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Hello Hank, what took you so long? That might be the opening line said to the mythical format character that's marching across America like a legion of Star Wars troopers. Call it Jack, Bob, Dave, Hank, and yes, there is even a " Jill" in Southern California, they're all designed with variety of music in mind, and for maximum memory recall should a listener participate in an Arbitron survey. Much has been written about the variety format, both positive and negative. But let's put that aside for a moment and look under the hood of one of the first country prototypes called " Hank-FM". Let’s begin with the main course, the music.
As you might guess this is the key element. We'll look at Hank in a large Midwest market. I ran a music monitor after Hank first signed on. Hank is playing a lot of music and definitely featuring a lot of variety. But don't confuse variety with era. This old boy is not as old as you might think. I saw nothing prior to the early 70's, except for an occasional Elvis and Merle Haggard title. The decades are tightly controlled, with the majority of it centered in the 90's (averaging seven titles per hour). The 70's are lightly represented, averaging about two titles per hour. And the 80's come in at 3-5 titles per hour. Hanks not afraid of current/recurrent music either, averaging four per hour.
Hank may be a bit of a chauvinist. Female artists were coming up about four times an hour, with the men clearly dominating. Core artists weren't drastically different than a mainstream country station. Brooks & Dunn, Garth, Kenny Chesney, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, and Tim McGraw. But here's where Hank adds in a few that have been missing from radio on a regular basis. Clint Black, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, The Judds, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Conway Twitty, and Don Williams just to name a few. Throw in " Galveston" by Glen Campbell, " Trashy Women" by Confederate Railroad, and " Guitar Town" by Steve Earle, and you can begin to see Hank likes to have his fun! There’s plenty of “ oh wow” factor as well with titles like “ I Feel Lucky” by Mary Chapin Carpenter and “ Streets Of Bakersfield” by Yoakam and Owens. Like it’s pop counterpart “ Jack”, Hank’s using titles that have auditorium tested out of most stations library’s to add in the spice.
Let's check in on a sample hour of Hank:
Vince Gill Never Knew Lonely 1991
Martina McBride I Love You 1999
Mel McDaniel Louisiana Saturday Night 1981
John Michael Montgomery Life's A Dance 1992
Kenny Chesney Anything But Mine 2004
Brooks & Dunn Boot Scootin' Boogie 1992
Gary Allan Tough Little Boys 2003
David Allan Coe You Never even Call Me By My Name 1975
Trisha Yearwood Perfect Love 1997
Garth Brooks That Summer 1992
Big & Rich Big Time 2004
Rodney Crowel I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried 1988
Tanya Tucker If Your Heart Ain't Busy Tonight 1992
Tim McGraw Real good Man 2002
George Strait I've Come To expect it from You 1991
Lynard Skynard Sweet Home Alabama 1974
The last title was a surprise to me too! But there's no escaping the variety, and Hank does it without sounding to old.
Air personalities are a part of the presentation. While a lot of Jack stations are jock less at this point, Hank features a three-person morning show with plenty of contests and give aways. A cute spin on the rest of the day parts feature jocks that go by their first name only. Can you imagine being on air as “ Chuck” on “ Hank”? The station slogan is “ He plays anything he wants”. So as a jock, you’d be spending a lot of time in talking in the first person.
But make no mistake the music is the star. The question is can Hank survive long term? I think it can if it makes the necessary course corrections needed over time. For example making sure the “ oh wow “ songs don’t get so burned that they burst into flames. Will Hank succeed? Well there’s a long Arbitron race to be run before a final verdict. Personally I like the look of the music mix. Hank seems like the type of guy you can hang out with and call a friend!
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