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A radio format for 55-72? Could it work?

I vaguely remember EOR. Did anyone actually air it?


At least one station... the 100 kw FM from Globe that rimshots Phoenix.

They may have also been on that other 100 kw @ 1000 foot rimshot in FL that rimshot WPB from somewhere near Yeehaw Junction.
 


It's not true.

But it is a bit more complicated than that.

The older leaning cable nets, such as the news channels, do get a lot of revenue for senior-specific products such as meds that are mostly prescribed to older persons, investment products like gold, leisure travel in guided tours, etc.

These products don't buy local radio. They buy very specifically on some network and lots of cable channels because they need the visual aspect.

Example #1: a medication for osteoporosis uses tv to show the active, fun walk-the-dog-on-the-beach life you can have with the use of the drug. The visuals are about lifestyle, and TV does it better.

Example #2: reverse mortgages where an older spokesperson tries to dispel wrong thinking about this financial product by being friendly, warm and being in a comfort-zone location. The visual is what sells.

Example #3: walk in bathtubs show how a senior can walk in, get a nice whirlpool bath and exist safely. It has to be shown, not talked about.

Example #4: Electric star lifts that show an older person who can't climb stairs but does not want to move out of the home they own. It is made to look easy and even fun. Visual is critical.

Example #5: European river cruises. These $5 thousand dollar or so trips are sold by beautiful aerial film, delicious dining, lovely rooms and great river views of old castles and big churches. Without the visual, it is just an expensive and long trip.

The key issue here is the visual. There are lots of products aimed at older consumers, and they just don't use radio, and nearly never use local radio. They use the AARP magazine, mailers, and lots of cheaper-buy old-leaning cable and broadcast TV that is bought nationally, not locally.

I mentioned in another thread that I live in a market of a half million that has a median age of over 53. There are loads of local radio stations... about 30 of them. Several target seniors, but they do extremely poorly. But the TV stations get loads of buys targeted at the wealthy older folks because they can show their friendly A/C repair techs, the lovely restaurant, the wide assortment of golf carts, the before and after cosmetic surgery pics, the great look of dental implants and procedures, and the sparkling diamonds, rubies and emeralds in the jewelry stores.

Again, at the local level in the richest predominantly 50+ market in the country, radio does not get dollars because seniors, if they can be sold, are best sold with visuals.
And yet, before television existed, radio painted a picture for the mind's eye and was hugely successful with it.
 
And yet, before television existed, radio painted a picture for the mind's eye and was hugely successful with it.

But back then people read magazines, books and newspapers. They were used to seeing what words represented.

Today we are in a world of LOL and BFF and other acronyms and emojis. There is no need to think, as fast paced visual entertainment pops out of your glasses, your watch, your phone and even the door of your refrigerator. The word pictures of Dickens that put you in the midst of poor working kids in a wretched part of London... or those of Frost that made you forever see a wall differently... are no longer needed as there is an emoji for all that!

And then I hear the bungling speeches of the current presidential candidates and compare them with the addresses of Churchill, Kennedy and MLK and I want to... quick, where is the vomiting icon. I look at the latest green new deal and see that there is a grammatical error in the first sentence and it gets worse from there on... well, like, okay.

No pictures in the mind are being painted today. That takes a respect for the beauty of words but we are in an era where there is no set of words that can't be best stated as an acronym. Hemingway, Steinbeck and Longfellow are brands of casual wear, aren't they?
 
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But back then people read magazines, books and newspapers. They were used to seeing what words represented.

Today we are in a world of LOL and BFF and other acronyms and emojis. There is no need to think, as fast paced visual entertainment pops out of your glasses, your watch, your phone and even the door of your refrigerator. The word pictures of Dickens that put you in the midst of poor working kids in a wretched part of London... or those of Frost that made you forever see a wall differently... are no longer needed as there is an emoji for all that!

And then I hear the bungling speeches of the current presidential candidates and compare them with the addresses of Churchill, Kennedy and MLK and I want to... quick, where is the vomiting icon. I look at the latest green new deal and see that there is a grammatical error in the first sentence and it gets worse from there on... well, like, okay.

No pictures in the mind are being painted today. That takes a respect for the beauty of words but we are in an era where there is no set of words that can't be best stated as an acronym. Hemingway, Steinbeck and Longfellow are brands of casual wear, aren't they?

Isn't this all part of the dumbing down of America? Critical thinking and an appreciation of literate music & art is shunned by the MAGA horde. They can't stand NPR because it's "book smart". Newspapers are almost extinct.

Radio, TV, Movies and other mass media are just interested in making a buck. The average American slob is just an ignorant consumer--an easy target for advertisers. Garbage in = Garbage Out.

"Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold"(William Butler Yeats...)
 
Radio, TV, Movies and other mass media are just interested in making a buck. The average American slob is just an ignorant consumer--an easy target for advertisers. Garbage in = Garbage Out.

Which is why Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.
 
Isn't this all part of the dumbing down of America? Critical thinking and an appreciation of literate music & art is shunned by the MAGA horde. They can't stand NPR because it's "book smart". Newspapers are almost extinct.

Radio, TV, Movies and other mass media are just interested in making a buck. The average American slob is just an ignorant consumer--an easy target for advertisers. Garbage in = Garbage Out.

"Things Fall Apart, The Centre Cannot Hold"(William Butler Yeats...)

This isn’t political, it is societal. The root cause is that technology has obviated the need for serious reading by delivering ever more customized product directly to individuals in simple, depth-less tidbits.

