One attention-getting aspect of WKRZ Wilkes-Barre, Pa., is one of its legal IDs. It’s the one that proudly announces “40 years of KRZ. And we’re just getting started.”

For a lot of programmers, the top-of-the-hour has become one of those old-school radio indulgences now thought to mean nothing, even as a policy statemen or as part of the entertainment package. If anything, it’s there so you can mention the studio sponsorship.

Then there’s that “40 years” thing. Even when the discussion is only about 20 years, there’s a reluctance by heritage CHRs to remind somebody that you were their big sister’s radio station, much less their mom’s station.

But there’s an advantage to being the big stations these days. And the legal ID remains big-sounding on KRZ. And there’s another telling one. “KRZ entertains all of NE-PA . . . and we love it.”

WKRZ launched in the middle of a format downturn. It stood out in the early ‘80s as a station enthusiastically pursuing the classic top 40 model at a time when others became Hot ACs or rock stations like sister WAQY Springfield, Mass.

WKRZ remained successful during the early ‘90s doldrums that saw the format disappearing elsewhere, but this time with a very different strategy. By then, it had followed the WRBQ (Q105) Tampa, Fla., model, becoming essentially a Hot AC that played “Two Tickets To Paradise” in regular programming and far older than that on its Saturday night oldies show.

Leaning so adult made Q105 vulnerable to rival WFLZ, but somehow made medium-market stations like KRZ and (former sister) WNNK (Wink 104) Harrisburg, Pa., less vulnerable to the format crisis. Even after the format revival, it backed away from that model very slowly. It was possible to hear “More Than A Feeling” on KRZ in between the current hits at least through 2005 or so.

Every so often, KRZ comes to my attention for embracing a record that the major-markets don’t. I remembered that the Disturbed version of “The Sound Of Silence” was big there. When I went back to check how big, it was the No. 16 song of 2016. And Meghan Trainor, “Me Too” was No. 18. Last year, Walk The Moon’s “Timebomb” got 700+ spins and made it to No. 44 for the year.

KRZ came to my attention again late last month when the March ratings came out. Recent months, even pre-COVID 19 crisis, have been brutal to CHR. WKRZ was up 7.3 – 9.2 – 9.9 12-plus since January, leading the market by more than three shares. (N/T sister WILK was in its normal range, up 5.1-5.3.) And this is in a market with CHR competition from WBHT (Hot 97.1), which was up 1.7-1.8.

That prompted a “Fresh Listen” to KRZ in middays (which are “On Air With Ryan Seacrest”) and with night host Fishboy. The station anchors are morning team Rocky & Lissa and full-service afternoon hosts Jeff Walker & Amanda. At a time when radio’s cutbacks and crises have made it possible to hear long stretches of jockless CHR at any time, KRZ remains forefront personality all day (although having syndicated middays is perhaps part of what makes that possible).

Like a lot of stations, KRZ has attitude liners dealing with the crisis. There was one about hand sanitizer being mistaken for cologne and another about working from home without pants, but there was also the stager that declared “we know you rely on us, and we’ll be there.” There was a produced series of vignettes on with advice on distance learning as well.

Seacrest was talking to supermarket cashiers about customers who wouldn’t keep their distance in the checkout line. Even at night, Fishboy was doing breaks about whether Gov. Tom Wolf would change Lackawanna and Luzerne County from red alert to yellow status the next day; (he wasn’t expected to).

Musically, there’s not a “Sound Of Silence” that’s setting KRZ off from the rest of the format at the moment. More typically it differs by those brush strokes that distinguish poppier-leaning CHRs. Halsey, “You Should Be Sad’ got to power and is just slipping back to medium now. Taylor Swift’s “The Man” is still in sub-power. NF’s “Time” is still getting about 40x spins a week and just under 1,500 spins.

When I do get to write a CHR success story these days, it’s often the case that they’re winning with (mostly) the same songs that are sounding so sludgy everywhere else. Like other stations on its template, KRZ differed more from other CHRs in timing than texture.

Here’s WKRZ just before Noon, April 30:

• Post Malone f/Young Thug, “Goodbyes”
• Sam Fischer, “This City”
• Bruno Mars, “That’s What I Like”
• Harry Styles, “Adore You”
• Trevor Daniel, “Falling”
• Lovelytheband, “Broken”
• The Weeknd, “In Your Eyes” (with a fresh music stager)
• Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling” (with a classic stager)
• Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted”
• Post Malone, “Wow”
• Lewis Capaldi, “Before You Go”
• Dua Lipa, “Break My Heart”
• Weezer, “Africa”
• The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”
• Camilla Cabello f/DaBaby, “My Oh My” (also with a new music stager)
• Marshmello & Kane Brown, “One Thing Right”
• Halsey, “You Should Be Sad”

And here’s the station around 8:30 p.m.:

• Justin Bieber f/Quavo, “Intentions”
• Kelly Clarkson, “I Dare You” (“KRZ Combat” champion and winner)
• Megan Thee Stallion & Beyonce, “Savage” (challenger on the day of the remix’s release)
• Blackbear, “Hot Girl Bummer”
• Drake, “Toosie Slide” (countdown No. 9)
• Sam Smith & Demi Lovato, “I’m Ready” (8)
• Regard, “Ride It” (7)
• The Weeknd, “In Your Eyes” (6)
• Dua Lipa, “Break My Heart” (5)
• Black Eyed Peas x J Balvin, “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life)” (4)
• Camila Cabello f/DaBaby, “My Oh My” (3)
• Doja Cat, “Say So” (2)
• The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (1)
• Taylor Swift, “The Man”
• Lewis Capaldi, “Before You Go”
• Trevor Daniel, “Falling”
• Zedd & Alessia Cara, “Stay”
• Dan + Shay & Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours”
• Lady Gaga, “Stupid Love”

A few days after I listened to WKRZ, I also tuned in another heritage CHR, WBLI Long Island, N.Y. They were doing a weekend in appreciation of front-line workers, putting them on the air, as well as having callers give their thanks and shout-outs. WBLI became essentially a full-service station after 9/11, and they were doing a good job when pressed into service again of sounding connected without sounding sad or overwhelmed.

In recent months, I’ve commented on how this column’s “Fresh Listens” keep coming back to radio’s perennial brands: KHKS (Kiss 106.1) and KLTY Dallas; Australia’s Triple-J. In the past, I’ve sometimes steered away from writing about the big stations in favor of brand new and/or exotic. By contrast, writing about big stations felt lazy, not enterprising enough. But the big brands are shining now. What one comes away from in hearing KRZ and WBLI is that despite all the challenges, the stations are still able to “do radio” and, as important, want to “do radio.” That counts for a lot now.