I wouldn't call Philadelphia Freedom a disco song. Besides the station still does play some disco with Bee Gees etc
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WOGL Rebrands at Big 98.1
- Thread starter Route 222
- Start date
I've heard it on WCBS-FM recently,
Yeah, CBS-FM, WOCL and KEYN seem to be the exceptions in general as far as Audacy’s classic hits formula and play some stuff the other ones don’t. They aren’t nearly as individual as they used to be.
Also, KRTH may not have a wide playlist, but they do differ a little bit in that they play more New Wave/Alternative than a typical classic hits station.
WMXJ used to be distinctive, but they have been less so lately.
KRTH has also started to dip their toes in hip hop/rap with songs like California Love and Goin Back to Cali.
WMXJ was a station whose demos they actually managed to improve back in 2019-20 (even topping 18-49 in the September 2019 book) but they have since fallen back a bit. The decreased distinctiveness could be a reason why.
It helps that KRTH isn't a sister station to a station like WXBK (like WCBS-FM is).
Another misstep, and WFEZ will have even more of the Classic Hits / AC audience. And whilst WLYF has been one of the highest (if not the highest) billing radio station in Miami, WFEZ may be narrowing the gap, especially when they have robust 25-54 numbers.
Agree that WMXJ is almost as boring as ever. They’ve added a lot more rock which I’m a bit unsure of considering the market. They were doing better when they played more disco and 80s dance type stuff. WFEZ will pounce on this opportunity if properly presented. Also I believe the new 93.9 is playing a lot of 90s which may hurt the younger end.
KLUV, WOLX, KXSN, WOMC, KOOL, WIAD, WOGL, and to a degree KRTH (other than the new wave stuff they play a little of) all sound pretty identical playlist wise. Mainly the same 70s and 90s songs with a little wiggle room in the 80s. Compared to iHeart, Audacy has really streamlined their classic hits stations since the initial Entercom years. iHeart’s larger market classic hits stations really vary from station to station. Most of Audacy’s have gotten pretty rock leaning, but not to the level of WLS-Fm In Chicago or especially WJJK in Indy. The stations I initially mentioned above have some in there that aren’t doing as well as when they had their more unique playlists.
KLUV, WOLX, KXSN, WOMC, KOOL, WIAD, WOGL, and to a degree KRTH (other than the new wave stuff they play a little of) all sound pretty identical playlist wise. Mainly the same 70s and 90s songs with a little wiggle room in the 80s. Compared to iHeart, Audacy has really streamlined their classic hits stations since the initial Entercom years. iHeart’s larger market classic hits stations really vary from station to station. Most of Audacy’s have gotten pretty rock leaning, but not to the level of WLS-Fm In Chicago or especially WJJK in Indy. The stations I initially mentioned above have some in there that aren’t doing as well as when they had their more unique playlists.
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They will gladly give WFEZ all of the over-65 listeners they want to take. Maybe if there was a similar station in Philly, WOGL wouldn't have the demo issues they have now. But sure, Cox, back the truck up and take as many old folks as you want.
Haven't looked much into stations like KOOL-FM, WIAD, or WOLX-FM, but KLUV's playlist has to be amongst the most generic in the format. Whenever I look at their recently played, it's always a basic set of songs that play on most Classic Hits stations, consisting of very little, if any unique music. While too much '70s is a problem for them as I have mentioned before, you almost have to wonder if this is hurting them as well. They were performing very well for most of last year, so I wonder if there were any musical changes of late that have hurt them.
Adult Hits/Classic Hits KKHH in Houston cut down on '70s last November as part of their musical adjustment to go more rock friendly and play more '90s, yet they have also added a few 1970s songs to the playlist such as American Pie, Imagine, Your Song, and the original Lean On Me from Bill Withers that I don't think get much play on Classic Hits stations anymore, or at least not the Audacy ones. So at least that's one Audacy station that has a little bit of flexibility in terms of the 1970s music they're allowed to play.
In 25-54, WFEZ has beaten WLYF in every book since October of last year. While they are way ahead in 55+, they are only slightly behind in 18-49.
Miami is one of the few markets where agencies buy 35-64 and that is one of the 4 demos I run every week. Because the Hispanic community is heavily weighted by older political refugees from Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia and Venezuela, and the market is Hispanic-driven, older demos do sell there. And WFEZ does better with Hispanics than WLYF does.
