"CBSFM Yesterday - All the Way to New York's Greatest Hits Today"

[TheBigA]

But ive always heard their commercials there.

If you're not hearing local dealer, it's a national spot. They've been doing the festival for a long time.

 

[101tm]

Nope. They have internal data based on surveys they do of their own subscribers, but they do not publish the data and those who see it are under confidentiality agreements. They do not publish or release information on how they determine content or measure it.

SiriusXM is VERY private about listenership but most subscribers that pay attention or want to know can probably tell which channels are getting the most ears. With the increased usage of the SiriusXM app as well as the new 360L connected radios, they are now able to get good data on who is listening to what and at what time since there’s an uplink. Before, it was just one way communication to the receiver that relied on, as you said, research (which is still done, but isn’t the only way of getting listenership info anymore).

 

[oldies76]

As a broadcaster who's been in the business since the 1970s, I find it totally stupid that advertisers don't want to look at the 54 plus age group. They have disposable income and usually will spend more than the younger folks. Especially those punking down thousands of dollars for an RV they can retire and travel the country in. I shake my head at the way advertisers treat the older generations because they are the ones who will spend the money because they have it! I'm 63 myself and program my station for 25 plus. I don't stop at 54....those in their 50s and 60s like BIG trucks, RVs, nice boats, etc...Dining out rather than cooking at home, BIG TVs, and that's MONEY....why pass it up??

I realize this is a NY thread, but have you ever been to Florida? Many radio stations here target the 55+, stations still spinning the 60s-80s, even an occasional 50's classic. Seaview 104.9 in SW Florida has plenty of advertisers (too many for my tastes) and they are all over the place with 6 to 7 decades of music on their station.

 

[davideduardo]

But ive always heard their commercials there.

And that could be because they have a package that involves events and ongoing on-air schedules.

 

[davideduardo]

I realize this is a NY thread, but have you ever been to Florida? Many radio stations here target the 55+, stations still spinning the 60s-80s, even an occasional 50's classic.

That is only in a couple of markets, but not in WPB, MIA, JAX, Orlando, Tallahasse, Pensacola, Daytona Beach, Naples/ft Myers or Tampa Bay unless it is a very limited translator, Class A FM or AM.

Seaview 104.9 in SW Florida has plenty of advertisers (too many for my tastes) and they are all over the place with 6 to 7 decades of music on their station.

And they sell at very low rates because they are a rimshot Class A in an unrated market. So they are selling to predominantly local direct accounts in a coverage area of about 250,000 persons. Heck, even the AM with two translators in The Villages covers more people.

 

[davideduardo]

SiriusXM is VERY private about listenership but most subscribers that pay attention or want to know can probably tell which channels are getting the most ears. With the increased usage of the SiriusXM app as well as the new 360L connected radios, they are now able to get good data on who is listening to what and at what time since there’s an uplink. Before, it was just one way communication to the receiver that relied on, as you said, research (which is still done, but isn’t the only way of getting listenership info anymore).

But nearly all the revenue is from in-car listening, most of which still comes from the satellites. So they pay far less attention to streaming listening than to surveys of satellite connected users.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Seaview 104.9 in SW Florida has plenty of advertisers (too many for my tastes) and they are all over the place with 6 to 7 decades of music on their station.

And they sell at very low rates because they are a rimshot Class A in an unrated market. So they are selling to predominantly local direct accounts in a coverage area of about 250,000 persons. Heck, even the AM with two translators in The Villages covers more people.

Which means they have to sell a lot more spots to pay the bills. So while it may be too many for a lot of people's tastes, the alternative is being off the air.

 

[CTListener]

But nearly all the revenue is from in-car listening, most of which still comes from the satellites. So they pay far less attention to streaming listening than to surveys of satellite connected users.

Why would satellite listeners' preferences differ from online listeners'? When I'm home listening to XM through its app -- which just this week was added to Xfinity's offerings -- I listen to the same channels I do in the car. Am I not typical?

 

[davideduardo]

Why would satellite listeners' preferences differ from online listeners'?

Length of listening spans. Car listening is relatively short in duration. Fixed location listening amounts to a lot more time, even with interruptions.

When I'm home listening to XM through its app -- which just this week was added to Xfinity's offerings -- I listen to the same channels I do in the car. Am I not typical?

How long did you listen in the car the last time you used XM? And how long to the stream at home?

 

[dcowboy7]

And that could be because they have a package that involves events and ongoing on-air schedules.

I also heard a mercedes-benz & ram jeep commercials with no dealer mention so they must have alot of those deals then.

 

[Barry]

The online station PopRadio 77 will rebrand at noon to OldiesXL. According to AllAccess it will be aimed at New York and some of the other nearby states. Among the personalities will be Big Jay Sorensen, who had been on WNBC 660 when it was a pop station. The article states they will also have local news and weather reports. So this will apparently be like a regular radio station, minus the transmitter.
Station Lineup: https://www.oldiesxl.com/weekday-line-up/

 

[kevtronics]

The online station PopRadio 77 will rebrand at noon to OldiesXL.

So it's Oldies for fat guys now? Because that's what "XL" makes me think of. Like the Big & Tall clothing store that rebranded itself to "Destination XL".

