CC to axe REAL real oldies in Chicago

[majicjim]

Baby boomers have little spending money??? Think again.

If you missed the 7/05/06 story on NBC Nightly News about retiring baby boomers moving to suncoast states...go to http://www.msnbc.com/id/3032619 and click on the video actuality: "Wooing Baby Boomers."

We haven't donned the Depends or long for that yucky taste of Geritol yet...give us another twenty years eh!

As for the "scratchy 45s" remark made in a previous post, I'm sure WRLL's music was played on DRS or similar software on the air copied from a CD or mp3....Many oldies station by now have scuttled the ITC cart machines and Russco turntables.

WRLL's Cincy sister WCKY(Air America 1530) the former "Real Oldies 1530 WSAI" is being challenged ratingswise by Oldies 1160 WDJO(former talker WBOB) a joint effort of WSAI alumnus Dusty Rhodes and buisiness partner Brian Kauffman. CC must have taken notice as rumours abound to move "1360 Homer"(Fox Sports) to 1530 and move Air America from 1530 to 1360.

GO DUSTY GO!

 

[fred flintstone]

Baby boomers have little spending money??? Think again.

It's not how much you have; it's how much you spend - and what you spend it for - that matters to advertisers.
It's all about return on investment. For every dollar spent on an Oldies station (or any other format), how much does the advertiser gets back in increased sales.
And while it might pay for an advertiser to woo baby boomers moving to Tampa, that doesn't do much for radio stations in Chicago and Cincinnati.
And if baby boomers are as free-spending as some claim and as open to new products as some claim, how come so few have signed up for XM or Sirius - with multiple Oldies and Standards channels (among others)?

 

[TheFonz]

[And if baby boomers are as free-spending as some claim and as open to new products as some claim, how come so few have signed up for XM or Sirius - with multiple Oldies and Standards channels (among others)?]

How do we know that this isn't happening? Do XM and Sirius break down their subscribers into age groups? And if they do, how do we know who is actually listening to that satellite receiver once it is installed in the car or home. I'm well past 55 and I just renewed my subscription to XM for three years.

 

[TheFonz]

[Insiders say it could be only a matter of weeks before Clear Channel bosses pull the plug on the format at Clear Channel Radio's "Real Oldies" WRLL-AM (1690) and a talent lineup that includes such personalities as Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards, Scotty Brink, Tom Murphy and Ron Smith]


The end could be near. I was just on the WRLL website and every song on their Top 10 Oldies list has the word "goodbye" in its title.

 

[smashedcd]

10:32pm cst..listen live weblink no longer works.

 

[davideduardo]

It will be La Precioas Spanish oldies.

 

[radiobop]

Like 50s/60s Rock 'n Roll from early Rockabilly through early Beatles?

Give us a listen: Radio Bop at www.radiobop.com !

100s of listeners in 50 countries can't get enough of us!

...and our playlist includes EVERYTHING that charted from 1954 through 1965 on the Billboard Top 40...Como and Starr, of course!

Harold Levine
Program Director
Radio Bop
www.radiobop.com
50s/60s Rock 'n Roll without the 70s!

 

[kirkiefan]

Also check out:
Shawn Nagy's Super Oldies at http://www.superoldies.com
Great online station from Canada....also Oldies 1150 CKOC Hamilton,Ontario and online at http://www.oldies1150.com They air Wolfman Jack 6-7pm M-F and on Saturday from 6-11pm (eastern time)

I'll have to agree that many Top 40 stations aired what we refer to as MOR standards in the early 60s...Herb Alpert and the TJB was a prime example as was Al Hirt and Nancy Wilson...even CKLW aired "It's Impossible" by Como in the early 70s..and don't forget The Carpenters,Captain and Tennille,Roger Whittaker and Olivia Newton-John who were considered pop/MOR crossovers as well.

bye gang

kf

 

[chuckydoll]

It's now official

WRLL and its "Real Oldies" format runs through September 17 per the station's website. This means the entire DJ staff is out then if not already.

