Hit The Road Jack

One of the advantages of nearly constant travel is being everywhere and being seen everywhere. I was visiting New York City when WCBS-FM switched from the Jack-FM format and returned to “Oldies.” Here are the notes taken as WCBS-FM Re-launched. I’ve also included my thoughts and observations as “The McVay Media Take” at the conclusion of this memo.

• At about 12:45 Eastern time Jack-FM finished much the same way as the Soprano’s finale. They aired Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The song stopped. Silence. Just like the HBO Show, the audience was left in the dark. A montage of music from various years began to air. Each year started with a jingle and announcement of the year and then included bits of songs, news events, and entertainment from the year. They covered 1964 - 1979 . . . the feature concluded with an extended montage of 80’s songs.
• Next came an announcement from former NY Mayor Ed Koch about how admitting a mistake is a good thing and he welcomed back to the station. That was followed by the legendary WCBS-FM ID which contains the theme from "New York, New York.” The stations new slogan is "The Greatest Hits of the 60's, 70's, and 80's."
• Al Jardine from The Beach Boys did a welcome back announcement and then the first full song played "Do It Again" by The Beach Boys. While it’s not a highly familiar song by The Beach Boys, the station was obviously playing off of the song title.
• Next was a produced piece set to the tune of "Welcome Back Kotter." The station aired a recorded welcome back from Frankie Valli. This welcome was via telephone. That led into the second song "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)".
• As the song ended DJ Bob Shannon said "as I was about to say" . . . and then went on to introduce the staff (all in the room with him and all getting a moment on the mike) then Jennifer Donohue (market manager) delivered a message from Mayor Bloomberg proclaiming July 12, 2007 "WCBS-FM Returns to New York City Day".
• The next element launched them into regular programming. They’re promoting that they are commercial free for the weekend.

The First Hour of CBS-FM:

Respect - Aretha

Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen

Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac

Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful

Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightengale

Satisfaction - Rolling Stones

Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel

Do You Love Me - Contours

Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp

Twist and Shout - Beatles

You Should Be Dancing - Bee Gees

Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison

The station is airing recorded drops from luminaries like Hilary Clinton, Mayor Bloomberg (who had said he’d never listen to 101.1FM again, when they switched to Jack) and lots of artist drops. Interestingly, they are airing a few drops from artists who have died. It sounded strange to me to hear these dead artists featured in recorded drops.

The McVay Media “take” on the return of CBS-FM.

The station had already evolved into the 60s, 70s & 80s before the dropped the format and became Jack-FM. However, since their listening levels were declining, few had noticed that they were no longer a 50s & 60s Oldies station. Much is being made about WCBS-FM adding 80s into their music mix, but the only thing “earth shattering” about this is that it’s taking place in NYC. Everyone of the McVay Media consulted Oldies stations play 60s, 70s & 80s. The 50s are gone. The early 60s, and select mid-60s, are relegated to a Saturday or Sunday night special show.

WCBS-FM is using the positioning statement “The Greatest Hits of the 60s, 70s & 80s.” This is an excellent statement in that it clearly explains to the audience WHAT it is that they play, and it expresses a quality statement. The word “Greatest” indicates quality. “Hits” indicates popularity. Using three decades of music to explain what you play signifies “Quantity” as well as “Variety.” Stations have used (and some of our clients use) this positioning statement. However, with WCBS-FM using the statement, you’ll find that it will become the newest darling of Oldies stations everywhere.

The actual format was described to me by another consultant was “Classic Hits.” I think that WCBS-FM is Oldies, but it is what Oldies are today. You can call them Classic Hits, but to listeners, WCBS-FM is playing Oldies. They’re playing songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s. The music is familiar. It’s mostly up-tempo. It is fun.

The air-staff (two of which are returning talent) sound like what you’d expect from 101.1FM. They aren’t dated sounding (although Broadway Bill Lee rhymes everything) and they have energy. They “sound like fun.” They’re entertaining. These personalities are not “card readers.” They sound good.

WCBS-FM should never have been eliminated. The station acknowledged their mistake on-air in a classy fashion. They didn’t try to hide from it, but embraced it and asked for forgiveness. Despite their once-sagging ratings, WCBS-FM at its worst did better than Jack-FM at its best. WCBS-FM continually exceeded the billing of what Jack-FM billed. It is refreshing to know that there are still CEO’s and COO’s that will step beyond ego and do what’s right for their businesses and their audiences.

We should all wish WCBS-FM the best. If they do well with The Greatest Hits of The 60s, 70s & 80s, we’ll all do well. They’re revitalizing the format for a generation of advertisers. Good luck 101.1FM.