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Clear Channel Classic Hits

C

carolinaradio

Has anyone noticed that lately, Clear Channel seems to be more interested in the classic hits/60s, 70s, and 80s format? In the past couple of years, they have either launched or re-branded:

Oldies 103.7 in San Fransisco (KKSF, flipped in April 2011)
Oldies 95.7 in Milwaukee (WRIT, never really quit playing older music, but kept changing styles/positioner, changed name in December 2010)
Magic 107.3 in Jacksonville (WJGH, flipped August 2010)
Magic 105.3 in Virginia Beach (WVMA, flipped October 2010)
Big 106.5 in Dayton (rimshot, WDSJ, flipped March 2010)
Oldies 103.3 in St. Louis (was 103.3 KLOU as oldies for years, then 80s Rewind 103.3 briefly, then to Oldies 103.3 a couple of months ago)

Am I missing any? I think this is notable because especially in the mid-2000s, CC seemed to be one of the least interested corporate companies in any oldies/classic hits/whatever format, way less than Citadel, Cumulus, or CBS...but in the past couple of years, their interest in the format has definitely increased. Of course, they have successful ones like Magic 105.7 in Cleveland, Kool 107.9 in Minneapolis, and Oldies 106.7 in Portland that have done well for a long time (well maybe not KLTH, but they do now).

Thoughts?
 
CC is ONLY interested in Oldies because it shows up incredibly well in PPM markets. Otherwise, not sexy enough for them. However, money is sexy so they're all in in those PPM markets.
 
Al Timiter said:
CC is ONLY interested in Oldies because it shows up incredibly well in PPM markets. Otherwise, not sexy enough for them. However, money is sexy so they're all in in those PPM markets.
Click to expand...

Clear Channel sure didn't like oldies in Chicago, but they did have a lousy signal there.
 
radioman148 said:
Clear Channel sure didn't like oldies in Chicago, but they did have a lousy signal there.
Click to expand...

Went EVERYWHERE at night though. :D

a Rather Notable Clear Channel Classic Hits station is
KVNS "Classic 1700" Brownsville. With a signal that goes right into Europe.
 
LibertyNT said:
radioman148 said:
Clear Channel sure didn't like oldies in Chicago, but they did have a lousy signal there.
Click to expand...

Went EVERYWHERE at night though. :D

a Rather Notable Clear Channel Classic Hits station is
KVNS "Classic 1700" Brownsville. With a signal that goes right into Europe.
Click to expand...

I liked WRLL when they played oldies on 1690. Too bad they didn't make it. Regarding KVNS I believe there is a video on "YouTube" of someone listening to them in the UK.
 
and they are generally doing very well with the format...Portland, St Louis, Milwaukee etc. Excellent ratings.

Interesting that calling a station "oldies" was taboo not that long ago. Few would have predicted the name would make a comeback (on CC stations in particular) But it works extremely well, "Oldies" has a clear identity and is easy to understand. The music itself is 70s based classic hits, but to the listener who grew up in that era it's oldies.
 
I still think if WRLL had a better local signal in the Chicago area they would have done much better, but CC gave them their "throw away" 1690 frequency.
 
Clear Channel is interested in amy format that will make them money. They would play Polka music if they could sell it.
 
carolinaradio said:
Looks like CC's 93.3 FM in Columbus, OH (currently AC as WLZT) will go "Oldies 93.3" tomorrow morning.
Click to expand...

Clear Channel's WLZT Columbus, OH became Oldies 93.3 at 9:00 AM this morning. They claim to play music from the 60's, 70's & 80's. Have listened for a couple of hours now and haven't heard one 80's song. Mostly 70's with some late 60's. Reminds me a lot of Majic 105.7 in Cleveland.

My question is this. Anyone else notice that these stations are starting to brand themselves as "oldies" again instead of Classic Hits? Wonder why this is. I myself have always thought of the Classic Hits format to be more Classic Rock based. For example WSRV 97.1 Gainesville/Atlanta calls themselves Classic Hits but you will never hear anything like Motown on that station. It's artists such as Eagles, Steve Miller Band, Bachman Turner-Overdrive, etc.
 
Al Timiter said:
CC is ONLY interested in Oldies because it shows up incredibly well in PPM markets. Otherwise, not sexy enough for them. However, money is sexy so they're all in in those PPM markets.
Click to expand...

And we've been consistently hearing that the Oldies demo has one foot in the grave and the other tuning in to Lawrence Welk.

Could this possibly mean the old diary users weren't being accurate and Oldies was always more popular than conventional thinking would dictate?
 
"Classic Hits" stations were mostly classic rock-based (like Cox's Eagles, River, Big D.C., etc), but not as hard/personality-driven until the mid 00's when the oldies stations started dropping like flies. Around the time CBS-FM came back, CBS started calling their "oldies" stations "classic hits" and the other companies followed suit, it seems. Now, most "classic hits" stations are, like, CBS-FM.
 
Oldies/Classic Rock stations show up well in PPM because it is counting people that never listened before. For example: A lot of offices have such stations on in the background. A person might get into a friend's car with an oldies station on. You could even be in a store with an oldies station on. The meter will lock on to the signal. I don't see anything wrong with this. It is accurate. They are listening to the station if they want to or not.
 
People are listening to car alarms and neighbors yelling etc, whether they want to or not.

It makes no sense to use availability of sound as a metric.

I don't call that measuring listening, the PPM measures "exposure to certain digitally tagged sounds" only.

Sure do wish marketing methods didn't use shady distractions, and the radio biz didn't
have to define formats with names.

Why not apply format category names to television stations? It makes as much sense.

Now I believe the ratings are even less meaningful because they remove the element of choice.

If this were a survey, they "question" would be:

"If your radio got stuck on one station, and the volume were stuck on medium,
which one would be the least objectionable/most acceptable to you and most of the people
exposed to it?"

Boring and mellow wins every time for marketing purposes.
Go thou, be dull and predictable. ::)
 
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