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Could Infinity Be About To Flip Several Oldies Stations To "Jack"??

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation (especially after their program director and a couple of announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may be flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.

That may not be the only one.

Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's remaining oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston, WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1 Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or even all at the same time (Remember that former Infinity-owned oldies stations WCBS-101.1 New York and WJMK-104.3 Chicago were both flipped to "Jack" at the very same instant!), perhaps or, around, or just after Labor Day??

Of course, the "Jack" option is not available in Los Angeles, where former classic rocker KCBS-FM went "Jack" instead of oldies station KRTH-101.1. But maybe KRTH might be flipped to something else (Hurban??).

Several of these Infinity olides stations had good Spring Arbitron books and did well in the first "phase" of the Summer book. But that may no longer be good enough for these stations to stay as oldies outlets. Could Infinity have decided to drop the oldies format from those company stations that program it??
 
> Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation
> (especially after their program director and a couple of
> announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may be
> flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.
>
> That may not be the only one.
>
> Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's remaining
> oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston,
> WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1
> Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or
> even all at the same time (Remember that former
> Infinity-owned oldies stations WCBS-101.1 New York and
> WJMK-104.3 Chicago were both flipped to "Jack" at the very
> same instant!), perhaps or, around, or just after Labor
> Day??
>
> Of course, the "Jack" option is not available in Los
> Angeles, where former classic rocker KCBS-FM went "Jack"
> instead of oldies station KRTH-101.1. But maybe KRTH might
> be flipped to something else (Hurban??).
>
> Several of these Infinity olides stations had good Spring
> Arbitron books and did well in the first "phase" of the
> Summer book. But that may no longer be good enough for these
> stations to stay as oldies outlets. Could Infinity have
> decided to drop the oldies format from those company
> stations that program it??
>



In several of the markets you mention Variety Hits stations already exist. Even if Infinty feels Jack is superior to the imitations, I would be surprised to see them do it.

If San Francisco ends up being an exception, perhaps it's because Bonneville's "Max" is doing so poorly. Infinity may figure that so few listeners in the Bay area "know Max" that Jack will be their first and only exposure to Variety Hits.
 
Jack = Oldies 3.0

Oldies 1.0 (Now called Real Oldies). 60's and Late 50's. Fairly long playlist. Personality jocks from AM Top 40.

Oldies 2.0. 70's and Late 60's. Tighter playlists. Less jock talk.

Oldies 2.5 More emphasis on Motown, Soul and/or Disco.

Oldies 2.9 (Sunny - Jack getting in touch with his feminine side). Even less jock talk. Generally female jocks. Some 80's music. More emphasis on AC cross-over oldies.

Oldies 3.0 (Jack, etc). Move the time-frame forward (again), bring in the 80's. Longer playlists, no jocks at all. Don't call it Oldies. For people in the money demos, oldies is what your parents listen to. Reposition the format to appeal to the mp3 post-boomer generation.
 
Oldies

None of the above (below) are Oldies, the way you've described them.
Oldies in the year 2005 is 60s & 70s hits in a fun, Top 40 presentation.
And, no, it's not any more complicated than that.


> Oldies 1.0 (Now called Real Oldies). 60's and Late 50's.
> Fairly long playlist. Personality jocks from AM Top 40.
>
> Oldies 2.0. 70's and Late 60's. Tighter playlists. Less
> jock talk.
>
> Oldies 2.5 More emphasis on Motown, Soul and/or Disco.
>
> Oldies 2.9 (Sunny - Jack getting in touch with his feminine
> side). Even less jock talk. Generally female jocks. Some
> 80's music. More emphasis on AC cross-over oldies.
>
> Oldies 3.0 (Jack, etc). Move the time-frame forward
> (again), bring in the 80's. Longer playlists, no jocks at
> all. Don't call it Oldies. For people in the money demos,
> oldies is what your parents listen to. Reposition the
> format to appeal to the mp3 post-boomer generation.
>
 
> Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation
> (especially after their program director and a couple of
> announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may be
> flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.
>
> That may not be the only one.
>
> Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's remaining
> oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston,
> WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1
> Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or
> even all at the same time (Remember that former

Sent to the program director at Oldies 103 (Boston)

I have noticed that FM oldies stations in NY and LA have converted from Oldies to a Jack format,and many folks say Boston is next.
The concept sounds like a good idea but the uniqueness of the station would be gone.


