Defining Adult Standards Radio

[oaktree]

There are just over 300 full-time "Adult Standards" radio stations in the U.S.

What I see here is a wonderful resource of great "definition" of what we, as broadcasters and, hopefully, listeners of this format, want and expect as a true example of a "companionship medium." (As it was ... and should be.)

I see lots of great songs (many I've incorporated in my format,) and am striving to bring a bright, familiar, melodic, adult sound back to a market saturated with Top 15 playlists, goof-ball syndicated FM talk, just as bad syndicated "all things for all people" satellite programming and non-relevant, non-local programming that's more about "shows" than "relating to the community/demographic through memorable, bright, fresh, music - news, sports and information.

I listen on my magic Roku Labs Internet Radio to a lot of "standards" radio. The problem with this format goes a lot farther than the doomsayers saying "No one buys this demo."

Wrong.

It's not about "just" the music. It's the perception of who we are and what we are. It's about "content" and most of all, it's about laziness.

That's right. Laziness, with a capital "L" in a lot of situations. No wonder this format is a dying art and AM a dying space of spectrum bandwidth.

We've gotten "complacent," (a nice word for "Lazy."

So many don't know their own markets, don't know the format outside of "favorites," don't know where the resources are to properly serve ONLY their demographic ... not what's playing in Peoria, Vero Beach and Spokane ... all at the same time.

We hire "newbie" sales reps, training them about "Radio" ... but not the speciality that is an "active, mature, money spending demographic" that doesn't mean "geriatric" or "eld" whatsoever.

We turn them loose to call on everybody and anybody ... and they get anxious when they hear, "What station? Never heard of you." And they leave to sell the CHR, AAA or Hot A/C across the street (or cluster.)

If they are adventurous, they will take a stab at talk or sports ... figuring it's "an easier sale." (It's not. Especially if it's not Local...a good word to replace "Lazy.")

No, we don't need high priced, big voiced jocks. Zillions in promotions, billboards, TV, etc.

We don't need satellite radio and it's promises that end up taking THOUSANDS of dollars a month of our inventory and is so homogenized, it's uncontrollable for any market change or any specific demographic base being attracted by each station.

You hear bland sounding automation with no information after 7 pm or all-night. You hear no local cohesion with promos. You see or hear "no benefits" that we, as broadcasters, try to impart to the very advertisers we seek to support us ... and who allow us to make a profit.

So, we cut, cut, cut and cut some more.

And we get constantly out of touch with our audience because we don't define it.

Music can only do so much.

So...what do you suggest we do?

Thanks... -oaktree-

 

[Chuck]

As best you can, I think you emulate the very successful MOR stations of the 1950's-60's and early 70's. There were some great ones.

The news departments most of them had are is going to be impossible to do at most budget levels I'm familiar with , but that does not mean you can't be local. Local sports always bring in numbers. Running PSA's for local events is a good way to endear your station to the community. Find local organizations you can partner with. We've had great success giving away dogs and cats for the local Humane Society. Very few people will react negatively to cute dogs and cats.

Do remote broadcasts. With wireless Internet and a laptop, it is easier than ever. I've found it is easy to record live into a laptop and then email the "remote broadcast" back to the studio's automation system. It is almost "live" and gives the perception of involvement. It is cheap to do. A small lightweight PA System for the bystanders and a laptop with a wireless Internet connection is all it takes. The big investment is time. Of course, you can always use a phone-in remote or even a cell phone. It does not have to be complicated or expensive.

The latest Radio World has an interesting article about using "Go To My PC" for live remotes. It's worth a read.

By the way, I'm not talking about remotes that are huckstering people to go to a car dealer for a free hot dog. You can do those if you want, but you will sound like every other station. Instead, do them for community events, and do them for free. Every community has these things. The "Walk For the Cure,” the Red Cross Blood Drive, The Alzheimer’s Walk, the downtown Christmas parade. These remotes don't need to be long. In fact, short is good. Do several 30-60 second reports from the scene. You can even pre-record part of it. People will appreciate your involvement in the community and eventually you'll get paid back.

You should also try not to sound like other stations in your area. When people tune in your station, they should know it is you, without looking at the dial. It is amazing how many stations sound the same for 10-15 minutes while they are in a stop set. It is hard to figure out the formats of a lot of major market stations if you are just pushing buttons. All the spots, liners and imaging pieces sound the same. Only a few songs are different.

