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Charlotte's Brand New Radio Station

I really miss the old mix 106.1 too. Lately I'm having to listen to my music cd's again. I wish one of the AC station's would add in that missing format. Crazy how now we have more oldies than we did when majic 96.1 existed.
 
hschutte said:
I really miss the old mix 106.1 too. Lately I'm having to listen to my music cd's again. I wish one of the AC station's would add in that missing format. Crazy how now we have more oldies than we did when majic 96.1 existed.
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I hear ya and understand. Be glad you have the CD's. That type of music is gone for good from radio unless some smart AM operator who is moving into the market on 870 were to decide to do standards (hint, hint).

Standards appeals mainly to the 60-death age group and agencies aren't buying that audience. I guess there isn't enough money selling direct to advertisers or the sales departments have forgotten how to do it!

I know the format well and could put on a station you'd love! Fat lot of good that does me.
 
Satelitte radio my friends! I heard Frank's Place was dropped from XM..is that right? And does Sirius have a standards channel?
 
Listened to oldies 106.1 over the weekend and am wondering if they are more of a classic hits format. Lots of classic rock style music. Sounds similar to 95.7 the ride. Was hoping to hear some of the oldies they played when they were still adult standards.

I did manage to find a station online that plays the Timelss Favorites that mix 106 played. Too bad this format never appealed to the charlotte area.
 
Here are my impressions.

The morning show is virtually the same. I find it listenable. It's actually more enjoyable because I know I'm not going to hear what I want, and if I'm out of range of the good music station, I might as well accept it.

On several occasions the satellite format has sounded good. Once I heard five songs while I was in the car, and four of them would have been in the old format. Four good songs, in my opinion, but not the great songs that were what set standards apart.

On other occasions the oldies got old fast. Not what I want, and I was so glad, even with a sorry signal, to get my real standards back. WEGO was doing Channel 9's news at the time. I have to say the one other time I tried WEGO it sounded so good. But I'll rarely be in the car and I won't think to turn on the radio at home.

I haven't tried WAME since the change because I don't know how to set the car radio buttons, and getting back to my real standards station is a chore. But Country Legends 98.3 is my favorite station anyway now that I have a car that picks it up better, and I heard the bad news. Or the good news. The DJ said that if you're headed toward Charlotte or Statesville, try Country Legends 550.
 
Greetings Music Lovers...
Satellite is good for those that have it, my son is paying for his, and I drive his car occasionally. Need to read a book to learn how to operate it though. I have scanned the stations we have been left with on air, but to no satisfaction, and so like our friend said earlier, pull out the CD's and play on.

Dear Mike, say the frequency and I'm there! I might even contribute like the Public Stations!! But my few dollars won't go very far. :'(
 
ferolv said:
Greetings Music Lovers...
Satellite is good for those that have it, my son is paying for his, and I drive his car occasionally. Need to read a book to learn how to operate it though. I have scanned the stations we have been left with on air, but to no satisfaction, and so like our friend said earlier, pull out the CD's and play on.

Dear Mike, say the frequency and I'm there! I might even contribute like the Public Stations!! But my few dollars won't go very far. :'(
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First of all thanks for the vote of confidence. If I ever find enough investors to get a station on the air I'll let you know! Maybe Art Sutton will come to our rescue with AM 870 thought it will only be a daytimer.

I really like XM but the "Standards" channel misses the mark in my view. I'd put more '40's, 50's 60's MOR hits into the mix if I were doing it. 50's on 5 will sound very MOR at times, then do Doo Wop or other early rock and roll.

Standards like we did on WSOC and WBT would be nice. WSAI 1530 a big 50KW powerhouse that comes in here at night had a very good standards format until they went oldies. AM 740 in Toronto (also a 50Kw Pwerhouse) is still doing a standards format and the station can be heard in Charlotte late at night.

With all the signals in Charlotte there should be room for as many formats as you can dream up. Anybody remember "The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"? I enjoyed that show.
 
I hate when there's nothing else to listen to.

I haven't yet figured out the buttons in my new car, but even Hopeless Classics won't work between 5 and 6 because of Channel 9 Eyewitness News. I suppose someone has to do that in Charlotte and I don't know of anyone else. Sometimes I get lucky with good stuff like "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones. There's lots of what you can hear on standards radio. And lots of junk like "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting". I just turn over to white noise on 98.3 (replaced with so-called gospel as I drive down one long hill, unfortunately) hoping I'll soon be within range of their signal.
 
vchimp- if you like 98.3, try 550 out of Statesville. Virtually the same format.
 
I noticed the latest ratings for 106.1 are still low. Will the oldies format help do you think in the long term? Sometimes they do play a decent song I can listen to. However, lots of times they seem to sound like 95.7.
 
I haven't seen them do anything to promote the format change so I doubt the masses even know they have gone Oldies. They probably should have made the switch back when Magic 96.1 changed and people were looking for a station to listen to. I know a few who went to satellite.

Back when the Daltons owned Majic 96.1 is was promoted very well.
 
I personally would like to know which ratings you are referring to. Most radio stations are not a hit in the ratings immediately following a change in the format. Furthermore, the ratings I am looking at have not been updated due to the fact that Charlotte has not been rated since Fall of 07 by arbitron.

