Why is Star 98.7 (KYSR) so slow to add songs???

[John77]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed this, but it seems that even over the past 6 months they have gotten even slower in adding songs than ever...

Check out their current 30 most played songs (current HAC top 40 in bold:

4 1 KILLERS  Mr. Brightside  35  32  3  0.8054
1 2 KELLY CLARKSON Behind These Hazel Eyes 34 35 -1 0.8031
2 3 GREEN DAY Wake Me Up When September 34 34 0 0.7309
3 4 KELLY CLARKSON Since U Been Gone 33 33 0 0.7729
13 5 FINGER ELEVEN One Thing 21 23 -2 0.4062
7 6 GOO GOO DOLLS Better Days 21 26 -5 0.4083
10 7 LIFEHOUSE You And Me 21 25 -4 0.4596
11 8 NICKELBACK Photograph 21 25 -4 0.4854
5 9 KEITH URBAN You'll Think of Me 21 29 -8 0.3816
12 10 GWEN STEFANI Cool 20 24 -4 0.3992
6 11 GORILLAZ Feel Good Inc 19 28 -9 0.433
9 12 GREEN DAY Boulevard of Broken Dreams 19 25 -6 0.4843
17 13 HOOBASTANK The Reason 19 15 4 0.3887
8 14 INXS Pretty Vegas 18 26 -8 0.3782
18 15 JET Are You Gonna Be My Girl 18 15 3 0.3899
22 16 KELLY CLARKSON Breakaway 17 13 4 0.3644
19 17 MAROON 5 She Will Be Loved 17 15 2 0.3876
14 18 MAROON 5 This Love 17 17 0 0.3398
24 19 MATCHBOX TWENTY Unwell 17 13 4 0.3829
15 20 ROB THOMAS Lonely No More 17 17 0 0.3876
20 21 GWEN STEFANI Rich Girl 15 15 0 0.3994
23 22 D.H.T. Listen To Your Heart 13 13 0 0.3852
21 23 KILLERS Somebody Told Me 12 14 -2 0.2502
25 24 COLDPLAY Clocks 9 10 -1 0.1618
30 25 SHERYL CROW First Cut Is The Deepest 9 7 2 0.1932
16 26 GAVIN DEGRAW Follow Through 9 16 -7 0.2119
31 27 GAVIN DEGRAW I Don't Want To Be 9 7 2 0.2199
32 28 DIXIE CHICKS Landslide 9 7 2 0.2375
27 29 EVANESCENCE Bring Me To Life 8 9 -1 0.1152
26 30 KELLY CLARKSON Miss Independent 7 9 -2 0.1839

.....................................
Now look at the current R&R Hot AC chart:

1 1 Nickelback Photograph (Roadrunner/IDJMG)  
2 2 Kelly Clarkson Because Of You (RCA/RMG)  
3 3 Green Day Wake Me Up When September Ends (Reprise)  
4 4 Goo Goo Dolls Better Days (Warner Bros.)  
5 5 Lifehouse You And Me (Geffen)  
7 6 James Blunt  You're Beautiful (Atlantic) EPK  
6 7 Howie Day She Says (Epic)  
11 8 Keith Urban You'll Think Of Me (Capitol)  
12 9 Alanis Morissette Crazy (Maverick/Reprise)  
16 10 Rob Thomas Ever The Same (Atlantic)  
10 11 Sheryl Crow Good Is Good (A&M/Interscope)  
14 12 INXS Pretty Vegas (Epic)  
13 13 Bon Jovi  Have A Nice Day (Island/IDJMG) EPK  
9 14 Weezer Beverly Hills (Geffen)  
8 15 Santana f/Michelle Branch I'm Feeling You (Arista/RMG)  
18 16 Staind Right Here (Flip/Atlantic)  
17 17 Madonna Hung Up (Warner Bros.)  
20 18 Fall Out Boy Sugar, We're Goin' Down (Island/IDJMG)  
19 19 Gorillaz  Feel Good Inc. (Virgin) EPK  
21 20 Collective Soul How Do You Love (El Music Group)  
22 21 Anna Nalick In The Rough (Columbia)  
25 22 Train Cab (Columbia)  
24 23 Fray Over My Head (Cable Car) (Epic)  
26 24 Scott Stapp The Great Divide (Wind-up)  
27 25 Daniel Powter Bad Day (Warner Bros.)  
28 26 Lifehouse Blind (Geffen)  
29 27 Michael Buble Home (143/Reprise)  
30 28 Better Than Ezra Our Last Night (Artemis)  
37 29 Santana f/Steven Tyler Just Feel Better (Arista/RMG)  
31 30 Jason Mraz Geek In The Pink (Lava/Atlantic)  
34 31 3 Doors Down f/Bob Seger Landing In London (All I Think About Is You) 
32 32 Depeche Mode Precious (Mute/Sire/Reprise)  
36 33 Carrie Underwood  Some Hearts (Arista) EPK  
33 34 Coldplay Fix You (Capitol)  
38 35 Gwen Stefani Luxurious (Interscope)  
35 36 Black Eyed Peas Don't Lie (A&M/Interscope)  
37 -- Natasha Bedingfield Unwritten (Epic)  
38 -- All-American Rejects Dirty Little Secret (Interscope)  
39 -- Pussycat Dolls Stickwitu (A&M/Interscope)  
40 -- U2 Original Of The Species (Interscope)  
.....