I'm amazed how many people are actually surprised when they call my station "wondering" if we'd run a PSA for their organization, and I tell them "Sure!" I may be wrong, but I think being accessible wins a lot of friends.

 

[oaktree]

Well said, Chuck...

Now, how to get over the perception that, to advertisers/sponsors ... that your audience is "too old."

Ideas?

 

[Chuck]

Well said, Chuck...

Now, how to get over the perception that, to advertisers/sponsors ... that your audience is "too old."

Ideas?

How about starting out with local companies that happen to be owned by people in their 50's through 70's? There are a lot of them. They don't take a lot of convincing to be persuaded that people of their own age group are the folks they want for customers.

When I was 21, I thought that people who were 60 were "old farts." Now that I am 60, I don't think I'm all old at all. I suspect you will find that most people of "maturity" don't think of themselves as old, but they usually relate better to people of their own age group. That's a natural reaction, and you should take advantage of that. One of our sponsors recently lectured me that "Any business that ignores the over 50 crowd is simply being stupid." He went on to say "It is a big group and getting bigger all the time." I couldn't have said it better myself. Incidentally, I didn't coerce that comment out of him. He'd already figured that out for himself some time ago, and runs a very successful business. He’s a sharp cookie.

Most of my contemporaries are not going down easily. They buy Harley Davidson’s, go on trips, buy RV's, go to shows, enjoy community functions, eat out frequently and generally still like to do most of the things they've always done. They probably don't want tattoos or body piercing, and they have found that the singles bar scene isn't for them. Very few of them really want a date with a girl that could be their grand-daughter, although they might fantasize about it. They aren't dead yet.

The last time I was in San Luis, it looked to me like a really nice prosperous community with a relatively affluent population. There are lots of restaurants, wineries, concerts, festivals, and a good size college (Cal Poly?). It doesn't get much better than that for a station with this format. These people are your potential sponsors. If you position yourself as a "friend of the arts" you will win a lot of loyalty and listeners. The people who support various arts organizations are also the ones who are prime targets for many of your advertisers. They have money and are willing to spend it.

The best place I know of to start looking for sponsors is your local Yellow Pages. It's a great list of businesses. Just eliminate the ones that would have no appeal to your target demo and go from there. In fact, there is a "secret" about the Yellow pages that not too many people know. Almost everyone who advertises in it is paying too much for their ads and could get exactly the same results spending at least 50% less. Full page ads are sold to people with big egos, but they aren't much more effective than a "dollar bill" size ad. The cost saving can be substantial.

If your sales people will take the time to learn about this, they can actually become a lot more than time salesmen. The Yellow Page salesmen won’t like it, but they can become partners with your sponsors and actually help make their business succeed. One of the biggest objections most people have about radio advertising is that they say they don’t have the budget for it. It may be true that they don’t have additional money to spend, but a skillful account executive can show them how to get more results for the same (or even less) money than they are already spending. Most small businesses are too busy taking care of whatever it is they do, and don’t have a well though out advertising plan. As a result, they frequently overspend, or spend their budget on ideas that do not offer a good return on their investment. You can help them with formulating an over-all plan that happens to include your station. Properly done, it works well and everyone is happy. By approaching sales as a long term partnership, you will retain your customers and you will both grow together.

 

[dbdigital]

As you know, I've been arguing about the importance of the older demo till I'm blue in the...fingers (?).

The common response has been that agencies won't buy the over 50 demo. But I was thinking last night that if nearly all formats on commercial radio are formulated to reach certain younger demos (male or female) because that is where advertisers want to buy, why not eliminate commercial radio altogether? Have all radio become non-commercial and supported entirely by underwriting. All media conglomerates like Clear Channel would be not-for-profit agencies.

We know listeners hate commercials and that one of the great attractions to satellite and non-com stations is their lack of advertising. I'll bet listenership will soar if stations eliminated advertising altogether. It could certainly dry up much of satellite's audience.

Eliminating the need to attract ad dollars could very well result in more format diversity, such as Standards or MOR (or all surf music, etc.). It could also force big-media radio to be more responsive to the community, causing more local voices to be heard.

