Tibbs2 said:
Scott --- didn't you once say it didn't really matter what format you had, you'd still get similar revenues?
What if you went to talk or religious programming, would it actually help you BILL more? I think alot of people
are conditioned to just not understand music on AM. Especially Hot AC.
Youth of America is not really the demo any radio station should be worried about targeting. For the life
of me, I cannot see why AM single owners aren't going for the 40+ demo that has been thrown away by
CONsultants. And, that doesn't mean you have to play funeral music. I'd rather put my faith/trust in a demo
that may age or die off in ten to twenty years than one that will never have a clue that AM exists ... or
care.
I think Scotts pretty much accurate on his "rant." Having had the pleasure of a limited amount of AM experience
in Sumner County many years ago ...all I can say is unless your New Year's e-mailer has lived the dream,
locally, recently, etc., then he/she has no real dog in that hunt, perhaps just a bunch of opinions based upon book
knowledge. There is no real way to apply 'a one size fits all' approach to local AM radio stations. CR may
beg to differ.
Have you thought about a disco format? I hear there's many Sumner County residents begging for it.
Tibbs,
You are correct in what I said. On AM, it really doesn’t matter what programming you have on the air, as long as it brings in revenue. Now Magic 1560, WMRO, is only Hot AC six days a week. On Sundays, we dropped the Hot AC Format for all religion and gospel programming. This is where my “MAIN” money is made. Magic 1560 is gospel on Sundays from 6 AM to 7 PM, and every hour, every minute is sold and paid for by a church or preacher.
I tend to look at it this way, as some of you know; the station does not pay me or anybody else a salary. I have “0” employees. I do everything myself. As long as it pays for it bills, electric, water, gas, music rights, etc, we’re fine. With the advent of the PC, it has made running a small business much easier.
Tibbs, you mention that you couldn’t understand why AM stations are not programming to the 40+ crowd. There are several AM stations which are counted in Arbitron’s eight county Nashville Metro that are playing some kind of Oldies format.
Your former stomping ground, WQKR, AM 1270 up the road from me in Portland is doing Oldies, similar to what I was doing before. Former “Good Guy” Lee Dorman (now GM) of WQKR and I got together over the phone one night in 2006 and Lee was the one that helped me come up with doing Hot AC, since they were doing oldies, and we are in the same county. Lee and I looked at ABC’s Hot AC Format for us, and it was his recommendation that lead to Magic 1560’s format change, because the demo was 35-54, my age group and Pat is in that group as well.
There was collision between the two stations, WQKR & WMRO, both doing Oldies and I felt that WMRO, Magic 1560 was played out, being an Oldies 60’s/70’s station. It was time for a change; in addition, you do not want two AM stations doing the same format in a Suburban County, like Sumner County. Lee is the only one that will defend my station’s format change.
WSGI, 1100 in Springfield is doing Oldies, (live in the afternoon). I don’t know about the rest of their dayparts. WRUS in Russellville, KY is doing Oldies in the afternoons with Big Daddy Lon Sosh. These signals reach (maybe not well) the Nashville/Metro area and are considered to be Nashville area station’s, according to Arbitron and BIA.
As I pointed out to Pat, the Hot AC format gears to a 40+ audience, but really more towards the “Female” side. It gears to working moms and even grandmothers, because “grandma” can be as young as 35 these days. I know plenty of ladies, even quite a few that I graduated high school with, that are now grandmothers. And no, they didn’t get pregnant in high school! My wife Leslie and I have no kids, but see others our age grandparents makes us feel old!
I’m 43, and I will be 44 in May. My wife, Leslie is 40. We like the 70’s and 80’s Oldies, but still keep up with the Current AC hits that are out today. Yes, you may hear Def Leppard now on Magic 1560, but bear in mind that Def Leppard’s music were hits when I was in my late teens and early 20’s in the 80’s, so their music is classified as Oldies because they were hits on the CHR charts of the early 80’s, 27 years ago, almost 30. That’s what I’m trying to get Pat to understand. There are many his age that listen to Def Leppard and jocks they played their hits.
Also, there is no such thing as a Gallatin Market, a Portland market, a Lebanon Market. The cities are all apart of the Metro Nashville market. Why? One reason is like I pointed out to Pat, new homes, condos are going up and the 25-65 age group for the most part works in Nashville. Arbitron and BIA have taken Davidson County, and the eight counties that touch it or are close to it and made it one big market, THE NASHVILLE MARKET!
For those who want to hear 50’s/60’s/70’s Oldies in Sumner County, listen to 1270 WQKR!
Disco; I “LOVED” when Chris Romer was programming Majik 13. He hates me for saying this, but he did an BANG UP EXCELLENT JOB!, and I enjoyed that format so much in my mid teen years that WMRO was named Magic 1560, after his format, in his honor. He played good dance songs, and we even played them on Magic 1560. When WMRO (was WWGM) went back on in 1994, I wanted Chris to do some liners for us, and pay him good $$$ for them. It would have sounded nice, especially when I played the disco hits of KC and the Sunshine Band, Bee Gees, Kool and the Gang, Prince, etc.
I forget the artist, but it was a white female that did a song with lyrics “I love the nightlife, I love to boogie, on the disco”! That was my kind of music in 1979-1980. I hated it when the automated Majik 13 format was taken off for Pop Oldies, January 1, 1980. THe format was ahead of its time and some didn't understand it, in my honest opinion.
That’s the reason why I made a suggestion to Chris that I would like to bring back Majik 13 on the internet, streaming audio with all the Disco Hits, with his input. Oh by the way Chris, I do have the DVD of Saturday Night Fever, and I get a big kick out of out of John Travolta and his partners dance moves. It was my kind of music back in the day! Sorry Tibbs, now I’m drifting back my teen and early 20’s years of my life, just like some of you do!
We’ll its back to today’s corporate world for me and after work, its Arbor Mist time!
