John the consolidation has also affected it but that has been in effect for 30 years. It did take time for it to breakdown, but, the industry imploded from Covid. All of them were not ready to endure it or adapt. Others were worse off. (Milwaukee Radio Alliance is one example).

You are correct about 1974. You are also correct there was much less competition. The thing is those songs were gold records after being currents. These titles today are never reaching gold status, they are currents for 1 year+ straight. The average age for CHR is @ 50 last time I read the research. FIFTY, that is the age group for oldies/Classic Hits.

I interact with young kids & young adults often. Pre Covid, you might remember my post in the past, 95% of the informal surveyed group had blank stares mentioning "AM Radio". > 50% stated they knew FM radio but majority of them said it was their 2nd choice or were passive listeners forced to do it in a car where they have no control. Post Covid, >90% when asked about FM Radio, the #1 reply was "Who listens to that except old people" or "My Mom listens to that crap". They are NOT finding new music or musical trends on FM radio, CHR, etc.... hence the high end adult numbers. There is a lost generation that will never come back. You can't convince them to listen to 20+ minutes of commercials and be told what to listen to. I can go on, but I blame commercial radio for this, mainly ignoring the trends in the 90s when they tried ignoring digital formats and online streams or sued sharing platforms. The banks and shareholders can also go pound sand. At some point there will be no more bankruptcy path, consolidation or refinancing debt where someone will come along and reinvest in a dying/dead format.

Z