Another One Gone

[MarcB]

As someone pointed out on the Lehigh Valley Board Clear Channel blew up Oldies 1470 AM WKAP in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It's now doing religion as WYHM. http://www.1470wyhm.com

CC flipped 1470 to oldies WKAP a few years ago after Nassau Blew Up 99.9 in favor of Nasaus Hawk Clasic Hots Format.

 

[Joey1986]

It must suck to be an oldies fan in that market, as well as other markets that no longer have oldies stations. :'( It looks like one day the format will be extinct. :'( Curse those advertisers! If they don't start giving a hoot about the 55+ crowd, fate has it that one day, oldies fans everywhere will feel alienated.

 

[radiofriend1]

It must suck to be an oldies fan in that market, as well as other markets that no longer have oldies stations. :'( It looks like one day the format will be extinct. :'( Curse those advertisers! If they don't start giving a hoot about the 55+ crowd, fate has it that one day, oldies fans everywhere will feel alienated.

there must not be that many and it must not be making that big an impact because very few oldies stations have popped up in markets where they got flipped. audience too old. there's no revenue and no future in a 55+ audience

 

[TheFonz]

If they don't start giving a hoot about the 55+ crowd, fate has it that one day, oldies fans everywhere will feel alienated.

It's just sad that radio has never been able to convince advertisers to advertise to 55+. Just think of the size of that market.............the fastest growing segment of the population. ALL current music radio listeners (not just Oldies fans) will eventually reach 55. And we know that today's younger generation has many other options for their music......they don't need commercial radio. So the stations that survive will be Talk and the stations that don'twill be converted into Burger Kings.

 

[RadioMan203]

... They also say that the 55+ crowd also has the most dispoable income. The big fact that most advertisers don't like is that those 55+ actually THINK about their purchases and plan them out in contrast to the impulse buying habits of younger adults. This is the big reason why so little care about the older demo.

 

[fred flintstone]

You People Are Pathetic

None of you knows what he is talking about.
None of you cares to find out what he is talking about.
Various people, me included, have tried to explain basic economics and marketing to you, but you'd rather bitch.
What's ironic is you people supposedly went to school before the educational system was dumbed down, and you still can't deal with facts.
Oldies music is available. Online. Satellite radio. MP3 downloads.
But you all would rather act like the guy who stands in the rain because he doesn't think he should have to have an umbrella.

 

[RadioMan203]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

None of you knows what he is talking about.
None of you cares to find out what he is talking about.
Various people, me included, have tried to explain basic economics and marketing to you, but you'd rather bitch.
What's ironic is you people supposedly went to school before the educational system was dumbed down, and you still can't deal with facts.
Oldies music is available. Online. Satellite radio. MP3 downloads.
But you all would rather act like the guy who stands in the rain because he doesn't think he should have to have an umbrella.

Excuse me?

I think I was pretty much on the mark with my comments on the sheer fact that even thought the 55+ demo has a large amount of disposable income, advertisers would rather aim at younger demos who are more prone to impulse purchasing and are more free with discretionary purchases.

I won't dispute that oldies are available from "other" delivery methods, but keep in mind many in the 55+ demo aren't going to be skilled in computer access, leaving much of the online delivery methods underutilized unless they have family and/or friends who will tutor them to their use.

Having been in the business for more than 30 years I have a very good knowledge base which includes the economics behind it, so please feel free not to include me in the your blanket statements.

 

[radiofriend1]

... They also say that the 55+ crowd also has the most dispoable income. The big fact that most advertisers don't like is that those 55+ actually THINK about their purchases and plan them out in contrast to the impulse buying habits of younger adults. This is the big reason why so little care about the older demo.

not that they don't care. it's business. they do not see a future in people who will soon be TIGHTER with their money as they age. to just focus on TODAY in media in 2006 is nuts. you have to prepare for TOMORROW and beyond

 

[fred flintstone]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

Having been in the business for more than 30 years I have a very good knowledge base which includes the economics behind it, so please feel free not to include me in the your blanket statements.

You are a tower climber.
I can't do what you do. But I keep seeing engineers on this board who seem to think they know more about programming than programmers, more about news than journalists, more about doing a radio show than radio personalities and more about business, advertising, sales and marketing than people in those fields.
Look I flunked shop. I tried to put together a Heathkit once and never got the damn thing to work. I respect what you guys are able to do. Please show the same respect for what we do.

You are making the same fallacious arguements that have been made repeatedly on this board and on the Standards boards over the years. People have tried to explain things but those who think as you seem unwilling to listen. Any listener has a right to their own preferences. But advertisers pay for radio, not listeners. Listeners have no complaint coming when the free lunch is over. And listeners who see advertisers' marketing strategies as some sort of prejudice against old people, or even as simply ill-advised, don't know what they are talking about.

 

[RadioMan203]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

You are a tower climber.

If you think engineers are just tower climbers you are sadly mistaken. I guess the fact that I owned a couple of successful terrestrial stations in my lifetime doesn't count either then, eh?

I can't do what you do. But I keep seeing engineers on this board who seem to think they know more about programming than programmers, more about news than journalists, more about doing a radio show than radio personalities and more about business, advertising, sales and marketing than people in those fields.
Look I flunked shop. I tried to put together a Heathkit once and never got the damn thing to work. I respect what you guys are able to do. Please show the same respect for what we do.