Out of the top 40 songs right now, they are only spinning 7 of them!!!  Now granted they also were playing the Santana w/Michelle Branch and Sheryl Crow songs, so out of the current 40 Hot AC hits, they have actually spun 9 of them...  Pretty sad and pathetic, isn't it???   Is there any other contemporary hit music station in the nation that is only playing 20% of the current product (other than mis-classified KBIG 104.3)????

I guess they are happy with their meager 1.9 rating... they've gone 2.0-1.9-1.8-1.9-1.9 over the past year...  If they just tried to make the station even sound the least bit interesting (a la JACK FM 93.1)... they could EASILY get up to a 3.0 rating IMHO...  Perhaps Clear Channel is afraid that they might just steal listeners from KIIS if they attempted to sound interesting...

[johnnywest]

They recently changed their slogan to something like "The New Star" which I believe also included a change in their playlist.

KBIG did the same thing earlier this year. For months, it appeared that they hadn't added any new songs at all. In the early summer, their newest song was "Since U Been Gone."

[John77]

johnnywest said:

They recently changed their slogan to something like "The New Star" which I believe also included a change in their playlist.

KBIG did the same thing earlier this year. For months, it appeared that they hadn't added any new songs at all. In the early summer, their newest song was "Since U Been Gone."

I did notice the new slogan, but all it seems is that they've increased their gold and recurrents to the point where there are hardly any currents... they did give the new Gavin DeGraw some spins, but as you can see, it's falling like a rock now...

As bad as they sound, KBIG is much much worse... I don't know why they're even called a Hot AC...

[Slinky]

It's the Jack effect. When Jack took off, every competing Hot AC saw its success and said "OMG! People want to hear old songs!". KYSR, which was at one time one of the "hippest" Hot ACs in the country has obviously gone overboard in reacting. Stations like WPLJ and WRQX have done the same thing and are failing with it.

[John77]

slinky said:

It's the Jack effect.  When Jack took off, every competing Hot AC saw its success and said "OMG!  People want to hear old songs!".  KYSR, which was at one time one of the "hippest" Hot ACs in the country has obviously gone overboard in reacting.  Stations like WPLJ and WRQX have done the same thing and are failing with it.

The thing is at least in this market, JACK had really no effect on Star as their ratings are essentially unchanged... and as you may have noticed, Jack's ratings have leveled off here at around a 3.0... 

The key to JACK's success is not that they play old songs, it's that they play A LOT of old songs... the typical JACK station has an airplay library of at least 1200 songs...  whereas, you're lucky to hear 300 songs on Star....  Nothing ever gets spun more than 3-4 times a week on JACK... People don't want to hear recurrents every 6-8 hours nor do they want to hear the same GOLD day after day, which is what you're getting out of Star right now...

'PLJ isn't a good example really... first off, their PD is too smart to be taken in like that... second, they are spinning AT LEAST 15 of the current top 40 songs + the Bryan Adams track which is #1 new and active at the moment...  a little more conservative than the average Hot AC, but not a lot so... here's their most current R&R playlist... they even gave Country act Big & Rich a couple of spins, so obviously they are still trying to stretch their boundaries...

www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/rronline/Stations.asp?c_let=WPLJ-FM

WRQX has 12 of the current top 40 going in their rotation...  so they are a better example... but as you can see, Star 98.7 is far and away the worst in this regard...

Now compare them to my other local Hot AC's like KBBY and KFYV, each of which 25 of their current top 30 are in the top 40 of the Hot AC chart... both of these stations are doing very well...

[John77]

Anyone else care to discuss this??? Or maybe, no one really cares about this once decent sounding station anymore...

[John77]

Well, I think I've got a better grip on an answer for this and it's as I suspected... clear channel wants to keep their 3 stations (KIIS, KYSR and KBIG) sounding as different as possible without much overlap in songs... needless to say, it's not a very natural way to do things and as a result all 3 stations sound VERY stale at the moment...

Clear Channel has really ruined the L.A. market. :(

[top40dj]

BUt John, they are making more money at it...so it evens out for their pocketbooks.

[John77]

top40dj said:

BUt John, they are making more money at it...so it evens out for their pocketbooks.

I'm not really supposed to say these kinds of words about anyone or anything... sorry but I have to say it...

I HATE CLEAR CHANNEL!!!

There, I feel better now... I think...

