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Bulletin to watch: CBS-FM days from switching back to OLDIES!

Moving back to the original topic for a moment....

If CBS-FM were to return (in some form or another), Saturday would be the perfect day to do it. That would be the 35th anniversary of the original flip to oldies (July 7, 1972). Makes perfect sense to me.
 
I can't imagine Apple buying oldies radio to introduce the I-phone. The average I-phone buyer is going to be 31 years old and I doubt many 31 year olds spend time listening to oldies radio. ( source: http://tinyurl.com/2cjyy7 )

Now, let's be fair, here ... 63 percent of those "buyers" are between 25-49 ... a "prime demo buy" and a lot of them like "Classic Hits" of the 70s and some early 80s. And to fill in a slight gap for those who don't at the end of the scale, especially in oldies familiar New York, go ahead and toss in those supposedly good-for-nothing 50+ ers at 6 percent.

69 percent of, what, an 8-million person metro?

I'd take those odds if I were CBS and iPhone buyers...the demo just moved up a few notches past 31, right in the sweet spot of the "Classic Hits" boomer.

Further, we "boomers" hate to give up what we know and we hate being termed "old" ... we also don't like all things "new," so, to us, this might be a good thing for 35-49 year olds who don't want "oldies" ... we want what we LIKE and most remember.
 
I'll believe it when I hear it online..without having to join up with AO-HELL to do so.
Hopefully the CBS head honchos have learned an important lesson while they shed their skin of the Viacom and Infinity branding. I hope this article is true and no jive talkin' here.

By the way Tiffany..you owe Bruce Morrow,Dan Ingram,Micky Dolenz and the rest a sincere apology and to make amends with them...the "jack" s__t was corporate arrogance of the shoddiest kind!

By the way...give Jackson Armstong our LEEEE-DER a job!
 
I am no expert when it comes to music. Not even close. Less when it comes to the "science" of figuring out what 30, 40 & 50 year olds listen to the radio.

That said, here are some things I do know: At 52 I have more disposable money than I have ever had before. My work with 20 & 30 somethings suggests they do not.

I like listening to music on the radio, don't believe in satellite radio and can't seem to find much of anything on FM worth listening to.

EVERY time I used to be in NY I used to listen to CBS-FM and more thean once wound up trying to find an advertiser 'cause I liked the spot.

I haven't listened to CBS-FM since they went "Jerk"....errr...."Jack."

To all the advertising geniuses: want to find people with disposable income? Look at people from their mid-40's to 60's. their kids are out of school, the mortgage is paid and ....they're still working!
 
justareporter said:
I am no expert when it comes to music. Not even close. Less when it comes to the "science" of figuring out what 30, 40 & 50 year olds listen to the radio.
That said, here are some things I do know: At 52 I have more disposable money than I have ever had before. My work with 20 & 30 somethings suggests they do not. I like listening to music on the radio, don't believe in satellite radio and can't seem to find much of anything on FM worth listening to.
EVERY time I used to be in NY I used to listen to CBS-FM and more thean once wound up trying to find an advertiser 'cause I liked the spot. I haven't listened to CBS-FM since they went "Jerk"....errr...."Jack."

To all the advertising geniuses: want to find people with disposable income? Look at people from their mid-40's to 60's. their kids are out of school, the mortgage is paid and ....they're still working!

Yes, right- we've heard your story a thousand times before on these boards. "Look at how much money we have to spend", "Oldies music is in movies and
commercials", "they played The Shoop Shoop Song at the ballgame last night", "all my friends love Oldies!". Blah, blah, blah.

They know you have the dough to spend- they're just not using radio to target you if you're 55 or older. And, like I said, most people over 45, 50 or 55 do not (and never have) listen to Oldies. Not everybody craves that nostalgic trip when they turn a certain age.

Oldies created most of this problem on their own when they spent most of the past 20 years being 1958-to-1971 stations and refused to continually -evolve. Ad buys today are 18-49 and 25-54 (or some subset within those cells). Turn your anger and energy to these advertisers- if you can change their minds, God Bless you.
 
