Being 75 there is nothing on AM, FM or HD for people my age, I remember 30 years ago there were signals for the 60+ crowd, WPEN, 1290 in Wilmington plus 1560 in NYC. There were plenty of Standards, MOR and BM formats so what has changed?? my generation has nothing ..but thank goodness for the formats on the net or there would be nothing. I have 4 satellite radios different names plus pro 17, I don’t care for Sirius /XM, not worth it no variety I can go to radio locator plug in nostalgia and many stations pop up free, plus apps like my tuner, Live one, AccuRadio and radio app to name a few but as an old goat it’s nice to have something on T radio like many parts of the country that still have these signals but it seems the Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore and DC corridors have nothing..
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Radio changed for the old folks
- Thread starter wibgradio99
- Start date
Thirty years ago, there was no internet, satellite, or other options. You want to know what changed? That. Everything changed.
At one time people rode horses. Now that ride in cars. What changed? That.
In point of fact, most people your age listen to news & talk radio. Some also listen to WXPN. That was where you can hear tributes to 60s artists who pass away, like Sly Stone.
30 years ago... even 50 to 60 years ago... agencies did not buy older demos. In fact, 18-49 was the normal broad target range for all stations in the 50's and 60's,
Beautiful music was gone by the later 1980's... over 40 years ago... because the format reached to old a group for agencies to buy.
A few older leaning stations still endured, but they did not make much, if any, money.
Those signals for the 60+ crowd also captured some of the 45+ crowd, which provided most of the revenue. Since you mentioned Smooth Jazz:
25 years ago, according to Radio & Records format ratings summary, the median smooth jazz listener was in their late 40s, with 16% of listeners over age 65. That's good enough from a sales perspective. It skewed a bit older than Country or even Oldies, but not too bad.
WPEN flipped away from standards because by that time, almost all of the listeners were over 60, and the format could not generate enough ad sales to support the airstaff. Rather than letting the staff go and running automated standards, they tried a flip to oldies, which ended up being short-lived.
25 years ago, according to Radio & Records format ratings summary, the median smooth jazz listener was in their late 40s, with 16% of listeners over age 65. That's good enough from a sales perspective. It skewed a bit older than Country or even Oldies, but not too bad.
WPEN flipped away from standards because by that time, almost all of the listeners were over 60, and the format could not generate enough ad sales to support the airstaff. Rather than letting the staff go and running automated standards, they tried a flip to oldies, which ended up being short-lived.
The other thing we see in markets where there is a station that plays 60s/70s music is that this group of septuagenarians is more critical of the product.
For example: Too many commercials, too many drug/medical commercials, too small a playlist, or lack of personality.
The boomers want radio to sound like it did when they were kids, with personalities, fun ads, and short breaks. That's fantasy.
For example: Too many commercials, too many drug/medical commercials, too small a playlist, or lack of personality.
The boomers want radio to sound like it did when they were kids, with personalities, fun ads, and short breaks. That's fantasy.
The breaks may have been shorter but there were more of them. One or two records and then a commercial. Rinse. Repeat.
The old car-salesman's line is, "you can't sell an old-person's car to a young person." It's imperfect, but I thought of how it might relate...lately I've been thinking how, to some extent, you COULD sell Standards to a 20-something. Take an hour of WPEN from the 80s and have 100 people in the 18-49 listen. Some will gag. Some will ask for more. But not enough to make a business case. Not in 2026. Not by a mile, at least not on terrestrial radio.
The most evil thing in the house might be the second hand on the clock. Blasted thing never stops marching forward. From where I live, the only 50s/60s oldies I can find during the day are a couple distant Scott Shannon stations on AM. I've no idea how they pay the light bill. The local powerhouse oldies station is now aimed straight at me, a GenX'er. Elvis and Buddy Holly were replaced with Duran Duran and Men at Work.
And the hand on the clock? She keeps on a-movin'.
The most evil thing in the house might be the second hand on the clock. Blasted thing never stops marching forward. From where I live, the only 50s/60s oldies I can find during the day are a couple distant Scott Shannon stations on AM. I've no idea how they pay the light bill. The local powerhouse oldies station is now aimed straight at me, a GenX'er. Elvis and Buddy Holly were replaced with Duran Duran and Men at Work.
And the hand on the clock? She keeps on a-movin'.
I also think there is a very big difference between how boomers related to music and how today's younger generations do. Much of that has to do with popular music's role in the political and civil rights movements of the time. Artists were willing to write and sing about polarizing subjects such as the Vietnam War protests (Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," on one side and the much-less remembered Pat boone song "Wish You Were Here, Buddy," on the other.) I remember reading about how debates were raging about whether the Beatles supported the hippie movement and antiwar protests (the slow version of "Revolution," on the White album has John Lennon adding the word "in" after the word "out" at the end of the song's first verse just to confuse matters.) Outside of a handfull of small progressive groups, protest music like that is no longer attracting the young and big corporate radio is making sure it stays that way.