[top40dj]

john77 said:

top40dj said:

BUt John, they are making more money at it...so it evens out for their pocketbooks.

I'm not really supposed to say these kinds of words about anyone or anything... sorry but I have to say it...

I HATE CLEAR CHANNEL!!! 

There, I feel better now...  I think... 

Big Hug to My fellow county dweller....But breathe and listen to Cummulus :)

[John77]

top40dj said:

john77 said:

I'm not really supposed to say these kinds of words about anyone or anything... sorry but I have to say it...

I HATE CLEAR CHANNEL!!! 

There, I feel better now...   I think... 

Big Hug to My fellow county dweller....But breathe and listen to Cummulus :)

Yes, I do listen to Culumus lots... the B95.1 station sounds pretty good... Bo & Juanita in the mornings every day on the way to work... and I have them on in the evening on the way home... and thanks to KZLA's Christmas boo-boo, I listened to KHAY a lot too over the past month...  KRUZ usually comes in the best of their stations in the gym, so I listen to them there (glad to see they have livened up and added a lot more current stuff since they moved frequencies)... no, I won't be listening to the "Vibe" anytime soon though. 

I have to admit though, I do like the "edgy" sound of Live 105.5 too...  Point Broadcasting & Cumulus need to take over Clear Channel!!!

An afterthought... you know, all Clear Channel needs is a Country station and they will pretty much have complete control of the L.A. contemporary market...  It's pretty sad to say that AC KOST 103.5 is still their best sounding station...  mainly due to it being the only one of their 4 stations that kind of knows what the word LIBRARY means...

[Deleted]

This drives me insane with my Hot AC stations too. I really love the Hot AC sound, but it drives me crazy how sloooooow they are to add songs. (And in some cases, remove them. )

[reception]

Yup it sounds like KYSR is struggling to establish an identity with them and KBIG.

[John77]

reception said:

Yup it sounds like KYSR is struggling to establish an identity with them and KBIG.

Hugely... both stations have sounded like garbage for a very long time... there's no ryhme or rhythm expecially at KBIG...

Maybe if the L.A. clear channel PD's spent a day listening to to Live 105.5 and KBBY (B-95.1), they might have a better understanding of what a Hot AC station is actually supposed to sound like...

I think pretty much anyone with half a brain could run KYSR and KBIG better than they are being run now... Run correctly, both stations could be in the 3.0-3.5+ range in the ratings... instead, they struggle to get half of those numbers. :(

[ericNY2002]

My Hot AC station (WVOR out of Rochester) is just as bad. Pretty Vegas by Inxs hasn't even gotten 1 spin on the freakin station yet. I just listen to XM's Mix for hot ac now.

[John77]

^^I know... it stinks, huh?... :(

Also, James Blunt and the new Rob Thomas haven't seen the light of day at the L.A. stations yet... but just north (in Ventura county) these songs are in medium to heavy rotation at all 3 Hot Ac's!

[mrclimbfall20]

Star 94.1 in San Diego used to be just as bad. But ever since Star 100.7 switched to the Jack format, they've been adding new songs faster and bringing back old songs but not playing them constantly. Unfortunatley for Jack, Star is now the number 1 listened to FM station in San Diego. The only other station to get a higher rating was the AM news station KOGO. All you have to do is write many e-mails and bug the heck out of them!

[John77]

JACK isn't doing so hot in SD from what I've heard...

Perhaps I need to round up some people and have them "mass-eMail" Star 98.7... I'm still in shock that they finally added James Blunt... My $$$ is on Rob Thomas' "Ever The Same" as the next add... it should happen sometime next month I think...

[tico]

Star 100.7 going Jack is one of the biggest mistakes ever in San Diego radio. Sure, I like the Jack format, but Star was an awesome radio station. I lived in SD for just over a year and I enjoyed listening to Star. The former My 94-1 (now Star 94.1) was quite a conservative hot AC. Glad to hear that they've opened up the playlist a bit. I will say, however, that Jeff & Jer is carrying that station and that's probably why they're doing as well as they are.

[reception]

(KYSR) Star midday personality Lara Scott hosts the World Chart International chart every week so maybe she's been adding some of those songs onto the Star playlist.

[mrclimbfall20]

tico said:

Star 100.7 going Jack is one of the biggest mistakes ever in San Diego radio.  Sure, I like the Jack format, but Star was an awesome radio station. I lived in SD for just over a year and I enjoyed listening to Star. The former My 94-1 (now Star 94.1) was quite a conservative hot AC. Glad to hear that they've opened up the playlist a bit. I will say, however, that Jeff & Jer is carrying that station and that's probably why they're doing as well as they are.

94.1 was doing just fine before Jeff and Jer came aboard. The station was actually beating 100.7 in ratings (both as Star and Jack) when they made the switch. But yeah, their being there is definately helping them. I just wouldn't say "carrying" the station.