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Post by michaelcasselman on Apr 4, 2012 17:44:24 GMT -5
It was a perfect storm of 'bad stuff' from 91-94 which dragged down AT40. Fragmentation of Top 40 radio probably led the pack. The methods of determining airplay across the developing fragmented formats, then the different delivery methods (cassingles/CDs/CD singles/EPs/LPs, etc) that further fragmented the number of charts that were tabulated. When I look back at it, looking at the 'big picture', and looking at them compared to what has followed in the years since... the individual rap songs that often are derided for dragging the show down weren't, for the most part, nearly as offensive and problematic. Now, as an emerging format, yeah, the rap 'format' was just another nail in the coffin.
I loved the first few years of Shadoe's run. The week they switched in late 1991, as someone who had been religiously following the show for about a decade (yet didn't follow BB magazine or the trades, so I was unaware of the impending changes), the abrupt movements that week were a shock. It was hard to take seriously any talk about 'chart records', because they then had to differentiate between actual Hot 100/T40 chart records and AT40 show-specific chart records... as if you had to asterix * them like they were shady steroids-era baseball records.
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Post by Shadoe Fan on Apr 4, 2012 18:12:57 GMT -5
Well my user name and the fact that I've written a book on Shadoe's era (not available any time soon) should show how much I like Shadoe's era. :-)
The chart changes were necessary, although I wish they could've created the Top 40/Mainstream chart sooner. The tweaking of the show (editing out Shadoe's pauses, going to R&R for the "Sneek Peek" while still using BB, etc.) certainly didn't help.
Shadoe did a great job, but the R&R chart used on CT40/Dees better reflected what I was listening to on the radio at the time.
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Post by Caseyfan4everRyanfanNever on Apr 4, 2012 21:24:28 GMT -5
What I liked most of all about Shadoe's AT40 was his Year End shows. (Yes, even though I'm Caseyfan4ever, that doesn't mean that I can't like Shadoe and his shows too, just like Shadoe Fan can like Casey and his shows). He came up with lots of chart trivia in a very entertaining manner and from the way he hosted the show, you could tell he enjoyed his work. (Unfortunately, I can't draw the same conclusion from Ryan Seacrest on the AT40 shows he hosts).
He made the best of a situation made bad by chart changes and mistakes caused by upper management. Shadoe did hint at the chart change in the Nov 30 1991 show at the very beginning, mentioning a "brand new official Billboard Chart...these are the 40 biggest Hits on radioes across the US of A", whereas on the previous show he noted "biggest hits played on radio and sold in music stores". So any blame for not telling the world about the chart change would land on upper management and not on Shadoe. The only way he could have done better would have been to shout out something along the lines "Goodbye Hot 100, Hello Top 40 Radio Monitor" and of course, upper management would have never allowed this.
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Post by at40petebattistini on Apr 5, 2012 7:50:12 GMT -5
When AT40 began in July 1970, Shadoe was working in radio -- in Boston, I believe, and soon to be headed to LA. There he became a well-respected local jock, not unlike Casey. And I can't help but wonder, what if...
What if somehow Shadoe ended up as the first AT40 host. Do you believe there would have been a difference in how the show evolved, as well as how it was received by both stations and fans? And in answering that question, consider that Casey and Don Bustany were partners. No Casey? No Don as producer. I believe many aspects of the show would have been very different from the onset.
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Post by matt on Apr 5, 2012 8:49:15 GMT -5
Yes, there were those who listened to AT40 because it used the Hot 100. Most didn't. Most listened for the music and did not notice a difference in chart unless they went to Turtles Records & Tapes right after and looked at the Hot 100. They might have noticed it moved slower, but not what chart it was. Same thing with program directors. I am not sure how you can think the Hot 100 remaining would have been better long term for AT40. Have you looked at 92, 93, 94? The stations charged with airing this show could not have identified with it and the show would have been on far, far fewer stations than it was when it ceased domestic distribution. The Hot 100 had to go. There was no way around it. Had ABC been smarter than they were though they would gone with BBs radio chart for a short time and then after the 1991 YE show gone with R&R. If for no other reason, they could have eliminated the $10,000 a week or whatever it was costing to use them when it was of no benefit to use it any longer. I must also say that by then I was predominately a radio listener and cared much more about AirPlay charts than I did any of the others personally. Don't get me wrong--I couldn't agree more that the Hot 100 was no longer a viable chart for AT40 to use once the Soundscan change took place. Mr. michaelcasselman just mentioned above that it was a "perfect storm" of events - which is a perfect way to describe it. I believe that the Hot 100 changes and the subsequent move to the Radio Monitor chart, whether the chicken or the egg, was a reason (and certainly not the only reason) for the erosion of the AT40 fan base during the Shadoe era.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2012 10:16:23 GMT -5
When AT40 began in July 1970, Shadoe was working in radio -- in Boston, I believe, and soon to be headed to LA. There he became a well-respected local jock, not unlike Casey. And I can't help but wonder, what if... What if somehow Shadoe ended up as the first AT40 host. Do you believe there would have been a difference in how the show evolved, as well as how it was received by both stations and fans? And in answering that question, consider that Casey and Don Bustany were partners. No Casey? No Don as producer. I believe many aspects of the show would have been very different from the onset. Pete, What you stated is why I don't hate the new AT40 now. Is it what I want to hear? No. Do I listen that much? No. But the show had to change to move on in the CHR world it's in and thanks to the backing of CC who owns I would say most of the stations it's on, it got to do so without worrying about how it would be reacted to by PDs who would by and large have no choice but to run it no matter how it sounded. That era was entirely different. A plethora of countdown and other radio show programming such as Future Hits, On the Radio, Powertel or something like that from ERN (not the religious show Powerline), and others meant some would win and some would lose. As Rob stated, a lot of AT40s problems started long before Shadoe when ABC purchased Watermark and started demanding air time in exchange for airing the show and alienating many stations (and by extention many markets) by doing so. There are so many things that went wrong when it came to AT40 and the demise that came from it. I am just of the opinion that most of it, like as in over 90% of it was radio business oriented and changing from the Hot 100 was a very minor reason at best.
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