I\u2019ve been a big fan of The Woody Show on Alt 98.7 since soon after it made its debut in April of 2014. Led by Jeff \u201cWoody\u201d Fife, the show is what you get when you put the cynical Woody in charge of a cast of intelligent and fun friends who see life in much the same was I do.<\/p>\n
Not sure if that\u2019s good, but I like it.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately it\u2019s syndicated now, but still a damn good show. Last week, we found out that the show will be around for at least a few more years, as Fife and friends signed a new contract to take the show through April of 2028. Obviously the station and syndicator like the show as well.\u00a0 <\/span>Considering that it consistently ranks among the highest-rated programs among its target demographics, and you can understand why. Woody airs on Alt from 5 to 10 a.m. weekdays, with \u201cbest of\u201d segments airing Saturday mornings from 4 to 10.<\/p>\n There was a time when Amp Radio (KAMP, 97.1 FM) was in striking distance of top-40 leader KIIS-FM (102.7). In the past year or so, however, while KIIS-FM itself has underperformed compared with itself in a historical sense \u2014 February had the station tied for 9th with a 3.3 share \u2026 a far cry from the dominant position it had for so many years \u2014 Amp has just about become irrelevant.<\/p>\n There was a time when even AM music stations totally abandoned music formats when ratings dropped below 2.0. Amp hasn\u2019t been as high as, or even close to a 2.0 share in at least six months, and February had it at 1.2. This is the lowest rating I can recall \u2014 correct me if I am wrong \u2014 for the station in about five formats and four decades \u2026 talk, classic rock, adult contemporary, adult top-40, and even country.<\/p>\n Frankly that rating surprises me, but perhaps it should not. Top-40 radio isn\u2019t being done right, as shown by even KIIS-FM\u2019s problems, and the lifeblood of the format \u2014 young people \u2014 are simply not as interested in radio as are you or I. I personally think it can be fixed easily, and have stated how right here in the past.<\/p>\n The main problem with Amp is that it doesn\u2019t set itself apart from KIIS-FM. Musically? Similar. Personalities? Nothing special. Morning show? Syndicated from out of town and generally lackluster (which pains me to say as they truly seem to be a nice group).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So how do you fix the station? Pump up the music mix. Find out what kids and young adults want to hear. Either replace the Morning Mess or work with them to connect with the local audience. Get a vibe going with promotions that the target audience wants, and don\u2019t rely on national contests because your owners is too broke or cheap to do something local.<\/p>\n What does the management of Amp do? Change the station name.<\/p>\n Same music. Same personalties. Same dull programming and promotions. But now it\u2019s called 97.1 Now!<\/p>\n Yeah that\u2019ll fix it. Bad on-air IDs always fix bad programming. This has to be a joke.<\/p>\n Launch date for the new name was April 15th, and 97.1 Now! Is \u201cLA\u2019s Party Station.\u201d In a press release, Audacy Regional President Jeff Federman explained, \u201cAs more and more Americans receive their COVID-19 vaccine, now is the time for us to safely get back on our feet and get moving with the daily habits we love and miss.<\/p>\n \u201cThis rebrand not only embodies the spirit of our return to normalcy, but also the dynamic state of today\u2019s music industry and we\u2019re excited to usher in this new era with our consumers. As LA\u2019s party station, our programming will spotlight the biggest stars in music and deliver a fresh listening experience to our audience no matter the time of day.\u201d<\/p>\n I like the sentiment, but seriously \u2026 \u201cNow!\u201d ????? That\u2019s the best they could do?<\/p>\n I have no clue where I obtained the recording, but on a recent late-night walk, what came up in my iPhone playlist was a recording from August of 1986, featuring the final hours of KFRC\/San Francisco as a top-40 station.<\/p>\n For the uninitiated, KFRC was the Bay Area\u2019s version of KHJ (930 AM). Some feel it may have been even better than co-owned KHJ, and it did last about five years longer as a top-40 station than did KHJ.<\/p>\n But the main programming in the early Monday morning featured in the recording was not much music. Instead it was station Music Director Jack Silver taking calls from listeners regarding the station\u2019s impending switch from top-40 to adult standards.<\/p>\n Two things struck me listening to the air check. First – it was recorded from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., and Silver was live \u2026 as was the norm back then. Today, no station runs local live programming overnight.<\/p>\n Secondly, the passion of listeners calling in to talk about the death of their favorite station was uplifting in way. Listeners. Passionate. About a radio station. That is unheard of today. Why?\u00a0 <\/span>Should that not be the norm?<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t let your radio stations be stagnant\u201d Silver begins as his parting shot a bit before 6 a.m.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMore music, less talk is bull; fifteen in a row commercial-free is bull,\u201d he continues just prior to playing the last two songs. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to make sure that they talk to you \u2026 one on one.\u201d<\/p>\n The last song played? \u201cLights” by Journey \u2026 a song about San Francisco that was used in a television commercial for the legendary station. Somehow it just worked.<\/p>\n Next Tuesday at 3 p.m. marks the 56th anniversary of the birth of the Boss \u2026 the Sneak Preview that launched with the Real Don Steele that afternoon that marked the beginning of what would prove to be one of the most successful and influential radio stations in the history of radio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In recognition of that event, as well as the fact that the station is now celebrating 99 years on the air, I want to put you in charge of the next column\u2026 what are your memories of KHJ as a top-40 station, or even of its earlier incarnations prior to the big change? What personalties did you like the most? What attracted you to the Boss sound \u2026 or what drove you away?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Your responses next week<\/p>\n \/\/\/<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Woody Staying Put I\u2019ve been a big fan of The Woody Show on Alt 98.7 since soon after it made its debut in April of 2014. Led by Jeff \u201cWoody\u201d Fife, the show is what you get when you put the cynical Woody in charge of a cast of intelligent and fun friends who see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1208","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1208"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1211,"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1208\/revisions\/1211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/socalradiowaves.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Amp is now Now!<\/h2>\n
One on One<\/h2>\n
Speaking of KHJ<\/h2>\n