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Going after a younger crowd...

C

ColonelMustard

Guest
The one thing I don't understand is how Infinity thinks Oldies do not appeal to the younger crowd. The reality is... It DOES appeal to a younger croud. I have had 104.3 as my #1 preset since 1988, when I got my first stereo! All of my friends have had 104.3 somewhere in their presets, even if they were into rock, rap, or country. My 11 year old cousin LOVES the Rolling Stones!

When I was a kid, my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, would listen to that station. Even though the music was old, I enjoyed it and still do tremendously! It brings back memories of my childhood, even though it was all new many years before I was even born. Same goes for many people I know... It has always been there in the background. Dick Biondi has been at many of my family birthday parties, coming out of the speaker in the background.

Variety on the dial is important. Variety on one station does not keep me tuned in. That butthole announcer is such a turnoff. We play what we want... nah nah nah NAH NAH! We took your station and you can't have it back. How arrogant and unappealing.

With the exception of WCKG, Infinity had diversity. I have B96 if I want hip-hop, 780 if I want news, the Score if I want sports, US99 if I want Country, and WXRT if I want rock. Same goes for the oldies... but now I have a new station that is similar to many others. If I want a mish-mosh, I already have 9FM or WXRT.

This is why I subscribe to Sirius.
 
> The one thing I don't understand is how Infinity thinks
> Oldies do not appeal to the younger crowd. The reality
> is... It DOES appeal to a younger croud. I have had 104.3
> as my #1 preset since 1988, when I got my first stereo! All
> of my friends have had 104.3 somewhere in their presets,
> even if they were into rock, rap, or country. My 11 year
> old cousin LOVES the Rolling Stones!
>
> When I was a kid, my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, would listen
> to that station. Even though the music was old, I enjoyed
> it and still do tremendously! It brings back memories of my
> childhood, even though it was all new many years before I
> was even born. Same goes for many people I know... It has
> always been there in the background. Dick Biondi has been
> at many of my family birthday parties, coming out of the
> speaker in the background.
>

>

I understand exactly what you mean. I couldn't have been older then 4 when my sister (Who is now 21) told me "Oldies 104.3" when I asked her where I could hear a certain song. I go into elementary school a radio geek and I wind up known for that. Everybody there knew what "Oldies 104.3" was. The teachers, the bus driver who was in her early 30s played WJMK in the morning. I go into 3rd grade and at least 2 girls I had to sit next to were big fans of WJMK and Dick Biondi. I gave it a listen then and I got completely hooked on the format. Every night I would listen to WJMK. Not long after starting to listen to WJMK regularly, I discovered 95.7 WZTR Milwaukee and 1250 WEMP Milwaukee and they became instant favorites. Then we took our first trip to Wisconsin Dells in 1995 and it became a tradition for me to listen to WOLX everytime I was in the area. 1997 I move to Wisconsin. Everybody even here in Wisconsin STILL knew WJMK. My 5th grader educational assistant was a big listener to WJMK. I go into middle school, high school, still as a known radio geek I get people coming up to me asking if I ever listen to WJMK. I've seen people as far as Racine (The very edge of WJMK's coverage) listening. My most recent oldies expirence was late last year when in 12th grade business class the teacher asked the students "Should I put on a modern current CD or oldies" and the vote among the class was to my shock, oldies.

Its a feel good format. I don't think there are many other formats that make me (and most likely many other people) the way I do when I put it on. It just gives you a really good feeling of past memories and at times a summer feeling. People often play the music at parties and elsewere. WJMK was the last station around here that still had it. WRIT Milwaukee (Formerly WZTR) is now almost all 70s. WEMP Milwaukee went religious in 1998 and is now sports and I don't live in WOLX's coverage area.

Another example of a long time oldies station that was recently wiped out was WODJ Grand Rapids. Sister station WKLQ (Active Rock) was moved to the frequency and WKLQ's 94.5 went country. And WKLQ's ratings were at least a point if not more lower then WODJs and still is. And then there was Indianapolis's top oldies station which got almost a 6 point share. Went Jack.

I'd be interested to see what people around here are thinking about Jack now. Within my time this year in high school, I had 2 people come up and ask me "Did 92.7 switch back to American?" so some people are probably noticing Nine.
<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
I don't know about that - I am 29, and oldies to me is the 80's channel - no longer around. I never listened to 104.3 till now.

I will say that now I flip between 9 and Jack - if one doesn't have a good song, the other one does!


