A quick review of the first day release of August PPM ratings sees KRTH-FM in Los Angeles, ranked #1 with their classic hits format. Keep in mind, this is 6+ figures.
I was looking at the San Francisco results and found no stations with a classic hits format. They do, however, have a station with an eighties format.
As far as the format in general, does research indicate the music be moved forward on a frequent basis? I'm referring to including songs from the 2000s. In doing so, are nearly all 1970s songs eliminated with the exception of a few power songs? How long before many 1980s songs are removed? I know there is a demo issue here.
I realize the size of the market may dictate these music decisions.
This discussion is about classic hits in general, so I did not link to the latest Chicago PPM results. Thank you.
Re: Classic Hits Radio
Posted by Jeremy Andrews on September 6, 2023, 4:13 pm, in reply to "Classic Hits Radio"
103.7 KOSF is a Classic Hits station. Has some 70s and 90s mixed in. It just has 80s-based branding.
It will be quite awhile before 80s is removed from these formats. Audacy is quicker at adding 90s than iHeart is in most cases.
The average teenager in the mid 80s is either just at or aging out of the 25-54 demographic. The most they'll do is gradually reduce it. The 80s will likely have more time than 60s did for example, since radio's audience in general is aging more than it was when they removed 60s.
90s-based formats have been tried but the ratings have not been very good. WSHE is an example here, but there's other reasons for that I'm pretty sure.
KOSF when it was pure 80s as "iHeart 80s" was very San Fran targeted IE: Erasure Oh L'amour, Pet shop Boys (all even smaller hits), Magazine 60 Don Quichotte (No Están Aquí)... stuff you do not hear on other 80s based stations. The oddball title was "Burning for You" by BOC. Played often. To their credit they played 80 - 89 hits, no shade on any year. Station was overall on VT and HD. Their website was a joke. "Big Ron" was a staple on iHeart AOR's and his website entry said he was "Big Rig" as known on the rock stations. The PD "Little Ricky" has no picture and a skimpy bio, even if he held an airshift. Their production was slick, great retro jingles.
They moved to "80s+ More", are really tighter 80s based playlist with 70s and 90s tossed in like Jeremy said. Their jingle package is the new KISS-FM package. It is really crappy. Their ratings increased when they forced out the other Classic Hits station which garnered a 1.5 and was a rimshot run by a smaller company.
I used to listen for hours even with commercials when it was iHeart80s. I never listen except to sample them (same 70s and 90s are repeated over and over) or listen to Classic American Top40. But even that, they play nearly no 80/81 episodes (heard one in the last 6 months). Rarely 82. They focus on 84 - 88.