[BC] Thanks for your input

[Glen Kippel]

On 9/3/06, Thomas G. Osenkowsky <tosenkowsky at prodigy.net> wrote:
> Many of us "engineers" have had experiences in other than
the technical arena. Many of us have been in on-air positions,
myself included. I have long held that "Oldies" stations fail
to do their research. They may rely on the Joel Whitburn
books which are based on Billboard charts. These, however,
do no reflect what the market was hearing. There were many
local hits that never charted on Billboard.

---------

Yes.  You mean like "Secret Surfin' Spot" by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones?  <g>

And, just because a song charted at #1 with a bullet in 1976 or whenever,
doesn't mean anybody at all wants to hear it now.  Ya gotta be careful `bout
dat.

> I use playlists from the market and surrounding markets as a
guide. Yes, there are core songs. Picture them as the main
meal. Then there are the 'midcharts and local hits which are
the seasonings. Together they make a wonderful meal. Too
much of one or the other drives listeners away. Stations with
tight playlists have very little to distinguish themselves from each
other. Only promotions, contests and personalities (and signal)
can tell them apart.

------------

Uh, huh!  I tell people, NEVER FOLLOW THE CHARTS!  If you do, there's a
Bible quote for that -- "the blind leading the blind."  You're all going
around in circles.  Someboy has to step up to the plate and break the hits,
which are then reported to the charts.  Now, charts are useful to let you
know if you are  straying too far from format, and to clue you in to songs
that you should consider (but not automatically add).  I might add that you
should never program to a format but to people.  Define the
demographic/psychographic you're looking for, find out what they want to
hear, and give it to them.  Thus, instead of being a CHR or oldies format,
you may wind up somewhere in between.  And that's OK.  You have to fish
where they are biting, and if that's where the fish are, that's where you
should be, too.

GK