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B107.3 in Danbury went from oldies to classic hits
- Thread starter eskorch
- Start date
It must be strictly cost cutting, especially with the somewhat recent expenditure for the radio cluster moving into brandy new studios.
I haven't listened but I'd be interested to see if they voicetrack it or just turn it into another jukebox with liners.
I haven't listened but I'd be interested to see if they voicetrack it or just turn it into another jukebox with liners.
They took down any remaining reference to the 850 AM signal on their web site, although ironically if you do a Google search for B107.3 FM, it comes up with the old URL dating back to their days as AM-only WREF: http://www.850wref.com/
At least the hourly ID still says "107.3 FM and 850 AM".
At least the hourly ID still says "107.3 FM and 850 AM".
Gee..another classic hits station..like we need more. Younger people still enjoy Motown, great sounding pop oldies from the 60's and 70's and soul classics..none of which you will hear on a classic hits station.
Why couldn't 850 just stayed the course with mainstream oldies? If all they care about is the FM translator, how about throwing a bone to oldies listeners and continued?
Case in point..WLS FM in Chicago. Highly rated as an oldies station. Now they are classic hits and their ratings have plummeted.
Why couldn't 850 just stayed the course with mainstream oldies? If all they care about is the FM translator, how about throwing a bone to oldies listeners and continued?
Case in point..WLS FM in Chicago. Highly rated as an oldies station. Now they are classic hits and their ratings have plummeted.
benale said:
Oh--that's an easy one. I'll take it.
The answer is simple: These days, "Oldies" and "Motown" music generally don't attract listeners that advertisers want to reach. They are too old. Yes, there are anecdotal examples of "younger people you know that love Motown and oldies." But reality is that there just aren't enough of them anymore. There are plenty of places to get your Motown fix, but there are limited available radio stations -- and over time, those tend to be used for formats that are hoped to yield the best return to owners.
Your WLS example (and WCBS-FM) is one typically used by oldies fans, but again -- it boils down to demographics. I'd argue that an oldies station with a 5 share that is predominately 55+ is LESS valuable than a classic hits station with a 2.5 share that's in the top 3 25-54. When WCBS-FM switched to Jack, believe it or not, they did the right thing! Their execution was very poor -- but the idea was right. Get the demos lower...look at CBS-FM today -- they might have changed their name back and added back some personality, but there is little to no "oldies" -- predominately 70s and 80s music.
Yes, I know classic hits brings in younger demos than mainstream oldies, but we may soon reach a saturation point of these kind of stations.
What I was suggesting is why couldn't 850 stay the course and continue with Scott Shannon's True Oldies and do the classic hits on the FM. They don't promote the AM anyway, and a lot of people would be happy. I can't imagine it would cost that much to run Scott's satellite service.Give the audience a choice.
As far as CBS-FM switching to "Jack" in 2005, it was a dumb move. If CBS-FM would have adjusted the music all along and added more 70's and 80's on a regular basis, we could have avoided that "Jack"fiasco. As many remember, the format change angered many people and brought the worst kind of public relations a station could want.
WLS-FM had 6 plus shares in the mid fours to low 5's when they were mainstream oldies. The latest book had them at a 2.2. I can't imagine the 25 to 54's actually went up.
CBS-FM,KRTH, WOGL and other very successful classic hits stations still play 60's Motown and Soul. They mix it in with the 70's and 80's. Classic hits stations like WLS-FM, and now 850 in Danbury jut play classic rock artists. The overall sound of these stations grows very redundant.
What I was suggesting is why couldn't 850 stay the course and continue with Scott Shannon's True Oldies and do the classic hits on the FM. They don't promote the AM anyway, and a lot of people would be happy. I can't imagine it would cost that much to run Scott's satellite service.Give the audience a choice.
As far as CBS-FM switching to "Jack" in 2005, it was a dumb move. If CBS-FM would have adjusted the music all along and added more 70's and 80's on a regular basis, we could have avoided that "Jack"fiasco. As many remember, the format change angered many people and brought the worst kind of public relations a station could want.
WLS-FM had 6 plus shares in the mid fours to low 5's when they were mainstream oldies. The latest book had them at a 2.2. I can't imagine the 25 to 54's actually went up.
CBS-FM,KRTH, WOGL and other very successful classic hits stations still play 60's Motown and Soul. They mix it in with the 70's and 80's. Classic hits stations like WLS-FM, and now 850 in Danbury jut play classic rock artists. The overall sound of these stations grows very redundant.
luperm said:
They could always put up an HD2 on sister station 98Q.
luperm said:
Better to ask, is it worth freeing up an FM signal to put programming on that may yield a better return on investment?
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