Here's a list of recent protest songs
Modern Protest Songs: 29 Powerful and Controversial Anthems
These modern protest songs are some of the most powerful, controversial and talked about pieces of protest music since 2000.
www.freedomforum.org
10 Modern-Day Protest Artists Who Prove Protest Music Is Not Dead
When I started the site back in 2017, the purpose was two-fold: 1) to chronicle the historical developments of protest, 2) to highlight that the history is ongoing and modern-day protest music is s…
www.ongoinghistoryofprotestsongs.com
Keep in mind that it took almost 10 years for the protest movement in the 60s to catch on and become mainstream.
You will Love 1210 AM WPHT every Friday night starting at 10 PM until 1 AM. They play great oldies 50s and 60s by request.
But as I stated in a previous thread WMGK HD2 plays the same 200 burnt out tunes that we were forced fed, it’s been over 10 years they haven’t changed. Not to beat a dead horse but I have been finding oldies signals all over the country, every day new ones, granted many are AM only but music first for me. I just found WTHU small flea power in rural area of Maryland that has a super large playlist. http://ns2.etc-md.com:9888/stream/1/
So then what's the problem? If you can find what you want, your problem is solved. Other radio stations don't have to change what they do to suit your personal taste. The control is in your hands. You choose what you want, and the stations in Philadelphia do what they want. Problem solved.
Yes radio has changed. You can now stream a station from California or Buffalo, and the device knows you're in Philadelphia, and adapts the ads to your ISP. That option didn't exist 30 years ago. You are the beneficiary of a great technological change. You should celebrate that.
What is played on the open airwaves has changed, but there's a (small) percentage of the people that *might* listen who won't for a myriad of reasons...
One of them could easily be 'technologically challenged'.
Still a few of those folks out there. Does the industry 'blow them off' by not providing something?
"The industry" is not one thing. Different companies do different things. As I said, things are being provided. That "small percentage" of people want a free personalized service that only plays what they want. That's not broadcasting. Broadcasting is McDonalds and WalMart. A personalized service requires the person to take action. But the point is it's available, and parts of "the industry" are providing it.
Yes. Because that’s life. Not everyone gets something catered to them. Businesses exist to make money. Period.
The thing "old folks" need to know is that the artists who make the music hate the fact that their music can be heard on free radio. They've gone to congress complaining about it. Here's a story about Dionne Warwick:
justthenews.com
Here's another article with Sam & Dave's Sam Moore:
www.lawcommentary.com
Artists don't get paid when their music is played on broadcast radio. Only streaming. The broadcasters say if this royalty is forced on them, they will stop playing music. So this is another thing that's changed from 30 years ago. Today, you have artists demanding to get paid.
Dionne Warwick: No radio royalties for performers due to 'flat-out procrastination' by Congress
Pop music legend wants Congress to pass the bipartisan American Music Fairness Act to require FM radio stations to pay royalties to recording artists and musicians.
justthenews.com
Here's another article with Sam & Dave's Sam Moore:
Dionne Warwick, Sam Moore & Industry Leaders Join Legislators Issa and Deutch to In-troduce Bipartisan Bill for Fair Pay to Musicians | Law Commentary
A bipartisan effort supported by legendary musicians is underway, led by Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Darrell Issa (R-CA). Deutch and Issa were joined by celebrities including Dionne Warwick, Sam Moore, Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys and others as Deutch and Issa introduced new legislation to...
www.lawcommentary.com
Artists don't get paid when their music is played on broadcast radio. Only streaming. The broadcasters say if this royalty is forced on them, they will stop playing music. So this is another thing that's changed from 30 years ago. Today, you have artists demanding to get paid.
Why isn’t there at least one signal playing music for the 60 to death crowd, in the big east coast cities, just a floundering AM (which are most), costing nothing to operate, like all the jukebox formats popping up in the west coast states. With the influx of Latinos coming into the US more and more stations are flipping to Spanish to appease them, many not profitable, yet the old folks 24% of the us pop who grew up on top 40 have nothing…and forget the internet jargon, I still love to tune in something that’s called a radio and hear what i like..
Because there's no money in it. Radio is not in the free music distribution business.
I know a lot of people your age who love WXPN because it plays old music plus new music by older performers. They are members of that station and pay money to keep that station playing that kind of music.
This is an example of what they play:
885 Countdown - WXPN | Vinyl At Heart
The 885 Greatest Cover Songs Countdown has wrapped. But this page is still your hub for the 2025 countdown. Scroll down to explore the full archive, every song from 885 to No. 1, plus stats on the most-covered artists, the most-covered songs, top decades, and more. 885 Greatest Cover SongsBy The...
xpn.org
Name me at least 2 AMers that’s making any profit in this area..with what they are airing…