CBS-FM Adopts Jack Format

WCBS-FM has signed on to the Jack format, as the ipod-emulation format sweeps the nation. Infinity has also turned Jack on in Chicago. As of five pm today (Friday June 3rd), New York City no longer has an oldies station, at least in the 1950's sense of the word. It's hard to consider it a bad thing for commercial radio stations to expand their playlists, yet this still smacks of utter desperation. And then there's Mickey Dolenz. Lots of listeners have weighed in on the Jack format in the comment's of Brian Turner's post here. via FMQB

Comments

[efd]

for the curious, here's what was on the new 101.1 jack fm from around 10:45 til just past 1am tonight (friday).

the constant liners between almost every song make for a very cluttered sound; i have to think that they're deliberately hitting people over the head with it for now since it's brand new and will scale back in the weeks ahead, since it's hard to get much of a flow going or show off any of those highly touted "car crash" segues when you're interrupting after every song. plus they use the same smug-sounding voice for everything, which starts to get annoying pretty quickly.

a handful of songs, mostly the newer ones, sent me scrambling to google the lyrics so i could figure out what they were (since there aren't any DJs). maybe one or two songs in this list are a bit of a surprise for a commercial station but otherwise -- stop the presses -- i don't really see a whole lot of new ground being covered here.

(apologies if this comment is overly long, but i thought this would be of interest to people who are reading this item.)

--Evan

[commercials]
-liner: sure, we're owned by the man -- not controlled by him. jack-fm, playing what we want.

Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
Prince - "Let's Go Crazy"

-liner: Want the weather? look out the window. 101.1 jack fm

Party Ben - mashup of Green Day "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" + Oasis "Wonderwall"
Babys - "Back On My Feet Again"

legal id in here somewhere
-promo: welcome to a brand new radio station called jack fm. if we had to describe our music we'd have to say... [clips of random songs]

Nirvana - "Come As You Are"

-liner: this is jack fm. or as our boss calls it, the 100,000 watt romper room. 101.1, jack fm

Animotion - "Obsession"

-liner: the new 101.1 - jack fm

David Bowie - "Space Oddity"

-liner: more jack fm in a few minutes. hey - we gotta get paid, you know.
-promo: 'oldies live at wcbsfm.com. and they sound as good as ever. your favorite oldies, just a click away at wcbsfm.com'
-[commercials, including a promo for personal appearances by Micky Dolenz and other WCBS-FM DJs at different events that was cut off about 20 seconds in]
-liner: 101.1 jack fm. in our vast amounts of spare time we've thrown together a bunch of songs in a a row.

INXS - "Need You Tonight"
AC/DC - "Highway To Hell"

-liner: this is jack fm. or as our boss calls it, the 100,000 watt romper room. 101.1, jack fm

3 Doors Down - "Here Without You"

-liner: the new 101.1, jack fm

Pat Benatar - "Heartbreaker"

-promo: [fx of radio dial changing] 101.1, jack fm

Beatles - "I Wanna Hold Your Hand

-liner: Want the weather? look out the window. 101.1 jack fm

Bodeans - "Closer To Free"

-liner: 101.1, jack fm

Clash - "Train In Vain"

-liner: jack fm. now, here's proof that we play fewer commercials than the other radio stations.
[commercials]
-liner: when the other radio stations heard about jack fm they held a staff meeting. [movie clip of man screaming "we're all doomed"]

Barenaked Ladies - "One Week"

-liner: 101.1, jack fm

April Wine - "Just Between You And Me"

-liner: this is the station with the no-request guarantee. the new 101.1, jack fm

Glenn Frey - "You Belong To The City"

-liner: 101.1, jack fm. one surprise after another

B-52s - "Love Shack"

-legal id: "wcbs-fm new york." voice 2: "nice read"

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama

-promo: 101.1 jack fm. it makes you feel-- [excerpts from songs, ending with James Brown 'I feel good] jack fm. it's not a format - it's a feeling.

.38 Special - "Caught Up In You"

-liner: it's your cd collection - all on one radio station. 101.1 jack fm

Jackson Browne - "Stay"

-liner: 101.1 jack fm. this won't take long.
-promo: oldies stream at wcbsfm.com
[commercials]

Maroon 5 - "This Love"
Peter Gabriel - "Solsbury Hill"

-liner: change... is good. 101.1 jack fm

J. Geils - "Centerfold"

-liner: this is the station with the no-request guarantee. the new 101.1, jack fm

Go West - "King Of Wishful Thinking"

-liner: 101.1, jack fm

Matchbox 20 - "Bent"

-liner: 101.1 jack fm. who needs satellite radio? we can't figure out how to launch one

10cc - "The Things We Do For Love"
efd note: this was the one song that really startled me

-liner: if i didn't know better i'd say jack is playing a bunch of songs in a row.

