Most Overused Radio Slogans or Sayings...

[1995hoo]

"Father Christmas" by the Kinks is more my style.

[Pete from Boston]

"Father Christmas" by the Kinks is more my style.

This is one of the most covered songs by bands playing around Christmas, and that is a very good thing.

[Laura]

The new trendy thing I'm hearing for stations that play songs from the 60's to the 80's is "feel good hits".

Also, Christian stations have the annoying slogan of being "safe for the whole family".


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[golden eagle]

Then Tom Joyner with his "Oh oh oh, its the Tom Joyner morning show" could be now consider overused if he is still using it.  I do not work at my old job anymore where 98 percent of the staff had their radios turned on to him each and every morning, so I do not know if he still uses it now, but he did overuse it my six years on the job there.

He still uses it. I don't listen to Tom as much these days since I don't work until later in the mornings, and other competing shows, like Rickey Smiley, are on in the area.

[Henry]

Since it seems there is a lot of talk about music & radio stations in the off-topic section, I figured I'd throw this one out to the forum...

Much like how stations have shrunken down their playlists to the same 200-300 songs (especially insulting on stations which boast a 10+ year span on the music they play), corporate stations have homogenized station names or slogans so much that hearing the slogans 10 times an hour is almost as bad as hearing "Jack & Diane" (et, al) 3 times a day, 7 days a week.

What are some of the most overused radio slogans or sayings that you can't stand?

•  For Example in the station ID department, it seems like EVERY city has a "KISS-FM" -- what does a "Kiss" REALLY have to do with the music on the station?  And when was the last time you heard the band Kiss on a KISS-FM??

•  In the slogan department, stations, like a "JACK-FM" (another overused ID) like to use a slogan that claims "We play what WE want".  -- Well, duh, you sure don't play everything the listeners want, which is more than the same 300 songs day in and day out.

•  And for those stations still playing "oldies", why does everyone like to use the slogan "Good Times And Great Oldies" to death?  -- Some of those times in the 50's, 60's and 70's weren't all that good (Vietnam, Energy Crisis,...), nor are all the oldies they play "great".

•  Finally, for any station to claim they play "The Greatest Hits of All Time", then why do they now ignore Elvis, The (early era of the) Beatles, or Glen Miller.  Heck Beethoven's music has held on for how many CENTURY's now???  That slogan is the biggest lie out there.

Others?

"Commercial-free, free-form, independent radio"

Anyone else remember "The variety is in the mix"?

"The #1 hit music station" and "(insert city)'s blazin' hip-hop and R&B" come to mind. Also, "more music, less talk".

A few more I thought of:

"Today's Hit Music"

"Today's Best Country"

"Traffic and Weather Together"

"Today's R&B and Classic Soul"

I can think of a few others: "The Best Variety of Yesterday and Today", "We Play Anything", "Continuous Lite/Soft Favorites" and "The #1 At-Work Station", among others.

And "From the (insert sponsor here) Studios/News Center" can get very annoying too.

[roadman65]

I like the sponsors on traffic reports, however I learned in Broadcast School that without that sponsor, there would be no traffic reports at all!  Though Z88 in Orlando has their reports given without the aid of a sponsor because they are listener supported and rely on donations from their listeners rather than sell ads due to the nature of their programming, yet they manage to put one out many times a day because they plan for it in advance, but with hard work that the sponsors eliminate.

That may be why the Studios and News Centers take on sponsors as well.  Hey it is not as ridiculous as having Geico with naming rights to a Parking Garage in Downtown Orlando.

[roadman]

What's really annoying is the "Now it's the (car company) traffic report, brought to you by (different car company).  Let's go to X in the (car insurance company) copter."

[Pete from Boston]

"Commercial-free, free-form, independent radio"

I was actually kidding.  This is an almost unheard praise.  It would be great if that weren't true, but it is.

[thenetwork]

I like the sponsors on traffic reports, however I learned in Broadcast School that without that sponsor, there would be no traffic reports at all! 

Decades ago, the sponsor plugs were more subtle.   Either they said "Brought to you by...." or "A service of...".  it flowed better and it wasn't as in-your-face as some radio and TV sponsorships are now.

[Laura]

"Commercial-free, free-form, independent radio"

I was actually kidding.  This is an almost unheard praise.  It would be great if that weren't true, but it is.

We have a station here that's "family owned, locally operated" with "all local contests". May be the best we can do for a larger station. There is a smaller, independent FM station in Annapolis, but I don't know their slogans because it's a bit static-y for me.