More than likely performance royalties will hit radio in the future but non-coms will be allowed a special, lower rate. Already they enjoy lower rates for webcasting.

Advertisers would be able to write off underwriting as a charitable contribution. Stations might still be able to sell web "partnerships" (read: advertising) as well as have stores for purchasing merchandise, something which non-coms are already doing.

It may be a crazy idea but...
db

 

[oaktree]

I like your "outside the box" thinking.

Of course, broadcasters who just checked their wallet after your interesting post just said, "What the ...?"

The problem is that how much "underwriting" would there be and how much needed to run a radio plant, say, the size of WLW or WCCO or WFAN or, well, pick 13,000 of them?

All those radio people out of work. Those AFTRA contracts eliminated because there would be no one to pay on them. All those sales "executives" selling cars instead of ads. Wall Street stocks, well, there wouldn't be any so, no shareholders to "invest" for profit.

Let's see, the power bill for a 50,000 watt blowtorch is __________ (fill it in. Add losts of $0000.s) Gosh, it would be all-volunteer radio.

And advertisers would, well, be advertising elsewhere, using potential radio ad dollars (like they do now,) in other media.

No. I don't see that this scenario will work.

No. But I do see a coming "thinning out" of the ranks of speculators & mere investors to make a buck, as radio becomes more dependent on what it isn't, apparently, getting right now ... those up-and-coming generations who don't need or "want" radio much anymore.

Just because 76% of the people listen to radio everyday, doesn't mean they "like" it everyday. And they listen, as we know, not as long as we'd like them to listen.

Radio, after all, isn't about 4 or 5 hour morning shows, or all night shows, or mid-days with at-home moms. People just don't have the time outside of 45 minutes on the way to or on the way from to listen to what THEY want ... not what WE want to give them. Sure, we listen at work, at home and at play. But we also look, listen and read a lot more than we did when radio was, well, our friend and companion.

No, there are plenty of other media diversions ... many of them electronic. We've stopped being "friends."

Until we as broadcasters start serving people and our individual communities and do so with talented and trained people who love the art called "radio" and all its facets ... you'll see less towers dotting the countryside of this country because ....

People just won't like us anymore. And then ... there will no radio. Period.

 

[dbdigital]

I like your "outside the box" thinking.

Of course, broadcasters who just checked their wallet after your interesting post just said, "What the ...?"

The problem is that how much "underwriting" would there be and how much needed to run a radio plant, say, the size of WLW or WCCO or WFAN or, well, pick 13,000 of them?

All those radio people out of work. Those AFTRA contracts eliminated because there would be no one to pay on them. All those sales "executives" selling cars instead of ads. Wall Street stocks, well, there wouldn't be any so, no shareholders to "invest" for profit.

Let's see, the power bill for a 50,000 watt blowtorch is __________ (fill it in. Add losts of $0000.s) Gosh, it would be all-volunteer radio.

And advertisers would, well, be advertising elsewhere, using potential radio ad dollars (like they do now,) in other media.

No. I don't see that this scenario will work.

No. But I do see a coming "thinning out" of the ranks of speculators & mere investors to make a buck, as radio becomes more dependent on what it isn't, apparently, getting right now ... those up-and-coming generations who don't need or "want" radio much anymore.

Just because 76% of the people listen to radio everyday, doesn't mean they "like" it everyday. And they listen, as we know, not as long as we'd like them to listen.

Radio, after all, isn't about 4 or 5 hour morning shows, or all night shows, or mid-days with at-home moms. People just don't have the time outside of 45 minutes on the way to or on the way from to listen to what THEY want ... not what WE want to give them. Sure, we listen at work, at home and at play. But we also look, listen and read a lot more than we did when radio was, well, our friend and companion.

No, there are plenty of other media diversions ... many of them electronic. We've stopped being "friends."

Until we as broadcasters start serving people and our individual communities and do so with talented and trained people who love the art called "radio" and all its facets ... you'll see less towers dotting the countryside of this country because ....

People just won't like us anymore. And then ... there will no radio. Period.

Those are all valid points. But there are many high-powered non-com stations on the air. For example, KKJZ in Long Beach (my neck of the woods) pumps out 30 kw, 24/7. How do they afford their electric bill? Plus the staff is paid and, from what I understand, paid well. Yes, they do have volunteers and interns and, in a way, this has helped form a bond between the station and community.

