I’ve said for years that format lines continue to blur, and it seems that with each passing year, lines get even more blurry. Adult Contemporary used to be softer music, sometimes current, sometimes from a few years ago. Now, most AC stations consist of 80s and recurrents, overlapping Hot AC, Variety Hits, and Classic Hits, each of those also having their own overlaps. In some markets, Hot AC and CHR are almost identical, with CHR maybe focusing on more rhythmic product that Hot AC won’t touch, but texturally nearly identical. Classic Hits and Variety Hits seem to be facing some of the same issues on the older side. There are still stations with a good variety, such as JVC’s WWAV which I profiled a few weeks ago, but now both formats seem firmly centered in the 80s. In my market, Classic Hits 106.7 The Eagle KLTH is extremely 80s heavy, but ever so tentatively pushing into the 90s. Variety Hits 97.1 Charlie FM KYCH is in a similar lane, though often I can tell the difference between the two within a few songs as while both are centered in the 80s, Charlie isn’t afraid to spike in something from the 90s or even later that KLTH still won’t touch.
Then, there’s the overlap between Classic Hits and CHR. A friend and I talk about programming somewhat regularly, and she seems to be of the opinion that there should be no shared library between stations at all. While I generally disagree with this, Classic Hits and CHR are two formats I don’t think should ever overlap, but they still seem to be. The most prominent example seems to be Tone Loc’s 1989 hit Wild Thing. For some reason, Classic Hits has been afraid to touch this song even with it being squarely within the musical era the format now targets, while Variety Hits embraces it. I bring it up here because it pops up on CHR every once in a while despite being 36 years old. When I graduated high school in 2012, it would likely have been the oldest gold title heard on any CHR. Playing something from 1976 was just something that wasn’t done. I’m not saying every CHR does this, but CHR and Classic Hits in some markets is starting to overlap, especially as stations start adding songs from after 2000 that still play on CHR. Playing Poker Face by Lady Gaga or Hot In Here by Nelly on both the CHR and Classic Hits stations is something I’m having a hard time getting my head around, and playing songs of a similar age on two formats targeting the opposite end of the age spectrum is something that just wasn’t done even 10 years ago.
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