C.S. Monitor: Radio stations nudge oldies off air

[raccoonradio]

(via FreeRepublic):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1419334/posts

Radio stations nudge oldies format off the air
Christian Science Monitor ^ | June 09, 2005 | Randy Dotinga

excerpt:

"They played a lot of stuff that conjured up great memories and reminded me of growing up in the Bronx," says Mr. Cavallo, a telecommunications project manager who now lives in New Jersey. He was especially thrilled when his 8-year-old son recently discovered the music of the King of Rock 'n' Roll and began asking to hear the station in the car.

So much for hound dogs and blue suede shoes. Elvis has left the building, along with the Supremes, the Beach Boys, and a famous Big Apple disc jockey named Cousin Brucie. WCBS-FM dumped its oldies format and fired its staff on Friday, joining a long list of stations from coast to coast that have abandoned '60s and '70s "feel-good" music over the past six months.

 

[OldiesCat]

very revealing

And therein lies a major part of the Oldies format's problem: perception.

The general mindset in the public is that Oldies is still all about Elvis and that blue suede shoes/Happy Days image. It is (whether it's right or not is beside the point) how radio sellers and 20/30-somethings at ad agencies view "Oldies"-- "that 50's stuff". And it's proving to be a killer.

Image IS everything.

> So much for hound dogs and blue suede shoes. Elvis has left
> the building, along with the Supremes, the Beach Boys, and a
> famous Big Apple disc jockey named Cousin Brucie. WCBS-FM
> dumped its oldies format and fired its staff on Friday,
> joining a long list of stations from coast to coast that
> have abandoned '60s and '70s "feel-good" music over the past
> six months.
>

 

[Oldbones]

Re: very revealing

> And therein lies a major part of the Oldies format's
> problem: perception.
>
> The general mindset in the public is that Oldies is still
> all about Elvis and that blue suede shoes/Happy Days image.
> It is (whether it's right or not is beside the point) how
> radio sellers and 20/30-somethings at ad agencies view
> "Oldies"-- "that 50's stuff". And it's proving to be a
> killer.


Unfortunately, Oldies radio has itself to blame for that one...how many years (decades) did the format market itself around the whole 50s image?

 

[OldiesCat]

Re: very revealing

exactly, many (even on this board) kicking and screaming as the demand for doo wop and 50's material was killing their format.
>
>
> Unfortunately, Oldies radio has itself to blame for that
> one...how many years (decades) did the format market itself
> around the whole 50s image?
>
> > And therein lies a major part of the Oldies format's
> > problem: perception.
> >
> > The general mindset in the public is that Oldies is still
> > all about Elvis and that blue suede shoes/Happy Days
> image.
> > It is (whether it's right or not is beside the point) how
> > radio sellers and 20/30-somethings at ad agencies view
> > "Oldies"-- "that 50's stuff". And it's proving to be a
> > killer.

 

[bierkenstock]

Inevitable

> exactly, many (even on this board) kicking and screaming as
> the demand for doo wop and 50's material was killing their
> format.

That's what oldies is. If you adjust the time frame forward, it's not oldies any more; it's a different format. Real Oldies (late 50's to mid 60's) is one format.
Oldies/Solid Gold (mid 60's - 70's) is another format. Jammin' Oldies (Motown-Disco-Soft Soul) yet another. Classic Rock. 80's music. Going even farther back, you have Nostalgia/MOR and Adult Standard (non-rock music from the 40's, 50's, and 60's). The list goes on.

People past a certain age generally stop listening to "contemporary hits" and want to keep listening to "the music you grew up with." Hence: Oldies and other nostalgia-based music formats. These make for profitable formats when the people who grew up with the music on their playlists are in the money demos. The window of opportunity for recycled hits formats is about 10 to 30 years after original release. Both the major oldies formats are past that window.

 

[raccoonradio]

Meanwhile, Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune writes that he welcomes the change from oldies to Jack on WJMK because he was tired of overplayed oldies. He does admit though that sentiment about the format change is running 4-1 _against_
(in a Trib poll).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...3.column?coll=chi-news-col&ctrack=1&cset=true

 

[raccoonradio]

Re: Inevitable

Good points--first of all about how there are different types of
oldies, and secondly that after awhile the "major oldies formats are
past that window" (of 10-30 years), as you put it.

I guess we have to approach this from two points of view: listeners
and radio programmers. In some ways it's a shame that oldies is "dying"
as I do like the music--but that being said, more than a few oldies
tunes DID get overplayed to death. There are still listeners out there
who want the 50s stuff...who want 60s/70s like Beatles, Motown...
and so on. However after awhile as they age they may dwindle in number.
i don't mean literally dying off. I mean after awhile some may still
wish to listen to oldies while some may find news/talk/sports more interesting.

From the programming perspective as these stations went down in the
ratings (though some still weren't all that bad) they figured something
like JACK might be a good quick fix.

The older demo might be underestimated in terms of advertising and programming.
I was listening to a show out of Boston, "Let's Talk about Radio" (WJIB)
and host Bob Bittner pointed out how advertisers and programmers don't
seem to want to serve older people (Especially 60+, but even maybe those in their 50s or late 40s), feeling they don't buy as much. Yet some people in that demo will still buy cars, and maybe even pay in full.

Ah, but that's not what companies want, Bittner had said. They want younger people who put things on credit. Not older ones who buy in full. Anyway,
he felt older audiences were kind of being marginalized. Thus we see
standards and oldies stations on the way out, and an attempt to bring in
younger ones (with some buying power) in this "Jack" experiment.

> That's what oldies is. If you adjust the time frame
> forward, it's not oldies any more; it's a different format.
> Real Oldies (late 50's to mid 60's) is one format.
> Oldies/Solid Gold (mid 60's - 70's) is another format.
> Jammin' Oldies (Motown-Disco-Soft Soul) yet another.
> Classic Rock. 80's music. Going even farther back, you
> have Nostalgia/MOR and Adult Standard (non-rock music from
> the 40's, 50's, and 60's). The list goes on.
>
> People past a certain age generally stop listening to
> "contemporary hits" and want to keep listening to "the music
> you grew up with." Hence: Oldies and other nostalgia-based
> music formats. These make for profitable formats when the
> people who grew up with the music on their playlists are in
> the money demos. The window of opportunity for recycled
> hits formats is about 10 to 30 years after original release.
> Both the major oldies formats are past that window.
>

 

[TheFonz]

Re: Inevitable

> That's what oldies is. If you adjust the time frame
> forward, it's not oldies any more; it's a different format.
> Real Oldies (late 50's to mid 60's) is one format.
> Oldies/Solid Gold (mid 60's - 70's) is another format.
> Jammin' Oldies (Motown-Disco-Soft Soul) yet another.
> Classic Rock. 80's music. Going even farther back, you
> have Nostalgia/MOR and Adult Standard (non-rock music from
> the 40's, 50's, and 60's). The list goes on.


**************************************************************


You're right on. And it took SATELLITE radio to figure this out!