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Death of "New" River 97.1 to come sometime this summer???

  • Thread starter GoodTimesandGreatOldies
  • Start date

G

GoodTimesandGreatOldies

Guest
True Oldies 106.7 WYAY-FM and Randy and Spiff still continue to beat their old station in many key numbers. WYAY has such a larger and better playlist that 97.1. By the way, why do they still call themselves "new" after 4 years???
 
Good point, Mr. SBlack. 95.5 the beat has been in existance close to ten years now, according to my memory. I want to say 2000. It was Country WNGC formany. many years. That is CRAZY for station to be new for 10 years.
 
I think what is killing 97.1 is that they seem to play the same 50 songs over and
over and over. Tune in two days or two months later.........and you're right back
to where you left them. True Oldies plays a huge variety. How many times can
97.1 possibly play the Eagles HOTEL CALIFORNIA in 24 hours??? That song should
be played twice a week at most.
 
I totally agree with you!!!! Cox Radio did the SAME thing with 97.1 when it was Fox 97. They bought it in 2000, and reduced the playlist to less than 100 Oldies!!! D.J.`s at the station started to joke about their slogan not being "Good Times And Great Oldies" but rather, "Good Times And Eight Oldies". The listeners tuned out because they didn`t want to hear the SAME few Oldies over...and...over....and over.......again. No one by that time (late 2000-early 2003) could listen to Fox 97 for any length of time because of all of the repeats of the same songs. The station had been very popular under former owners Shamrock Broadcasting because of all of the Oldies variety. Now, they are killing the River the same way!!!!!! WYAY-FM 106.7 with their large and great Oldies playlist has really helped to kill off the river. What would REALLY be funny is if Cox brought back Fox 97 with an expanded playlist and tried to go face to face with WYAY-FM. I think WYAY would come out in front because they have Randy and Spiff. But, at this point Cox might do better with bringing back the Fox 97 name (which is still remembered by most) than still going with that same dried up "New River 97.1" crap. Cox kills themselves constantly on 97.1!!!!!!!
 
Ratings only matter somewhat it is billing that is the most important. Who is billing more, since both stations are ran rather cheaply.
No matter what Cox did to Fox 97, the format is struggling to bill nationwide and many oldies stations have died due to that. Many of those stations had the listeners to survive but not the ones advertisers want so the formats had to change.
 
Oldies stations have made a revival nationally when they are programmed correctly. Many of the ones that died, had VERY limited playlist. What Cox did to Fox 97 was shameful, and now they are doing it to 97.1 the River. WYAY-FM True Oldies 106.7 has an excellent LARGE playlist, the type that could have really saved Fox 97 years ago..... Great music will never die. Most of the 1950`s-early 1970`s Oldies are timeless, and so much better than alot of the junk being made today. The nice thing about True Oldies 106.7 is that they play Tons of Oldies. Even alot of the great ones from the 1950`s! Alot of these songs haven`t been heard in Atlanta since the old WLKQ-FM Oldies Lake 102.3 was playing them. Songs like "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvis (1956) that I heard on WYAY last night. And "Laurie...Strang Things Happen" By Dickie Lee (also played last night). I would bet that WLKQ was the last Atlanta station to play these songs.... Think goodness they are back!
 
Everyone on this thread is saying that the ratings are bad for the RIVER. Are you just saying this because you don't like the station? It looks like they had a good month in April.
 
In the latest PPM, WSRV just broke a million cume.

Yeah, they're failing, all right...
 