WVON, a heritage station in Chicago's black community, will move to AM 1690 on September 18.

 

[RadioMan203]

[Insiders say it could be only a matter of weeks before Clear Channel bosses pull the plug on the format at Clear Channel Radio's "Real Oldies" WRLL-AM (1690) and a talent lineup that includes such personalities as Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards, Scotty Brink, Tom Murphy and Ron Smith]


The end could be near. I was just on the WRLL website and every song on their Top 10 Oldies list has the word "goodbye" in its title.

The only thing I can say it's a sad time to lose great personalities like Lujack and Edwards. Between getting the chace to hear them "live" and through a handful of airchecks they were fun and great radio people. I guess Clear Channel feels they have to do it for their own good. I just consider myself lucky to have heard these guys.


Bill
CapitalRadio.us
The Oldies Revolution

 

[wellander]

Hi,
Well it was a great station while we still have it until the 18th of next month.
Very sad.
Oh well.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

The problem with selling time in this day and age could be the combined selling staff. Let's see I'm in radio sales do I spend time selling a $200 buck spot on a high rated FM or a $40 buck spot on AM 1660 (remember there are a lot of radios out there pre-expanded band).

Numbers? They want numbers? It's hard enough to get numbers on an established AM. Is there an expanded band station in the entire nation with more than a 1 share? Let's get real...

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Re: real oldies in Chicago

[That is not some big rush for 99.9% of Oldies radio users.]


Well, judging by the state of terrestrial Oldies radio today, that 99.9% had better take anything they can get!

I must be a radio junkie! I'd listen if they put it on AM or even shortwave if there was a good jock and some music I couldn't hear elsewhere. Even the occasional obscure oldie would be okay. I find that interesting and not at all a tune out.

Losing a station on 1690 is not a big loss. I mean there are still lots of radios out there that don't go that far! Did they really think it was going to attract a big audience? Is there any expanded band station with decent ratings???

 

[davideduardo]

The problem with selling time in this day and age could be the combined selling staff. Let's see I'm in radio sales do I spend time selling a $200 buck spot on a high rated FM or a $40 buck spot on AM 1660 (remember there are a lot of radios out there pre-expanded band).

Numbers? They want numbers? It's hard enough to get numbers on an established AM. Is there an expanded band station in the entire nation with more than a 1 share? Let's get real...

Most clusters are moving away from combo sales, especially in big markets. Each station sells on its own, and only gets in a combo with joint sales teams... In any case, markets like Chicago are pretty much all transactional business, and there is no agency money for a) 55+ and b) a station with a 0.4 or whatever they had.

 

[Anyacat]

I've been thinking about what David Eduardo said about advertising. It strikes me that although advertising is what makes free radio possible, there was a time when owners competed for listeners by offering different times of programming, rather than programming for a market niche. And while I have nothing against shoe salesmen (some of my favorite people), it does seem as if shoe salesmen have taken radio over. Right now they are Earth bound, but who's to say after they devalue free radio, they will not look to the stars for a way to make a profit. When large corporations such as Clear Channel begin to dominate the market with their bottom line philosophy, then the choice is between bland and bland. It seems to me that there is less choice, but that could be because the one station that I listened to all the time, to have captured my attention, has been flipped. And while it is pointless to complain, I really am at a loss.

 

[fred flintstone]

I've been thinking about what David Eduardo said about advertising. It strikes me that although advertising is what makes free radio possible, there was a time when owners competed for listeners by offering different times of programming, rather than programming for a market niche.

Block programming forces a station to turn over its audience every time the program changes and requires the audience to remember when the music they want is on. Formatted radio began with Top 40 in the 50s. Before that, various stations would run teen programs with currently popular music - often in the evening or on weekends. When a station in town came in with all pop all the time (or all Rock all the time), they captured the audience.

