Decade channels

[slipcue]

[email protected]

He wrote me back quickly and was very gracious and seemed to appreciate that the channel needs some TLC.

 

[radioman148]

[email protected]

He wrote me back quickly and was very gracious and seemed to appreciate that the channel needs some TLC.

Thanks. I will pass along my thoughts.

 

[qunewsguy]

Lou's the guy responsible for bringing the Beach Boys and Four Seasons back to 60's on 6 rather than having the groups split between there and 50's on 5. He's been in charge for about a month now, which explains some of the small changes. But I hope there are much bigger changes to come. A new responsive guy in charge is nice, but without some major overhauls it will mean nothing.

 

[radioman148]

Lou's the guy responsible for bringing the Beach Boys and Four Seasons back to 60's on 6 rather than having the groups split between there and 50's on 5. He's been in charge for about a month now, which explains some of the small changes. But I hope there are much bigger changes to come. A new responsive guy in charge is nice, but without some major overhauls it will mean nothing.

Agreed. I wonder if Mel will let him do what needs to be done?

 

[CTListener]

Lou's the guy responsible for bringing the Beach Boys and Four Seasons back to 60's on 6 rather than having the groups split between there and 50's on 5. He's been in charge for about a month now, which explains some of the small changes. But I hope there are much bigger changes to come. A new responsive guy in charge is nice, but without some major overhauls it will mean nothing.

Agreed. I wonder if Mel will let him do what needs to be done?

IIRC, Mel once said in an interview that he doesn't listen to music, not even on his own radio service. He's all news and business. The music channels are ad-free, and Mel's all about maximizing ad revenue, so why would he be interested in micromanaging them? I'd think the call on how far Simon can go on '60s on 6 will be up to Steve Blatter, the new VP of music programming who's replacing Jon Zellner, who's off to Clear Channel.

 

[jtudor]

IIRC, Mel once said in an interview that he doesn't listen to music, not even on his own radio service. He's all news and business. The music channels are ad-free, and Mel's all about maximizing ad revenue, so why would he be interested in micromanaging them? I'd think the call on how far Simon can go on '60s on 6 will be up to Steve Blatter, the new VP of music programming who's replacing Jon Zellner, who's off to Clear Channel.

Good riddance to Zellner, his mentality fits the evil Clear Channel perfectly. His idea of variety pretty much makes me sick.

 

[Oldies man]

And as far as creativity and originality goes, Terry Young's pre-merger Friday afternoon salute to 60 Top 40 stations with jingles, commercials was great listening. I also got the feeling that Terry's testostorone level spiked while he was doing this shift. After they put Terry on evenings, he seems like he's on auto pilot with the 8 -11 year old kids calling in.

 

[radioman148]

And as far as creativity and originality goes, Terry Young's pre-merger Friday afternoon salute to 60 Top 40 stations with jingles, commercials was great listening. I also got the feeling that Terry's testostorone level spiked while he was doing this shift. After they put Terry on evenings, he seems like he's on auto pilot with the 8 -11 year old kids calling in.

It's so sad how they've destroyed the 60s channel. Terry Young has been neutered & Flash Phelps hardly says anything in the morning.
The Top six on the hour was a fun feature. How much could that have cost as it was pre recorded?

 

[wxman76]

Given the fall of the decades channels as of late, I doubt we will see the return of "IT" anytime soon. Last year, it was ruined when it was turned into 'The best of "IT"', a scaled down version pretty much playing the same songs that they play daily anyways.

 

[radioman148]

Given the fall of the decades channels as of late, I doubt we will see the return of "IT" anytime soon. Last year, it was ruined when it was turned into 'The best of "IT"', a scaled down version pretty much playing the same songs that they play daily anyways.

"IT" was great in its original form. I doubt we'll ever hear it again based on the way they run the decades channel.

 

[storrs19]

Agreed. Being the lover of obscure music that I am "IT" was awesome in it's original form. I heard some great songs from my favorite period of 1966-1973 that I had not heard in 20 years or more and some I ahd never heard. Sadly we will never have that again as all we hear now are the same old tired and true hits on any decade channel. This merger has ruined satellite radio IMHO.