Rick Rose 2.0 said:
Ratings only matter somewhat it is billing that is the most important. Who is billing more, since both stations are ran rather cheaply.
No matter what Cox did to Fox 97, the format is struggling to bill nationwide and many oldies stations have died due to that. Many of those stations had the listeners to survive but not the ones advertisers want so the formats had to change.
Click to expand...
Oldies stations have also had to innovate, go deep and wide into the 1970s (most oldies stations today center their playlists around 1970s AM gold, not 1950s-1960s "golden oldies"), and break some taboos. These taboos included:

1) No Disco
2) No 80s, even if it is all 20-30 years old today
3) No New Wave
4) Must play core artists (Beatles, Beach Boys, Elvis, Motown) in heavy rotation
5) No Funk

When Fox 97 flipped to oldies in the late 1980s, the playlist was playing mostly 20-35 year old stuff (mid-1950s through the 1960s). If True Oldies had stuck with that same playlist, it would now be 40-55 years old. If Fox 97 had played 40-55 year old stuff back then, they would have been playing Tin Pan Alley, Big Band, the Andrews Sisters, etc.--in other words, nostalgia, not "oldies". True Oldies primarily plays 30-50 year old stuff--with some forays into the 1980s (Blondie! The Police!) and the 1950s. This playlist centers at least a full decade older than Fox 97's in its heyday, but still comes across to some as "too new".

Eventually oldies stations will have to go deep into the 1980s. Sean Ross had a good article about the song "Mickey" by Toni Basil, and why oldies stations (at least those sticking their toes into the 1980s) haven't picked that song up. It's 28 years old, has a "retro" feel, and is by all measures an upbeat, feel-good song. Is the beat too strong?

However, True Oldies has seen fit to break some of these taboos to some extent, giving them more playlist possibilities--which I would think would give them more cume, if not more TSL, by appealing to a larger audience than a traditional oldies format.
 
One taboo that still seems to remain, is that AC staples from the late 1970s/early 1980s (I'm thinking of Air Supply, Ambrosia, Little River Band, Christopher Cross, etc.) don't appear on oldies stations' playlists. Are they too soft? Or are they still too common on AC today, leading to too contemporary a sound? Or do they just not "mix" well (think of a segue from "I Get Around" or "Twist & Shout" to "Reminiscing" or "Ride Like The Wind"...ouch!)...but could that be addressed with proper playlist planning?
 
I totally disagree with Jabba 17. True Oldies 106.6 plays LOTS of 1950`s/1960`s Oldies. Listen to tem if you don`t believe me. The True Oldies Chanel is also very successful nationally. TO does play a number of songs from th 1970`s, but almost nothing from the 1980`s. At one point over a year ago, more 1980`s songs were played. They were almost ALL dropped, because of listener demand. As far as River 97.1, their playlist is about 50 songs over and ver and over again..... If someone enjoys hearingthe same old few songs over and ver again,more power to them. However, there is NO way that 97.1 River comes ANYWHERE close to sounding as good as WYAY-FM True Oldies 106.7.
 
GoodTimesandGreatOldies said:
I totally disagree with Jabba 17. True Oldies 106.6 plays LOTS of 1950`s/1960`s Oldies. Listen to tem if you don`t believe me. The True Oldies Chanel is also very successful nationally. TO does play a number of songs from th 1970`s, but almost nothing from the 1980`s. At one point over a year ago, more 1980`s songs were played. They were almost ALL dropped, because of listener demand.
Click to expand...
I didn't say they don't play a lot of 1960s oldies...but not many oldies stations really go that deep into the 1950s anymore.

Looking on yes.com (http://www.yes.com/#WYAY ) their playlist is about half-and-half 1960s and 1970s (eyeballing; I declined to tally them). On their "Top 100 Songs", the newest song I could quickly identify is "Don't Bring Me Down" by ELO at #55, from 1979. That is most definitely NOT a song Fox 97 would have played, at any time during their tenure as an "oldies" station--Top 40 97 FOX had an ELO fetish. I didn't see anything in my cursory search from the 1950s--the only Elvis song was "Suspicious Minds", from 1969.

Recent songs played included a couple of 1980s hits, "Centerfield" by John Fogerty (1985), probably because of the CCR connection, and a real eye-popper--"Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen (1980). But nothing (again, offhand) from the 1950s.