I like and enjoy the music currently played at WODS but the playlist is WAY TOO TIGHT!
You claim to play the greatest hits of the 60s and 70s but where are the pre-64 classics?
Where's Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven? Where's Chubby checker's The Twist? Where's Rock Around The clock? Why only the 3 minute version of Light My Fire when folks would seem to prefer the 7 minute LP version,but you have no gripes with a 7 minute version of Hey Jude? Why only place Dancing Queen when's theres also Mamma Mia,SOS,and Waterloo just to name 3? Why only Get down tonight (and the 3 minute edit at that when there's an excellent 5 minute version) and not shake Your Booty,That's the Way I Like It,I'm Your Boogie Man,Keep it Comin Love,Please don't Go,and Give It Up?


It seems like all that get played generally are songs from the current Freedom 400.
20 years 400 songs that's like 20 songs a year on average. (25 if you cut 60-63)


The dream idea to really makes things competitive would be to ADD all the "jack" tunes but keep the oldies keep the announcers and add even more. Blend in songs from the Lost 45s during the week. This would result in an WODS with GREAT jocks, jingles, elements AND the most massive playlist in Boston.


Please feel free to comment.
 
> Of course, the "Jack" option is not available in Los
> Angeles, where former classic rocker KCBS-FM went "Jack"
> instead of oldies station KRTH-101.1. But maybe KRTH might
> be flipped to something else (Hurban??).

We may have to wait a little bit on KRTH as they, as you know, just tweaked their format injecting a lot more 70s titles.
BTW channel surfing lst night and Shotgun Tom was playing "Fooled Around and Fell In Love"(1976) and switched over to 93.1 Jack-FM and 30 minutes later heard the same song. BTW BOTH stations played the edited 45 version (yuch)
 
> Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation
> (especially after their program director and a couple of
> announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may be
> flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.
>
> That may not be the only one.
>
> Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's remaining
> oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston,
> WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1
> Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or
> even all at the same time (Remember that former
> Infinity-owned oldies stations WCBS-101.1 New York and


WOMC and WGRR are top performers, unlike WJMK. WCBS billed top 5 in the country for 2004. Jury's still out on that move. I say if it's billing a sh*tload of $$$, then leave it alone.

I don't see Infinity flipping WGRR or WOMC. Not to mention there's already at least one, if not two, variety hits formats in those markets.<P ID="signature">______________
Everyone is entitled to my opinion.</P>
 
Oldies To "Jack"?

Not true. L.A. was a classic hits station. Boston already has a Variety Hits (Jack) station, Mike FM.
>
> I have noticed that FM oldies stations in NY and LA have
> converted from Oldies to a Jack format,and many folks say
> Boston is next.
> The concept sounds like a good idea but the uniqueness of
> the station would be gone.

>
 
> Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation
> (especially after their program director and a couple of
> announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may be
> flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.
>
> That may not be the only one.
>
> Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's remaining
> oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston,
> WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1
> Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or
> even all at the same time (Remember that former
> Infinity-owned oldies stations WCBS-101.1 New York and
> WJMK-104.3 Chicago were both flipped to "Jack" at the very
> same instant!), perhaps or, around, or just after Labor
> Day??
>
> Of course, the "Jack" option is not available in Los
> Angeles, where former classic rocker KCBS-FM went "Jack"
> instead of oldies station KRTH-101.1. But maybe KRTH might
> be flipped to something else (Hurban??).
>
> Several of these Infinity olides stations had good Spring
> Arbitron books and did well in the first "phase" of the
> Summer book. But that may no longer be good enough for these
> stations to stay as oldies outlets. Could Infinity have
> decided to drop the oldies format from those company
> stations that program it??
>

Why do you have to post this kind of speculation? Most of those stations are doing VERY well, and there's already Variety Hits stations in those cities. Please, give it up!
 
