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For those who still think 107.9 plays oldies

W

w00t

Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" just came on 107.9 WNCT. Beasley, what on earth are you trying to do? We're not far from 103.3 and 107.9 battling it out internally for the same listeners! This is supposed to be corporate synergy??

The jocks are good though. Hey Allen! I didn't know you were on until the song ended ;D
 
Scott,
I see your point.We have recently added some tunes and the station sounds pretty good.Of course if it was up to me I'd add about 2,000 songs but the music is flowing better and as much as I hate to admit it 1983 was 25 years ago.Probably 70% of the businesses I go into are playing 107.9 or satellite radio.
I don't hear much else.We also found some things in selector that is helping the music flow better.As long as we stay live & local we'll be alright....

Allen
 
5-10 years ago 107.9 was still playing 50s and 60s music. Now they're playing 70s and 80s music. That's not really keeping up with your demo, it's tossing yourself into a completely different one... and ironically, the same one that WMGV targets. When you are sister stations that's not a good thing to be doing.

Everyone I know these days has switched to 100.7 The River, both those who used to listen to 106.5 and those who listened to 107.9. Sure it's no scientific study, but I'm basing it on enough people (and a wide variety of people) that it still says a little something.
 
boy if i was missing me some 50's and 60's music..the river would be my choice..lol..the mix on 107.9 is great,billy ocean belongs there and i don't think wsfl is worried about the river,look at the ratings wsfl numer one in their demo..and not to bad 12 plus..cindy miller has really opened up the playlist and improved the imaging
 
Current studies show that the term "oldies" no longer "tests" well. During my time with Cumulus we under went a radical change on all our "oldies" stations. We re-imaged them as "Hits of the 70's and 80's with some 60's songs added for flavor. Allen you and WNCT sound fine. As you said, 83 was 25 plus years ago and folks want to hear that decade of music. I hope WNCT still plays some beach music shows on the weekend.

Kris
 
I'm going to preface this with one thing: You people DO realize that such amazing powerhouses like WNBR and WXNR beat 107.9 last book don't you? Yes it's 12+, but whatever -- 107.9 has been top 5 for a long long time now, and now they're struggling to be top 10.

Now, as for the song that started all of this... I'm not saying it shouldn't be played, I'm saying that Beasley is narrowing their overall piece of the pie a little too much. There needs to be differentiation. Why is Kool 98.7 no longer on the air? Because NextMedia bought B99.9 and saw no reason to compete with themselves. I never thought I'd see the day when NextMedia had a better programming and sales strategy than anyone, but I guess there's a first for everything.

The thing that really drives me nuts is that Beasley seems to understand this point, but don't quite know how to execute a solution. I see three scenarios where WNCT could rule this market...
1) Go back to oldies. You're in market 89 and judging by the ads I hear your salespeople could sell ice to an eskimo. In a market this size agency can't possibly be the bread and butter for the station, local ads are. Your LOCAL business owners are all probably 50+ and would LOVE to hear the 60s hits along with their ads. WMGV listeners haven't aged into this demo yet. Overlap problem solved.

2) Copy 96.5 The Drive (but with jocks... how WFLB survives without them I do not understand, it's not Jack FM) and move WSFL closer to a harder 70s/80s/90s rocker (which it's already doing somewhat). 99.5 already rocks hard enough that it shouldn't overlap too bad. You'll get more men this way and you can leave the female demos to WMGV. Be Arrow 93.3 all over again, but with a library bigger than two hitdiscs. Overlap problem solved again.

3) More of a Jammin' 99.9 sound with retro rhythmic CHR. 107.9 has the PERFECT set of jocks for this. Yeah, this would overlap like crazy on paper, but the kind of people who are going to listen to disco aren't the same ones listening to Elton, Rod, and Celine while they work.

They need to figure out WHO they want listening to these stations. What's next on 107.9? Gin Blossoms against Mariah Carey? You can't please everyone!

As for WSFL, ratings be damned that station started sliding down the tubes when they decided it needed to become the rebirth of WRDU circa 20 years ago. I'm glad they picked Blade up during his time of need but jeez. Don't build a whole station around a man you know isn't going to stick around. Pitt County people knew who he was... that was it. The hoopla that went along with hiring him alienated every listener in New Bern, Morehead, Jacksonville, etc.

Welcome to ENC radio as I see it. I too am just trying to get some discussion started up on the board :)
 
My personal opinion is you can play 50-80's all on one station if it is seperated correctly and you are very careful with texture and such.I get request for Chapel of Love & I get request for Talk It Over by Grayson Hugh.Early 60's to late 80's but its all about the sound of the song.I see no problem playing both tunes on one station...

Allen
 
That doesn't work because it's impossible to please everyone. You have to play songs that are what the most people want to hear, not what "this person and that person and that person" want to hear. The sum of the parts don't really equal the whole here unfortunately... that's why nobody takes requests anymore.
 
w00t said:
That doesn't work because it's impossible to please everyone. You have to play songs that are what the most people want to hear, not what "this person and that person and that person" want to hear. The sum of the parts don't really equal the whole here unfortunately... that's why nobody takes requests anymore.
Click to expand...