A-Ha - "Take On Me"

-liner: 101.1 jack fm. baby needs a new pair of shoes.
[commercials]
-liner: now, an outpouring of music. on 101.1, jack fm

Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

-liner: jack on musical repetition: [jack webb sound bite from Dragnet] "it never did anybody any good, and does everyone a lot of harm"

Bon Jovi - "Wanted Dead Or Alive"

-liner: 101.1, jack fm

4 Non Blondes - "What's Going On"

-legal id: wcbs-fm new york. you can call us jack.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive - "Takin' Care Of Business"

[James]

We almost shat a brick when we turned on WCBS this morning. God damn.

[jima]

I think some enterprising radio station should switch to Billy Jack format. Nothing but "One Tin Soldier" over and over again.

[Herb Hilton]

A copy of an Email to the brain surgeons at Infinity====================
Your sales and marketing team failed at WCBS-FM - Not the format!!

You are trying the change the demographics of your audience rather than targeting the specific demographics.

Did you ever read the Harvard Business School study on "Cost of a New Customer vs Current Customers"?

Basically, the study says that it cost 10 times as much to get a new customer than it costs to keep a current customer happy.

You have (had) a very loyal customer base at WCBS-FM and you need to learn how to market to that customer base's demographics - Not come up with some "JackASS" format.

Back when WNBC-FM carried music and simulcast IMUS, they tried a format called the "Rock Pile" which had no personalities and was all prerecorded. The format bombed miserably and they essentially lost the entire audience. Do you really want to lose your audience and become a "wandering" format station like WNEW-FM?

I am part of the demographics that you want to eschew - I have significant income and significant assets. Somehow I think that I make a better customer than the person living from paycheck to paycheck and kiting credit cards with the hope that it does not catch up with them.

NY is quite different than St. Louis or Dallas.

Bring back the oldies - NOW!!!!

[tom]

i cannot beleive what you have done to NY's best station CBS101.1FM . a very community active and dedicated people. 101.1 has been erased from all my radio presets. you have done what advertising could not do, I am switching to XM or SERIUS, whichever one, you are not involved with

[KATHY]

I AM SO , SO SAD WITH THE CHANGE FOR WCBS-FM..I GUESS I NEED TO START BRINGING CD'S IN THE CAR AGAIN..I HAD NOT LISTENED TO ANYTHING BUT WCBS SINCE MICKEY DOLENZ CAME ON BOARD...MY MOTHER ALWAYS SAID IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT, AND THEY SURE WERE NOT BROKE.....I AM DEVASTATED BY THE CHANGE..

[WDS]

what a bunch of d heads. I prefer to be kissed before I get fucked. you should all burn in hell for this

[Trish McGuirk]

Agree with all of the above. Terrible. A sad day for NYC radio. Instead of a radio station being uniquely special it now sounds like a mix of all the mediocre ones out there. They have lost a few listeners for good in my friends and family. And the ages spanned 28 - 62 - nice job CBS FM. NYC isn't like other cities. We expect the best and now we have to settle for much much less.

[Michele]

This was a BIG mistake. While trying to get the younger audience you have now alienated all the baby boomers,all the loyal listeners who have stuck with you thru thick and thin. You've finally got a working morning crew again with Mickey Dolenz, Mike Fitzgerald, etc. You should be the big one, admit you made a mistake and go back to a formula that works.

[Grace]

Please, bring back the best radio station of NYC, our beloved CBS FM, have some respect for your loyal listeners, please, bring back our oldies. How could you have done this?

[Paul Jr]

Switching to "Jack" radio...what are you saying? That Baby Boomers don't count anymore? Pushing us out of the radio stations as "old fogeys"? No more songs of Peace, Love and Woodstock...or the Beatles that started the road to the jobs YOU guys have now? Bring back Cousin Brucie, Mickey Dolenz and the rest. Someday YOU will be labelled as the "Lawrence Welks"!!! Don't tell me you're mixing the songs now...I heard your first night of that "Jack" stuff. You've obsoleted a whole rich era of music to budget cut and tighten the belt.

[Paul Jr]

"Jack" Radio is short for "JACKASS" Radio!!!

[Pat T.]

I go away for five days, get into my car and can't imagine what's emulating out of my speakers. Chad Brown states the advertising marketers want to reach younger listeners, well, who do the marketers think give the younger listeners money, their "Baby Boomer" parents, dah!! My Bose just won't understand. AND, to be forced to listen to the "oldies" online, I have better things to use my computer for, like research work!!

[Lisa]

How shocking it was to hear that WCBS-FM Oldies is no more!!! We can listen to "jack" style radio on any other station ... but we no longer have ANY oldies stations! No place to hear the Monkees, Grass Roots, 4 Tops, Temptations, Supremes, Beach Boys, etc. And no more Sunday Doo Wop? Unacceptable... truly. The *new* WCBS-FM has lost themselves a listener.

[Nancy M]

I felt like crying when I realized what had happened. I can't believe I won't hear "from the greatest city in the world" anymore. This is terrible. 101.1 was all I played and will miss it terribly! Infinity and Chad Brown have made a huge mistake - I hope they all end up down the drain!!!

