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Classic Hits is NOT Golden Oldies.

S

sharksfan

And it never will be.

Take a look at the 'What's Played' list for the HV Classic Hits station (WBPM) and tell me how this compares to a typical Golden Oldes playlist. http://www.wbpmfm.com/played.php

Here is a list of some of the artists heard on Classic Hits WBPM: http://www.wbpmfm.com/artists.php

Bryan Adams
Aerosmith
Beach Boys
The Beatles
Boston
David Bowie
Jackson Browne
The Cars
Chicago
Phil Collins
CCR
Doobie Brothers
The Eagles
Gloria Estefan
Fleetwood Mac
Genesis
Hall and Oates
Heart
Don Henley
Billy Idol
Billy Joel
Elton John
Journey
Huey Lewis
Paul McCartney
John Cougar Mellencamp
Steve Miller Band
Eddie Money
Robert Palmer
Tom Petty
The Police
The Pretenders
Rolling Stones
Bob Seger
Paul Simon
Simon and Garfunkel
Bruce Springsteen
Steely Dan
Rod Stewart
Talking Heads
The Who
 
While it might not be gold to many it could indeed be perceived as such by the 30 plus crowd. Remember that CBS FM will not be the previous oldies format. You will see many of the Jack elements mixed into this format to make this a viable format for younger folks as well as the older folks who liked the old CBS-FM. It's almost a compromise.
 
Look at all the 80's and rock artists on this list... are you sure this isn't the list of artists heard on the current 101.1?
 
Classic Hits is a name, just a name. It's used primarily because use of the word "Oldies" is anathema to agencies. YOu will see a very different playlist on CBS from that listed above. The Oldies format has evolved away from anything pre-Beatles in order to attract an audience a bit younger than previously. It's what's being done in San Francisco and at most all of the successful Oldies/Classic Hits stations now.
There are many stations calling themselves Classic Hits that are verging on Classic Rock. That's where the Classic Hits format(name) started. You'll see less and less use of the term Oldies and more of Classic Hits in the future.
Remember, a rose by any other name...and all that Shakespeare stuff.
 
DToTheJ said:
Look at all the 80's and rock artists on this list... are you sure this isn't the list of artists heard on the current 101.1?
Click to expand...

It does sound like a Jack format!! Relabel it and pass it off as "new", or in this case as "old"!
 
ulster co said:
And it never will be.

Take a look at the 'What's Played' list for the HV Classic Hits station (WBPM) and tell me how this compares to a typical Golden Oldes playlist. http://www.wbpmfm.com/played.php

Here is a list of some of the artists heard on Classic Hits WBPM: http://www.wbpmfm.com/artists.php

Bryan Adams
Aerosmith
Beach Boys
The Beatles
Boston
David Bowie
Jackson Browne
The Cars
Chicago
Phil Collins
CCR
Doobie Brothers
The Eagles
Gloria Estefan
Fleetwood Mac
Genesis
Hall and Oates
Heart
Don Henley
Billy Idol
Billy Joel
Elton John
Journey
Huey Lewis
Paul McCartney
John Cougar Mellencamp
Steve Miller Band
Eddie Money
Robert Palmer
Tom Petty
The Police
The Pretenders
Rolling Stones
Bob Seger
Paul Simon
Simon and Garfunkel
Bruce Springsteen
Steely Dan
Rod Stewart
Talking Heads
The Who
Click to expand...

I'd be willing to bet the ranch that most of the highlighted artists on this list won't receive airplay on WCBS-FM. Too much crossover with Classic Rock format.
 
Ok folks...for the last time:

Get over it!

I am a longtime "oldies" jock and programmer. I wish it wasn't this way. But advertisers and the agencies they use do not buy for the 55 and older crowd traditional "oldies" gets. And no amount of whining, griping or complaining or picketing on your part is going to change that.

When WCBS-FM was replaced by Jack, they were essentially, a classic hits station.

I am a boomer (granted, a younger one...I was born in '57). I just don't understand why some of my generation are so arrogant as to believe that "their" oldies is the "only" oldies. That's not sensible. And it's crap.

The people who grew up in the 70's and 80's deserve their moment in the sun...as some of my fellow older boomers had for 30 freaking years!

The music you love still lives on...on CD's by Time-Life (a great collection to have). And, just today, I understand WCBS-FM announced it will play some of the "classic" oldies on specialty and weekend shows.

Some of you just have to understand the realties of radio...as a business. Be glad the station is coming back in some form.

When WABC was in its' heyday, an "oldie" was a song that was about 3-5 years old. Today, that definition generally extends for a song that is 20 years old, or older. To a 30 something, an early Brian Adams or John Mellencamp song is an "oldie". That it's not to you is as irrelevant as this whole argument is.

Sincerely - a 50 year old radio programmer.
 
To quote a song that gets played on PLJ ad nauseum: "When did Motley Crue become classic rock?" ???
 
If Bryan Adams is an oldie, then maybe, polka is country. But I don’t think so. Oldies, by definition, at least the last time I checked in Philadelphia, means music reaching back to, including and encompassing the origins of Rock ‘n Roll. And that’s not just to the casual listener. That is pretty much the definition on the ground. Classic hits, is just that, homogenized and plainly vanilla, uninspiring, non exciting, sequentially, and predictably plain by standard play list definition. To qualify these music interpretations, I have never heard a listener say “Hey, I want to hear some classic hits”. When they want oldies, they ask for it by name, and seemingly, I would think, expect as much. Oldies by any other name, just, ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. Ya dig what I mean jellybean? Solid Ted, ‘nuff said.
 