Oldies Cat said:
Yes, right- we've heard your story a thousand times before on these boards. "Look at how much money we have to spend", "Oldies music is in movies and
commercials", "they played The Shoop Shoop Song at the ballgame last night", "all my friends love Oldies!". Blah, blah, blah.

They know you have the dough to spend- they're just not using radio to target you if you're 55 or older. And, like I said, most people over 45, 50 or 55 do not (and never have) listen to Oldies. Not everybody craves that nostalgic trip when they turn a certain age.

Oldies created most of this problem on their own when they spent most of the past 20 years being 1958-to-1971 stations and refused to continually -evolve. Ad buys today are 18-49 and 25-54 (or some subset within those cells). Turn your anger and energy to these advertisers- if you can change their minds, God Bless you.

To quote a line from the film "Field of Dreams"....."BUILD IT....AND THEY (ADVERTISERS/LISTENERS) WILL COME!!!!"
 
CBS-FM

fang39 said:
To quote a line from the film "Field of Dreams"....."BUILD IT....AND THEY (ADVERTISERS/LISTENERS) WILL COME!!!!"

NEWS FLASH: it's been built for years and over the past few years they stopped coming (advertisers AND listeners), in droves. Have you been living in a cave?

Besides, that sort of radio arrogance is what has alternatives like iPods, satellite, Internet and more nipping at our heels. If you think radio can just wave a magic wand and everybody will follow along, you are sadly mistaken. It's old school thinking, cat.
 
Re: CBS-FM

Oldies Cat said:
fang39 said:
To quote a line from the film "Field of Dreams"....."BUILD IT....AND THEY (ADVERTISERS/LISTENERS) WILL COME!!!!"

NEWS FLASH: it's been built for years and over the past few years they stopped coming (advertisers AND listeners), in droves. Have you been living in a cave?

Besides, that sort of radio arrogance is what has alternatives like iPods, satellite, Internet and more nipping at our heels. If you think radio can just wave a magic wand and everybody will follow along, you are sadly mistaken. It's old school thinking, cat.

Because the programming stopped evolving. I'm not one of those who believes "oldies" only extends to music from 1955-1974. I go by the "25 year" rule of thumb. By sprinkling in tunes from the early 80's you keep in line with the demos that are attractive to advertisers. I do believe, however, that the station, whether it's termed "Oldies" or "Classic Hits," should make room to honor its legacy and music by including programs like "Norm N. Nite-Live from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame" and "Don K. Reed's Doo-Wopp Shoppe," even if played in off-hours.
 
There is no reason why a classic hits-updated CBS-FM could not revive some of the specialty oldies programming on the weekend where cume is low and former listeners could be courted back to the frequency. The problem is that most of the die-hard oldies listeners have already migrated to satellite or the net. It will take some serious (not Sirius) marketing to get them to come back...and part of that marketing needs to be a "mea culpa". Someone in power, maybe Dan Mason himself, needs to come on the air and admit that "we screwed up, and now we're fixing it". Until there's an apology of some sort, these people will not warm up to a revival.

While I'd love to hear Don K. Reed's doo-wop show again, the more logical approach would be to test music in the demo you need for the sales staff to be able to make it work financially (40-54). Test all the way back into the late 50s and find out exactly which pre-64 songs still have juice with the demo. Then make them a featured "spice" part of the programming that highlights the heritage of NYC music, NYC radio and CBS-FM. Don't mix them in with the general population of classic hits; make them a special feature.

And when you bring back Bob Shannon, Bobby Jay, Mike McCann et al, pay 'em a bonus for putting them through two years of hell.
 
Cary:

Here! Here! You are exactly right on this one.

Yes...you can no longer "focus" on the pre-Beatles era music. But, there are, I am certain, a handful of songs from that era that would test to be "timeless". Those are the songs which could be sprinkled in to a "Classic Top 40" format and would satisfy the oldies partisans.

There's no reason it can't be done.
 
KevinFodor said:
Cary:

Here! Here! You are exactly right on this one.

Yes...you can no longer "focus" on the pre-Beatles era music. But, there are, I am certain, a handful of songs from that era that would test to be "timeless". Those are the songs which could be sprinkled in to a "Classic Top 40" format and would satisfy the oldies partisans.

