Actually, right outside of Knoxville, TN. One of the more interestingly bizarre formats I have heard.
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An underserved population?
- Thread starter stan
- Start date
Actually, right outside of Knoxville, TN. One of the more interestingly bizarre formats I have heard.
I think landtuna means one of my locals, WKCE-1120 with new translator on 97.1, Knoxville TN. A playlist of almost entirely unknown early 60s oldies and classic country. Frankly, the high school station that plays oldies has a better playlist. I don't know that there are enough oldies collectors in their signal area to financially support it
Sounds like WFAT in Athol, MA, which recently announced that it will be dropping its dusty, eclectic oldies format at the end of the month because it can't drum up enough support from local advertisers.
To those of us who grew up "midcentury" the music is not unknown (except for their collection of old Country). There used to be Country crossovers but not nearly the examples this station broadcasts. Although I have never been a Country fan I find some of that old music is interesting and not enough to get me to hit the pre-set. The small selection of Blues I really don't like though. Fortunately there are not many of them.
Aside from the country and blues, I find that about a third of what they play is either unrecognizable or "I think I may have heard that but I don't remember it much".
Being asked to remember some of those songs is like being asked to remember the times you were sent to detention in school. In other words, memories you would rather not recall.
Remember that in that mid-century period you refer to, Top 40 stations played a little bit of MOR, some pop, some light r&b or soul, and some rock & roll, with occasional country and harder core r&b songs. We learned to put up with the ones we did not like or totally hated... but we don't want to do that today.
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I am obviously a few years older than you are. Some of what they play I haven't heard since I was 8 years old but I do remember most of them.
That's true for music from any age, except perhaps Disco.
They might have played a little bit of light R&B or Soul or Hard Core R&B where you grew up but not where I did.
Back in my youth I had 4 stations to choose from. Today I have 1 (in my home market).
I've listened to them quite a bit and heard only a very few commercials - all of them being a local restaurant. They don't even run PSA's.
We now know where the owner eats lunch every day.
That station reminds me of the online radio guys who would get on various webcasting groups and boast of their 2500 title oldies library and incredulously large audience stats. Then you turn it on and punch out in 30 seconds because it's just so awful.
Meanwhile, I find that my best audience numbers on my classic hits stream come when I'm rotating 250-300 titles and the biggest number of disconnects come from titles in my deep category.
It doesn't matter what you thought of the song back then. It's what you think of it when you hear it today. Whether it's AM, FM, or internet, this will always ring true.
I consider myself something of an oldies geek, but I find myself behaving the same way when I listen to 60s on 6 on SiriusXM. I'll stay tuned through format staples like "House of the Rising Sun" and "Light My Fire" because I know that something with an "oh wow" factor might be coming up next. But when that next song turns out to be something like Bobby Goldsboro's "Little Things" or the Box Tops' "Neon Rainbow," I find something else to listen to for those 3 minutes. If it's a deep Motown track or a British Invasion nugget, I generally stay tuned regardless of the song's familiarity. What gets me about SXM is that stuff like "Honey" and "Harper Valley PTA" is in regular rotation -- I can't imagine hearing either on an FM oldies/classic hits station; way too polarizing. For me, they are instant tune-outs.
I am obviously a few years older than you are.
Don't be silly; no one's as old as David.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
The thread IS titled "An Underserved Population". I can't think of any audience segment more overlooked than oldies fans in Houston, in light of KONO San Antonio, KLUV Dallas, KCOL Beaumont, even KHVL in Huntsville. Oldies stations all around us that make money for owners, but none for Houston? You can argue semantics: oldies vs. classic hits, and argue what decades constitute oldies / classic hits. But you can't argue that oldies won't make money in Houston. The demographics just aren't that different from other Texas cities all around us. We see with dismay every other format under the sun tried - and a lot of them fail - but nobody fills an obvious format hole, one that is profitable all around us. Do we really need 6 frequencies broadcasting the same Spanish Christian program, which will never appear in any ratings - ever? It can seem to oldies fans like somebody is purposely overlooking us, and the money to be made in Houston - when somebody is making money doing oldies in markets all around us. I am not the only one saying this on this board - only the most vocal.
The issue is that nobody is going to change a profitable existing operation for a format that is harder to sell and which has a somewhat finite shelf life.
None of the full signals (Senior Road) is billing under about $9 million a year, which is a lot to sacrifice for the slow build up to any potentially higher revenue from a new format.
Putting a format like you suggest on a lesser signal is simply not going to get the needed numbers. Except for DXers, who will listen to static and enjoy it, there won't be enough potential users to rank high in the market and create sales opportunity.
The Dallas and San Antonio stations have been in the format "forever" and have built buyer relationships and community recognition. It's not so easy to achieve that sort of position quickly, and in the meantime you have sacrificed revenue with no guarantee of getting it back.
Houston is also not the only city. I read similar comments on the Atlanta board. And the folks in Dallas complain a lot about the station they have.
I believe Semoochie had his tongue firmly seated in his cheek!
He might have but since I said it first I thought it deserved clarification. Now we all know.
P
purpledevil
Guest
Funny.
Signed,
OdraudEdivaD
- Status