• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Country oldies on am?

C

CAVEMANager

Guest
In case anyone hasn't noticed, KEVT-1210 is now rebroadcasting the country gold format of CAVE 97.7 FM which is based in Benson. CAVE has excellent numbers in the Cochise County Nielsen. KEVT has a really nice daytime signal but at night it is weak and noisy in most parts of Tucson. Let's take a look back at country radio in Tucson. Throughout the 1970s and well into the 1980s KCUB was either at the top of the Tucson ratings or close to the top. Later KIIM took over. Here are some questions:
1) Are the people who listened to KCUB all dead or are some of them still alive?
2) Are the people who liked Tammy Wynette and Barbara Mandrell now big fans of Kelsea Ballerini and Lauren Alaina? And are Haggard and Jones fans content to listen to endless songs about millennials looking for mates?
3) If there is a market for country gold will such people listen to an A.M. station under any circumstances?
4) I don't know how long the arrangement with KEVT might last but could KEVT end up with ratings that are better than perhaps KTUC or KCEE?
5) If the AM station showed up well, would some FM take the hint and try country oldies?
6) Does having live air talent make a difference or would a jukebox do just as well?
 
Have you ever heard of WSM-AM 650?

The problem is that the audience for 70s country oldies is over 65, and that's not practical for an ad-supported station.

The other problem is AM radio sounds awful.
 
"If a tree falls in the forest..."
Not being mean stating how I see it. There is little to no chance of reviving 1210. A) AM is fading very fast if not gone in most markets with the exception of one of the big news and/or talk formats. B) The station has been myriad formats, on and off the air for a number of years. Without any marketing or promotion the likelihood that it will ever find an audience let alone advertisers is slim to none. We as radio people are emotionally invested in what we do. If you were around back in the day when you could hit the switch, give it hell and watch a station grow you'd like to think it can still happen. Sadly not the case. And for the record I miss those days.
 
Thoughts:
1. If you're going to play music on AM, play something you can't find anywhere else. Classic Country can check this box.
2. Some of the FMs that are having success playing Country Gold have only a handful of 60s & 70s titles and are centered more in the 80s & 90s. The best titles are used as the gold category on FM.
3. Because AM is a vast radio wasteland, nobody is going to stumble across it by accident.
4. The noise floor on AM is so terrible that even during the day you're going to have issues with listening inside buildings.
5. If you overcame all of these odds, you'd have FM competition. Think fill-in translator.
 
I frequently go to Goodwill and buy country music CDs really cheap. On some Saturdays they have a half price sale and CDs go for 50 cents. I've gotten friendly with one of the young clerks who knows that I work for a radio station. I'd guess he's in his early 20s. He asked me if anything new is going on and I told him that we are now rebroadcast on an AM station that covers Tucson. His response: "I've heard of AM radio. What's AM radio?" I felt like telling him that AM is the latest thing but he hasn't heard of it yet.

That said, we are getting some response from listeners who say that they really like our programming and can't get anything like it on any other station. Getting some advertising sold is, of course, another matter.
 
Digging up another old-time post...

1. Some are still alive, but have aged out of the demo. I listened to KCUB back in the "Big Dave" Nelson and Jimmy Stewart days, for what it's worth.
2. Who? Seriously, I've not returned to 'country music'. I'll listen to some of the old stuff I have, but I gave up on the format about the time Garth Brooks and George Strait came onto the scene. To me, it's gone downhill since that time.
3. Doubtful. What about a translator or some HD3 sub-channel?
4. Well, that answer is apparent.
5. You'd think around these parts, a format like that might actually work. It would take some work, certainly.
6. Jukeboxes (computers) are cheap.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom