There was never much question of Soft AC featuring prominently in the wrap-up of 2018’s “Intriguing Stations,” not necessarily the biggest success stories of the year, but those that either defined, or cheerfully defied, programming trends. Soft AC stations are intriguing every year, but usually because major groups won’t commit to them. This year, propelled by the overall success of upper-demo formats, and CHR’s failure to pass along suitable AC music, WFEZ (Easy 93.1) Miami and KISQ (the Breeze) San Francisco, willful outliers 18 months ago, have unleashed a torrent of “soft, relaxing favorites at work.”
Which of the new stations you like depends on what you’re looking for — truly soft or, as one reader put it, “Adult Hits with ballads.” WFEZ has evolved the furthest toward Mainstream AC. San Francisco’s Breeze has become the most copied station of the format — both by iHeart Radio sisters and others. I like KSWD (the Sound) Seattle, whose summer success became a format tipping point, because it has a little more on-air energy, and because it’s made me hear Delilah in a new way. And here’s what the format sounds like in Canada on CKRA (The Breeze) Edmonton.
The land rush for Soft AC has led at least one observer to ask “is that the best broadcast radio can do?” Even a decade ago, it was often true that new formats were usually built around old music. But don’t begrudge broadcasters for embracing a format that should have been a consistent presence. And not all the intriguing radio stations of 2018 were Soft AC. They also include:
KGSR (Austin City Limits Radio) Austin – Four months ago, KGSR Austin, already one of the poppiest-leaning Triple-A stations, rebranded as Austin City Limits Radio, giving itself license to play any artist who played ACL, and to substitute the music festival aesthetic for a format. Hybrid formats sometimes creep back to normalcy after some trial and error, but I’m looking over this week’s monitors for provocative segues. I’ve got my pick. Post Malone & Swae Lee into Pearl Jam. Foster The People, “Sit Next to Me,” into Hall & Oates (although, if anything, that’s almost too similar).
KOLA Riverside, Calif. — One of the first Classic Hits stations to delve seriously into the ‘90s, now standard practice for many stations. This year, it got industry-wide attention when it began playing about 40 titles from the ‘00s. Some feel like good-time oldies to me (“Since U Been Gone”); some feel more like mainstream AC (“Hey There Delilah,” “Bubbly”), but I can attest that other Classic Hits outlets are moving in that direction as well, having heard “Get This Party Started” on WCBS-FM New York.
WRIT (95.7 Big FM) Milwaukee; WGRR Cincinnati – I could get an entire column out of “Intriguing Classic Hits Stations of 2018,” but for now, let’s consider the stations that best represent the un-KOLA. WRIT and WGRR were often the highest-rated Classic Hits stations in PPM, with a mix that included some ‘60s and more secondary ‘70s. That’s an update of when WGRR went further back into the pre-Beatles era than other then-Oldies stations in the ‘90s.
Radio Disney; SiriusXM Hits 1 – At the end of the year, Radio Disney counted down a top 50 for the year, while Hits 1 counted down 45 titles. Ironically, they’re probably the only two CHRs in America that could have done a top 100 without relying on last year’s holdovers. Radio Disney and its online Radio Disney Country effectively went all-current, even as broadcast CHR tightened. Hits 1 continued to carry the flag for teen punk/pop, and while that’s not new, seeing Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes” at No. 1 CHR on broadcast radio is new, and Hits1 was early on the follow-up as well.
Spotify: Today’s Top Hits – A year ago, streaming seemed to bear some responsibility for the narrowness of CHR radio. Spotify’s Rap Caviar sent over Hip-Hop, with which stations struggled. Today’s Top Hits reinforced CHR’s tendency toward mid-tempo EDM and ballads that played like diluted Hip-Hop. But maybe I was unfair. At the moment, Today’s Top Hits has the broadness that many miss from broadcast FM top 40, with almost everything that’s on the “shouldn’t CHR acknowledge…?” list (Dermot Kennedy, Hozier, Lewis Capaldi, Kacey Musgraves, 21 Savage, H.E.R., Ozuna, the next Why Don’t We single, and “Shallow” back in a prominent position). It certainly had something to do with Billie Eilish finally being on pop radio’s radar. And it’s starting to be talked about in trade ads and by industry people in the same way Rap Caviar was in 2017.
WTDY Philadelphia – Last year as a Hot AC, it began playing some of the rhythmic early ‘00s titles that had powered predecessor WRDW (Wired 96.5). This year, it finished the evolution to Mainstream CHR, but some of those songs stayed. The CHR battle is still being fought in mid-pack in Philly, but WTDY had pushed ahead of WIOQ (Q102), playing both “Hit ‘Em Up Style” 9x a week and “Sicko Mode” (until this week) in power.