I love the idea of JACK-length Oldies playlists but I have to disagree with you on song versions. I grew up with Top 40 Radio, and with the vast majority of hits, I prefer the short single version. Sure, Lep Zep's "Stairway" shouldn't be touched, and it's insane for any oldies station to play the short "American Pie" (KLDE in Houston does), but I like most short versions. Too many long songs on oldies radio are boring, especially back-to-back. The short "Amie", the version played on top 40 in 1975, is MUCH better than the long one.




> Sent to the program director at Oldies 103 (Boston)
>
> I have noticed that FM oldies stations in NY and LA have
> converted from Oldies to a Jack format,and many folks say
> Boston is next.
> The concept sounds like a good idea but the uniqueness of
> the station would be gone.
>
>
> I like and enjoy the music currently played at WODS but the
> playlist is WAY TOO TIGHT!
> You claim to play the greatest hits of the 60s and 70s but
> where are the pre-64 classics?
> Where's Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven? Where's Chubby
> checker's The Twist? Where's Rock Around The clock? Why only
> the 3 minute version of Light My Fire when folks would seem
> to prefer the 7 minute LP version,but you have no gripes
> with a 7 minute version of Hey Jude? Why only place Dancing
> Queen when's theres also Mamma Mia,SOS,and Waterloo just to
> name 3? Why only Get down tonight (and the 3 minute edit at
> that when there's an excellent 5 minute version) and not
> shake Your Booty,That's the Way I Like It,I'm Your Boogie
> Man,Keep it Comin Love,Please don't Go,and Give It Up?
>


>
>


>
>

>
 
> > Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation
> > (especially after their program director and a couple of
> > announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may
> be
> > flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.
> >
> > That may not be the only one.
> >
> > Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's
> remaining
> > oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston,
> > WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1
> > Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or
> > even all at the same time (Remember that former
> > Infinity-owned oldies stations WCBS-101.1 New York and
> > WJMK-104.3 Chicago were both flipped to "Jack" at the very
>
> > same instant!), perhaps or, around, or just after Labor
> > Day??
> >
> > Of course, the "Jack" option is not available in Los
> > Angeles, where former classic rocker KCBS-FM went "Jack"
> > instead of oldies station KRTH-101.1. But maybe KRTH might
>
> > be flipped to something else (Hurban??).
> >
> > Several of these Infinity olides stations had good Spring
> > Arbitron books and did well in the first "phase" of the
> > Summer book. But that may no longer be good enough for
> these
> > stations to stay as oldies outlets. Could Infinity have
> > decided to drop the oldies format from those company
> > stations that program it??
> >
>
> Why do you have to post this kind of speculation? Most of
> those stations are doing VERY well, and there's already
> Variety Hits stations in those cities. Please, give it up!
>

This is a radio message board. Joe and everyone else can speculate all they want. Besides, WCBS FM was doing well and they flipped. <P ID="signature">______________
Check my website www.freewebs.com/radiostuffandnews
</P>
 
> In several of the markets you mention Variety Hits stations
> already exist. Even if Infinty feels Jack is superior to the
> imitations, I would be surprised to see them do it.

Chicago arguably had one before they put Jack there. I think they feel confident enough in the brand (and they probably should, since it's already became the common name for a format as a whole) to put Jack in markets where someone else already has another flavor of Variety Hits.

