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KSSK - IMO there's room for improvement

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  • KSSK - IMO there's room for improvement

    I've been listening to KSSK lately and I love their Heart Songs, especially the classic love songs, e.g., "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, "Time In A Bottle" by Jim Croce, and "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" by Johnny Mathis and Deneice Williams. IMO there's room for improvement. Currently, KSSK AM 590 is simulcasting FM 92.3. I think KSSK AM 590 should switch to Adult Standards, with emphasis on big band, swing, and crooners. It could sure fill a void left by the now-defunct 99.5 the Jewel.

  • #2
    Re: KSSK - IMO there's room for improvement

    No one enjoys the standards more than I do. But, when it comes to broadcast radio, that train has left the station. And I have some programming experience, so I feel I can speak about this intelligently.

    In the late 1980s/early 1990s, I programmed Lite-FM in New York City. During that time I interspersed some Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett into the soft AC format, but it was done sparingly...sprinkling them in from time to time. This was pretty much a gut move because music research that we did on individual songs by those types of artists showed familiarity and likeability for the artists, but generally unfamiliarity for many of their individual songs...until after we played them on the air. After that, the songs did very well in the testing. Deeper research showed that our target audience, which was females 18-49, liked the songs because they had a certain "New York hip-ness" and they were songs that their parents had listened to. Therefore, the artists and songs were right for that time and for that market. We reached the Number One position in Summer 1989 and the station has pretty much remained there ever since. However, those artists (along with many other 1980s AC mainstays) have long since disappeared from the playlist of the station, as they should have, given the natural evolution of the station's audience.

    How does that relate to today? Well, the sad truth is that standards appeal to an audience that is outside of what advertisers want to reach and an audience that is, frankly, dying off.

    And lovers of doo wop and 60's oldies are close behind.

    Fortunately, there are any number of Internet outlets programming any type of music you want to hear, with a greater variety than any broadcast station would play and no commercials, to boot. That's where I get my fix.

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    • #3
      Re: KSSK - IMO there's room for improvement

      To this day, KSSK AM 590 is still simulcasting FM 92.3. This is getting old. I just thought of another format that AM 590 could do: Smooth Jazz. In Philadelphia, iHeartMedia has Smooth Jazz on the AM dial (1480). Why not try Smooth Jazz on the AM dial here in Honolulu by putting it on 590. It would be better than nothing. IMHO it's wasteful for AM 590 to simulcast FM 92.3.

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      • #4
        Re: KSSK - IMO there's room for improvement

        Um, I think with KSSK AM being the last bastion on the AM dial that actually plays contemporary hit music, leaving it as is, with the FM simulcast is the perfect format for KSSK. While the identical program mix can be heard with their iHeart Radio app and stream, for those times when you are OUT OF RANGE of FM, 4G wireless, and WiFi, it is good to know that on good old AM radio you still have one station playing A/C music current light hits.

        Search the AM dial elsewhere on Oahu for contemporary music and you find that there is none that play mostly mainstream music.

        As have been mentioned previously, adult standards is a no go. Smooth Jazz works better on FM. There are several smooth jazz stations streaming online.

        AM Radio Stations in Honolulu/Oahu Still Playing Music

        590 AM - KSSK (adult contemporary music)
        650 AM - KPRP (Filipino / AC music mix)
        880 AM - KHCM (Chinese language and sometimes they have music)
        940 AM - KKNE (Hawaiian music/ some talk)

        1040 AM - KLHT - (Religious; some music)
        1210 AM - KZOO (Japanese music)
        1270 AM - KNDI (Ethnic music)
        1450 AM - KHRA (Korean music)
        1540 AM - KREA (Korean music)

        So the next time I want to listen to "Uptown Funk" on AM radio, KSSK is still probably my best chance to catch that song.
        I'm still here. Are you?

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        • #5
          Re: KSSK - IMO there's room for improvement

          BMW is eliminating AM in their electric vehicles

          http://www.radioworld.com/article/no...but-why/276527

          This means that eventually the digital streaming of those AM signals will become very important.

          You can be certain that most people are listening to KSSK on FM. I don't see the ratings but it is probably a large difference. The AM is probably valuable as a sales tool to milk a little more cash out of the accounts.

          And if you want to listen to 'standards' learn to use the tune-in app or website tunein.com. There doesn't seem to be an actual 'standards' format but lots of other choices all over the world.

          Generally speaking, I find it torture to listen to O'ahu radio. Its so contrived and advertising driven. Little or no creativity anywhere on the dial. I drove across the mainland a few years ago and found the same thing. My daughter would hit scan immediately when any speaking or advertising came on, it almost didn't matter what music played as long as it was music, that is what the radio business is up against.

          Consolidation destroyed the radio industry. Have no fear, the CEOs and Donald Trump typeshave done well. But the people who actually love the radio field, the creative talent, were shafted.

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