Radio Listeners Approve Of JACK

Cousin Brucie Morrow
Originally uploaded by RLabay.

(From The Associated Press -- By Larry McShane)

It's the format of the future. Or the flavor of the month.

Either way, you're gonna know JACK.

Radio's hottest new programming trend, most often compared to broadcasting an IPOD on shuffle, is creating a buzz on stations from NEW YORK to LOS ANGELES.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN followed by THE BEASTIE BOYS? LED ZEPPLIN and BLACK BOX? ELTON JOHN and JET?

Yes, yes, and yes.

Such genre-bending mixes of songs, once derided by radio programmers as "TRAIN WRECKS," provide the format's foundation.

"It's everything from ELVIS PRESLEY to THE BLACK EYED PEAS," said ROB BARNETT, director of programming for INFINITY RADIO and its eight JACK converts.

But it's more than that. The new format peddles attitude along with music, presenting itself as a voice of unfettered expression in an era where corporate radio serves up micromanaged playlists. (Forget that INFINITY -- part of the VIACOM media conglomerate that includes CBS, PARAMOUNT, MTV, among many other outlets -- owns 180 stations.)

JACK, according to its boosters, is different. Its mantra is "playing what we want," offering hits from the '70s through the present. It aims for listeners in the lucrative 24-to-45-year-old demographic, using a 1,200-plus song library that's often six times the size of a typical station's choices.

Since Denver's KJAC-FM became the first U.S. station to go JACK in April 2004, the format or one of its variants -- there's radio BOB and MIKE, and a country version called HANK -- quickly spread to BOSTON, KANSAS CITY, INDIANAPOLIS, BALTIMORE and DALLAS.

INFINITY switched to JACK in LOS ANGELES on St. Patrick's Day, followed by instant format makeovers in CHICAGO and NEW YORK that stunned longtime listeners in early June. DENVER and DALLAS' KJKK-FM showed major ratings boosts within months of making the move.

The biggest uproar over the conversion to JACK came at WCBS-FM, where INFINITY pulled the plug on the nation's No. 1 oldies station after 33 years.

Ousted with the format was Hall of Fame disc jockey COUSIN BRUCIE MORROW (pictured at right), who quickly signed with SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO -- but not before charging the changeover was a business decision that sucked the soul out of New York's home for MOTOWN.

Want to see if you like JACK?

Check out the stations website at www.ilikejack.com.