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Adult Standards

M

MsMusicRadio

Guest
I was at the beach yesterday and somebody's radio was playing a combo of soft rock, jazz, and adult standards like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. I know it wasn't WDUV cause their liners are very familiar. It had commercials from national advertisers like Target. I never heard a jock. Could this be XM/Sirius or WSJT HD2? It sounded static free, so I assume it was not something from another city. Thoughts on this?
 
MsMusicRadio said:
I was at the beach yesterday and somebody's radio was playing a combo of soft rock, jazz, and adult standards like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. I know it wasn't WDUV cause their liners are very familiar. It had commercials from national advertisers like Target. I never heard a jock. Could this be XM/Sirius or WSJT HD2? It sounded static free, so I assume it was not something from another city. Thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Could you have listening to WDDV/WSDV 1450 or 1320. They have a rather half fast standards format they now call route 66. This one is not a good as the one they have a few months ago.
 
My radio plays stations from anywhere thanks to my iPhone and 3G data. You need to realize that just because it's a radio doesn't mean it's playing local programming anymore. It really it could be coming from anywhere.
 
If you were at one of the Gulf beaches in Pinellas County, I'm sure you were listening to either 1450 am Sarasota or 1320 am Venice, as SBE1 said. The two stations simulcast the Route 66 adult standards format, playing music from the 1940s through the 1970s, with no DJs.

It would seem that the playlist is an automated thing, being generated by randomly selecting from CD albums, as there is a somewhat routine repetition of artists, but much greater variation in the songs themselves. To break that cycle, from time to time they throw in old hits such as "The Shrimpboats Are Coming", "This Old House", or "Jamaica Farewell". They also add a few modern adult standard performers like Harry Connick Jr.

It's not a bad format, but would be improved with more emphasis on the hits and less emphasis on the CD album material. Nonetheless, it's refreshing to hear this kind of music on the radio.

It's a shame that nothing like this is available in the Tampa/St. Pete metropolitan area.
 
I sure wish I knew what makes a group owner tick... WSDV/WDDV are tied for 7th place in Sarasota Bradenton 12+ with a 2.7. WMGG does not show up at all in Tampa St. Pete. Are they REALLY going to make more money with a third or fourth Spanish Language format in this market as opposed to being unique putting the Swing on 1470?
 
What ever it was I liked it. Could an AM station at the higher end of the dial like those two come booming into St.Pete Beach?
 
MsMusicRadio said:
What ever it was I liked it. Could an AM station at the higher end of the dial like those two come booming into St.Pete Beach?
Click to expand...

A salt water path can do wonders for an AM signal. There's a 500-watt station on 1370 on Long Island that gets into beach towns near Atlantic City almost like a local--it's well over 100 miles away, but the path is completely over the ocean. Get five miles inland and it's practically gone. Something similar might be at work here.
 
MsMusicRadio asked: Could an AM station at the higher end of the dial like those two come booming into St.Pete Beach?

Actually, along the western edge of the South Tampa peninsula and along the Courtney Campbell Causeway, 1450 and 1320 can be easily listened to on car radios, which demonstrates the wonders of salt water and no interference (as Rick B. pointed out). Unfortunately, if you proceed into the heart of Tampa, the signals get too weak to be listenable. On the Pinellas Gulf Beaches, the signals from Sarasota and Venice should be unobstructed and quite good.
 
I am listening to WDDV now and I am not sure it is what I heard cause that station seemed to mix in some currents from artists doing standards type music now. Never-the-less, WDDV and WDUV are not playing the same stuff at all and I agree with a previous poster that WGUL was not a failure and there are certainly enough AM stations in Tampa Bay for someone to play standards. This music may not be what I grew up with, but it does evoke very important segments of American cultural history. The Rat Pack and JFK may be the last decade in pop culture that being a "grown-up" was really hipper than being a 16-25 rock star. The term "rock star" didn't exist yet. We presumed that teen idols would naturally evolve into crooners and some did like Bobby Darin and Paul Anka. Maybe in some convoluted way Paul McCartney did it too.

Considering that 820 will never catch 970, why not flip to adult standards with currents artists doing this music mixed in with the origionals. This is an open letter to any station owner in this area to risk this and bring this format back to Tampa Bay. I can't see what there is to lose. It could be a real' kick in the head"
 
As DWTPA97 posted, in the saltwater path that makes the difference; so in Pinellas, you don't have to be on the Gulf Beaches to get good reception of WSDV 1450, just anywhere near the bay, whether it's Tampa Bay or Boca Ciega Bay, downtown St. Pete from city hall on 6th St to the Bay, 1450 comes in very listenable, as it does in Pinellas Point, Coquina Key and other locations near the bay.