You haven't been in Connecticut

102.9 DRC-FM in Hartford is the template for what the new CBS-FM should be.

I heard DRC-FM while driving to and from a New England vacation this spring. Their music? "Good Time Rock 'n Roll" from 1964-1989, local and regional hits included. When I tuned in DRC-FM I heard songs that were never played in New York. The DJs don't talk much but they don't act like Cousin Brucie wannabes. Result? DRC-FM is movin' on up into the top 5 in Hartford per the most recent trends.

The old CBS-FM had the WABC DJs but not the WABC hits. That's what sandbagged CBS-FM as an old people's station.
 
Songs from 80s artists such as Bryan Adams and John Mellencamp have been played on the radio ever since they have been currents...more so in the Midwest than NYC...but played somewhere in every market for decades. This dilutes the "oh wow I remember that from when I was in high school" impact 80s songs have.

Also, I believe Gen X is more cynical than baby boomers were. When baby boomers hear music from their youth they often feel an emotional bond with it, it was their music When Gen X hears 80s music they think of it more as product than the music of their life.

It will be difficult, if not impossible, for oldies stations to eventually play 90s songs because there was so much fragmentation in musical tastes by then...Hip Hop, Grunge, Boy Bands etc..less universal hits.

So it will be increasingly difficult for oldies/classic hits stations to simply drop their oldest titles and add newer ones to keep demos attractive.
 
Sam Lit said:
If Bryan Adams is an oldie, then maybe, polka is country. But I don’t think so. Oldies, by definition, at least the last time I checked in Philadelphia, means music reaching back to, including and encompassing the origins of Rock ‘n Roll. And that’s not just to the casual listener. That is pretty much the definition on the ground. Classic hits, is just that, homogenized and plainly vanilla, uninspiring, non exciting, sequentially, and predictably plain by standard play list definition. To qualify these music interpretations, I have never heard a listener say “Hey, I want to hear some classic hits”. When they want oldies, they ask for it by name, and seemingly, I would think, expect as much. Oldies by any other name, just, ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. Ya dig what I mean jellybean? Solid Ted, ‘nuff said.
Click to expand...

Hey...what do I know? I've only been on the air, employed full-time in broadcasting over 35 years!

This is just your opinion...not fact.

I don't think Bryan Adams is, by definition an "oldie". But I'm 50...not 30. Ask a 30 year old woman...she'll probably say it's an oldie. Because it is...to her. Not you. To her.

Classic Hits...vanilla? Non-inspiring? Again, your opinion. I guess that's why the Classic Hits station I program today on a rimshot signal is in the top ten 25-54 adults. Those songs are important to those listeners. They tell me that every single day.

Only someone with the extreme arrogance to assume that only "his" music is the one true music would not understand this.

But, again...what do I know? I've only worked in radio 35 plus years!
 
KevinFodor said:
But, again...what do I know? I've only worked in radio 35 plus years!
Click to expand...

Folks, keep in mind that Kevin is a well know programmer and talent from the Dayton area and a recognized professional.

(That is you, right, Kevin?)

Kevin has no horse in the NY race. And he is quite qualified to help those who do not understand the intracacies of programming and the demands of sales.

... and he is a lot more patient than I am!
 
Re: You haven't been in Connecticut

chuckydoll said:
102.9 DRC-FM in Hartford is the template for what the new CBS-FM should be.

I heard DRC-FM while driving to and from a New England vacation this spring. Their music? "Good Time Rock 'n Roll" from 1964-1989, local and regional hits included. When I tuned in DRC-FM I heard songs that were never played in New York. The DJs don't talk much but they don't act like Cousin Brucie wannabes. Result? DRC-FM is movin' on up into the top 5 in Hartford per the most recent trends.

The old CBS-FM had the WABC DJs but not the WABC hits. That's what sandbagged CBS-FM as an old people's station.
Click to expand...

Is Top 5 in Hartford really that big of a deal? Doesn't the market have only 9 full-power FM's and a handful of AM's?
 
Sam:

That's not my point. My point is "oldie" is in the ear of the beholder. What's an "oldie" to you isn't necessarily to someone 30 years your junior.

And that's what makes this continued argument so silly. If the music of the 50's and 60's is your favorite, by all means, love it! As a fan of this music myself, I can appreciate where you're coming from. But, understand the business realities of radio. We can't force advertisers to buy a demographic they outright refuse to buy. I think they're wrong. I think they're miseducated. But, that's the way it is.

That is why we have to create a product that the ad people will buy. And for today's generation of
25-54 year olds, that product is "Classic Hits".

Talk to one of the listeners to my Classic Hits station, and you'll hear the same passion that you have for "oldies". What do they tell me? "Finally, a radio station that plays my music!"

I've said it now for almost 20 years. Every generation has its' soundtrack. And for that particular generation, its' time has come.

I expect you'll still hear lots of the music you like on the new CBS-FM (and, as mentioned elsewhere on this thread, I don't have a dog in the New York fight...I'm in Dayton, Ohio). Plus, you'll still hear some of the timeless New York classics in special features and weekend programming. Frankly, that's a bigger present to you guys in New York than most stations in the midwest would be willing to offer. You're lucky.
 
Re: You haven't been in Connecticut

neo11 said:
Is Top 5 in Hartford really that big of a deal? Doesn't the market have only 9 full-power FM's and a handful of AM's?
Click to expand...

23 stations licensed inside the metro, and a bunch of stations that get numbers from peripheral markets. While Hartford is market 50, it is 38th in billing so is a pretty good radio market.
 
NEWSFLASH!

"OLDIES", as most of us have known it for the past 20+ years, is over. Every other radio format has evolved over the years with the Oldies format waiting until the last couple of years, for the most part.

What CBS-FM will be Thursday is a classic hits station- or, basically, hits from the late 60s into the early 80s.

So, is Bryan Adams Oldies? Of course not, but neither will CBS-FM when 1:01pm Thursday arrives.
 
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