> The one thing I don't understand is how Infinity thinks
> Oldies do not appeal to the younger crowd. The reality
> is... It DOES appeal to a younger croud. I have had 104.3
> as my #1 preset since 1988, when I got my first stereo! All
> of my friends have had 104.3 somewhere in their presets,
> even if they were into rock, rap, or country. My 11 year
> old cousin LOVES the Rolling Stones!
>
> When I was a kid, my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, would listen
> to that station. Even though the music was old, I enjoyed
> it and still do tremendously! It brings back memories of my
> childhood, even though it was all new many years before I
> was even born. Same goes for many people I know... It has
> always been there in the background. Dick Biondi has been
> at many of my family birthday parties, coming out of the
> speaker in the background.
>
> Variety on the dial is important. Variety on one station
> does not keep me tuned in. That butthole announcer is such
> a turnoff. We play what we want... nah nah nah NAH NAH! We
> took your station and you can't have it back. How arrogant
> and unappealing.
>
> With the exception of WCKG, Infinity had diversity. I have
> B96 if I want hip-hop, 780 if I want news, the Score if I
> want sports, US99 if I want Country, and WXRT if I want
> rock. Same goes for the oldies... but now I have a new
> station that is similar to many others. If I want a
> mish-mosh, I already have 9FM or WXRT.
>
> This is why I subscribe to Sirius.
>
 
> I had 2 people come up and ask me "Did 92.7 switch
> back to American?" so some people are probably noticing
> Nine.

So ONDA was un-American? LOL!

 
Personally I think the younger generation STILL needs to hear oldies. I'm 19 and STILL listen to oldies (50s, 60's). If it wasnt for the oldies you couldnt have the good music from the 70's and 80's - am I right?... Listen, having oldies is a vital foundation to Americana radio. The Supremes, the Beach Boys... is it so hard to ask for our YOUNGER generations to listen to those SAME tunes? Honestly, music today sucks... and I wouldnt blame my generation to not listening to the radio at all. What hurts me personally is that Infinity would switch a station that had good standing with its fans. Now B96 on the other hand - oh boy! Now thats a station that needs a swift kick and a switch. Do we not have ENOUGH Urban stations? Come on! No wonder why my generation cant think... because we're being fed garbage - We truly need the oldies back on FM.


> I don't know about that - I am 29, and oldies to me is the
> 80's channel - no longer around. I never listened to 104.3
> till now.
>
> I will say that now I flip between 9 and Jack - if one
> doesn't have a good song, the other one does!
>
>
> > The one thing I don't understand is how Infinity thinks
> > Oldies do not appeal to the younger crowd. The reality
> > is... It DOES appeal to a younger croud. I have had
> 104.3
> > as my #1 preset since 1988, when I got my first stereo!
> All
> > of my friends have had 104.3 somewhere in their presets,
> > even if they were into rock, rap, or country. My 11 year
> > old cousin LOVES the Rolling Stones!
> >
> > When I was a kid, my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, would listen
>
> > to that station. Even though the music was old, I enjoyed
>
> > it and still do tremendously! It brings back memories of
> my
> > childhood, even though it was all new many years before I
> > was even born. Same goes for many people I know... It
> has
> > always been there in the background. Dick Biondi has been
>
> > at many of my family birthday parties, coming out of the
> > speaker in the background.
> >
> > Variety on the dial is important. Variety on one station
> > does not keep me tuned in. That butthole announcer is
> such
> > a turnoff. We play what we want... nah nah nah NAH NAH!
> We
> > took your station and you can't have it back. How
> arrogant
> > and unappealing.
> >
> > With the exception of WCKG, Infinity had diversity. I
> have
> > B96 if I want hip-hop, 780 if I want news, the Score if I
> > want sports, US99 if I want Country, and WXRT if I want
> > rock. Same goes for the oldies... but now I have a new
> > station that is similar to many others. If I want a
> > mish-mosh, I already have 9FM or WXRT.
> >
> > This is why I subscribe to Sirius.
> >
>
 
> Personally I think the younger generation STILL needs to
> hear oldies. I'm 19 and STILL listen to oldies (50s, 60's).
> If it wasnt for the oldies you couldnt have the good music
> from the 70's and 80's - am I right?... Listen, having
> oldies is a vital foundation to Americana radio. The
> Supremes, the Beach Boys... is it so hard to ask for our
> YOUNGER generations to listen to those SAME tunes? Honestly,
> music today sucks... and I wouldnt blame my generation to
> not listening to the radio at all. What hurts me personally
> is that Infinity would switch a station that had good
> standing with its fans. Now B96 on the other hand - oh boy!
> Now thats a station that needs a swift kick and a switch. Do
> we not have ENOUGH Urban stations? Come on! No wonder why my
> generation cant think... because we're being fed garbage -
> We truly need the oldies back on FM.

Im 17, and love the oldies (everything from doo wop to disco). Every format should have a chance to be heard on the radio - AM or FM. If the commercial sector wont play it, have the public radio outlet do a oldies show. Look at the success with all the concerts that PBS produces and the money they bring in. <P ID="signature">______________

AOL IM: wnjoldies or jamminoldies105
Oldies Board co-moderator</P>
 
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