There was a time when every downtown (and later every mall) had three or four (maybe more) full line department stores selling something of everything. Now we have the big-box, category-buster specialty stores selling everything of something. All toys. All books. All hardware. All consumer electronics. All men's clothes. When people want something in a product category, they know where to get it and they feel some assurance they will find what they want.

Same with radio.

So why are people here still complaining instead of getting satellite radio with EAXCTLY what you want to hear and multiple channels of what you want to hear?

OK, you don't don't the idea of paying for radio. From all the complaints, you'd didn't like commercials either.

 

[Anyacat]

I've been thinking about what David Eduardo said about advertising. It strikes me that although advertising is what makes free radio possible, there was a time when owners competed for listeners by offering different times of programming, rather than programming for a market niche.

Block programming forces a station to turn over its audience every time the program changes and requires the audience to remember when the music they want is on. Formatted radio began with Top 40 in the 50s. Before that, various stations would run teen programs with currently popular music - often in the evening or on weekends. When a station in town came in with all pop all the time (or all Rock all the time), they captured the audience.

There was a time when every downtown (and later every mall) had three or four (maybe more) full line department stores selling something of everything. Now we have the big-box, category-buster specialty stores selling everything of something. All toys. All books. All hardware. All consumer electronics. All men's clothes. When people want something in a product category, they know where to get it and they feel some assurance they will find what they want.

Same with radio.

So why are people here still complaining instead of getting satellite radio with EAXCTLY what you want to hear and multiple channels of what you want to hear?

OK, you don't don't the idea of paying for radio. From all the complaints, you'd didn't like commercials either.

Well, Fred, I didn't think I was complaining so much as commenting, but maybe that's the same thing. Perhaps, you're right, one must get used to things as they are now. No use even discussing the matter, it is what it is and I certainly have no power to change it. But this began with a discussion about WRLL, which offered exactly what I wanted. But I see your point and understand that radio really is no longer for me, so, as you say, stop whining and live without the voices (other than those I hear in my head, of course). Rock On

 

[fred flintstone]

No criticism of your post intended.
I liked WRLL, too.
It isn't the only Real Oldies station Clear Channel is flipping to other formats. Whoever was programming their Real Oldies stations did an excellent job and I enjoyed the results of his efforts
The Clear Channel Real Oldies format (although without the legendary Chicago AM Top40 jocks) is being heard on various HD2 signals and online - at least for know.

And, lest we forget, WRLL was a consistently formatted station, too.
The big drawback for me to Block Programming is I always seem to miss what I want to hear. Some station puts on Real Oldies show, it's never on when I happen to tune in.
Radio has become like a light switch. I want to flip it on without thinking about it and get Real Oldies, or Standards, or Talk or All News, as the saying goes, the minute I want it - on my schedule and at my convenience.

Radio is like musical chairs. Not enough chairs (stations) for all the players (formats) and somebody is left standing. This time it's a station I liked. (In all fairness, I admit I didn't get too worked up when they flip a station somebody else likes.)

The nice thing about satellite radio is: Plenty of chairs.

And if somebody from WRLL or Clear Channel reads this thread: I you guys could make some arrangement to have the music from your Real Oldies playlist available for download as a package to an mp3 player - in effect, my ownpersonal WRLL - I'd buy the whole package. Toss in some of the jingles, too.

Do that for Standards, also (like San Francisco's KABL).

 

[GrampaSquirrel]

I wish there was a privately own radio station like WJJG AM-1530, own and operated by Joe Gentile but as a private oldies station that is NOT with the Abitron ratings.

Abitron Ratings will always to do their best to kill off any oldies that are with any franchise company just like Clear Channel, ABC, CBS, and so forth.

I wish there was a private own radio station in Chicago that plays real oldies, but nobody hasn't thought of it yet....

 

[Anyacat]

Dear Gramps: I have thought about it but unless I win the lottery, it will remain wishful thinking...