I no longer buy a newspaper, while at one point in life I got four dailies. First, I can get everything I want online and second, my local paper and my regional one (Desert Sun and L A Times) have so deteriorated that bad writing and poor grammar and terrible story construction are the norm. It is painful to read either. Beyond that, both papers inject opinionated words into straight news, which is both a journalistic ethics issue and a lack of good editing.

I do not like the style of NPR, as it is brimming with self-importance and it also does not meet my particular schedule and it is weak on international news, so my preference is the BBC on Sirius and cable.

No party has an exclusive on culture, art and general erudition. It is simply the fact that media is far more immediate, condensed and simplified due to decades of 500 channels of TV and now infinite sources via stream to the exclusion of much human contact and engagement with the arts and those that view the world differently.
 
I do not like the style of NPR, as it is brimming with self-importance and it also does not meet my particular schedule and it is weak on international news, so my preference is the BBC on Sirius and cable.

Although compared to other US broadcast media, NPR does a lot more international reporting.
 
Which is why Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.

My local PBS station (WQED) has a digital subchannel that is nothing but infomercials.
Their former CEO, George Miles, was making $350K per year.

But public broadcasters don't care about money?
 
My local PBS station (WQED) has a digital subchannel that is nothing but infomercials.
Their former CEO, George Miles, was making $350K per year.
But public broadcasters don't care about money?

Not in terms of programming, no. But they don't take a vow of poverty either. The CEO's salary is based on the budget he manages. That's the case for all non-profits. Some non-profit CEOs can make $1 million if they manage large budgets.
 
For every 55+ person who enjoys oldies, I'm guessing there's another 55+ person who hears oldies and just feels old. I've always loved 50s and 60s music, but after listening to this body of music for over forty years, it reached the point where they've just gotten too familiar.
 
For every 55+ person who enjoys oldies, I'm guessing there's another 55+ person who hears oldies and just feels old. I've always loved 50s and 60s music, but after listening to this body of music for over forty years, it reached the point where they've just gotten too familiar.

And for every senior that likes pop oldies, there are probably 4 or 5 that don't like those songs any more, and some of them never liked them. While Top 40 was a huge format in the 50's and 60's, not every young person at the time listened to the music or liked it.

This country is about 15% African American and 18% Hispanic. Start with the fact that many people of those groups were not Top 40 partisans. Then take those who liked harder rock... or MOR or country or even classical at the time.

The idea that everyone loved all those songs is just wrong.
 
Not in terms of programming, no. But they don't take a vow of poverty either. The CEO's salary is based on the budget he manages. That's the case for all non-profits. Some non-profit CEOs can make $1 million if they manage large budgets.

The reason the guy who can hurl a baseball at 98 MPH gets millions a year is that not many people can do that.

The same goes for management positions. On many occasions when I have build a successful station, that success was in part due to weak or incompetent management at one or more competitive stations. There was a reason for what I was paid.

I'm assuming the $1 million a year non-profit CEOs make that figure is that they are both good managers and good fundraisers, and any similarly good replacement would command just as much money on the job market.
 


And for every senior that likes pop oldies, there are probably 4 or 5 that don't like those songs any more, and some of them never liked them.

The idea that everyone loved all those songs is just wrong.

So, about 16-20% of seniors dislike pop oldies...I see.

A serious underestimation on your part. And let me guess, you researched that too.

I would say that of the demographic that originally listened to rock and roll back in the 50's and 60's, would most certainly appreciate hearing them again, today. And far, far more than 1 in 5.

You've demonstrated over the years your dislike for oldies in turn for newer songs which is fine if that's what you enjoy. I believe you are highly an exception, than the rule.

Sometimes, I genuinely feel these ridiculous conclusions are just that......stories.
 
I would say that of the demographic that originally listened to rock and roll back in the 50's and 60's, would most certainly appreciate hearing them again, today. And far, far more than 1 in 5.

If they did, they still own their records, and they know how to play them. It's not something you forget how to do as you get older. Or they say "Alexa, play Elvis."

You're talking about listening to music. We're talking about running radio stations. Two very different things.
 
So, about 16-20% of seniors dislike pop oldies...I see.

A serious underestimation on your part. And let me guess, you researched that too.

I would say that of the demographic that originally listened to rock and roll back in the 50's and 60's, would most certainly appreciate hearing them again, today. And far, far more than 1 in 5.

You've demonstrated over the years your dislike for oldies in turn for newer songs which is fine if that's what you enjoy. I believe you are highly an exception, than the rule.

Sometimes, I genuinely feel these ridiculous conclusions are just that......stories.

So any fact that disagrees with your version of things is a lie. Right.

More than half the population did not listen to Top 40 in the 50's and 60s to begin with.

Many who did moved on musically.

Many are tired of the music and prefer something different.

Many have the songs they like on their mobile device and don't like the selections on stations and streams. Or they pay for Spotify.

I don't dislike oldies. I co-created what became a major market network of gold based stations playing 60's, 70's and 80's songs 20 years ago... with a playlist of over 1,100 songs. The format still works, but the 60's and most of the 70's are gone now.

What I dislike are stations that want to play 60's and 70s' music when the reality is that such stations can't make money save in a few very tiny unrated markets where they can fool the local advertisers. I've made a living making stations that attract advertiser friendly listeners. That old stuff does not do it. It's bad business.

Were there a viable business model for streaming, I'd have at least two 70's core formats online within weeks. But there isn't a way to do it with an ad supported model... yet. But for fun, my wife and I will spend an afternoon tweaking one of those formats in MusicMaster and play it for a few days to see how it sounds. But that is the difference between a hobby and reality.
 
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