Air1 – As a younger companion to Christian AC K-Love, it was often accused of not sounding different enough. Then it rebranded as “worship now,” imaged around a new slate of praise and worship acts that have gotten surprising traction among younger listeners. In doing so, it became something we haven’t seen much of lately — a station built around an emerging genre of music.
WKLB (Country 102.5) Boston – It was the Country station where you could count on hearing Dan + Shay, “Tequila,” or Maren Morris, “Rich,” in significant rotation when the bulk of the format was keeping them mired in the 25-35 range on the Country chart. At the end of the year, it was the Country station that played “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, because it was phenomenal. As it happens, the PD is David Corey, trained at a time when MDs and PDs still displayed enterprise for new music. (WKLB’s Classic Hits sister WROR also made an interesting move as 2019 began, segueing from its “hit Classic Rock” version of the format to a more typical pop/rock mix.)
KBLX San Francisco, WKAF (The New 97.7) Boston – KBLX is playing Lady Gaga, too (although it went for “I’ll Never Love Again” instead). In general, it’s still full of the little real radio touches that I remember from PD Elroy Smith’s WGCI-FM Chicago. Speaking of radio classics, WKAF is doing March “R&B Madness” this week and has a lot of industry admiration, among those familiar with it, for its “little station that did” story.
XEPRS San Diego – Classic Hits Max 105.7 until a dispute between the station’s Mexican owners and its American operators, Max 105.7 continued as a fully staffed streaming-only station. The FM station is now an unusual mix of mostly ‘80s new wave punctuated with Christopher Cross B-sides (yes, literally), the Eagles, and some recent dance that you can only hear in the market or follow through Mediabase outside San Diego. In San Diego, where “Living in Oblivion” by Anything Box is not quite as obscure as other places, it has gone 2.4-1.2-0.7 since the change, but it speaks to the market that there’s still somebody out there.
KGAY Palm Springs, Calif. – iHR’s Pride Radio lost its over-the-air HD1 FM in 2018, but Palm Springs found itself with both Entercom’s talk/music hybrid Channel Q and K-Gay, owned by a non-profit and billed on its website as “a new type of public radio.” KGAY is mostly a yesterday-and-today dance/rhythmic AC, but it’s deeper/broader than Pride Radio (which is hardly narrow/shallow) and punctuated with, say, U2, “Beautiful Day.” It’s a playlist, but it’s veteran PD Chris Shebel’s playlist and thus of interest. And the recently played tab shows both “If I Had No Loot” by Tony! Toni! Toné and “Superhero” by Daze.
There were certainly those stations in 2018 that were intriguing just for their ability to keep on keepin’ on. The CHR malaise spread to big heritage stations that had managed to avoid it thus far. As I write this, KQMV (Movin’ 92.5) Seattle is looking pretty good again, and a lot of the midtempo EDM that I don’t like elsewhere sounds pretty well assembled there. Urban AC WBLS New York “continues to deliver and sound great,” as colleague Adam Jacobson notes. Hot AC KSTP-FM (KS95) Minneapolis hasn’t been as affected by CHR’s product issues as others, while rival KTCZ (Cities 97) was due for a mention after segueing back to more of a Modern AC.
So what are your intriguing stations of 2018 (and the first two months of 2019)?
Since there still may not be any airstaff, it might only be worthy of an honorable mention, but I continue to check out KDLD/KDLE’s revived Super Estrella every so often. Likewise, several of the online-only channels on iHeartRadio’s Mexico platform are intriguing; this includes the ones whose music is in English (perhaps most notably, Mix’s Alternative channel, even though its Recently Played listings are currently down).
Funny you mention WGRR Cinti. What “intrigues” me is how they continue to get top numbers out of that liner card generic line up of voices endlessly playing the same safe and tight Cumulus classic hits list. If they’re not in spots when I tune in, they’re either playing Seger or Journey it seems. I guess it’s just me…
WGRR sycophants rush to set me straight in three…two…one!
Completely agree with you on WGRR. 15 years ago they were a pretty good station and had more songs in their playlist. Now they just play the same songs over and over.
My intriguing stations fro 2018:
stlouisclassicrock.com – The 3 main station SLCR 1, 2, 3 are run by the same person. SLCR 1 is a classic rock with over 17,000 songs in the playlist. Listeners can even suggest songs to be added.
oWow Radio – Great mix of classic rock and indie rock and it’s locally programmed. One of my favorite stations to hear newer music. It sounds like 5 stations in one.