As for underwriters, well there are, of course, major corporations. But local businesses can be a rich source of funding, as they are for KKJZ. Keep in mind, individuals can and are regularly encouraged to send donations (admittedly, resulting in the annoying fund drives). Then there is the CPB and government funding (although, if every station went non-com I doubt the government would fund them all).

Salesmen and promotions people would become grant writers and fundraisers. Far more dignified, don't you think?

I grant you that this idea is not without problems. But as you observed radio ad sales are flat and declining and listeners are dividing their time among different media and seem to have no loyalty to any of them, especially radio.

Last week Inside Radio quoted this woman who is head of marketing for Proctor and Gamble who said that for them radio is "an after thought" and "not sexy." If I owned a station, those would be hard words to take. Do all major corporations feel that way?

Something needs to be done to bring money and passionate listeners back to radio. Maybe thinning out the speculators and radio property investors, as you observed, is an answer. As radio becomes less and less relevant to the public and advertisers, it becomes less attractive to investors and could result in a sell off or going dark. Stay tuned...

db

 

[BlueHen]

Something needs to be done to bring money and passionate listeners back to radio. Maybe thinning out the speculators and radio property investors, as you observed, is an answer. As radio becomes less and less relevant to the public and advertisers, it becomes less attractive to investors and could result in a sell off or going dark. Stay tuned...

Part I (This post is in 2 parts)

That’s the hurdle to get over. Radio is becoming less and less relevant, which is the direct result of the laziness cited in oaktree’s opening comments. The laziness is evident. Years ago, you would look forward to your favorite radio show, or find a certain comfort in hearing your favorite DJ’s voice. You would select your station and, for the most part, never venture away from that spot on the dial. Everything you wanted from a radio station was right there... news, weather, traffic, sports, jocks you would think of as friends, and, of course, your preferred genre of music.

That one spot on the dial has disappeared today. The laziness in programming has made us too quick with the scan button. Why? Everything sounds the same. If a song comes on we don’t like, that’s OK... we’ll just move on to the next spot until we land on one we do like. (Well, maybe ‘tolerate’ is a better way to put it these days). The point is, we’re not missing anything anymore when we’re not listening. The compelling reason to listen to one station over another is gone. So what if one station plays today’s hits with fewer interruptions, or 10 songs in a row, or more music and less talk. The twelve other stations in town do, too.

Chuck’s discussion of getting involved with the community cannot be over-emphasized. You need to put that compelling reason to listen back into radio. Your audience should want to return to your station for what it is; not as just another seek-n-scan stop in an endless hit parade. And what better way to find that compelling reason than to get over the laziness and go out into the community and tell them about you.

How to start? Well, this is all going to sound very idealistic, but if I were debuting a new station in the area, the first thing I would do is shoot for a unique identification, a type of “signature.” I’d come up with a new moniker, and not something like Kiss, Z-93, Unforgettable 100, or Bob-FM. It would need to have an association with the region. Here’s an example: Back in the ‘70s we had a station in the Philadelphia area, WUSL, which called itself “U.S. One.” The US1 was obviously not only a take on the call letters (using a small letter ‘l’), but also a reference to U.S. Highway Route 1 which runs through southeastern Pennsylvania from Trenton NJ into Maryland. I like that idea of using a local highway as you can have fun devising a theme around it. Where I live in southern NJ, U.S. Highway 322 cuts through the middle from the Delaware River to Atlantic City. It’s not always possible to do so, but you could match your call letters to your moniker. With a little imagination WEQQ could look like 322 – a backwards E and capital Qs in script. The station’s signature would be “Route 322,” thus anointing it with a local name. Given the frequency with which stations change their call letters these days, a name like Route 322 is easier to remember for the average listener.

Other themes of local interest can be used besides highways. oaktree has mentioned incorporating “vintage” in San Luis Obispo, in the heart of California’s wine country. That’s good because neither KIOI or KLOL would be available calls to play on Route 101, and Interstate 5 is probably too far east (Fabulous I-5??), but K-Jewel is already an established identity. Another example of a good signature with local meaning out that way in San Francisco is KABL (cable).