I'll glady show you the respect you're looking for - just don't lump people into a general pool based on a group of blanket statements made by a handful. Personally, I could have stayed in the industry full time and put up with the headaches from the self proclaimed experts, but opted for a fulltime job with great benefits instead! Now I only put up with station managers and owners on my terms as far as dollars and time. Hey, I may not be the world's greatest programmer - but I never claimed to be! I'll be the first to admit I hate sales and would never venture down that road again unless I absolutely had to. Advertising and marketing I can hold my own and production is a strong suit of mine when given the tools to work with.

You are making the same fallacious arguements that have been made repeatedly on this board and on the Standards boards over the years. People have tried to explain things but those who think as you seem unwilling to listen. Any listener has a right to their own preferences. But advertisers pay for radio, not listeners. Listeners have no complaint coming when the free lunch is over. And listeners who see advertisers' marketing strategies as some sort of prejudice against old people, or even as simply ill-advised, don't know what they are talking about.

All I did was simply state a fact that advertisers are going to market their product to the group where they feel they can make the most return for their dollar. No slight was made about "old people", just a statement of fact the way the world of advertising and business works. It's also true that if a listener doesn't like a station's format/personalities/political agenda they are more than free to turn the dial to a station more to their own choosing. This happens in every hour of every day. I've read enough in Radio Ink as well as other trades not to mention my own networking with other station owners and managers to have seen the lay of the land, so don't think I'm just a typical engineer type who only has a grasp of things of a technical nature.

 

[Oldbones]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

You are a tower climber.
I can't do what you do. But I keep seeing engineers on this board who seem to think they know more about programming than programmers, more about news than journalists, more about doing a radio show than radio personalities and more about business, advertising, sales and marketing than people in those fields.
Look I flunked shop. I tried to put together a Heathkit once and never got the damn thing to work. I respect what you guys are able to do. Please show the same respect for what we do.

At least he worked in the biz. What gets me are the posters here who have likely never been inside a radio station in their life, yet they somehow know more about programming than all of us who HAVE programmed put together.

 

[TheFonz]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

Listeners have no complaint coming when the free lunch is over.

When my free lunch is over, then your gravy train pulls into the station. And I hope that your mortgage is paid up. The good news: there WILL be jobs available when your radio station is converted to a Burger King.

 

[davideduardo]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

At least he worked in the biz. What gets me are the posters here who have likely never been inside a radio station in their life, yet they somehow know more about programming than all of us who HAVE programmed put together.

Specifically, our posting peer, The Fonz.

When a poster refuses to realize that radio stations can not sell directly to the agency accounts in the larger markets and keeps insisting that "radio should sell itslef better" when reality is totally different than his perception, there is no way to discuss.

OTOH, were he to ask why stations can not call on major agency accounts, he would get an explanation. Were he to understand how marketing departments at the big advertisers determine the ages for product promotion, he would not insist that "over 5 have income" and other irrelevant things about the sales process.

When soeone is blinded by a love of Jan & the Americans and the Monotones, there is no way to explain or reason with them. It is better to ignore them, as they are just nattering.

 

[AZJoe]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

At least he worked in the biz. What gets me are the posters here who have likely never been inside a radio station in their life, yet they somehow know more about programming than all of us who HAVE programmed put together.

Specifically, our posting peer, The Fonz.

When a poster refuses to realize that radio stations can not sell directly to the agency accounts in the larger markets and keeps insisting that "radio should sell itslef better" when reality is totally different than his perception, there is no way to discuss.

OTOH, were he to ask why stations can not call on major agency accounts, he would get an explanation. Were he to understand how marketing departments at the big advertisers determine the ages for product promotion, he would not insist that "over 5 have income" and other irrelevant things about the sales process.

When soeone is blinded by a love of Jan & the Americans and the Monotones, there is no way to explain or reason with them. It is better to ignore them, as they are just nattering.

Thats JAY & The Americans and JAN & Dean ( HEY!! that was a great double header concert back in 69!!)

 

[davideduardo]

Re: You People Are Pathetic

Thats JAY & The Americans and JAN & Dean ( HEY!! that was a great double header concert back in 69!!)

Sorry, that was a typo. I played those songs when they were hits. Interestingly, Jay and the Americas were big in Latin America, but Jan & Dean got zero airplay, like the Beach Boys, who also did not get any play in the region.

 

[ceaser]

Is this where I can say stereotype?I'm only 40 years old and I love my oldies from 1955-1990.I could give a rats rump about chr,country(overexposed in northeastern pa.) or 50 million soft rock stations.I would hate to think that only the 55= crowd just listen to oldies.If noone else is listening then why do advertisers use them relentlessly in tv commercials and movies.Yet that music is not good for fm? please! Hats off to cleveland's oldies station #1 in that market!

 

[radiofriend1]

u are an exception. VERY FEW people in their 40s are in love with 50s and 60s music. otherwise, oldies stations' average listener age wouldn't be 60

 

[smashedcd]

It must suck to be an oldies fan in that market, as well as other markets that no longer have oldies stations. :'( It looks like one day the format will be extinct. :'( Curse those advertisers! If they don't start giving a hoot about the 55+ crowd, fate has it that one day, oldies fans everywhere will feel alienated.

remember these letters..XM..there are oldies on the XM band.

 

[AZJoe]

It must suck to be an oldies fan in that market, as well as other markets that no longer have oldies stations. :'( It looks like one day the format will be extinct. :'( Curse those advertisers! If they don't start giving a hoot about the 55+ crowd, fate has it that one day, oldies fans everywhere will feel alienated.

remember these letters..XM..there are oldies on the XM band.

And on Sirius!! I have both XM & Sirius- much better than terrestrial!!

 

[smashedcd]

we have an AM oldies station here. its rated so low it doesnt even get into the 12+ numbers. it did when it was gospel. on the fm band they are gone!