WSWO Oldies 97.3 – My local station that is a public radio station with all volunteers who play music from 50s, 60s, and 70s. They play the hits but also find titles that are rarely heard anymore. Their playlist was about 7,000 songs last they mentioned it. They also stream at daytonoldies.org
Classic Blues Radio (https://www.radionomy.com/en/radio/classicbluesradio) – Sometimes I get into a blues kick and really like the older style blues. This station fits the bill as it plays blues all the way back to the 20s and well into the 80s where it stops. It also has a show on weekends that plays newer blues.
AccuRadio – They have a lot of great channels and deep playlists. I love their Rock N Stereo channel which is an AOR channel from what it sounded like in the early 70s. They have so many different channels that you can find exactly what you are in the mood for.
I don’t spend a lot of time listening to the streamers. As for WSWO? Not a big fan of the burn-outs and wannabes that populate the air there. I can never go more than maybe three songs without hearing some stiff that belongs long buried and forgotten in a Whitburn book.
To see their own I guess. I have always enjoyed it all the way back to when they started in September of 2004. I don’t really like hearing the same songs over and over again. Like what WGRR does, or really any regular FM station for that matter. I like hearing some of the stuff that’s been long forgotten. As I listen right now they are playing Pushover by Etta James. When was the last time that was on the radio?
But again I know some others don’t like it. WSWO was one of the reasons I dropped my subscription to SiriusXM.
There’s a big difference between tight lists and an unmanageable 7,000 songs. The work is finding the right songs and not just depend on a meaningless beyond historic value Joel Whitburn list. For me, SiriusXM does a far better job with that middle ground. Cheers, UDFan.
For all the hype, Soft Oldies looks a lot like “format of last resort”. Most if not all the recent converts are jumping in feet-first with similar playlists, imaging, and branding. Cox knew what it was doing when it transitioned Easy 93.1 to mainstream A/C targeting Miami’s sizable Latin American diaspora.
And it’s notable that Soft Oldies is big in San Francisco, a PPM market without a local Country station.
Country just doesn’t work in San Francisco. Bonneville and Entercom tried, on the SAME FREQUENCY in two separate attempts! And Cumulus sort-of tried with a San Jose rimshot under the “Nash” brand. And all those attempts failed. Entercom has had much better success being the #2 sports talker in town (nothing will upend KNBR, but they have a very valuable franchise in the Warriors, no one will miss the A’s).
Soft AC works in San Francisco and Seattle. Entercom owns the format in Detroit and can use “98.7 The Breeze” as something different against WNIC and WDVD, while flanking WOMC. A much better position than trying to be the #2 CHR signal in town with the CHR format in such a bad position.
Soft AC is for real, and it’s directly due to the terrible state that CHR is in, a point that’s been relayed by pros like Sean Ross for a few years now. That’s NOT a “format of last resort” like some people claim, it’s directly addressing the fact another long-standing format — long known as Top 40 — is in deep trouble.
Could Top 40 return to its doom years of the early ’90s?
WQGR – Gold 93.7 out of Mentor/Cleveland, OH. They flipped from Hot AC as “Cougar” to Oldies back in December of 2018. Their playlist is really good. Lots of variety and “oh wow” songs that Classic Hits formatted stations don’t play anymore. It’s programmed by longtime Cleveland radio veteran Ted Alexander, who also does middays on Gold, and from how it sounds, it’s really good. You should listen for yourself!
http://www.gold937fm.com/
As for “Cougar,” that format and station moved over to WREO – Mix 97.1 out of Mentor/Ashtabula, which is a 50,000 watt station, and it’s also a good sounding station too.
WRDV WVLT and WVLG are my choices. WRDV plays big band, plus 50’s-60’s Oldies on weekends. All volunteer staff supported by underwriting. WVLT continues to be full service with community orientated programming along with specialty music shows mixed in with 50’s-80’s Oldies thru out the weekdays. WVLG (which super serves the Villages, FL) is also another full service AM that is very heavily involved in the community, and plays a mix of 50’s-80’s Oldies/Soft AC Hybrid. All 3 stations have a pretty wide ranging library. WVLG plays oldies i’ve not heard anywhere else… your ears will have a treat if you have a wide band AM radio that goes 20HZ-10kHz!.
I forgot about WXUS too. They are a Hybrid of classic Rock and Country. Unless there is somebody else doing this that I do not know of, its for sure different.