From where I am, it's very listenable during the day; at night it's still the dominant station, but not as listenable due to the interference from all the other 1450's in the state. (Tallahassee, Pensacola, Brooksville, Stuart, Daytona Beach and Miami).

I will have to post another link for people who do like that kind of music. When in Albany,NY last month, there is/was an AM station there that had the type of music you mentioned....... the Rat Pack, but also softer Beatle songs, the Carpenters, Abba etc.......... as well as Dale and Grace, Bobby Darin, Gene Pitney, Rosemary Clooney etc...... will post the link to Magic 590 - WROW.

drt,
st. petersburg
 
MsMusicRadio is correct..there is very little to lose, and an entrie audience that IS still conditioned to music on AM in the Tampa Bay area, and many other markets as well. The problem is..again sales. The station could very well have a loyal and large listening audience..but to the minds of advertisers, and to a much greater extent a young sales staff..they just don't want to go about trying to sell it. It is work. Young sales staffs do not want to service clients..especially those who would be picky and want proper grammer in their spots, and a professional voice doing them.

I did imaging for WSAI in Cincinatti when they did standards. An ENORMOUS following accross the East coast. Major turnout at station promotions. BUT it went to all sports on the bird (ESPNRadio) because it is cheap to run, easy to sell to sports bars and buy-here pay-here car dealers and ESPN will pay for clearance.

So a solidly programmed "hip" Standards format not only works, but garners a vast listener base that WILL buy services and products based on what they hear on advertising. The age will skew older, but as I have stated before..that demo is the one that still has a little extra money to spend. They generally buy QUALITY products based on the past dissapointments of dealing with shoddy, and fly-by-night sponsors...so they will spend more to get quality. IT JUST TAKES WORK..and PEOPLE to do it.

IMHO AM is still a good place for a music format that plays material that was originally ON AM! The audience is available, and searching for a station, but nobody wants to "waste" a high power signal on the "elderly" (read: 45-76)..and once again it would take some effort. Local content is essential..not just an off the shelf Dell loaded with songs that nobody pays attention to. They may be older, but they KNOW the difference between a machine and a person. A station like 820 would be excellent, and serve a huge coastal audience..so would 570..and MsMusicRadio is right again..that stuff sounds SO good on a well programmed radio station..listening on the beach would be awesome..add Marvin Boone and she would implode!
 
I was listening to WROW this afternoon and the programming is great. It is locally programmed and not a service off the bird. I'm impressed... Even heard a Jeff Laurence voiced commercial during my time listening. And Jeff if MsMusic loves Marvelous Marvin, what would she do if she ever met or heard Howard Hewes? Especially, if Ms Music carries a little extra heft... Howard would melt...
 
>>Jeff Laurence - "Local content is essential..not just an off the shelf Dell loaded with songs that nobody pays attention to."<<

I could not agree more. If you're going to go for people for whom this is unfamiliar music, you're going to need a DJ or voice tracking to let them know who they are hearing. That's my problem with Route 66 - who is this singer and what's the song title?

WIST in New Orleans was doing some sort of talk/standards hybrid. Use 820's power to create local talk show (a 3 hour show after the Big Show?) which would be UNIQUE in the marketplace (and there's a lot to talk about in the second largest market in the fourth largest state). Swing with the hits (which would also be UNIQUE) in the afternoon until power down. Satellite talk at night.
 
sbe1 said:
I was listening to WROW this afternoon and the programming is great. It is locally programmed and not a service off the bird. I'm impressed... Even heard a Jeff Laurence voiced commercial during my time listening.
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sbe1 glad you enjoyed WROW Magic 590.

I was impressed with the Albany radio market in general. The Albany area also has a moderate to conservative talk station that is live and local from 5:30 in the morning to 7pm. (then they go satellite overnight).

Zoomer 740 out of Toronto boomed in like a local every night and their format is similiar to WROW.

I did miss all the Cuban interference and jamming that we "enjoy" here though!

As a side note, I had never heard of EH Scott Radio and I saw a 1944 model while in Albany; apparently there were the Rolls Royce of radios from about 1933 to 1947

drt.
 