The mission statement for the station would be based on three principles: Differentiation, Awareness, and Fun. First, you want a sound to differentiate yourself from everything else on the dial. The texture of the music has to stand out among all the variations of contemporary, pop, rock, urban, even country and smooth jazz. It’s amazing how country has morphed into rock. Our country station is next to a rock station on the dial, and in the car I sometimes need to double-check the frequency to see where the scan button stopped. It’s hard to believe how you can think you’re listening to the rock station and it turns out to be the country station after all, but I have done exactly that. And smooth jazz has been called today’s easy listening. That’s a fallacy. I honestly cannot tell the difference between smooth jazz and Urban AC. To me, smooth jazz should be Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Michael Buble and Diana Krall, with some new age instrumentals thrown in now and then. Instead, it’s Babyface and Alicia Keys. Differentiation… Whether you like this format or not, a nice Sinatra song will certainly get noticed as you’re scanning the dial these days.

The station’s signature name could be used to describe the music. oaktree was concerned about the perception of the audience as too old. That’s why I would never use ‘adult’ or ‘standards’ in any description of the music, but simply refer to it as “Route 322 Music” using my example. Adult Standards is an industry term which isn’t used by the listening audience anyway. At least I’ve never heard anyone say, “Hey, I found this great adult standards station.” People who like this music would say something like, “I found a station that actually plays decent music.”

If a label must be put on the station, and I suppose there’s no getting around that, I see nothing wrong with Easy Listening. Nothing fancy; everyone knows what you mean, and it’s actually more encompassing than adult standards. People who don’t like it aren’t going to listen to it anyway, and it can only attract those whom the radio has left disenfranchised. Personally, I never understood how easy listening music got to be associated with only the older demographic, but unfortunately, that’s the stigma facing it. That’s as ridiculous as someone waking up on their 50th birthday and saying, “OK, that means starting today I listen to Frank Sinatra and businesses no longer want my money.” (Or, more appropriately, they want your money… they just don’t want you!) Chuck here has already alluded to what could be missed opportunities by ignoring this growing segment with money to spend.

For the same reason we prefer vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry, a person is drawn to a particular brand of music from an early age – pop, rock, R&B, country, jazz, classical – and those preferences can, and often do change over the years. Easy Listening is just another one of these forms and, for some reason, gets little or no exposure on the radio and thereby, little or no exposure to younger generations. I was fortunate to have gone to school when beautiful music stations were still on the air and, believe me, I can remember hitting the books with that music in the background. It just happened to be the music I preferred for studying. There was a time for disco, a time for Pink Floyd and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and a time for easy listening. Today those choices are severely limited. It’s interesting to note in one of the other threads, posters like dbdigital, ChrisInMI, and klutch00 are young guys who have discovered this music somehow, and they’ve said they know others their age have, too, so it shows the intrigue is still there.

Getting back to my example and the principle of differentiation, Route 322 Music would be a blend of all the songs we’ve discussed on this board, with an added twist. Include the easier side of country. There’s an untapped mix of music by the likes of George Strait, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis – mostly from the late ‘80s through the ‘90s and today that, if you ask me, are a better fit in an Easy Listening setting than today’s harder-sounding country formats. Some specific songs: “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait, “Look At Us” by Vince Gill, “Remember When” by Alan Jackson, “I’ll Be” by Reba McEntire, “80s Ladies” by K.T. Oslin, “Where’ve You Been” by Kathy Mattea, “Somewhere In My Broken Heart” by Billy Dean, “Love, Me” by Collin Raye, “Whiskey Lullaby” by Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss. I’ve made my own CDs with these types of songs mixed in with things like “Softly As I Leave You” or “Summer Wind” by Sinatra, “And I Love You So” by Perry Como, “Home” by Michael Buble, “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones, “Mary In The Morning” by Al Martino, “Portrait Of My Love” by Steve Lawrence, and “Beyond The Sea” by Bobby Darin, to name a few. Yes, it’s outside the box, but it’s different; it’s a way to keep the format from being perceived as old, and it prevents the station from being tagged as strictly adult standards, or the kiss of death to advertisers.

