Seemingly overnight, most contemporary songs prior to 1975 became toxic and were abandoned by most broadcast stations. The music variety available via Sirius XM and online outlets is an entirely different matter. Evolution is understandable and so is the herd instinct. But with the thousands of broadcast signals out there, one would think there would be more commitment to the Golden Age of Top 40. Hence my nationally-syndicated radio show Wayback Saturday Night(R).
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Helping To Fill The Over-The-Air Vacancy
- Thread starter Bryan Thomas
- Start date
It's all money driven, which it has been since at least the late 1960's when computer data analysis evolved to the point that CBS figured out that 80% of the spending decisions in America were driven by women 18-49. Thus the Rural Purge in which in the words of the late Pat Buttram they "proceeded to cancel every show with a tree in it". Same here. I enjoy this music but I am beyond the demographic that is being sought by advertisers. Stations that are still playing it are likely doing so because the owner has a personal commitment to it. And even then he or she must take into account the fact that they're losing ten listeners a day through the obituary column.
having your own music library...
The music isn't toxic. The age of the audience is. If you are an ad-based service, most advertisers are looking for younger demos. They can get older folks from talk radio and cable TV. But if you can do this show without big advertisers, you can do whatever you want.
A certain amount of affiliate growth can be accomplished via a reputable syndication company that already has a pronounced foothold in various markets. They can often open doors more easily than the persons involved in the production of the show in question. Once on the air, it's going to be a matter of local buys not national or regional in most cases. WECK Buffalo's Oldies Station (an AM with three FM translators) is a cash cow playing mainly 1964-1974. They do remarkably well due to zero direct broadcast competition. Wayback Saturday Night (R) is a three hour specialty show whose playlist is on par with the Classic Hits format roughly 10 to 15 years ago. It's hip enough as to not alienate a station's Parallel 1 and 2 listeners. Classic Hits WAKY Louisville steps back a notch every weekend for the entire weekend. I've been involved in commercial radio since 1965 - all the major formats. I'm having the time of my life providing alternative programming, something many over-the-air stations are reluctant to do. Hence two or three of everything in some of the larger markets - no Baskin Robbins 31 flavors.
Be safe and good vs. be different and great!
Be safe and good vs. be different and great!
Perhaps. National syndication, by definition, is based on national, not local buys. Any reputable syndication company will do that. The local stations have access to the same songs and can play them with or without local hosts. You mention WECK, and they use local hosts. KOAI Phoenix has no hosts at all. Neither carry national syndication.
What happened was that we hit the point where most of those who remember music from prior to that date turned 55 and were no longer of interest to advertisers. If you figure that people tend to start forming their musical taste when they're teenagers, that would say that people who know and like music that predates 1975 were born no later than the very early sixties. So someone who was born in 1962 would have become a teenager (13) in 1975. That same person turned 55 in 2017, which I suspect is also about when pre-1975 music mostly disappeared from the radio.
Now there are going to be some exceptions, because most contemporary music stations have tended to supplement their current music with some older "library" songs -- and it is entirely possible that younger listeners will know and like songs that predate their interest in music from hearing those songs as oldies. But that is probably a relatively short list of songs. As an example, I remember hearing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel as an oldie on one of the Top 40 stations I listened to in high school -- at which point the song was almost a decade old. Some of us who heard the song as an oldie liked it, others didn't. If enough people liked it and they're still under 55, then it will be an older song that hangs around.
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