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[Pete from Boston]

It's long gone, but somewhere I lived had a commercial for one of those mix-of-all-the-light-hits stations that ended their format description with a woman saying "with none of the country or rap" like she was talking about trans fats and rat feces with an "ew, ick" tone in her voice.  So obnoxious.

She may as well have said "Not only are we afraid to listen to people different than us, we make sure you don't have to either!"

[thenetwork]

"Commercial-free, free-form, independent radio"

I was actually kidding.  This is an almost unheard praise.  It would be great if that weren't true, but it is.

We have a station here that's "family owned, locally operated" with "all local contests". May be the best we can do for a larger station. There is a smaller, independent FM station in Annapolis, but I don't know their slogans because it's a bit static-y for me.
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That is when (in the late 90s) Clear Channel started to take radio as we once knew it down the hill over the cliff:  When damn near every one of their stations would have what many people were fooled to believing that it was their local station's biggest contest ever!!! 

Turned out each station called it what they wanted (Song Of The Day, etc...), but there would be a specific time of day when all the stations in the whole entire CC family would make the announcement to be the Nth nationwide caller at a special 800-number to win. 

Of course, the odds that it would be an actual caller from that particular city listening to that particular radio station was slim to none.  About 10 or 15 minutes later, *maybe* the DJ would quickly mumble the winner's name -- but they would never give the city the winner was from because they wanted you to think it was their own local contest, which despite all the hoopla was not.

[Molandfreak]

-  In the slogan department, stations, like a "JACK-FM" (another overused ID) like to use a slogan that claims "We play what WE want".  -- Well, duh, you sure don't play everything the listeners want, which is more than the same 300 songs day in and day out.

The JACK-FM (KZJK) here actually has a wide range of music.  I wouldn't doubt it's beyond 10,000 songs--you really never know what they're going to play.  It's not uncommon to hear some obscurely picked playlist like an early Beatles song, followed by a modern White Stripes song.  Absolutely no figuring out what they're going to play next, yet somehow I haven't heard anything I absolutely hate there.  Good station.

[lepidopteran]

Your favorite radio station/music/songs!
Umm, really?  You know me so well that you know my favorites?  Or are you assuming that since you're playing it, they must be my favorites.

And for contests
We want YOU to win!!!
Mmm-hmm, but you're saying that to half a million listeners.  You can't possibly want them all to win.

[The Nature Boy]

I always love how EVERY station is #1 in their genre.

On the Kiss-FM thing, New Hampshire has two stations that are "The Wolf." Both are country too. I'm not sure if that's common nationwide.

[SteveG1988]

[Pete from Boston]

I just keep hearing Casey Kasem's ranting complaint about having to keep saying "This is American Top 40" right after the American Top 40 jingle plays.

[Scott5114]

I never realized how common most of these were. I can think of an example of a radio station in Oklahoma City for most of these.

What I find irksome about that is how their weather reports often refer to the temperature outside the glass-enclosed nerve center as if listeners are assumed to know where it is (all I know without looking it up is it's somewhere in Northwest DC). It's not a very helpful expression in that respect for most listeners.

I wouldn't be surprised if they simply use the temperature reported by wherever the nearest NOAA weather station is. (Even in weather-crazy Oklahoma, the temperature quoted is generally that at Will Rogers World Airport, and I doubt every station has a weather station in a little cluster next to NOAA's.)

[Henry]

Since the holiday season is coming up, how about "The Christmas Music Station" (which is limited to stations that are usually Adult Contemporary)? Especially since you can't escape the fact that stations playing other formats also like to play some Christmas songs here and there. For example, it should come as no surprise that many other stations start their own holiday marathons on Dec. 23 or 24, ending on the 25th.

[DTComposer]

I never realized how common most of these were. I can think of an example of a radio station in Oklahoma City for most of these.

What I find irksome about that is how their weather reports often refer to the temperature outside the glass-enclosed nerve center as if listeners are assumed to know where it is (all I know without looking it up is it's somewhere in Northwest DC). It's not a very helpful expression in that respect for most listeners.

I wouldn't be surprised if they simply use the temperature reported by wherever the nearest NOAA weather station is. (Even in weather-crazy Oklahoma, the temperature quoted is generally that at Will Rogers World Airport, and I doubt every station has a weather station in a little cluster next to NOAA's.)