>
> If San Francisco ends up being an exception, perhaps it's
> because Bonneville's "Max" is doing so poorly. Infinity may
> figure that so few listeners in the Bay area "know Max" that
> Jack will be their first and only exposure to Variety Hits.
>
 
You got one thing wrong though, WCBS-FM 101.1 & WJMK 104.3 Are still owned & Operated By Infinity Broadcasting. But that would be terrible if Infinity did decide to do this to all their oldies stations at once. Ever since they did it to my favorite oldies station CBS-FM nothing surprises me anymore with Infinity.
> Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation
> (especially after their program director and a couple of
> announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may be
> flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.
>
> That may not be the only one.
>
> Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's remaining
> oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston,
> WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1
> Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or
> even all at the same time (Remember that former
> Infinity-owned oldies stations WCBS-101.1 New York and
> WJMK-104.3 Chicago were both flipped to "Jack" at the very
> same instant!), perhaps or, around, or just after Labor
> Day??
>
> Of course, the "Jack" option is not available in Los
> Angeles, where former classic rocker KCBS-FM went "Jack"
> instead of oldies station KRTH-101.1. But maybe KRTH might
> be flipped to something else (Hurban??).
>
> Several of these Infinity olides stations had good Spring
> Arbitron books and did well in the first "phase" of the
> Summer book. But that may no longer be good enough for these
> stations to stay as oldies outlets. Could Infinity have
> decided to drop the oldies format from those company
> stations that program it??
>
 
> I love the idea of JACK-length Oldies playlists
> but I have to disagree with you on song versions.
> I grew up with Top 40 Radio, and with the vast
> majority of hits, I prefer the short single version.

The 45 edit of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
by Diana Ross is a real train wreck--it can't
hold a candle to the majestic full version.


> ...and it's insane for any oldies station to play
> the short "American Pie" (KLDE in Houston does)...

Gee, I was hoping my oldies station wouldn't play
ANY version of "American Pie"--I am so sick of it.
Ditto for "Hey Jude." (Yes, I know dissing those
two heritage oldies is probably blasphemy ;-)
 
For a change of pace, they should drop Hey Jude for a while and play Revolution.

All right? ALL RIGHT!

>
> Gee, I was hoping my oldies station wouldn't play
> ANY version of "American Pie"--I am so sick of it.
> Ditto for "Hey Jude." (Yes, I know dissing those
> two heritage oldies is probably blasphemy ;-)
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
Re: Jack = Oldies 3.0

That sounds like a concept named at MIT.

> Oldies 1.0 (Now called Real Oldies). 60's and Late 50's.
> Fairly long playlist. Personality jocks from AM Top 40.
>
> Oldies 2.0. 70's and Late 60's. Tighter playlists. Less
> jock talk.
>
> Oldies 2.5 More emphasis on Motown, Soul and/or Disco.
>
> Oldies 2.9 (Sunny - Jack getting in touch with his feminine
> side). Even less jock talk. Generally female jocks. Some
> 80's music. More emphasis on AC cross-over oldies.
>
> Oldies 3.0 (Jack, etc). Move the time-frame forward
> (again), bring in the 80's. Longer playlists, no jocks at
> all. Don't call it Oldies. For people in the money demos,
> oldies is what your parents listen to. Reposition the
> format to appeal to the mp3 post-boomer generation.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
Oldiesmike 101 wrote:

> You got one thing wrong though, WCBS-FM 101.1 & WJMK 104.3
> are still owned & Operated By Infinity Broadcasting.

What I wanted to say is that WCBS and WJMK are former oldies stations, not stations once owned by Infinity.

Sorry for any confusion.
 
> Ditto for "Hey Jude." (Yes, I know dissing those
> two heritage oldies is probably blasphemy ;-)
>

The nice thing with "Hey Jude" is that you can fade it almost 3 minutes early and not miss a thing, not sure why more oldies stations don't fade it around 4-4:30 like stations did when it was new. That, "Hotel California" and "Year of the Cat" were good ones to backtime to the top-of-hour (remember when we had to do that?) because they had those choruses that went on forever.
 