Disco was represented by "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy (1977).

Frankly, I was surprised to see more 1980s material than 1950s material, although there was very little of the former.
 
H
jabba17 said:
GoodTimesandGreatOldies said:
I totally disagree with Jabba 17. True Oldies 106.6 plays LOTS of 1950`s/1960`s Oldies. Listen to tem if you don`t believe me. The True Oldies Chanel is also very successful nationally. TO does play a number of songs from th 1970`s, but almost nothing from the 1980`s. At one point over a year ago, more 1980`s songs were played. They were almost ALL dropped, because of listener demand.
Click to expand...
I didn't say they don't play a lot of 1960s oldies...but not many oldies stations really go that deep into the 1950s anymore.

Looking on yes.com (http://www.yes.com/#WYAY ) their playlist is about half-and-half 1960s and 1970s (eyeballing; I declined to tally them). On their "Top 100 Songs", the newest song I could quickly identify is "Don't Bring Me Down" by ELO at #55, from 1979. That is most definitely NOT a song Fox 97 would have played, at any time during their tenure as an "oldies" station--Top 40 97 FOX had an ELO fetish. I didn't see anything in my cursory search from the 1950s--the only Elvis song was "Suspicious Minds", from 1969.

Recent songs played included a couple of 1980s hits, "Centerfield" by John Fogerty (1985), probably because of the CCR connection, and a real eye-popper--"Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen (1980). But nothing (again, offhand) from the 1950s.

Disco was represented by "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy (1977).

Frankly, I was surprised to see more 1980s material than 1950s material, although there was very little of the former.
Click to expand...

I wonder how many Connie Francis songs they play. did you know she was no 1 hit maker of the 60's.
 
RTibbs said:
I wonder how many Connie Francis songs they play. did you know she was no 1 hit maker of the 60's.
Click to expand...

Connie Francis doesn't show up on yes.com for WYAY, which is surprising considering her overwhelming success. But some other act I had never heard of--the "Beetles" or something like that--showed up three times. How DO they come up with that playlist? You would think with a 5000 song playlist Connie Francis would show up at least once.

On the way home tonight, somebody requested--and they played--"I Love Rock & Roll" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (1981). I guess this wasn't a listener that demanded that all the 80s be removed from the playlist.
 
I think that's why Randy & Spiff are far better in the afternoon drive than
the syndicated True Oldies at that time. The R&S playlist is a lot more
newer.........and features mostly songs from around 1969 to 1977.....
which the baby boomers who are now 45-55 can better relate to. I like
True Oldies but wish they would move the music bar forward a bit.
 
if you want a laugh, visit the RDU/GSO board GTAGO decided that every station up there WILL change format to oldies.

curtisinpa. yeah you're right, could be the same guy or maybe a clone.

i can't decide newb or troll.
 
I'm one of those people who loves music from the 60's, 70's and 80's but I don't like it when the 80's are mixed in with music from the 60's and 70's. I was listening to a station the other night and they went from playing a song by Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons to "Rock This Town" by the Stray Cats (worst train wreck I've ever heard).

I've also noticed a couple of stations that I listen too have dropped all of the 80's from their playlists and gone back to strictly 60's and 70's due to listener complaints and the fact that it was causing their ratings to suffer. One of the stations used to list themselves as the "Greatest Hits" but now they are the "Greatest Hits of the 60's and 70's".

As far as 97.1 is concerned I enjoyed listening to them the first week but after that I got tired of hearing Queen or the Eagles' "Hotel California" every time that I tuned in and removed them from my presets. I am still trying to figure out how so many people can continue listening and not get tired of hearing the same 300 songs that the River plays.

True Oldies on the other hand is a great station and I know that when I listen to them I'm always going to hear something I haven't heard in awhile or a song that I've never heard before. There have been many times when I hear a song and catch myself thinking "Oh WOW that's one I have forgotten about!"
 
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