The all-news station in Los Angeles (KNX) talks about the temperature at their studios, but identifies it as "on the Miracle Mile." I suppose most long-time residents will know what that means, but most of the younger people I know refer to it as Mid-Wilshire.

[mrsman]

I never realized how common most of these were. I can think of an example of a radio station in Oklahoma City for most of these.

What I find irksome about that is how their weather reports often refer to the temperature outside the glass-enclosed nerve center as if listeners are assumed to know where it is (all I know without looking it up is it's somewhere in Northwest DC). It's not a very helpful expression in that respect for most listeners.

I wouldn't be surprised if they simply use the temperature reported by wherever the nearest NOAA weather station is. (Even in weather-crazy Oklahoma, the temperature quoted is generally that at Will Rogers World Airport, and I doubt every station has a weather station in a little cluster next to NOAA's.)

The all-news station in Los Angeles (KNX) talks about the temperature at their studios, but identifies it as "on the Miracle Mile." I suppose most long-time residents will know what that means, but most of the younger people I know refer to it as Mid-Wilshire.

FOr the most part, nearly all TV or radio stations that serve the market in X city have their studio in a place that is close enough to Downtown that there would be no significant change in the weather.  I.e. the weather at the studio is the same as the weather Downtown, even if the studio is 8 miles away. 

[roadman65]

You know what irks me the most is a station that brags that they are not like their competitor and then ends up joining them.  WHTQ in Orlando back in the 90's when they were bragging about having no shock jocks in the morning and calling the Tuna morning show the most music unlike other radio stations (WDIZ was their chief rival and had Baxter and Mark in the morning drive time) which had shock jocks and played maybe only one song every 15 minuets, ended up syndicating John Boy and Billy Big on their morning drive soon after they went all out to brag about how they do not have jocks like them.

BTW, yes I know that John Boy and Billy Big is not their real names just like Bono is not the U2 Lead's real name, but being nobody corrects people when calling Bono as Bono, then do not correct me here.

Then the Cox Classic Rock in Tampa: The Bone was calling their Clearchannel Rival station Thunder 103 Five as playing wimpy songs by playing some of their songs in their sweepers to show that, would actually play a wimpy type of song such as Lonely Is The Night by Billy Squire which is the same MO of the songs they attack that is played by Thunder.

Incidentally both HTQ and The Bone were both Cox radio stations.  That should tell you something there!  Also both stations folded up as the Tampa station is playing Country while the Orlando Station is now AM talk on FM with Sean Hannity and others of that medium now being played where Classic Rock now once played.

Not knocking Talk Radio, but not praising it either here in the statement, but just pointing out that both Cox stations in two completely different Florida markets folded after their not practicing what they preach has gone on for some of their years on air.

[briantroutman]

What I find irksome about that is how their weather reports often refer to the temperature outside the glass-enclosed nerve center as if listeners are assumed to know where it is...

I wouldn't be surprised if they simply use the temperature reported by wherever the nearest NOAA weather station...

That's really its own overused radio routine, isn't it?
"Right now, it's 46 in Greenfield, 43 in Piketon, and here at our studios on Pine Street in Fernwood, it's 45."

A teacher of mine had been a part-time local DJ in the early '80s, and he said it was all BS (at least at the station where he worked). They had a Rolodex with pairs of town names on cards, one of which was a little to the north of the studio and the other a little south. Then they'd look at the thermometer suction cupped to the window, subtract a degree or two to for the northern town, add a couple for the southern town, and voilà–regional temperature report.

[roadman65]

They figure that we are dumb.  So who is going to challenge them with numbers.

[1995hoo]

I never realized how common most of these were. I can think of an example of a radio station in Oklahoma City for most of these.

What I find irksome about that is how their weather reports often refer to the temperature outside the glass-enclosed nerve center as if listeners are assumed to know where it is (all I know without looking it up is it's somewhere in Northwest DC). It's not a very helpful expression in that respect for most listeners.

I wouldn't be surprised if they simply use the temperature reported by wherever the nearest NOAA weather station is. (Even in weather-crazy Oklahoma, the temperature quoted is generally that at Will Rogers World Airport, and I doubt every station has a weather station in a little cluster next to NOAA's.)

I don't know, but I know usually the temperature cited for DC is the temperature reported at Reagan Airport. But WTOP usually reports that one separately from the temperature "outside the glass-enclosed nerve center," so I assume it's something different. It's interesting how the temperature here does vary a good bit within a short distance. I wonder if part of that has to do with the airport being located right on the river.