Guess this is preaching to the choir as Laurence and I have been of the same mind regarding Adult Standards and it being a viable format for many years. His point of having a sales team that doesn't understand or even like the genre is well taken and an obstacle that should be addressed. As in any format, good=good and bad=bad. There is a way to program Adult Standards and not sound like a nursing home. Avoiding the "train wrecks" that MOYL was famous for is crucial. While running WLVU, we searched for material that fit and transcended time. Unlike MOYL, we didn't play ABBA and soft rock ilk either. Heavy Sinatra, Bennett, Connick, Ronstadt, Dino, Torme, Page, Lee, Ella, Della, and a nice mix of jazz. In fact, Creative Loafing gave us the award "Best Station to Listen To While in a Smoking Jacket Sipping a Martini"! There were many pop hits from the 50's that were not rock and roll that we played. Done properly this is a hole that can be filled here. We were delightfully surprised to find that just about every major artist has at least one album of standards. Rod Stewart comes to mind. DRT mentioned ZOOMER from Toronto. Love that station, however, they get into that MOYL mistake of playing Roger Miller and then Glenn Miller and some mid chart soft rock stuff. One unique feature with Adult Standards is that the songs were as strong or stronger than the artist. Each performer would put his or her style to the song. Everyone recorded a version of these standards. Unlike rock and roll where only Led Zep does Stairway; Every recording artist back then did covers to the big song hits of the day. With everyone after the same demo owning the 45-75 wouldn't be a bad idea. For heaven's sake don't throw in a song by Bread. Just takes away from the texture. Simply, be true to the core and realize that there will be people who wouldn't listen if you paid them. There will be ad people who say they don't want your listener. Somewhere, it was determined that once a person hits 55 they don't count or buy anything. Never understood that one.
 
Frank and Jeff are correct.

You have to have OLDER sales people - and women work GREAT! Someone who is 25 won't sell Tommy Dorsey and Les Paul. Also I
would only play the HIT of (example) "Shadow of your Smile", etc. The "covers"

I believe you will find (as did "Westwood adult standards") that playing Bread, Ann Murray, Neil Diamond etc., (SPARINGLY-maybe one or 2 hourly) works well to lower the age of the listeners, and increasing the number of songs played, so you don't get too many "deep cuts" that dilute the "hit sound" of the station.

We've also had success with crooners played about every 9 songs.
The library we built has about 2000 songs, around 900 males and 600
females, and 300 instrumentals. There is an additional 3300 Christmas songs.

"There is a way to program Adult Standards and not sound like a nursing home." Pardon me, but after over 25 years in radio ownership, I'm now a nursing home chaplain and operate a music channel, there, using ots.
 
BTW..have you guys been in any of the uspcale "assisted living" communities? Holy crap they have fun. These people own Corvettes, and Rolexes..The know what a Mustang is, and eat spicy food!! And play golf, and swim, and jog!

The notion that 50 plus listeners are crotchety old wasted fogies is absurd. Let's see..a 55 year old? ..they were only 10 years old in the 60s! WAYYY into the rock genre..And today's 65 year old woman wore miniskirts and boots to work in the early 70s! Even a 75 year old was in the prime of thier earning and growing life in the mid to late 50's..so the music is NOT exclusively "roaring 20's, bo-dee-o, flapper jazz" ..or sleepy and slow Mantovani or stare into your beer and remember the "big war" tunes...A successful standards station should not dwell on the "good old days" or "memories of back then"

It should be classy, melodic, and positive..the presentaion should be the same..Frank's WLVU was, indeed one-of-a-kind..and could have had stong legs still now.

But it TAKES WORK. It seems that only a very few owners want to put in the small effort. I believe they are afraid of success..that many owners are content to show a few underperforming stations on their books to offset the profits of the one cash generator they might have..and "lets not rock the boat and steal demos from that station..let's just stay the course and write off the losses." A ridiculous and foolish waste of a viable signal.

Oh, and Prais is correct..station owners would have to hire more seasoned sales personel, not young girls that are neat to look at, and self-absorbed jock-types who are just waiting for the next oppourtunity, and trying to screw everyone around them including other sales people, clients and the company.

Woooo..I need to take my happy meds now..the nurse is here and she is going to unplug my compu
 
you'd be surprised how many closet fans of adult standards and oldies are out there. Believe it or not many of them are still in their teens. If you don't believe me, go to youtube and look up an old standard especially an old doo wop group and read the comment section. You will see comments such as "I'm only sixteen, but I love this music", or "I wish I had been born back in the 50s". many old songs are being used in movies and video games and the kids go on the internet to find out who sings it. I'm in my 40's and grew up with music of the 70's and 80's, but I still enjoy something from before my time. I remember even Radio Disney used to throw on an oldie every once in a while. After a while, you just get burned out of Nickelback and Daughtry records every 30 minutes and you want something different. There IS a market out there if they would do it right. But nobody wants to hear the same tired old songs over and over. It gets old
 
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