Jack Chicago

It could also be argued they didn't really- "Nine FM" is on 3 mediocre rimshot signals and, other than the most geekish of radio geeks, Nine FM isn't much more than a hip college station (compared to Jack).

(and before the Nine FM cult starts yelling at me, please revisit the latest Arbitron ratings where they're barely above a half-point share and are ranked
#31 with about a half-dozen nothing AMs ranked above them).

>
> Chicago arguably had one before they put Jack there. I
> think they feel confident enough in the brand (and they
> probably should, since it's already became the common name
> for a format as a whole) to put Jack in markets where
> someone else already has another flavor of Variety Hits.
>
> >
> > If San Francisco ends up being an exception, perhaps it's
> > because Bonneville's "Max" is doing so poorly. Infinity
> may
> > figure that so few listeners in the Bay area "know Max"
> that
> > Jack will be their first and only exposure to Variety
> Hits.
> >
>
 
This seems to be a bad problem with oldies stations today. Lots of oldies stations are now The Greatest hits of the 60s and 70s which is good only if they play a big variety from 1960-1979. WTRY 98.3 here in albany ny is 60s and 70s too but they constantly plays the same 300 songs over and over sometimes you even hear the same song twice in one day which is annoying. What the oldies stations need to do now is get rid of their limited playlist and start rotating lots of 60s and 70s and even some good 50s and 80s ones too during their daily playlists. Another problem with WTRY they are mainly 1964-1974 which is no good at all a 60s and 70s oldies station is supposed to be either from 1960-1979 or 1964-1979 or going to at least 1981 with the music. This is the reason why many oldies stations in america are finding themselves in bad positions by playing the same tunes thinking thats all people who love oldies want to hear which is completely false.
> > Over on the San Fancisco board, there's much speculation
> > (especially after their program director and a couple of
> > announcers quit) that longtime oldies station KFRC-FM may
> be
> > flipping to "Jack" on or around Labor Day.
> >
> > That may not be the only one.
> >
> > Could Infinity be planning to flip several of it's
> remaining
> > oldies stations---not just KFRC, but WODS-103.3 Boston,
> > WOMC-104.3 Detroit, WGRR Cincinatti and WOGL-98.1
> > Philadelphia--to "Jack" all at around the same time?? Or
> > even all at the same time (Remember that former
>
> Sent to the program director at Oldies 103 (Boston)
>
> I have noticed that FM oldies stations in NY and LA have
> converted from Oldies to a Jack format,and many folks say
> Boston is next.
> The concept sounds like a good idea but the uniqueness of
> the station would be gone.
>
>
> I like and enjoy the music currently played at WODS but the
> playlist is WAY TOO TIGHT!
> You claim to play the greatest hits of the 60s and 70s but
> where are the pre-64 classics?
> Where's Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven? Where's Chubby
> checker's The Twist? Where's Rock Around The clock? Why only
> the 3 minute version of Light My Fire when folks would seem
> to prefer the 7 minute LP version,but you have no gripes
> with a 7 minute version of Hey Jude? Why only place Dancing
> Queen when's theres also Mamma Mia,SOS,and Waterloo just to
> name 3? Why only Get down tonight (and the 3 minute edit at
> that when there's an excellent 5 minute version) and not
> shake Your Booty,That's the Way I Like It,I'm Your Boogie
> Man,Keep it Comin Love,Please don't Go,and Give It Up?
>
>
> It seems like all that get played generally are songs from
> the current Freedom 400.
> 20 years 400 songs that's like 20 songs a year on average.
> (25 if you cut 60-63)
>
>
> The dream idea to really makes things competitive would be
> to ADD all the "jack" tunes but keep the oldies keep the
> announcers and add even more. Blend in songs from the Lost
> 45s during the week. This would result in an WODS with GREAT
> jocks, jingles, elements AND the most massive playlist in
> Boston.
>
>
> Please feel free to comment.
>
 
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