And that's why those stations that don't aren't doing well either. The ones that DO take requests are for the most part. Again taking requests sets you apart form the competition and makes your station more approachable by listerners and advertisers alike. Yes it is true you can't please everyone, but you also have to make yourself a unique place on a crowded radio dial. John Moore's "Saturday Night Sock Hop" is quite popular from what I hear and it is a request show. Now how many of the callers are the same ones every week asking for the same song I don't know, but if anyone says oldies is dead or requests aren't popular I will heavily disagree.
 
I don't believe "Oldies" in its traditional sense is dead... in a market this size it COULD be alive and well.

All request shows are a great specialty time slot hit. That's what John Moore and Steve Hardy have. Outside that... it's no way to program a station. It just won't work. Who are these stations that you know for a fact are working off requests and succeeding?
 
You can't go all request cause the same people call for the same songs but you can take some and air the calls to localize your station instead of those canned listener liners I hear on some stations.85-90% of the people who listen rarely call.
We as radio people tend to knitpick about stuff that most listeners don't realize or care about.As a programmer you should think like a listener not like a radio person.
Let's face it is all about money...all these rules and do's and don't go out the window if the person or show breaking them is bringing in money.Most specialty shows violate every policy we have ever been taught but the money is good so
it doesn't matter.Its always been that way at every station and it always will be..

Allen
 
Well said Allen.

Maybe I should have phrased it this way. Request shows aer a popular way to gain the uniqueness that is needed. No I cannot spout exact numbers or stations, but I believe that those that do have request shows are popular with listerners. If they like what you are doing they will tell others. Likewsie, (and they will tell more people too) if you're doing something wrong. Outside of the specialty timeslot why won't it work? I don't know this for a fact, but I'm sure a lot of the successful stations 30 years ago took requests during "regular" programming. I believe that the reason that they did was because the playlists were much more wider than they are today and less of the overtested same 200 songs that listeners have had to endure over the last 20+ years. Thsi is exactly why the internet and iPods are popular because they can give the listerne something traditional radio can't - variety. Satellite radio is (from what I hear) is falling into the same old thing too. It too will go away if that happens to it just as radio will IF it doesn't listen up. Requests give the listerner something they can't get from your competition the interaction with a live person. Use this interaction to your advantage rather than as a distraction from the hundreds fo duties you have. The listener IS your customer just as you are a customer when you go into Wal-Mart or any other store. Don't you expect a certain level of "customer Service" when you enter thse stores? Shouldn't your listeners have the same expectations about your stations? Why not provide that by giving them the opportunity to request what they want to hear at anytime you are on the air? and actually PLAY it. This I think will set you apart from the competition. I don't know it all and this is just what I think will make a station successful. I could be totally wrong and I am willing to admit it if I am.

I also think that the current "ratings" systems are antiquated by today's standards. These should be updated to a better system both in terms of aqusition of data and the scope of the people in the test i.e many more people. PPM may be this, but I don't understand how it works so basically I don't know.
 
The average listener can't understand whyyou play one Steely Dan song and not another for example.The listener does know however that the song they want to hear was a hit as well so they have a legit question Why don't you play it?? Research(hate that term) says what you do play can hurt you more than what you don't play.I completely disagree.The two things are equally important in my opinion.

Allen
 
The "listener" is not what makes you succeed. "Listeners" are. Wal Mart doesn't stock every single little thing I want... nor does Food Lion... nor does ANY store. They can't please EVERY customer, they have to please the general consensus. That's why taking requests, if they fall outside of your format, doesn't work. One person may like what they're hearing, but five more might tune out because they don't like it.

Specialty shows are different. That's why they're usually only four or five hours of your 168 hour broadcast week.
 
wOOt makes much sense.
Radio isn't a hobby, playing music for friends and single callers on the phone.
It's a strategic business. Everything else being equal, a gold based station playing
the CORRECT 300 songs will beat the one playing 1,000 every time.
Sure, people might have 1,000 they like, but there's only 300-400 they
ALL like within that format.

"Variety" means playing more songs the listener likes, and fewer they don't like.
You can't do that playing 1,000 songs.

Jack-FM might be the exception. The whole format is based on the unexpected. Playing a thousand FAMILIAR songs, whether people like them or not. The Jack stations eventually tighten their list.
 
Come on Dude..listener...listeners you know what I meant wOOt.How do we really know how much variety the listeners like??? Everybody is doing the same thing.What blueprint do we have for failure??

Allen
 
I wasn't correcting you there, I was using the plural word to make a point. By taking a request that deviates from what the station normally plays, you are serving ONE listener. ONE listener wants to hear that song... not the rest of them (listeners) and the tune-out factor is probably pretty high.

That goes back to what surfdude just posted. A well focused station will always have more listeners than one who is all over the road, catering to what each individual listener wants. You just can't be everything to everyone all at once.
 
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