There is no question about it, the songs being played on 106.1 are oldies, and although I am not in Charlotte every week, I can tell a big difference between what is being played on 106.1 vs 95.7. I think the ratings will go up for the new Oldies 106.1 the next time Charlotte is rated. Even if they don't go up a hell of alot the next time charlotte is rated, over the long term, I think an improvement will be seen.

If people would stop bashing the format, and just give it a chance, as well as be happy the oldies are back in Charlotte, then the ratings would really go up...

Traditional
 
Hey, trad!  Good ears, there is a difference between 106.1 and 95.7's music.  Now, about the ratings -- the last quarterly report that was released was the Fall of '07, but there are trends (cleverly named Arbitrends) that are released each month. 

Any ratings comment relative to the impact of 106.1's switch to Oldies over the past couple of months is, more than likely, based on the monthlies. 

The data from each of the 3 monthlies (Jan-Feb-March) is used to generate the ratings for the Winter '08 quarterly ratings.  April-May-June will comprise the Spring '08 quarterly ratings and so on.  Got it?

Now, your point about the change of format being reflected in the ratings is valid.  There is usually a lag of a few months before the true impact of a format change is reflected in the ratings.

Yugoidar
 
Yes yugoidar I got it! Thank you for kindly correcting my error when it comes to watching the ratings. My whole point is this. I have seen so much of: I am not sure the Oldies are going to make it on 106.1, I miss the Adult Standards, etc. I am just an individual that likes Oldies, hates seeing the format trash talked, or lowly rated by word of mouth or posts by other individuals on here. What I have been trying to do with this topic is make replies promoting WOLS, making good points about the station itself, and encouraging others to do the same thing. Now I know everyone here has the right to freedom of speech, and you certainly exercised that right yugoidar in your previous post by going out of your way to explain to me all of the little details of how a station in a particular market is rated. I am not interested in getting into a huge argument with you or anyone else on here. It would be nice if Oldies 106.1 would increase in the ratings, and I still think it will, but I guess we will just see what happens. I personally see no reason for me to comment any further on this topic, so I wish you all fun time talking about WOLS.

Traditional
 
No argument here, Traditional. Sorry, I was just trying to help. (It must have been the "Got it?")

I, too, am an Oldies fan and hated to see the demise of what I thought was, at one time (when owned by the Daltons), one of the best Oldies stations in the country.

Unfortunately, stations that use syndicated programming whether it be talk (O'Reilly, Hannity, Miller, et al) or music (Country, Oldies, Standards, etc.) as a rule don't fare well in the ratings of a given market.

With that historical perspective in mind, it's unlikely that WOLS will fare much better in the ratings than it's predecessor, WNMX. That being said, I would love to be proven wrong.
 
Yugo- if what you're saying is true, then WBT should be poorly rated during the noon-3p timeslot, Majik 94.1 should do poorly after 6 pm with Mike Harvey (well, not such a good example as they consistently score low ratings), and since virtually all of the Clear Channel programming is "syndicated" (meaning voicetracked locally or streamed in from other markets, and not live), they should all suck too. Obviously, I don't agree with your blanket statement. Even some years ago, Drake-Chenault formatted stations did very well.....
 
Hey Jack, you missed the qualifier "as a rule".  The examples I cited were, you'll notice, of the "satellite" syndicated variety.  There are far more examples of satellite syndicated programs that fail to garner an appreciable audience in a given market than there are success stories.

If you can cite specific examples of successful syndicated programming and stations besides the aforementioned and alluded to Rush Limbaugh, I'm open to hear them. Probably, the most successful syndicated show after Limbaugh is "Delilah".

In my mind, a CC jock who does a customized voicetracking session for an individual station or three is hardly syndicated.

Regarding, Drake-Chenault -- are you speaking of the stations Bill Drake consulted which were each staffed with live and local personalities (no syndication, except formatics and philosophy) or the automated reels of popular music that stations subscribed to?

While many of the stations he consulted were successful, I'm not sure the automated music service resulted in any stations that were great successes from a ratings standpoint.

I stand by my previous statement regarding the potential success of WOLS.  Time will tell.

Thanks, Jack.
 
I hope what I said didn't come off as bashing. Some 12+ numbers came out the other day and I didn't see much of an upward trend.

On the plus side I think the WOLS owners will give the format time to gain audience. I stand by my statement that they need to promote it more. I don't think the absence of local DJ's matters much. I doubt most listeners can tell the difference or that they even care sorry to say.
 
Yugo...you're quite welcome. No, I didn't miss the qualifier...however I heard loud and clear your summary dismissal of syndicated programming as being loser material. For the record..."custom voice tracking" isn't in the same league as live either. It serves the very same purpose as syndication- an effort to cut operating costs while maintaining an acceptable level of service to the public. I should also remind you that even tho the talent on those "syndicated" services isn't in the local control room, he or she is at least LIVE......and usually answers the phone....something that "custom voice tracking" can't do. Bash syndication if you wish, but has it's place, and works very well for it's intended purpose.

Most operators that use syndicated services are aware that they probably won't be a top 5 station, but who says you have to be top rated to be successful?
 
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