalized it self again.

R&R https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Radio_and_Records.htm (more on radio than Billboard by far)
Billboard: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard-Magazine.htm
Music & Media (which did not cover the US directly) https://worldradiohistory.com/Music-and-Media.htm

But I might be wrong in my memory, we did'nt have internet back then,

And now you have thousands of complete issues of those magazines.

 

[DavidEduardo]

The Pirate Radio that Scott Shannon ran was more of a rock station competing with KLOS than a traditional Top 40. Some jokingly referred to the station as KGNR for Guns & Roses, who they played a lot.

And it almost destroyed Westwood financially.

In a way it was the model for Jack: Playing What We Want.

But Jack came out of Canada and tended to be more acoustical and a lot broader... like the prairies of Manitoba and Saskatchewan... than Pirate Radio. The Pirate banged, for sure.

 

[Barry]

One can only wonder whether Jack would still be around in New York, if it had been placed on 92.3, instead of Alt.

 

[RMarino]

As I recall, Cleveland Wheeler was the creator of the "Q Morning Zoo" long before Scott entered the picture. Scott merely refined the concept.

Thanks David and Frank for giving Cleveland Wheeler proper credit for creating the Zoo. I grew up in that area listening to him and considered him to have been one of my radio idols. I know, this is off topic for the NYC board. Now back to your regularly scheduled New York talk…

 

[frankberry]

Thanks David and Frank for giving Cleveland Wheeler proper credit for creating the Zoo. I grew up in that area listening to him and considered him to have been one of my radio idols. I know, this is off topic for the NYC board. Now back to your regularly scheduled New York talk…

I worked with Cleveland when he left Q105 and moved over to WQYK. He's a great guy.

 

[Greg Strickland]

Years ago, I met Cleveland Wheeler at WAPE. One weekend I was up there and called the station from a pay phone. He said come on by. He invited me in, and we talked radio for a few minutes. He graciously said he sometimes listened to the distant Class A AOR station I worked for. He had the positive upbeat attitude, vibe and humility of a winner.

 

[ScottBurns]

One can only wonder whether Jack would still be around in New York, if it had been placed on 92.3, instead of Alt.

In retrospect, that would have been better for the 92.3 signal. But WCBS-FM became Jack in June 2005, and Howard did not leave K-Rock until December of that year. Jack could not have been on Howard's flagship. It would not have jived with the Jack format.

 

[CTListener]

I worked with Cleveland when he left Q105 and moved over to WQYK. He's a great guy.

PD and air talent at XM's 60s on 6 in the early years.

 

[JoeyBagODonuts]

In retrospect, that would have been better for the 92.3 signal. But WCBS-FM became Jack in June 2005, and Howard did not leave K-Rock until December of that year. Jack could not have been on Howard's flagship. It would not have jived with the Jack format.

Now 102.7, on the other hand, was a mess at the time and might have benefitted from being Jacked.

 

[luperm]

Now 102.7, on the other hand, was a mess at the time and might have benefitted from being Jacked.

Why? The ultimate outcome was good for Audacy.

They were able to evolve their quickly declining oldies station into a top billing classic hits powerhouse. They took an aimless station at 102.7 and turned it into a valuable hot AC outlet. And, they finally got rid of a failed alternative format with few listeners and created a potential path forward for their crown jewel AM outlet facing serious future technological and demographic challenges.

Maybe the path was bumpy, but Audacy doesn't have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight like message board posters do.

 

[AceBiscuits]

Now 102.7, on the other hand, was a mess at the time and might have benefitted from being Jacked.

Ratings wise, WCBS-FM was a mess too with extremely old skewing ratings. CBS had to do something at some point.

Even if Jack went to 102.7, the writing was on the wall for the 60's music and "The Five Satins", and the station probably would've still evolved to what it is today regardless.

 

[Weiserguy]

Why? The ultimate outcome was good for Audacy.

Credit (and blame) where it's due. It was CBS Radio in those days, Entercom/Audacy was years away. The Brain Trust at CBS ran WCBS-FM into demos purgatory, and Jack'ed it, detroying decades of goodwill, before finding the right path. They're also the guys who "Blink'ed" 102.7 before finally figuring out a strategy, and let Howard hijack 92.3 into his own personal self-promotion vehicle before he abandoned terrestrial for that Big paycheck at Sirius, leaving a reeking mess behind. Yes, they finally rebuilt the house, but they're also the arsonists who torched it in the first place.

Audacy does get credit for eventually succumbing to reality and doing for WINS what had already been done in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.

 

[luperm]

Credit (and blame) where it's due. It was CBS Radio in those days, Entercom/Audacy was years away. The Brain Trust at CBS ran WCBS-FM into demos purgatory, and Jack'ed it, detroying decades of goodwill, before finding the right path. They're also the guys who "Blink'ed" 102.7 before finally figuring out a strategy, and let Howard hijack 92.3 into his own personal self-promotion vehicle before he abandoned terrestrial for that Big paycheck at Sirius, leaving a reeking mess behind. Yes, they finally rebuilt the house, but they're also the arsonists who torched it in the first place.

Audacy does get credit for eventually succumbing to reality and doing for WINS what had already been done in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.

My point is that all these companies can do is make what they believe is the best decision given the data in front of them at a particular point in time. It's easy to second guess decisions that happened 15 years ago, and not every decision is going to please every listener.