oldies

[AceBiscuits]

So why isn’t one of the AM stations in Philly doing oldies? Except for KYW...

And KYW isn't a great reference with a full-power FM simulcast.

Why would they want to? The audience for AM itself is shrinking, no person under 40 wants to hear music (or practically anything at this point) on AM radio that is old enough that it is obscure by modern standards. Not to mention that they don't have to pay royalties or licensing for the music. A satellite-fed talk format is way easier to operate.

50's/60's oldies is a moribund format and is not gaining traction anywhere.

 

[b-turner]

wibgradio99 pondered about streaming: if they can do it in the LV why not in Philly.

To answer, we're comparing apples and oranges. In a place like Allentown it costs less to operate and likely there is an FM or two in the market owned by the same company. In Allentown, I can sell direct to clients. The bigger the city, the higher the costs of operation and the AM is likely to be all by itself. More folks are aware of a station in a smaller population center. In a big metro my AM never could produce good results for any local buys I could get because I had so few listeners in a business trade area. Nobody ever renewed. An AM I managed needed about $15,500 a month to break even without employees in a major metro. A buddy in a city of about 400,000 needed about $8,000 before payroll. I billed about $20,000 and that was a struggle, losing money monthly. My buddy could do $17,500 and turned a tiny profit.

So the bigger the city dos not mean a station has the money to stream. In fact chances are they don't.

 

[wibgradio99]

I listen to wkce and kfxm constantly, what I cannot understand is the Knoxville area was never exposed to the great music of the 50s and 60s, it was mostly a country music, oriented rural area, not like here in the DV, where all this music was born, played and worshipped Do most people down there even know who reperada and the delrons were, but they play them, plus great country. So why isn't a format like that being done here, and please I don't mean anything the heater with the geator or peter with the meter or boss with franks hot sauce spews...pleeeeze...How can all these Spanish language stations be popping up, I can count at least 10 on AM and FM in my area and one could not go oldies, you cannot tell me they are all making big bucks...

 

[Miguelito]

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

How many English stations can you pick up? More than at least 10? Then what’s the issue? You have far more English choices than Spanish, so gunsmoke or wibbg or whatever name du jour is used, you are well served.

You can stream those little podunk money pits to your heart’s content. It’s been explained why this is tedious nonsense, and you ignore it by choice. Because of course it’s not a serious question. It’s another trolling session about standards and real oldies and whatever other tripe gets thrown in there because there are just soooo many “Spanish” stations.

 

[b-turner]

If you had 20 different ways to build a house as a home builder and ten of those were inexpensive, easy to build and popular with home buyers, would you choose one of those ten for the home you build or would you choose the most difficult to build, least popular and most costly option available that will likely be on the market for a few years before you can sell it?

Asking why one station can't just go oldies is about like choosing the most difficult above. Maybe the ten are not rolling in dollars but I can tell you, as was pointed out earlier, an oldies station in LA couldn't even cover the electric bill with the advertising it could sell.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

wibgradio99 pondered about streaming: if they can do it in the LV why not in Philly.

To answer, we're comparing apples and oranges. In a place like Allentown it costs less to operate and likely there is an FM or two in the market owned by the same company. In Allentown, I can sell direct to clients. The bigger the city, the higher the costs of operation and the AM is likely to be all by itself. More folks are aware of a station in a smaller population center. In a big metro my AM never could produce good results for any local buys I could get because I had so few listeners in a business trade area. Nobody ever renewed. An AM I managed needed about $15,500 a month to break even without employees in a major metro. A buddy in a city of about 400,000 needed about $8,000 before payroll. I billed about $20,000 and that was a struggle, losing money monthly. My buddy could do $17,500 and turned a tiny profit.

So the bigger the city dos not mean a station has the money to stream. In fact chances are they don't.

KFXM is an LPFM, so you cant compare it at all to a commercial statrion..... its someones hobby project that might cover its bills and have some listeners.. plus it has much lower operating expenses then a commercial station

As for WPON, the guy owns a bunch of other stations that probably cover what WPON doesnt.. how many commercials do you hear on WPON? I dont ever recall many. Maybe some block pay for play shows at random times, that pays the bills... trust me, WPON isnt doing it because the format is such a barnburner it brings in tons of money

 

[davideduardo]

I listen to wkce and kfxm constantly, what I cannot understand is the Knoxville area was never exposed to the great music of the 50s and 60s, it was mostly a country music, oriented rural area, not like here in the DV, where all this music was born, played and worshipped Do most people down there even know who reperada and the delrons were, but they play them, plus great country.

Here is an ad for WKGN in Knoxville in 1960 for George Mooney's WKGN which was a typical and very good Top 40 station:



WKGN back then had been in the Top 40 format for several years, always #1. And always playing the kind of music you believe was not played there...

And Knoxville was hardly rural... it was a nice medium sized market of 400,000 and larger than Orlando, FL or Las Vegas or Charleston, SC or Grand Rapids, MI and just a bit smaller than Toledo, OH or Omaha, NE.

Just to the south of Knoxville, in Chattanooga, WDXB had been #1 since around 1957 with Top 40. Then, in 1961, the Benns' 50 kw WFLI was #1 from its first book as a Top 40 station.

