Jack radio format kicks in nationwide, WFMU opts to continue popular Joe format

Business Week Online's Joe Helm reports on the March of the Robo DJ's:

This is the so-called Jack format that's riding radio waves all across the U.S. In the last three weeks alone, the format, or a close variant, has debuted on stations in five major metropolitan areas -- Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis, adding to the half-dozen or so that had switched since Denver inaugurated the format in the U.S. a little over a year ago.

Will the new format be enough to rescue broadcast radio from its creative doldrums? I have my doubts.

The rules guiding a Jack-formatted station are simple: Unlike a typical radio station, which regularly plays 300 or 400 hits of a particular genre, programmers on Jack stations select 700 to 1,000 songs of completely different genres. Then, they sequence them to create what radio programmers call "train wrecks" -- Billy Idol will follow Bob Marley, Elvis after Guns N' Roses, and so on. And Jack stations often (but not always) use a smart-alecky recorded voice, rather than a live DJ, to make short quips between songs.

REBEL RADIO?  Broadcast radio lately has come under increasing fire from critics and competitors for being bland, repetitive, and overly commercial. While traditional broadcasters still dominate market share, new technologies are growing fast.

Last week, XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) announced it had added 540,000 subscribers in the first quarter of this year alone, bringing its total base to almost 3.8 million. Meanwhile, consumers are increasingly turning off normal radio and clicking into MP3s and streaming audio feeds over the Internet, according to a recent survey by radio consulting and research firm Jacobs Media.

Programmers hope the looser Jack format will show just how edgy and fresh they can be. "We're not going to be constricted by radio rules," says Peter Smyth, CEO of Greater Media, which owns 19 radio stations and debuted its first Jack station, Ben-FM, on Mar. 22 in Philadelphia. "[We're doing] all the things satellite companies say we'll never do."

Listening to Jack is a bit like listening to an iPod set on shuffle. Sandy Sanderson of Canadian media company Rogers Communications (RG), who first developed the format for a Rogers station in Vancouver in late 2002, says he didn't initially have an iPod in mind, but admits there are similarities. And many think this is one of the keys to the Jack format's appeal, especially as broadcast stations compete with MP3s, Internet feeds, and satellite radio for consumers' ears.

HIT PARADE.  "It's part of a real shift in how people consume media" says Mike Stern, programming director for alternative rock station Q101 in Chicago. On Apr. 1, Q101 "jacked up," its format. While it still plays solely alternative rock, it tripled the size of its playlist to include selections from the last 20 years, not just the latest hits. "It used to be if you wanted to rent a movie, for example, you went to the Blockbuster and there were 3,000 titles. Now you can go to Netflix" and choose from 40,000, says Stern. "Now, instead of having a 6-CD changer in your car, you get an iPod."

But if the Jack format is an iPod, it's everyman's iPod. The playlist at a Jack station is generated by computer, but sometimes tweaked by human hands for maximum effect. The one rule of Jack is that while songs can be from any genre and line up in any order, all must have been Top 40 hits at some point in the last 30 years. So, paradoxically, while the mix is eclectic, the songs themselves are pretty predictable.

A couple of weeks ago, when I was in Los Angeles, without a familiar radio station to turn to, I tuned into 93.1 Jack-FM, an Infinity Broadcasting-owned station that switched to the format on Mar. 19. My reaction? Jack-FM beats most normal radio stations. With less talk and more music it feels like there are fewer ads.

The format does keep you listening -- if sometimes only out of faith that the next song will be completely different. And if you've heard some of the songs a million times, there's consolation in the probability that the million times came years ago. In that way, it's just short of genius how the format kept me patiently sitting through several songs I've never really liked.

CAR CRASH.  But the "train wrecks" between songs aren't as surprising and refreshing as promised. Listening online to the Denver station, most often a vaguely familiar '80s pop song would collide with a sort-of-familiar '70s rock ballad. Somewhere, surely, a standard-format programming executive was going into a cataleptic fit.

To my ears it was neither that jarring nor interesting. Because many of these stations previously carried the '70s rock format, the playlist seems to be anchored in that genre. It often felt like I was listening to the soundtracks of several car commercials in a row.

While Jack stations are generating a lot of buzz right now, it's still too early to tell how well they'll do in the long-run. For many of the newest stations to employ the format, ratings aren't even available. The format's veterans have seen good, if not phenomenal, results.

