So now that I am in my mid 40s stupid things bother me. 1st I have HD radio in the car and Cumulus is still not broadcasting any of their stations in HD. 2nd, Slick Tom plays stupid organ music bed while he talks like it is the 70’s. 3rd when there is no music I can hear every breath he takes like a bad smoker.
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97Rock Your Age is Showing
- Thread starter WJPYFM
- Start date
It seems this station and jock are not to your liking. I presume you turned the dial to something you do like. Sort of a rule of thumb, it works for the station until the day it doesn't and then it will be different. That doesn't mean you should like it, but rather for their target demographic, it's fine.
This stations listeners had Frontal Lobotomies, so they think it still is the 1970s. Pretty sure nobody is complaining about not hearing "Freebird" in HD...
Somebody is still trying to find HD casts?
Almost better off looking for the Loch Ness Monster...or Jimmy Hoffa.
Almost better off looking for the Loch Ness Monster...or Jimmy Hoffa.
You're missing the chance to hear the station switching back and forth between digital and analog while you're driving. Tune in 102.5 and see if they're still running blues on the sub-channel. BTW, if you're in your mid-40s, you don't remember the '70s.
With the added benefit of not being able to disable HD switching in fringe areas.
Sadly it's not confined to Buffalo. Most markets have this generic format all spinning the same 300 songs for the stereotypical blue collar buffoon. It is a Caricature and very bad Radio...
If it changed or went away, a lot of people would complain and blame corporate radio.
The Little Rock, Arkansas version, KKPT The Point, which is owned by a family and not a large corporate entity has just as stale and tired a playlist but with maybe a few more 80's cuts thrown in than the last time I gave a listen to 97 Rock. Most markets seem to have a very similar version of this format but if it makes money for the owners who can complain too much? Don't like it, don't listen to it. Pretty simple.
Exactly. To me, listening to 40 year old songs, no matter how deep the playlist, is not my idea of fun. But that's why radios have a scan function. Switch the station to something else. Maybe WBLK. It won't sound stale or tired because you normally don't listen. It would open the mind up to a complete new and different world. Imagine the strange looks you'll get from your friends. That alone is worth it.
Last time I checked, radios have these little buttons... older radios have dials and twisty thingies. Amazing what they do.
Buffalo is an aging market. What's the median age? (this is where Señor Gleason jumps in...) Old people generally (but not always) feel comfortable listening to songs they grew up listening to. So 97 has become a comfortable shoe for people who are 55 and older. What's wrong with that? It's the "new" Music of Your Life. Apologies to Al Hamm. But rather than playing Take the A Train and String of Pearls, classic rock stations play Train In Vain and Pearl Necklace. (In a matter of years, they'll probably play Train and Pearl Jam.)
That generalization aside, there's a chunk of 18-34 Men who dig Zep, Doors, Stones, Who and Floyd because it's authentic "roots rock," which is why you can sometimes hear these groups on the Edge. People who've seen the book say 97 Rock had a weak Fall book, but these same informants also say 97 has always bounced back, adding that 97's Summer ratings were inflated as much at its Fall ratings were deflated, so it would surprise few observers if 97 rebounded to a number somewhere between its Summer '18 and Fall '18 ratings. 97 remains one of the strongest brands in Buffalo. Some day it may lose its luster, perhaps the process has begun... but nobody's betting that 'someday' is today.
Buffalo is an aging market. What's the median age? (this is where Señor Gleason jumps in...) Old people generally (but not always) feel comfortable listening to songs they grew up listening to. So 97 has become a comfortable shoe for people who are 55 and older. What's wrong with that? It's the "new" Music of Your Life. Apologies to Al Hamm. But rather than playing Take the A Train and String of Pearls, classic rock stations play Train In Vain and Pearl Necklace. (In a matter of years, they'll probably play Train and Pearl Jam.)
That generalization aside, there's a chunk of 18-34 Men who dig Zep, Doors, Stones, Who and Floyd because it's authentic "roots rock," which is why you can sometimes hear these groups on the Edge. People who've seen the book say 97 Rock had a weak Fall book, but these same informants also say 97 has always bounced back, adding that 97's Summer ratings were inflated as much at its Fall ratings were deflated, so it would surprise few observers if 97 rebounded to a number somewhere between its Summer '18 and Fall '18 ratings. 97 remains one of the strongest brands in Buffalo. Some day it may lose its luster, perhaps the process has begun... but nobody's betting that 'someday' is today.
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That's true. In fact the classic rock station in Philly was #1 with the 18-34 group. To them, all that stuff if new. They can't understand why Bob Seger is on his farewell tour. To them, he's just starting. Same with Skynyrd. Sweet Home Alabama is a current hit.
70% of the 97 Rock AQH audience is under 55, and a full quarter of it is 18-34, supporting your point.
Oddly, some of these stations in more traditional markets such as Buffalo, Philly, etc., seem to have no 18-34 erosion!
Median age in the Buffalo MSA is 40.7 and in the US as a whole is 38, per the Census Bureau's ACS annual survey.
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And yet David & Big A have stated on numerous occasions that NOBODY still listens to the Beatles. Your data got that one wrong.
Some 18-34 year olds may like some old Rock songs, but they certainly don't think they're "new". It's just stuff they heard Grandpa listening to or found on You Tube. They can't be stupid enough to think that Bob Seger is a new artist, can they???
The late great Warren Zevon wrote ---
"Sweet Home Alabama, Play that Dead bands song
Turn those speakers up full blast ---
Play it all night long
There Ain't much to Country living
Sweat Piss Jizz & Blood..."
Show me where I said that.
Lots of people listen. The issue is finding advertisers who want to reach them.
Ditto.
No, they're not stupid. They know these acts aren't new, but the music, especially catalog stuff, is 'new and different' to them. Moreover, it's the basis for bands like Nirvana, NIN, Metallica and rock acts that blossomed in the 80s, 90s and today. Hell, half of today's country acts were influenced by Skynyrd, 38 Special, Allman Bros, Marshall Tucker, Garth Brooks, and Randy Travis. These bands have lots of catalog stuff. Many 18-34s haven't heard Floyd or the Doors a thousand times, even if their parents or grand parents wore out the vinyl or CDs. And musicians in the 18-34 demo respect and study the musicianship of artists like Densmore, Manzarek and Krieger; Richards, Jones and Watts; Page, Bonham and Plant and many others. OK, so hearing Money or LA Woman for the 734th time can be tiresome, but there are plenty of 18-34 folks who are hearing it for the first time... or maybe the 51st time, and they dig it. My neighbor's kid is 19, in college and plays a decent guitar. Who does he model himself after? Petty and Roger McGuinn. I heard Stairway a few days back on 93 or 97... can't recall, and hit the scan button. A few hours later I was surfing around the dial and heard Good Times, Bad Times off the very first album, probably on 97 or 107, and I kept listening. The song's maybe 48 years old, but it stills rocks the house, and it brought back some fond recollections.TB said:
As I read through this thread it occurs to me that 'Bolt might just be too hip for this room. Plus he hates most of Buffalo radio. In fact, I can't remember him talking about anything he likes. Maybe 'BFO?
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