I mentioned previously you can have fun building a theme around that highway moniker. This would be an example. When these country songs are played, you could say something like, “Now here’s another song from the Route 322 countryside.” Or, preface a true standard such as Rosemary Clooney’s “Hey There” by saying it’s from the Route 322 Heritage Trail, then follow it up with Bette Midler’s new version. This works in reverse, too. On Jim Doyne’s Musical Memories show on WMT, I actually heard a version of Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” by Dolores Hope… yes, Bob Hope’s wife. And Steve & Eydie do a nice rendition of the Dionne Warwick & Friends hit “That’s What Friends Are For.” So, it’s not only Rod Stewart, Michael Buble, Diana Krall, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, and Queen Latifah recreating the great sounds of the past. The music on Route 322 is a two-way street, bridging old and new in both directions.

My own CD mixes don’t stop there. I really turn things upside down by including some instrumentals – Percy Faith, Henry Mancini (“Theme from The Molly Maguires,” “The Thorn Birds”), Paul Mauriat – check out his versions of “La Mer (Beyond The Sea)” or “San Francisco (Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair),” or all the Beatles’ covers by the Hollyridge Strings. These can form a nice bridge between pop and country or old and new if you’re concerned about the artists on the playlist being too varied. I also have some “melodious rock” thrown in (now there’s a new term) – for example, “Voices In The Sky” by the Moody Blues, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the Byrds, or “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac (the original, not the live version… I don’t care for live recordings as the audience applause is disruptive).

If you’ve read this far, I’m sure programming directors think this all sounds nuts. That’s because we’re too accustomed to having nice little labels on everything and putting everything in nice little boxes with neat little bows on top. Say what you will; all these songs flow nicely. Once in a while you need to untie the bow and peek outside the box.

Continued in Part II

 

[BlueHen]

If you’ve read this far, I’m sure programming directors think this all sounds nuts. That’s because we’re too accustomed to having nice little labels on everything and putting everything in nice little boxes with neat little bows on top. Say what you will; all these songs flow nicely. Once in a while you need to untie the bow and peek outside the box.

Continued in Part II

This post is Part 2 of 2

OK, back to Route 322. We have our identity and I think our sound quite differentiated. The second principle of our mission statement is Awareness. Be aware that the audience you’re trying to reach with this music probably gave up on radio awhile ago. They know there’s nothing there; they’re not scanning the dial every day hoping to stumble upon something worth listening to. So we need to let the public be aware of us.

There was one thing mentioned by oaktree I’m not really sure about… that you don’t need promotions and billboards, etc. That might be necessary. Again, all this is very idealistic, but I would launch an extensive advertising campaign. Billboards. But don’t be afraid to declare the Easy Listening sound. In fact, flaunt it with slogans such as “Good Music never goes out of style” or “Remember when your radio played Music? Hear it again.” If I saw something like this on a billboard, it would certainly get my curiosity up…
“Music for a Lazy Sunday Afternoon – Seven Days A Week.”

As Chuck so pertinently said, get “out & about” in the community. Public service announcements; remote broadcasts from local parades. Place an ad in the back of church bulletins. Mention what different churches are doing. Go to a different high school football or basketball game each week. Every Friday or Saturday have a “Scholastic Scoreboard” show for an hour. Cover all sports… soccer, field hockey, cross country. Have an interview with an athlete from a different school each week. Talk to the coaches, get their views on the other teams. Have the local sportswriter unveil the top ten teams of the week and his or her predictions for the upcoming games. Go to some restaurants and see if they’ll pipe your station in. Nothing’s more enjoyable than a nice meal with Nat King Cole or Johnny Mathis playing softly in the background. You won’t walk out with a headache as you do at some places.

Run a special show for 3 or 4 hours on Saturday nights hosted by one or more DJs from the old days of Top 40 radio in its heyday. You could have the same host(s) each week or rotating hosts. The key is to get someone well known in the area from years ago, most likely retired, or now in a different line of work. Called “Class Reunion,” the show would spotlight a graduating class year each week. For instance, 1965: The first 45 minutes or an hour would be devoted to songs and news stories from their freshman year of 1961-62; then 45 minutes or an hour each devoted to their sophomore year of 1962-63; junior year of 1963-64; and finally their senior year of 1964-65. During the show there could be talk of movies and television shows from the period, along with which schools had the top sports teams. The show would obviously serve as a showcase for upcoming class reunion announcements, with the possibility of remote broadcasts from actual reunions.