The U.S.'s oldest Jack station, NRC Broadcasting-owned KJAC 105.5 in Denver, has moved up from 23rd place to 16th in its market in just over a year, according to Arbitron ratings. It maintains a 2.4% share of the Denver market (Denver's No. 1 station, newsradio KOA, has a 6.9% share). Infinity's Dallas station, which has been on the Jack beat since July, 2004, ranks 12th overall but is first with the 25- to 54-year-old demographic, says a company representative.

Will these and the other stations continue to climb, or will the novelty wear off for others, as it did for me? We still don't know, Jack.

Comments

[johnk]

I started listening to the LA station. It's ok, but doesn't really keep me listening for more than a few songs. Most of the playlist is just passable. They should increase the range to include less famous, but influential music. (Velvet Underground, Manu Chao, ? and the Mysterians, rare Go-Gos, Patti Smith, Afrika Bambatta, Chic, etc.) They should also consider expanding it to cover the 1960s and 1950s, especially R&B, blues, and soul.

The iPod analogy is true. Jack really made me think about getting an MP3 player.

[Jason Bowman]

I can't believe the morons who want oldies music back. Most oldies stations play the same boring songs from long before I started listening to music. When I lived in Columbus, I was so glad that Ted FM (a Jack Clone) came a couple years ago, that I actually started listening. I hated the annoying dj's on other stations and I was so glad not to hear the same 12 songs on replay whether it was a classic rock, oldies, or pop station. I absolutely love this format and I am the target audience 25-54. The only people listening to oldies are people that are older than that. I have moved to Charlotte, NC recently and am waiting for the day that the Jack format will take over one of the boring stations here and get some of the djs off these stations. Until then, I'll listen to JackFM online or Columbus' great TedFM online. Nice to know Jack101.1 is online in NYC too. Sounds like they are making great comments about the morons who don't want change and would like the things to be like they were 40 yrs ago.
In closing, I say Bravo Jack and all your clones like Bob, Ted, The Arch, Mike, and The Bridge(Charleston, SC)

[Bob]

Jack is pretty boring. You know you have heard the songs somewhere before. As mentioned in the article, they are mostly 70's and 80's, with a 90's song thrown in every once in a while to try to spice it up. It fails. It's still fairly predictable, and it's not interesting.

[Hilary Lee Fergenson]

It seems as though everybody has mixed feelings about New York's 101.1 station being converted to Jack F.M. while a good portion of the participants who voiced their opinions feel the same exact way that I feel about missing our beloved oldies station, WCBS F.M. being played on 101.1. I have posted similar comments on another Internet blog that was provided by Fast Company and still have strong wishes and desires for the media to bring the oldies back to 101.1 F.M. At the same time, Jack F.M. can be transferred to a different spot on New York's F.M. dial in order to make an ideal compromise that would satisfy all types of listeners. I have nothing against the fact that Jack F.M. plays a random variety of songs from different decades and that some of their songs even overlap with the songs that are played on an oldies station. What concerns me is the fact that the loyal WCBS F.M. listeners as well as celebrity DJ's like Bob Shannon and Cousin Brucie were treated incredibly coldly and with such disrespect by Joel Hollander. It really breaks my heart to hear a recording of Joel's nasty and sarcastic voice when he makes fun of WCBS F.M. WCBS F.M. not only symbolizes the earlier forms of rock and roll, but also has a special legacy which has represented the tri-state area for over 30 years and attracted different generations of listeners. Although I was born in 1981 and was obviously not alive in the 1960's, when Elvis Presley and the Beatles were at the top of the hit chart, I can still relate very well to the music of this era because of the cheerful melodies that are carried in many of the precious oldies songs. I also find it very comforting to realize that other young listeners who share my taste in oldies have posted similar comments on this website to express their shocked reactions towards the abrupt format change. Although I gave Jack F.M. a try and liked some of their songs while not caring too much for their other songs, my overall theory is that I will not be an avid supporter of Joel Hollander and the rest of the Jack F.M. crew after the way they treated the WCBS F.M. oldies staff and listeners. Our special friends, Bob Shannon and Cousin Brucie, who did such a wonderful job performing live on the air for so many years, did not at all deserve to be automatically fired without any prior warning. Even though it is nice that Cousin Brucie is still doing what he loves and playing his favorite oldies on satellite radio, the media needs to realize that not everybody can afford to pay extra for this kind of luxury. That is why we are fortunate to still have spare oldies stations like Kool 96.7 F.M. WKHL, 1230 A.M. WFAS, and 1250 A.M. WMTR on the radio. I can tell that many of the former WCBS F.M. listers including me have resorted to these stations, and I cannot imagine any of them ever being taken over by Jack F.M. because they are all privately owned instead of being part of Infinity Broadcasting. As a matter of fact, Chris Edwards, the WMTR DJ, always says "Don't ever let anyone hi-jack your oldies station. Why would you pay for satellite radio when you can listen to us for free?" I can also imagine other people listening to oldies on www.wcbsfm.com much like I enjoy doing while I work. Listening to this station on the Internet makes me feel very happy to know that WCBS F.M. still exists after all. I would rather have WCBS F.M. to at least be played on the Internet than to not be played at all.