[Tom]

I have listened to CBS/FM all my life. My children now have it pre-set in their car on the radio. The strength of your listeners is the 40' 50's & 60's generation and maybe have not given that enough consideration. Today's kids change pre-sets as soon as they don't like a song being played and so the loyalty is questionable. They may or may not switch back to CBS. I believe that you have opened the door for another radio station to bring back the oldies format and once that happens it will difficult to have your one-time loyal listeners return. Please give it serious thought.

[JE]

How could you? I've listened to CBS FM all my life. It was the background to my entire adolescence. It accompanied me to all my workdays and eased the way home. I even liked the traffic reports! DJ's are good (at least most of them -- Micky Dolenz is THE exception). they flavor the content, they express opinions. They make the station human. You have made a MAJOR mistake and you've lost loyal listeners -- here's a bit of prophecy -- I bet you lose your bet DJs too. Shame on you. JE

[j]

I WILL BOYCOTT ANYTHING YOU ARE ASSOCIATED WITH UNTIL YOU BRING BACK OUR STATION WITH ALL THE SAME PEOPLE INCLUDING LAURIE JORDAN, - ON RADIO OR TV.ANY STATION THAT HAS BROUGHT THE PUBLIC THROUGH SUCH HARD TIMES, SUCH AS THE TOWERS, WITH HEART AND WITH THE UTMOST CLASS,DESERVES BETTER.IF I WIN THE LOTTERY, I WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM AND GET RID OF YOU!!

[NECTAR DEGLADO]

HIT THE ROAD JACK, AND DON'T YOU COME BACK!!!!!

THIS CHANGE IS STUPID, WE CAN'T WALK AROUND (esp. drive or beach), WITH A COMPUTER TO HEAR CBS 101.1, MICKEY D., MIKE F. KAREN AND MR. G.....
THIS IS A BAD IDEA, AND I REALLY HOPE IT'S ALL A BAD JOKE, AND NOT FOR REAL.... OTHERWISE, YOU ARE LOSING MANY LOYAL LISTENERS. DUMB SONGS!

[Mike Frankson]

I'm 30, but I was raised on the oldies. They were my first musical influences. It seemed to me that CBS FM The Golden 101 would always be there.

Then comes Infinity Broadcasting, once again destroying a big part of NY's radio history, just like when they destroyed "102.7 - Where Rock Lives".

Since then 102.7 went several format changes, and now it's a mix format...but, so is Jack-FM, which is owned by the same company...only without Dj's. Once again showing that Infinity Broadcasting knows nothing, about radio. If anyone should get jacked, it should be infinity.

[Jim Kane]

I think the new change is great, there are songs I have not heard in years. The only time I listened to WCBS was the 70's at 7:00. keep up the good work.

[Diann Castiaux]

I am so diappointed in the new format and the firing of Cousin Brucie. It is those of us in our 50's growing up in the 50's and 60's that made 101.1 cbs fm so successful. I am a visiting Hospice Nurse. Listening to the oldies would help me decompress between visits. Believe me we are not sitting around in rocking chairs. We are out there rocking and grooving! Diann Castiaux

[faithful listener]

I READ AN ARTICLE WHERE CBSFM SAID, "not too many of 50s & 60s listeners around" HOW COULD THEY SAY THAT? EVEN THE YOUNGER GENERATIOIN ENJOYED THE STATION, I KNOW MY 20 Y/O SON AND FRIENDS ENJOYED IT. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN CALLING 212 846-5102 A RECORDING COMES OUT OF JACK, HE WANTS TO KNOW HOW YOU LIKE THE NEW STATION. I HEARD THIS MORNING IN THE STATION THE "PHONEY" POSITIVE OPINIONS OF SO CALLED CALLERS. YOU CAN TELL IT WAS PHONEY; ONE OF THEIRS.
BY THE WAY, IF YOU WANT TO READ THAT ARTICLE ABOUT WHAT CBS IS SAYING, GO TO GOOGLE.COM AND SCROLL TO BRONX BOARD, OR ONE OF THOSE.....YOU ALSO GET A CHANCE TO SEND YOUR OPINION THERE TOO.
WELL, I GUESS WE HAVE TO GO TO THE STREET CORNERS AND SING LIKE THE OLD TIMES THE WAY THE GOOD OLD OLDIES, BUT GOODIES CAME ABOUT!

[faithful listener]

SORRY FRIENDS, MADE A MISTAKE, GAVE YOU THE WRONG NUMBER OF JACK 101.1 FOR YOUR OPINIONS, IT'S:

THE OLD NUMBER 1800 367-1101

[can't believe]

Can't believe we are not going to hear the Doo Wop program on CBSFM station on every Sunday early evenings. My teenage son loved it. We would both sing along with the radio....
Surely when they made this stupid decision they weren't thinking.