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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Handicapping The Summer Hit Of 2012

Carly Jepsen Last year, in the days leading up to the annual "Handicapping The Summer Song" column, I made a then-daring prediction, on behalf of Hot Chelle Rae's "Tonight, Tonight," that the Summer Song of 2011 could be a left-field contender. The battle turned out to be LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" (the eventual winner) vs. Read More

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Dave Shakes returns to CBS as PD of KZON/KOOL Phoenix

Dave Shakes Dave Shakes is named Program Director of CBS Radio’s CHR KZON-FM (101.5 Jamz) and classic hits KOOL-FM (94.5) Phoenix. He starts the new gig June 18, and succeeds Rick Gillette. Read More

Monday, May 14, 2012

When Fifteen Months Is A Whole Career

One Direction So what will One Direction's U.S. career be in fifteen months? Read More

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Making Moves: Thursday, May 3, 2012

Making Moves Sean ‘Hollywood’ Hamilton has extended his contract with Clear Channel rhythmic WKTU New York for three years, through 2015, He hosts weekdays 3-7 p.m., as well as WKTU’s weekend“Remix Top30 Countdown.” Hamilton’s show is rated No.1 25-54 in afternoon drive in New York, according to Arbitron’s PPM, the station says… The Tom Kent Radio Netwo… Read More

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

How To Sell CHR Discovery

Tommorow's Hits Today Incredibly, it's only been in the last year or so that broadcasters really picked up on the potential of "new music discovery" as a national franchise. New music may be perceived as harder to program in the context of today's major-market PPM-measured CHR, but it's a natural offering when you can target every person nationally who has a voracious a… Read More

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

For Some Songs, Too Much Too Soon?

Out of Sight When Rihanna's "We Found Love" came out, it was almost instantly recognizable as a smash--the sort of record that could go instantly into "power new" (or whatever a Top 40 station's accelerated new music category was called) and then quickly into power rotation, waiting only for adults to get used to its monster electro-power-chords. So when the ar… Read More

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Real Curators Of Radio

going for adds It’s a familiar trope in the broadcast owner’s argument about what constitutes “radio”: Radio is companionship. Radio is produced entertainment. Read More

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Teen Pop Parties Like It's 1999

Boyrfriend Perhaps the best illustration of how One Direction mania has taken hold in North America was last week at Canadian Music Week in Toronto. Sony Canada director of national promotion Warren Copnick was in line at a nearby Tim Hortons coffee shop when a promotion person from another label came up to double-check that his daughter was on the guest list… Read More

Thursday, March 15, 2012

CHR and the End of Crossover?

Goyte In the late-’90s/early-’00s, when CHR was as healthy as it had been in fifteen years, the trade publication Airplay Monitor regularly tracked the CHR product to see where songs had come from—measured in terms of which format a song had charted first. During those years, marked by the Backstreet Boys, ’N Sync and other acts that were marquee names f… Read More

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Throwback Listen: Steve Rivers’ WZOU Boston, 1990

Steve Rivers Steve Rivers always liked to express his programming philosophy as “just play the hits.” There was, of course, more to it than that—the answer always reflected both characteristic modesty and perhaps some competitive protectiveness. And Rivers’ WZOU Boston was actually one of a number of late ’80s/early ’90s stations that aggressively sough… Read More

Monday, February 27, 2012

Time For An End To CHR Envy?

WHN-AM 1050 There was a telling moment at the Feb. 24 Country Radio Seminar panel, “Are These Country People Freaking Nuts?” After hearing four recently arrived PDs from the pop world describe their bafflement with certain format practices, most of them chart-related, Warner Music Nashville’s Chris Stacey praised the PDs for their willingness to step out o… Read More

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Pop PDs’ Adventures In Country

Country Radio Seminar generic logo For most AC readers, it’s hard to imagine a format where last week’s No. 1 song is no longer among their most played. Read More

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Final Listen: WABB

WABB Mobile WABB Mobile, Ala., doesn’t quite go all the way back to the beginning of the rock era as a Top 40 station. As we discovered while researching the CHR format’s longest running stations last year, there was a period where WABB-AM had dropped Top 40 and WABB-FM had not yet segued away from AOR. Read More

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

MDNA: 53 Is The New 42

Madonna Time for another ROR “instant request.”TargetSpot/Ronning Lipset Radio co-founder Andy Lipset writes, "Madonna’s performance at the Super Bowl and then subsequently hearing her new single on [WHTZ] Z100 and WKTU [New York] this weekend had me thinking. My own research (kids, wife, neighbors, co-workers, social networks, etc.) all show that “Give Me… Read More

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Pulling A Career Out Of The Ether

Born to Die About a week ago, a colleague and I decided to watch the much-derided Lana Del Rey performance that we had missed on “Saturday Night Live.” By then, we weren’t sure what to expect. Was she going to stagger around drunk on stage? Read More

Monday, January 30, 2012

Holiday 2011 PPM: CHR and Rhythmic National Recaps

CHR shares were particularly vulnerable during the Holiday book. Despite losing a full share, WPRO Providence maintains the format’s highest share for the 11th consecutive survey. Read More

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Ross On Records: Hip-Hop Racks Up The Hits

TYGA For several years, one of the key indicators that Hip-Hop was no longer the only music that mattered to any self-respecting 17-year-old was that it was no longer selling without Top 40 airplay—and not so much with it, either. That represented a sea-change for Hip-Hop, and R&B before it, which had been able to unleash one stealth hit after another s… Read More

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Songs That Made A Difference In 2011

Ross On Records Logo The story of 2011’s breakthrough records may not be those that moved radio forward, but those that slowed it down. Programmer-turned-Episcopalian minister Josh Hosler clocked the tempo of Top 40 last year and found that, depending on how you looked at it, 2011 might be the most relentlessly uptempo year ever. Read More

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

2011’s Most Influential Songs From a Listener’s Perspective

Rihanna Editor’s note: Ross On Radio reader Tom Smith responded to a call in last year’s final column for feedback on influential songs of 2011. Instead of a few titles, I got the sort of comprehensive and thought-provoking essay that deserved to be read on its own.—Sean Ross“We Found Love,” Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris – By now it is pretty obvious tha… Read More

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Ross On Radio: The Local Hit Lives

V.I.C Wobble One of my best radio moments of the last few weeks involved Hip-Hop/R&B KMEL San Francisco and its top 6 at 6 p.m. countdown. Read More

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