[jack shit]

man,this is weird.i AM jack shit and this is like a super computer reduction of what i do!check fbi.org.au for real lists o'play,rather more variegated and intelligently designed i'd hope...

[Frank]

WOW, never thought there were that many dis-satified listeners of the Jack format. I really like it myself. I enjoy many types of music and hate being limited to just one format. I mean I like oldies but who wants to listen to that all day, like living in the past. Hard rock is good too but too much is way too much. I think Jack does a good job balancing the mix and if I wanted a live DJ rambling on and on with his/her cohort about what was on Survivor or American Idol last night I would have watched the dumb shows in the first place. ROCK ON JACK

[Karl]

I see a lot of people very disappointed about having the oldies gone and having JACK take over, I myself am not very satisfied with the whole JACK station either. In chicago they have given us an oldies station back WZZN which I have really found a liking too. Anyone that would want to hear any great oldies from late 50's-early 60's listen to the true oldies channel WZZN-FM

[Kenny]

CBS FM was programed into my car radio since I got my first car, until the format change. I tried to listen to Jack but it just sucks! No flow, no personality, and the music mix sucks. Bring back the golden oldies that CBS listeners love!

[Jill]

One problem with Jack-FM 93.1 in Los Angeles; they cut off the end of each song! What next, happy-talk DJ chatter over the intro?

[cheryl]

4-9-06 this morn you played a song that kept saying "the river flows" who sings this...?

[Ed]

In the metro Detroit area, 93.1 lost its CHR format to the "Jack-Like" format, called "Doug FM" - "We Play Everything" format. There has been long time DJ's at this station, that evenutally lost their job, or had to be transferred!

[Andrew]

Yeah, yeah... I know this is almost a dead thread, but I figured I'd add my two bits.. I live in Vacouver, and the Jack station out here has a whack of REAL DJ's... Sucks that you guys down south don't have that, but meh... Even the morning guys got shipped in from another station that was dying... Their previous station had changed formats about 4 times in the year or two previous to Jack coming online. I'm a fan of Jack, but that's just me. You should try listening in to the Jack station up here. http://www.jackfm.com This was the "original" Jack station!!!

-signed:
A proud Canadian!

[Jeff]

Shortly after WCBS-FM NYC got jacked, I switched to WKHL 96.7 in CT. Now, THEY seem to have a jack-like format as well. It almost looks like there's a deliberate effort to push those of us who like the 'oldies' format out of the radio listener market.

[Hilary Lee Fergenson]

I also noticed that 96.7 WKHL is called the Coast. However, I would not say that this new station is so much like Jack F.M. because one can still be accompanied by some cheerful and friendly personality unlike the obnoxious voice of Joel Hollander, who says "Playing what we want." Also, I would rather say that the format was extended or stretched instead of completely changed because there are still a good number of oldies from the 1960's and 1970's such as Louie Armstrong's song "What a Wonderful World" in addition to some happy songs from the 1980's that are worth dancing to like "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams. After WCBS F.M. got transferred to the Internet, I had to struggle with my radio dial in order to clearly access a Connecticut oldies station from my home in northern New Jersey. However, on the first day that 96.7 became the Coast, I realized that there are other F.M. stations like that where I could get a more clear reception from my area. I am talking about 100.7 F.M. WHUD, which plays soft pop songs from different years and has the Delilah show in the evening. I also like to listen to Lite F.M. 106.7 WLTW; especially during the holiday season because I love hearing wall-to-wall yuletide carols starting the week before Thanksgiving. It would be ideal for the media to create an oldies station that plays 24-7 Christmas tunes during the holiday season and then goes back to playing rock and roll oldies in January, when the holidays are over. Starting this tradition would be so cool in combining Christmas and oldies rolled up in one, since these are the two types of music that I enjoy the most. I even have some volumes of the WCBS F.M. Ultimate Christmas Album that I added to my holiday music collection and bring with me during my winter vacation trips to visit long-distance relatives. Also, if we all put our heads together to do careful research, we will probably discover some privately owned F.M. oldies stations in different parts of the U.S.A. that play wall-to-wall yuletide tunes every year. When I went to Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, long before Baltimore's oldies station, WQSR got jacked, I always got very excited when hearing Christmas oldies by artists like Perry Como, Percy Faith, Stevie Wonder, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Darlene Love, and Bobby Sherman during every December weekend. I pray that someday, broadcasters in the tri-state area will give birth to a new station like this. After all, the tradition for all the Lite F.M. stations in America to play wall-to-wall carols started just a few years ago, and I believe that part of the reason had to do with making more money while another part of it had to do with bringing comfort and peace to everybody after September 11th. I see no reason why a similar pattern could not be applied to the network of oldies stations that still exist.