Place an ad in the paper. List the type of songs which can be heard on the station by printing something like “The Timeless 200” top easy listening songs of all time. This could be a Top 5 for a start: 1. Unforgettable; 2. My Way; 3. Mack The Knife; 4. Moon River; 5. When I Fall In Love. At the bottom, say “Those are what we found to be the most popular. Now we want to hear from you.” Then have a ballot for listeners to send in, listing their favorite 3 or 5 songs, male and female artist, and group, all to be unveiled at a later date. Of course, it should be available online as well.

Mention that the station is a work-in-progress. Then a couple times a day play a “Disc-carded Disc-covery,” found along Route 322… a long forgotten song not heard in years. These would all be listed online for listeners to vote on: (1) I like it a lot and want to hear it fairly often; (2) It’s OK and can be played now and then; or (3) It’s best left discarded, so don’t ever play it again.

All that should certainly take care of the Awareness principle of our mission statement. The last one is Fun. You can most definitely have fun with this format. For one thing, you can understand the words to the songs. Build upon that. Have contests. Invite listeners to call in, then read the lyrics to one of the songs from the “Timeless 200” list. The caller then needs to identify the name of the song to win a prize, such as dinner for two at a local restaurant. Here’s one: Read (don’t sing) “What do you get when you fall in love… a guy with a pin to burst your bubble.” The answer, of course, is “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.” Or have an “Instrumental Challenge” weekend. Play something like “A Walk In The Black Forest” by Horst Jankowski, a very well-known tune, but see how many people can actually name the title.

Bring back the old Chickenman serials. Play vintage jingles with your call letters from decades ago; maybe old commercials, too, if you’re allowed to.

Have a different “theme” for the first weekend of every month. One might be Songs with Colors. Feature songs with colors in the title. Have a countdown of 30, 40, or 50. Here’s a Top 10 for a start: 1. Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree; 2. Love Is Blue; 3. Blue Velvet; 4. Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White; 5. Roses Are Red; 6. A White Sport Coat & A Pink Carnation; 7. Green Green Grass of Home; 8. The Yellow Rose of Texas; 9. Band of Gold; 10. Little Green Apples.

For the Fourth of July, you could feature a countdown of places in the USA: 1. Georgia On My Mind; 2. I Left My Heart In San Francisco; 3. My Kind of Town (Chicago); 4. Moonlight In Vermont; 5. El Paso; 6. Battle of New Orleans; 7. Autumn In New York; 8. California Dreamin’; 9. Kansas City; 10. Theme from New York, New York.

For the first weekend of summer: 1. Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer; 2. Summer Wind; 3. Under The Boardwalk; 4. Summertime, Summertime; 5. Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.

Some other possibilities include Beatles songs (both by them and the countless covers by others), Originals and Remakes, Different Songs with the Same Titles, Movie Music, Songs with Numbers, Songs with Women’s Names, Country Crossovers….

So that’s it. Differentiation – Awareness – Fun. As oaktree said, it all comes down to laziness. There’s over 6 decades worth of good music out there. Don’t just let it die in a vault. Call me idealistic, but I believe it’s possible to make the advertisers want to seek you out.

 

[Chuck]

Those are some great suggestions. I know of one station where you will find a few of them implemented in the near future (if we aren't doing it already). I appreciate the effort and thought you've put into this.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a station in most major cities that actually did something similar?

The funny thing is this is really nothing new. It's just the way radio was on a lot of great stations back in the 1960's.

 

[dbdigital]

Those are, indeed, wonderful suggestions.

And I truly feel that it is the lazy/complacency factor among many station owners which Oaktree mentioned that is killing AM more than anything else. But failure is not inevitable for AM.

Case in point is Bill of WNMB. When you read his posts and visit the station's web site you get a sense that a lot of thought and energy is going on there. Bill is passionate about the station, the station's sound, the community he's serving and his clients. As a result, we have a low watt, very local AM station that, by any doomsayer's definition should be a failure, is succeeding.

Success is possible and it's possible with Adult Standards if a station owner considers WNMB's example and implement some of Blue Hen's and Chuck's fine ideas.

db

 

[oaktree]

You know, guys ... I scan a lot of threads on this board and am yet to see a post equal ... or even close ... to the "primer" written with great thought, insight and, no doubt, a lot of valuable time by Blue Hen with a format he and all of us here dearly love ... and fear for.

