Re: even more format changes...

[Mike Thomas <nostatic@earthlink.net>]

I did a library check on probably the most successful "all 80's" station at the
moment, KVMX in Portland, OR.  This was the station that went from a 3.2 to a
6.5 in one book, good for the #1 spot in the market.

These are their core artists with the number of titles in the library from
each.

Cars 10
Journey 9
Phil Collins 8
Prince 8
Don Henley 7
Madonna 7
Talking Heads 7
Police 7
Genesis 6
Peter Gabriel 6
Huey Lewis 6
Bon Jovi 6
Steve Winwood 6
U2  6

Pat Benatar, Bryan Adams, John Mellencamp, Duran Duran, Blondie, and Billy Idol
all have 5

Actually, there is definitely more of a rock to pop lean than an alternative
one, at least with this station.  Some stations do lean a bit more alterna-pop
like KHPT in Houston, which runs 9 Depeche Mode titles, but what you see above
is a typical representation of most of these new all 80's signons. These are
just number of titles, not how much these artists are actually played
spinwise.  Still, 80's stations are steering away from the rhythmic and softer
AC titles.  Time will tell if this fairly narrow group of songs will burn out
quickly.

Mike Thomas


SteveOrdinetz wrote:

> My one complaint of 80s formats is that (from sample hours I've seen
> posted..never actually heard one) they seem to lean Alternative.  Granted,
> that genre was hip and new then, but there was so much other good music
> around--especially '82-'86.  I hope this format doesn't become as narrow as
> the unlamented 70s format did.