[Champagedewayne]

We recently completed a documentary on the 64/65 NY World's Fair. When we started the film it was our dream to have Bobby Jay do the narration. My business partner and I were both HUGE fans of WCBS and kept it on in the studio all the time. When it came time to do the narration we thought, what do we have to lose and got in contact with Bobby. He was elated and excited to do the narration and did a terrific job that really helped put the film in the timeline of the mid-60's, which we felt was important. God, we miss WCBS. We are working on another NYC film now and already have Bobby lined up to do the narration.

[Jackie Wamback]

I love it. The music rocks. I feel like I finally found a station I could relate to. The 70's and 80's had great music. The kids today have no idea what that is. Jackie

[Nestor G.Doria]

i love jack fm it's variety music to all ages.or listen to www.homeradio979.fm on line 24/7

[Nestor G.Doria]

listen to JACKIE On Home Radio 97dot9 24/7 radio station in manila,phillines www.homeradio979.fm

[jack in bmore]

i actually really love the variety....its kind of nice to hear the beatles followed by sting followed by barry manilow followed by depeche mode. i get so tired of all the other "mix" stations around here that play the same top 40 songs from 10 years ago over and over. its like that have 1 playlist that they repeat every 2 hours.

[jim]

"Formats" are a recipe for disaster, ensuring quick listener boredom. I recall when one Detroit-area 'oldies' station (WOMC) played such a finite list that the same songs were played at the same times each day. Of course, Clear Chanel owns WOMC.

[Bob from Stamford]

It looks like the "Jack" format in the NY market is now history. News leaked overnight is that the "Oldies" format is coming back to WCBS FM. To be honest, I like the Jack format, although recently the Off-The-Wall "unscripted, unsolicited" phoners from the listening public was getting lame. The format seems alive and well in LA, which is actually broadcast from a dumpy old building in Culver City. By other names like "Bob", "George" and "Mike" it works in other markets. I live in Suburban CT where the local radio fare is dismal at best. The local Classic Rocker, a Cox property, has a tiny and tight playlist. There is a really good Classic Rock station in Danbury, but is a low power 10k that gets stepped on by a station in the Cape Cod area. I guess it's back to Q104 in NY, but I'm really going to miss Jack.

[Tony Genaro]

WCBS-FM 101.1 New York is back!
JACK FM has gotten Hi-Jacked!
Well, why not?

I feel as a 42 year old Bronxite, there should be a prime oldies station in the New York Tri State Area.
Besides, 101.1 plays the music that is New York, which many of the artists were born and raised here in the Five Boroughs.

The only protest I have about WCBS FM's return, is how it has taken the 1950's music out of the format?
This is what made the station a fully covered oldies format, geared toward the first Rock and Roll Teen Generation, along with the British Invasion and the prime sounds and lives of Americana that once were a lot more innocent, loving, and fun compared to todays standards.

Also, on Sunday Night, The Doowop Shop, with Don K.Reed which was taken off somewhat a year before it's takeover from JACK!
Afterall, us people in our 40's, 50's, or 60's, still have lives, and
shouldn't be considered as those who should be put out to pasture along with our preference of music style and taste!

Anyhow, I am glad to see JACK FM OFF THE AIRWAVES! LATER GATOR, GOTTA BOUNCE!

[Adwanoc]

First radio stations had mediocre overplayed songs and "wacky" djs who think they're so fucking funny.

Now Jack FM got rid of the Djs, but added more of the mediocre overplayed music. So it's really more of the same.

If people really want a "mix" of music, they should listen to more freeform radio like WFMU.

[Ron Costa Mesa]

Jack, they are watching you Jack, dem big birds rideing high on da air waves...Jack get with the program...