WTRV 100.5 playlist tweak

[ChrisWL1980]

It looks like The River has shifted from Soft AC to Mainstream AC. They' appear to be airing Townsquare's corporate AC format, as their playlist matches that of 99.1 WFMK.
This makes me wonder if M.W.'s idea about 95.7 going Country (and the rumbles about 107.3 returning to Sports) is about to come true?

[48125er]

I've noticed that too the past few days, i liked them a lot when they played songs other stations havent for years, I guess theres 106.5 now for that.

[MWmetalhead]

Good eyes (and ears), Chris!

Will be interesting to see if this pattern continues into the work week.

I suppose another option could be 95.7 going full blown CHR, but I believe a flip to country is more likely.

[ChrisWL1980]

Whatever happens, I have a very sneaky suspicion 95.7's nearly 60-year history of playing some kind of pop/rock format (dating back to WZZM-FM) is about to end. I would almost bet my life on Country being the new format. I don't think a third CHR in the market makes sense. That pie is getting smaller and smaller while Country is still doing well.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Cumulus shift 105.3 to Hot AC or Adult CHR. They're not far from that anyway. And it would allow them to keep a 30/40-female-friendly station in their cluster if they do indeed kill off Blunder.
Whether they tweak or stay the course, 105.3 stands to benefit from this change, and certainly Star 105.7 too. The loss of the old River format could even benefit Big 101.3 and even WFGR to an extent, not to mention WCSG and the other CCMs.

[MWmetalhead]

I will note 100.5 has used a similar playlist in the past. I do not recall if the one back then was a mirror image of WCRZ and/or WFMK.

100.5 then pivoted back to Soft AC perhaps a couple years ago? I am unsure on the timing.

[ChrisWL1980]

WTRV did do a softer version of Mainstream AC for a time before shifting back to Soft AC. This was when Tom Cook was there, and right before he instituted the shift to Soft AC. I don't think Townsquare GR started taking the corporate playlists until after he left for Baltimore, so the music was still softer than WFMK or WCRZ and not as uptempo as what they're airing now. Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" was about as edgy as it got back then, and they also played some Christian songs that didn't cross over to pop, i.e. Laura Story's "Blessings." Kim Carson (of Detroit radio) also had a Christian music show on Sunday evenings (before she went over to WJQK, I think?). The "new" sound of River is the hottest/most current the station has sounded yet.

[MWmetalhead]

I remember the era you are mentioning, but there is also a more recent, shorter lived era where WTRV took its music more up-tempo, too.

Tom Cook left the building nearly six years ago.

[48125er]

I remember the era you are mentioning, but there is also a more recent, shorter lived era where WTRV took its music more up-tempo, too.

Tom Cook left the building nearly six years ago.

I noticed today 99.1 and 100.5 are simulcastimg each other today I heard the exact song in the same spot as each other.

[MWmetalhead]

They are indeed airing the same programming for middays.

[Mary Ellen Murphy]

It's interesting to me how soft rock/ac has evolved. I remember a point when WOOD FM didn't know what to call themselves anymore and then we switched to STAR 105.7. I was always middays on those stations. Now I play a yacht rock feature even though I know it's really soft a/c. "93.1 WLTI Detroit where we play the whole song." That was an actual liner in the 90's. I remember one time when Kevin Matthews and Ed Buchanan got a hold of an old air check of mine from my LITE days. They had a field day. I do believe in the format and I think it takes a pretty well versed jock to pull off the less is more when talking "word economy"( ugh) that kind of goes with the at work format. I adore Andy Rent and think he is one of the best AM jocks on the dial.

[ChrisWL1980]

I remember you, Mary Ellen! I was in my senior year at Aquinas when EZ105.7 flipped to Star. 100.5's format was still very MOR leaning at that time (what now passes for Adult Standards) and I remember them airing liners like "the way easy listening is SUPPOSED to sound" while 105.7 was still known as EZ.
100.5 has tweaked their format many times over the past two decades. I remember them trying a hipper version of Soft AC about a decade ago, with more '80s/'90s artists in the mix and no Streisand/Manilow/Carpenters. Kind of like what they were doing before the recent format tweak but with no currents and more deeper gold tracks like Basia's "New Day for You." IIRC, the "softer mainstream AC" era came after that, followed by the "super-soft" Tom Cook era where they brought back the Streisand/Manilow/Carpenters cuts in smaller amounts in before, then the Townsquare corporate era which was more uptempo, and now the current shift to full-out mainstream AC. That's as I remember it anyhow. They've never been able to attract many under-55 listeners no matter how they've tweaked it, and that's not likely to change now. The Mix 95.7 audience, if and when 95.7 flips, will go to Star or Hot.