 

[fordranger797]

Touching on the subject of age and listening preferences. I'm 27 and I listen to very little music that was made after the year 2000. I'd say that the music of the 80's fits my personal taste the most, with the music of the 70's and 60's close behind. The 90's ushered in some great rock music and alternative, but I think pop music took a real nosedive at that time. I figure I can still enjoy tuning into stations like WCBS for now, but probably won't bother in a decade or so if they keep moving the playlist up.

This has already been discussed and debated in other threads, but I think it's going to be hard for many classic hits stations to keep moving forward, as music became much more segmented after the 1990's. I can see a station like WCBS keeping their current direction for a while, because they not every hit song from the 90's is going to work. In terms of the 2000's, I'd really like to hear a programmer's perspective of what tracks would actually work. I can't think of any. It seems like they would have to just cut anything made before the year 2000 at that point and morph the format into a time capsule of what hot AC sounded like.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I'm 27 and I listen to very little music that was made after the year 2000. I'd say that the music of the 80's fits my personal taste the most, with the music of the 70's and 60's close behind.

Those of us who program Classic Hits hear you loud and clear. A significant amount of our audience is 25-49 rather than 35-54 (or 55+).

I was just talking about this the other day with Gene Knight, last with KXSN (Sunny 98.1) in San Diego. As I have his permission to requote him anywhere I see fit, I'll share with you:

All the time we got winners and other listener responses at KXSN, from people who were born in the 80s. Like, they were just 2 years old when a lot of the songs that we played were currents. This happened so frequently, that I started asking, in a nice and curious way, why they liked our music.
This response came back over and over again - "The 80s, that's when all the good music came out!"

From what you said above, I would imagine that response resonates with you 100%.

This has already been discussed and debated in other threads, but I think it's going to be hard for many classic hits stations to keep moving forward, as music became much more segmented after the 1990's.

It has, your conclusion is generally accepted as correct by a majority of CH programmers, and we are breathing a collective sigh of relief that the younger demos such as yourself have embraced the 80s, which means we can stay in this comfort zone for a decade or two before it becomes a problem. (Presuming we're still around in the 2040s.)

 

[gr8oldies]

But nearly all the revenue is from in-car listening, most of which still comes from the satellites. So they pay far less attention to streaming listening than to surveys of satellite connected users.

Ever since I've had SiriusXM, they've been pushing the app (especially during the beginning of the pandemic). There are app-only channels and shows. (In my car I use my app with a modulator to connect to the car

 

[Mikey Radio]

Touching on the subject of age and listening preferences. I'm 27 and I listen to very little music that was made after the year 2000. I'd say that the music of the 80's fits my personal taste the most, with the music of the 70's and 60's close behind. The 90's ushered in some great rock music and alternative, but I think pop music took a real nosedive at that time.

Those of us who program Classic Hits hear you loud and clear. A significant amount of our audience is 25-49 rather than 35-54 (or 55+).

A group of 5 or 6 of us went on a mini bar crawl a few weekends ago and we commented on how funny it was to us that the place was packed with "kids" who looked like they were recent college grads, all singing their little hearts out to music that pre-dated their births by at least 20 years.

Then again, back when I was in high school, the shows the glee club and those interesting in singing with them would perform each spring, usually featured stuff that was popular when our parents were kids. Maybe part of it is a generational thing?

 

[K.M. Richards]

So it's Oldies for fat guys now?

They can add "Fat" by Weird Al Yankovic to the library. It could be their theme song!

 

[fordranger797]

A group of 5 or 6 of us went on a mini bar crawl a few weekends ago and we commented on how funny it was to us that the place was packed with "kids" who looked like they were recent college grads, all singing their little hearts out to music that pre-dated their births by at least 20 years.

Then again, back when I was in high school, the shows the glee club and those interesting in singing with them would perform each spring, usually featured stuff that was popular when our parents were kids. Maybe part of it is a generational thing?

I think that there have always been young people (of every generation) who will exclaim that the music of their own generation sucks. I do happen to be one of those people, but it seems to be more common these days than in the past. Clearly, there is still good new music being made (I still will always give modern alternative a listen), but with that being said, CHR goes through waves of being okay, being awful, and being entirely uninteresting/unlistenable. Add in the fact that there are many young people who just don't like rap and hiphop, and you've got a group of listeners who would easily land on WCBS. I certainly can acknowledge that MOST young people probably have no complaints with CHR and like rap/hiphop, but the rest of us like to have something else to listen to.

 

[davideduardo]

Why would satellite listeners' preferences differ from online listeners'? When I'm home listening to XM through its app -- which just this week was added to Xfinity's offerings -- I listen to the same channels I do in the car. Am I not typical?

It's about TSL. Car listening by commuters is mostly for much less than an hour. At home listening may be many hours throughout a day. That changes everything from the size of the playlist to strategic placement of "next play" in scheduling.

A large subset of satellite subscribers are people who spend loads of time in their vehicle, such as long distance truckers and delivery people. So that further affects the way certain channels schedule and determine playlist size.

 

[davideduardo]

(Presuming we're still around in the 2040s.)

That will be when the beach is right off the east side of the 210 Freeway from Sylmar to Highland and the Hollywood Hills are called "The Hollywood Islands".