I wasn't talking about WLYF at all, but since you brought it up: WLYF is #1 18-34. WMXJ is #3, and WFEZ is #4.
My point is that WMXJ is doing a better job than WOGL at dealing with the over 65s.
Again, a demographic difference in Miami: it has not been retirement friendly for non-Hispanics for many decades. The population distribution is different than that of Philadelphia. The older non-Hispanics have left in Dade and most of Broward. So there is a population bulge in 35-64, but it falls off compared to markets like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo and the like when measured on 65 and over.
A radio issue is that a gold based format like WMXJ plays a lot of the music that was popular in Colombia, Venezuela and other nations that have provided the more recent flows of immigrants (over half the under-55 Hispanics are not of Cuban heritage or origin). And the newer rush of Peruvian immigrants mostly come from Lima, where half the FMs play English language music. Some of the AC stations in Latin America sound a lot like WLYF and WFEZ, in fact, and the oldies stations are fairly similar to those anywhere to the south.
The people who find WMXJ "boring," are probably not among the intended audience. That's what happens when people stream a station outside their local market. Those listeners are placing their outside cultural bias on a station that is aiming at its home market. People who live in Philly may have different taste from people in Miami.
That's a very good and valid point.
Obviously, Miami being only about 20% non-Hispanic white today is not comparable to most other US markets. The enormous and lengthy period of Hispanic dominance influences tastes and lifestyles.
The same occurs, but with less radical differences, trying to compare the appeal of, let's say, rock in Fargo, ND, and Baton Rouge, LA. Not just the ethnic percentages, but the ethnic historical influence over, perhaps, decades, makes a bid difference. Compare Memphis with Phoenix!
Perhaps someone already mentioned this. However, after reading the Philadelphia Business Journal article (which I did not see until yesterday) and hearing that Audacy wants to "escape the long gone moniker of Oldies 98" perhaps (and this is just my honest opinion) the best option for them would be to change their call letters from WOGL to something new. Is it possible that just simply changing their moniker from 98.1 WOGL to Big 98.1 will do the trick? Absolutely. However, WOGL will always be associated with Oldies 98 not because of the music they played (perhaps that has some part of it) but because of the epic air-talent they had. I mean Hy Lit, Harvey Holiday, Don Cannon...I could go on. Will the "new" WOGL ever match that? Maybe? But either way, to truly (in their words) "escape" the history that the station has, I think they'd have to change their call letters. Again that's just my opinion though. Perhaps someone with more marketing experience than I would be able to correct me.
How often does Big 98.1 mention its call letters these days, outside of the legal ID? If "WOGL" isn't regularly used on air, there's no reason to be changing the call letters, as they're no longer part of the station's marketing. And millennials won't know who the three jocks you listed were, let alone associate them with the station they're now listening to Pink and Guns 'N Roses on.
As The Big A mentioned though, the people who at least were listening to the station as of recently (before Apr. 28) were people who would recognize those jocks and did associate them with the station. That's why they did the rebranding to begin with. At least, that's what I got out of the article. Maybe I interpreted it wrong. My only thing is, if they want a whole new station with new branding, wouldn't changing the call letters be a part of that? It would be easier for them to not be associated with the Oldies 98 moniker.
Meh, keep them or dump them, they’re only mentioned in the hourly ID, so they’re not an issue either way when they’re buried in all the studio sponsorship, Audacy branding, etc. maybe they found some value in the research, beats me. It’s not like More FM ever shed the WBEB letters. (Bonus for Entercom when they immediately wanted to go back to the old brand.)
I used to listen to WMXJ quite a bit online, and they a good share of rhythmic. (including Rapper's Delight). Last time I listened, they sounded standard issue Classic Hits.
I never thought about this before: How much effort and expense (if any) is involved in getting new calls? If it's as simple as completing a form and sending in a few hundred bucks, it might be worth it for a station that's already spending money to, not only present a new image, but also erase its old one. Will it help move the needle? Not terribly likely, but if it's no big deal to replace the calls, it could be just another little way to wipe the Oldies heritage.
All that having been said, I can't imagine many current listeners are associating the station with Lit, Holiday, or Cannon. In 2022, people listen pretty exclusively for the music. Radio has largely all-but-eliminated the significance of jocks anyway.
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