What a wonderful concept you've given us.

To think that five years ago I literally begged a new station owner to refer to his station as "Highway 101 ... The Music Highway." With signposts every mile on the state highway that cuts our county in half ... and goes from Canada to Mexico.

"The Music Highway."

He didn't. "Too hokey," he said. So, he went with a Classic Rock format on a pair of weak-signalled Class A's ... with another image positioner instead ... i

What do you think the results have been?

Laziness, I tell you. Nice post, Blue Hen ... and as always, insightful vision. I'll put more of what you to said to work, as well.

 

[BlueHen]

So, he went with a Classic Rock format on a pair of weak-signalled Class A's ... with another image positioner instead ... i
What do you think the results have been?

Another ho-hum seek-n-scan stop in an endless hit parade?


dbdigital: Is that WNMB in Myrtle Beach? We go there every year; will have to check it out.

Chuck & oaktree: I'm so, so glad you like some of my ideas. Please keep us informed of the feedback if you use any of them. I would love to know what kind of response you get!

 

[bub]

So, he went with a Classic Rock format on a pair of weak-signalled Class A's ... with another image positioner instead ... i
What do you think the results have been?

Another ho-hum seek-n-scan stop in an endless hit parade?


dbdigital: Is that WNMB in Myrtle Beach? We go there every year; will have to check it out.

Ho-hum, set-it-and-forget-it. :

Here's the link for WNMB. Stream sounds good.

http://www.wnmb.net/

 

[dbdigital]

So, he went with a Classic Rock format on a pair of weak-signalled Class A's ... with another image positioner instead ... i
What do you think the results have been?

Another ho-hum seek-n-scan stop in an endless hit parade?


dbdigital: Is that WNMB in Myrtle Beach? We go there every year; will have to check it out.

Chuck & oaktree: I'm so, so glad you like some of my ideas. Please keep us informed of the feedback if you use any of them. I would love to know what kind of response you get!

Yes, that's the station I'm referring to. Although their format is Oldies, it's more about the attitude of the management that I find impressive.

Instead of whining; 'Nobody wants to listen..(blah, blah) and not on AM..(blah, blah) and either we get HD Radio or we die (blah, blah); these guys have focused on business; carefully crafting the station's sound, playlist and image in the community...and it has paid off. The community loves WNMB, businesses love WNMB.

I'm convinced that this same thinking can work for Adult Standards.

db

 

[oaktree]

Something deep inside tells me that you're right.

 

[vchimpanzee]

dbdigital: Is that WNMB in Myrtle Beach? We go there every year; will have to check it out.

Give us your opinion of WEZV too. I think they've crossed the line from easy listening to standards. Instrumentals seem to be a thing of the past there.

Also Yes 94.5. That's a joke. You won't like it. It's everything so-called "Lite" radio was 10 years ago.

 

[BlueHen]

Give us your opinion of WEZV too. I think they've crossed the line from easy listening to standards. Instrumentals seem to be a thing of the past there.
Also Yes 94.5. That's a joke. You won't like it. It's everything so-called "Lite" radio was 10 years ago.

I used to like WEZV, but I've stopped listening because I have noticed a bit of a change. Are you sure they've gone from easy listening to standards? My feeling was they were orientating more toward a sappy soft AC sound. About a year ago they conducted an online poll about the direction of their music. Jeez, I hope this isn't what the people wanted.

What's the story with this Yes 94.5? Aren't they simulcasting 105.9 anymore? The website still shows them both.

Something else that annoyed me about WEZV, and also EZ88 in Knoxville... They have contact information on their websites so you can send an e-mail asking about songs, etc. I've used them and then never heard anything. So what's the point of having it?

 

[BlueHen]

What's the story with this Yes 94.5? Aren't they simulcasting 105.9 anymore? The website still shows them both.

Someone must have noticed. All references to 94.5 are now gone from the website.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I used to like WEZV, but I've stopped listening because I have noticed a bit of a change. Are you sure they've gone from easy listening to standards? My feeling was they were orientating more toward a sappy soft AC sound. About a year ago they conducted an online poll about the direction of their music. Jeez, I hope this isn't what the people wanted.

It's not soft AC. It sounds very much like Dial Global standards, only a little more contemporary. Unless you consider that soft AC. Probably most of the AC went to 94.5.