Mega Hertz wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2020 7:03 am
Interesting post, which brought to mind "crossovers". Whatever happened to crossovers on CHR radio? There's always been tailor-made Top 40 pop product, but I can vividly remember DRQ playing Fuel, Aerosmith, Blink 182, Green Day, and Faith Hill crossovers, amongst others. Rock, Alternative Rock, Active Rock (possibly classic rock...Aerosmith was 30 years into their career when Jaded hit DRQ in 2001) and Country songs all crossing over into CHR territory. I might be wrong (due to my lack of listening) but I don't hear much in the way of crossover anymore on CHR. Any insight?
Lack of decent crossover product, and the perceived propensity to stay in your own lane programming wise, contributes to this. One can almost link this trend to the timeframe when the Gavin Report, and R&R, ceased to exist, along with increased consolidation and homogenization of corporate radio.
A wild example of a crossover song (to the extreme) would be "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, from 1987. In the Toledo market, WIOT was the first station to debut the Crowded House record. That song started at AOR, crossed over to CHR, AC, and still stands today as an AC gold staple. That's a long trip across several charts, and it's something you certainly don't see today. I worked mainly in AOR and AC, but not CHR. There are a couple former CHR programmers on the board who can probably pin this down a little better.