 

[radioman148]

Agreed. Being the lover of obscure music that I am "IT" was awesome in it's original form. I heard some great songs from my favorite period of 1966-1973 that I had not heard in 20 years or more and some I ahd never heard. Sadly we will never have that again as all we hear now are the same old tired and true hits on any decade channel. This merger has ruined satellite radio IMHO.

I totally agree.

 

[Oldies man]

It's called competition gentlemen. It's no different than it was back in the 60's. Markets with 2 or 3 Top 40 rockers would produce great Top 40 programming as they knocked each other out trying to win that Hooper share. Pre-merger, we heard some pretty good programming that blew away terrestrial radio. Now post-merger, we're analogous to a small town market back in the 60's with only one Top 40 rocker. They could do what they wanted because where else would the target audience go? The only difference is now we are paying for this mediocrity. Back then we would wait for sunset to start DX'g.

 

[radioman148]

It's called competition gentlemen. It's no different than it was back in the 60's. Markets with 2 or 3 Top 40 rockers would produce great Top 40 programming as they knocked each other out trying to win that Hooper share. Pre-merger, we heard some pretty good programming that blew away terrestrial radio. Now post-merger, we're analogous to a small town market back in the 60's with only one Top 40 rocker. They could do what they wanted because where else would the target audience go? The only difference is now we are paying for this mediocrity. Back then we would wait for sunset to start DX'g.

You hit the nail on the head!

 

[udfan07]

It's also philosophy. Sirius always concentrated on the music. Yes it wasn't all of the 60's hits they played but it was the well known ones. XM wanted to bring you back to the 60's with jingles and other things and they played all the hits of the 60's.

 

[radioman148]

It's also philosophy. Sirius always concentrated on the music. Yes it wasn't all of the 60's hits they played but it was the well known ones. XM wanted to bring you back to the 60's with jingles and other things and they played all the hits of the 60's.

XM played a wider variety of music from the 60s.

 

[CTListener]

It's also philosophy. Sirius always concentrated on the music. Yes it wasn't all of the 60's hits they played but it was the well known ones. XM wanted to bring you back to the 60's with jingles and other things and they played all the hits of the 60's.

XM played a wider variety of music from the 60s.

Right, and Sirius' philosophy was to play the best-known, best-loved (by the mass public, not the oldies specialists) hits of the decade, without commercials -- basically a commercial-free version of an FM oldies station, minus songs from preceding and succeeding decades.

I think the thinking was that Sirius could concede the "oldies geeks" to XM early on and make up ground as the broad masses began to check out satellite radio. Sadly (for I'm sort of an oldies geek myself), Sirius was right, as its steady erosion of XM's subscriber lead -- well after the "Stern effect," by the way -- before Sirius ultimately bought out XM shows.

Now, of course, the combined company has lost subscribers for two straight quarters. Some of those deserters -- a couple of thousand, maybe -- could be "oldies geeks" abandoning satellite radio, but I have a feeling that the mini-Depression we've been in for the past year, along with the "cool technology" vibe associated with the iPod (which, unlike satellite radio, works in the mountains, in the shadow of tall buildings, and underneath a canopy of leafy tree branches) might have more to do with it.

 

[Tony_Ramirez]

I went away to my Aunt and Uncles house in the Poconos where I have no access to TV or Internet. I listened to most of the radio. By the end of the week I wanted to throw my Inno out the window. The 80's channel plays the same songs over and over again. If I hear Blondie - The Tide or Tears for Fears Shout again. I was going to scream. I go up there a few times a year and last year when we had the XM version of The 80's I can listen for hours. Now I can't even have it on for 5 minutes before I want to throw my radio out the window. I ended up listen to my iPod more.

 

[RadioStarOne]

Is that an improving variety of 60's music I hear on the 60's on 6? Just Asking!

 

[drt]

Is that an improving variety of 60's music I hear on the 60's on 6? Just Asking!

I was about to ask the same question; over the last 3 weeks or so, I've noticed some very subtle changes. (not enough changes, fast enough..but things seems to be going in the right direction)

I've have heard some of the more obscure songs that I hadn't heard since last November. ("Meet Me at Midnight, Mary" is one example).

Perhaps., Sirius/XM is reluctlantly listening and taking baby steps....... or maybe the people on the air/voice-tracking are tired of playing and hearing the same short play-list.

drt