 

[lanceventa]

Check out radio insight on a daily basis....

Most of these are excess stations in a cluster or operated by people in the demo for the programming who simply stick to what they know in markets where revenue is not reliant on national ad buyers.

The Wow Factor in Phoenix is now #2 in the 6+ numbers with a 6.2 share. However nearly all of its audience is 65+ as it does not rank in the top 25 in any of the sellable demos and its revenue is close to the bottom of the market. That's why you haven't seen any other station pick up their brand. Phoenix is one of the few places where even little money can be made focusing on older demos.

Does it suck to be told that you are no longer relevant to advertisers or as a way for a medium to make money? I'm sure it does. But also the fact that you participate on a radio message board notes you are not someone who uses radio the same way as the regular listener. You're the vocal minority shouting into an echo chamber.

 

[TheBigA]

The Wow Factor in Phoenix is now #2 in the 6+ numbers with a 6.2 share. However nearly all of its audience is 65+

BTW this was the goal of PD John Sebastian, and he proudly revels in that fact:

Wow Factor June Monthly Nielsen:
Highest yet 6+ share 6.2!!!
55+ our core demo:
#1 All Week All Stations!
Best Cume in our history!
6+ and 55+ #1 Music Station Time Spent Listening
During The WOW Factor’s short history we’ve gained from a low 55+ of
a 1.2 share to a 13.0 share

 

[wibgradio99]

WMGK HD2 isn't a bad go to oldies station if your not streaming. Good mix of general oldies, great stereo effect and good variety. Tony Harris does a great job, and they do take requests, I emailed Tony and asked him to play an "oh wow" tune, Don't bet money honey by Linda Scott, he got right back and said its next. This proves its not just a jukebox, I also mailed some tunes to add and they were.

 

[davideduardo]

BTW this was the goal of PD John Sebastian, and he proudly revels in that fact:

Then he will not like July... weeks one through three show big drops in two of the three.

 

[gr8oldies]

I listen to wkce and kfxm constantly, what I cannot understand is the Knoxville area was never exposed to the great music of the 50s and 60s, it was mostly a country music, oriented rural area, not like here in the DV, where all this music was born, played and worshipped Do most people down there even know who reperada and the delrons were, but they play them, plus great country. So why isn't a format like that being done here, and please I don't mean anything the heater with the geator or peter with the meter or boss with franks hot sauce spews...pleeeeze...How can all these Spanish language stations be popping up, I can count at least 10 on AM and FM in my area and one could not go oldies, you cannot tell me they are all making big bucks...

Uhhhh......dude. I live in Knoxville and do you think there were no top 40 or soul stations here? I can think of several. James Brown owned a station here and WOKI was early on FM Top 40. You think no concert tours swung through town? I don't know who Reprada or the Delrons are, I assume without checking obscure doo-wop groups? Yes, WKCE is oriented to an older group of music geeks and collectors. I don't know where the DV is. By the way, there were R&B acts in town too. Spanish language stations happen where there are Spanish language listeners and consumers.

 

[CTListener]

WMGK HD2 isn't a bad go to oldies station if your not streaming. Good mix of general oldies, great stereo effect and good variety. Tony Harris does a great job, and they do take requests, I emailed Tony and asked him to play an "oh wow" tune, Don't bet money honey by Linda Scott, he got right back and said its next. This proves its not just a jukebox, I also mailed some tunes to add and they were.

An HD2 that takes requests? For a secondary hit by a minor artist of the early '60s? Can anyone verify that this happens regularly?

 

[gr8oldies]

BTW this was the goal of PD John Sebastian, and he proudly revels in that fact:

Wow Factor June Monthly Nielsen:
Highest yet 6+ share 6.2!!!
55+ our core demo:
#1 All Week All Stations!
Best Cume in our history!
6+ and 55+ #1 Music Station Time Spent Listening
During The WOW Factor’s short history we’ve gained from a low 55+ of
a 1.2 share to a 13.0 share

Has he really figured out how to sell 55+?

 

[TheBigA]

Has he really figured out how to sell 55+?

That's not his job.

 

[gr8oldies]

That's not his job.

I thought when he first touted this format he claimed he would be able to put the strategies together that would make advertisers take notice of the 55+ demographic

 

[TheBigA]

I thought when he first touted this format he claimed he would be able to put the strategies together that would make advertisers take notice of the 55+ demographic

That's what he said, but he's not the one who carries it out. Apparently the owner has two other stations that bring in enough money to cover the low cost of an unhosted oldies jukebox.

This is the balancing act group owners make. Not all stations have to make money. Audacy has several stations in Philly that bring in enough money to cover the expense of WTDY.

 

[Jstnpspck]

In a parallel universe, Beasley retained control of 610 and used it to rebroadcast MGK HD2. And saved us from the umpteenth discussion of this topic. Alas...

 

[AceBiscuits]

In a parallel universe, Beasley retained control of 610 and used it to rebroadcast MGK HD2. And saved us from the umpteenth discussion of this topic. Alas...

On the upside, you could probably make a drinking game out of this… a drink for every post about bringing back oldies.