There's no reason it can't be done.

I'm sure that before long, one of the highly regarded pundits on this site will tell us why....OOPS! Too late...D.E. has already weighed in! LOL!
 
Re: Bulletin to watch: This is a rumor still, not proven fact.

Cary Pall said:
There is no reason why a classic hits-updated CBS-FM could not revive some of the specialty oldies programming on the weekend where cume is low and former listeners could be courted back to the frequency.

Probably an excellent idea, as long as they don't "taint" the rest of the station with an "old" image. Adding 55+ cume will not help sales, but might help get a little buzz going (how buzz-sensitive are over-40 listeners would be the question). This might be a place to also showcase some recognizable, but 60's era talent, too.

The problem is that most of the die-hard oldies listeners have already migrated to satellite or the net.

Here I would not b so sure. Satellite in many areas of NYC is tough, even with the repeaters. And since most satellite installs are in cars, and NYC has the nation's lowest in car usage of radio (just 25% of time spent listening in cars there) there may be a large audience for this that is unserved.

What remains to be seen, if the rumor is true, is what approach they use overall.... true oldies or classic hits. The rest is frosting on the cake if it happens.
 
Like I said before...I am not the music genius. That said, I truly believe if you bring back an "oldies" station with GREAT talent and a GREAT playlist...maybe 60-80's...okay...wiggle it a little on the upside and downside....you'll have listeners. Will you ever had as many as WABC had in its boom years...nope....but you will have dedicated listeners which you can turn into a great TSL and CUME....and that somehow makes people money.

But you are going to have to promote it...alot...for a while....spend money to make money.
 
IF THIS RUMOR TURNS OUT TO BE A REALITY, THIS WOULD BE THE SECOND BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN IN NEW YORK RADIO.

WHAT CBS/VIACOM SHOULD DO NEXT IS BRING BACK MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE DJ LINE-UP.

THE BEST THING IS TO SEEING THE RETURN OF WNEW-AM, BUT FOR NOW THAT'S A PIPE DREAM.


THANKS,
KEVIN L. SEALY
 
There seems to be confusion with the label "Classic Hits". When WMGK/Philly decided the 70's format was burning in rapid fashion, they went to what could be described as classic rock for women. They have since gone full-blown classic rock (umm, for the most part - they recently s***canned Alice Cooper's show). Now, WOGL calls themselves "classic hits", but theirs is more of an evolution of the oldies format, keeping the big acts of the 60's (save the Sunday morning Elvis and Beatles shows), heavy on the 70's - heavier with what used to be called "Jammin' Oldies", and a sprinkling of older-targetted 80's (which names I have dropped previously). This will be what CBS-FM will become, IMHO. It won't be "watered down skirt classic rock" (with all due respect to the females of the board). And, it certainly will not be what they call "Classic Oldies".

Another good example is Cool 98.3/Atlantic City.
 
It's gonna happen

Crain's New York Business leads with this story as of this moment. CBS Radio corporate has yet to say when the flip will take place.

The new CBS-FM will work if it plays "Good Time Rock 'n Roll", centered on 1964-1989 with plenty of room for New York hits. 102.9 DRC-FM in Hartford does a version of that format.
 
I love the idea of CBS-FM returning to oldies, but I wonder just how well it will take off now that 101.1 is "damaged goods" I bet many people will refuse to listen, justifying by claiming "hurt feeling" or "too little, too late". My stream picked up many departed CBS-FM fans and while I don't want to let them go, I love what the renewed interest in oldies on CBS-FM may bring.

I have a sad feeling that the legendary jocks will be fewer if any at all. You now, they still have to sell ad time on there so they are going to try to open the demo I would think. If executed well it could be even better than the old 101.1. I do have to say Joe McCoy got the short end of the stick in the later years of the station as management forced changes on him. I bet if they hired Joe back as a consultant the station would kick some serious butt.

Countin' the days 'til the rebirth!

BTW: If anybody rolls tape on Thursday I'd love to get a copy!
 
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