The Double-Wide Radio Station

The wildly successful Adult Hits stations of the early ’00s — many of them still so — sometimes told listeners that they played “everything.” To the industry, however, they described themselves as “a mile wide and an inch deep.” They mostly combined the best of an Oldies/Classic Hits station and the list of a Hot AC. Any “oh wow” depth came mainly from the late ’70s and ’80s.

Adult Hits stations were nevertheless wide enough to redefine what radio could do and still be considered well-programmed. They also helped confirm that “a little bit of everything” was indeed the real answer to “what do most people like?” rather than a non-answer. In the PPM era, Adult Hits stations were less likely to play 1,100 songs, and their variety was less likely to stand out against other formats, or as Oldies became Classic Hits and expanded.

If Adult Hits stations helped redefine “wide,” it’s time to consider a different class of station: “the double-wide.” A few have come to my attention recently, all with some connection to Ross on Radio readers. One fits under my previous heading of “Oldies XL” — a station older and deeper than PPM-market Classic Hits.  Another stretches the “everything that rocks” position even further. One is Adult Hits that goes beyond the usual boundaries.

I’ve written about at least a few similar stations in the last few years. Veteran DJ/TV weatherman R.J. Heim’s Music Through the Tunnel of Time, last spotlighted here in 2022, still promises “all genres, all eras.” Heim also goes where many Adult Hits outlets don’t: current music. So did KTJK (The Raider) Abilene, Texas, one of an intriguing trio of stations profiled here two years ago.

JVC’s WBON (92.1 the Bone) Fort Walton Beach, Fla., launched late last year as a Rock radio counterpart to Classic Hits sister WWAV (The Wave), promising music from six decades. I went back because PD Matt Stone responded to a recent article about the newly eclectic Classic Rock/’90s Alternative mix on KQRS Minneapolis. The Bone can go deep in the ’70s or the ’90s. It also plays a lot of the recent Active Rock chart hits that many stations abandoned after they ran their course as currents. 

Here’s WBON on April 22, during a 92-minute afternoon “Shut Up and Rock Block”:

• Buckcherry, “Sorry”
• Smashing Pumpkins, “I Am One”
• Royal Blood, “Lights Out”
• Blind Melon, “No Rain”
• Ted Nugent, “Dog Eat Dog”
• Blue Stones, “Shakin’ Off the Rust”
• Weezer, “In the Garage”
• Van Halen, “Hot for Teacher”
• Goldfinger, “99 Red Balloons”
• Sleep Token, “The Summoning”
• Sublime, “Doin’ Time”
• Gregg Allman, “Midnight Rider”
• Minutemen, “Corona”
• Default, “Wasting My Time”
• Green Day, “Nice Guys Finish Last”
• Foo Fighters, “Making a Fire”
• Franz Ferdinand, “Take Me Out”

The KQRS article also brought forth Brian Olivarri on behalf of the Hill Country’s KHUK (106.5 the Hook) Granite Shoals, Texas, a broader take on Adult Hits. Even after I had finished my initial listening to The Hook, its website stayed open on my browser, and I would see segues such as “Runnin’ Down a Dream” by Tom Petty to “Paid in Full” by Eric B & Rakim to “The End of Heartache” by Killswitch Engage. There was also “Smells Like Teen Spirit” into “Act Naturally” by Buck Owens and “Play that Funky Music” by Wild Cherry.

Here’s the Hook at 4 p.m. on April 25:

• Green Day, “Brain Stew/Jaded”
• Barry White, “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up”
• Wallflowers, “One Headlight”
• Chuck Berry, “Maybelline”
• Pink Floyd, “Money”
• Soundgarden, “Black Hole Sun”
• Murray Head, “One Night in Bangkok”
• Kenny Rogers & First Edition, “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” — with a sweeper saluting “the best music to come out of Texas”
• Alice in Chains, “Brother”
• Dr. Dre, “The Next Episode”
• Hole, “Malibu”
• Alabama Shakes, “Hold On”
• Alan Jackson, “Summertime Blues”

The Hook is in the backyard of KBPA (103.5 Bob FM) Austin, one of the earliest and most consistent Adult Hits outlets, now effectively the Classic Hits outlet for the market as well. It says something about the shifting of the programming landscape over the last 20 years that the opportunity would open up to match Bob’s width with something even broader. 

Finally, WRGG Greencastle, Pa., might as easily belong in our “Oldies XL” categorization of older/deeper ’50s-through-’70s outlets. It’s more ’50s/’60s-focused than the others, but it’s got the depth, and I wanted to share it. The community oldies outlet came to my attention through the station’s Hollis Zimmerman. Here’s a brief stretch of middays from late April.

• Joe Bennett & Sparkletones, “Black Slacks”
• Don & Juan, “What’s Your Name”
• Barry White, “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything”
• R. Dean Taylor, “Indiana Wants Me”
• Righteous Brothers, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”
• Cream, “Sunshine of Your Love”
• Dawn, “Candida”
• Everly Brothers, “This Little Girl of Mine”
• Patsy Cline, “She’s Not You”