Has anyone noticed WOGL?

[8638]

These posts simply convince me that tuning in to 98.1 WOGL is a waste, for my ear. So many great Oldies songs and they beat the same songs to death over and over. I keep waiting for some FM or even an flame throwing AM station to decide to take on WOGL/WMGK and give Philly a real oldies station again. My vote for a flip to real Oldies would be 93.7 WSTW, 95.7WBEN, 99.5WJBR, 102.9WMGK, or 106.1 or 950 WPEN. or 610 WIP. I realize that most of these would never consider such a move, but these stations cover the metro area quite well so they'd pull in a large oldies base from the entire tri-state Philly/Wilmington/Trenton area.

Let me start by saying that I love oldies, all of them, not only the sliver that WOGL plays.

We had a competing station once, on AM, WPGR. It survived the demise of oldies on WFIL and WIOQ, but not because it pulled high numbers, despite having a pretty decent AM signal (albeit a daytimer). I can only assume that when Evergreen owned it, they used it as a tax writeoff for the more profitable Sunny.

Sadly, real oldies doesn't seem to have broad listener appeal. I used to listen to WPGR a lot, but I realize few people will listen to music on AM now; hell, listening to talk is barely tolerable, due to manmade electrical noise.

WOGL is sort of a 'McOldies' station: you know what to expect whenever you tune in.
It's pretty repetitious, just like Mickey D's, but it's the same every time. Listeners to radio don't seem too passionate about music any more. It's just background noise. And it's the number 2 station in town. Why would they change a thing?

 

[amfmsw]

What I find tragic is that their beloved afternoon host passed away, and their laughing with the traffic and having a good time on the air this afternoon. Their web site has his loss posted third, below Earth Month and Vacation Contest. How sad. How disposable. How ignorant. Oh yeah, the music is somewhat gentle and tasteful. 1 for 3, not good enough.

 

[BRNout]

What I find tragic is that their beloved afternoon host passed away, and their laughing with the traffic and having a good time on the air this afternoon. Their web site has his loss posted third, below Earth Month and Vacation Contest. How sad. How disposable. How ignorant. Oh yeah, the music is somewhat gentle and tasteful. 1 for 3, not good enough.

If that's so, it shows an appalling lack of compassion and of professionalism. One of their staff just passed away - far too young - and the guy just happened to be a radio legend. To ignore the loss and carry on Big Ron's shift as if nothing had happened shows an incredible lack of respect, class and sensitivity. Not just to Ron, but to his audience as well.

Life must go on, to be sure. But, not quite that quickly.

 

[Phillyradiogeek]

I didn't hear the morning show, but I did catch some of Harvey Holiday's show right before and during the lunchtime request show, and they did indeed discuss Big Ron's passing, with callers talking about him on-air. Harvey kicked off the hour with the Righteous Brothers' "Rock'n'Roll Heaven" dedicated to Ron.

I do agree, however, that in the part of Big Ron's shift that I listened to (4:30-5:30), you'd never guess Ron had died. Cadillac Jack and Bob Kelly carried on like nothing had happened. Perhaps Ron's death was acknowledged at the beginning of the show, but I wasn't listening.

Bob Charger made some reverent remarks about Ron at the start of his show, but I didn't listen after that.

 

[Rustyfender]

Wow guys/posters...you have to be corrected here.
I listened all day Monday and Ron's death was mentioned continuously through the day up until I stopped listening at 4:30. Cadillac Jack, filling in for Ron--even had to dump out to commercial because he became emotional mentioning Ron's death and tributing him. You guys cannnot be serious in that 'OGL was thoughtless in Ron's passing. It just isn't true. The morning show mentioned it numerous times and their 8:55 phone hall of fame was mostly comments from listeners tributing Big Ron.

 

[Phillyradiogeek]

Thanks for your clarification, I'm glad to hear it. As I said previously, I didn't catch the beginning of Jack's show, so I didn't know what he did or didn't say.

Despite the criticism most of us give the station on this board, you can't help but send your prayers and thoughts to them now.

 

[DToTheJ]

Not only that, but today, the Philadelphia Daily News reported that the memorial service for Big Ron scheduled for this Friday will be streamed online via WOGL.com. What a way to give back to the fans.

 

[MrRF]

A big part of the station's success is that they listened to Big Ron's input, as a trusted member of the team.
It seems the more the posters on this board ctiticize WOGL, the higher it goes in the ratings. Currently an all time high # 2 in total persons.
Makes you wonder.....this board makes it seem so broken.Yet the People Meters, and diaries before them, say something else.

 

[crmc]

The webcast of Ron's memorial service was great for those that couldn't make it. What a great tribute for a legendary air talent.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

It seems the more the posters on this board ctiticize WOGL, the higher it goes in the ratings. Currently an all time high # 2 in total persons.
Makes you wonder.....this board makes it seem so broken.Yet the People Meters, and diaries before them, say something else.

Can't argue with success. If your only criteria of success is to make money then WOGL seems to be doing the correct thing. WOGL is a business, also a commercial station, so that is the bottom line, selling advertising, which means trying to pull in the most people from that popular demo of 12-49 so the advertisers will buy time at their station. Because something is popular doesn't make it quality, good, well done, or even worth listening to or viewing (on TV), but all radio or TV business' want to sell spots, so if airing the same 150 songs over and over will accomplish that, they'll do it. If airing 500 songs would generate more spot revenue then they'd do that. This explains much of the lousy programming found on TV as well.
I find WOGL boring, as many here do, but WOGL doesn't care about being interesting or stimulating, they just want a lot of the correct demo listening so they can generate lots of spot revenue which they seem to be getting.

A non-comm (NPR, WRTI, WHYY-FM, WVUD, etc, have the luxury of going for quality or at least airing unique programming which serves an underserved audience rather than pleasing the general masses that are listening to commercial radio. They get smaller audience share, but those non-comm station's listeners value their programming and support it during their respective begathons. The same could be said of television (PBS/WHYY/NJ network, etc) vs the commercial networks and stations.

 

[amfmsw]

I was listening 4:20-5:30 as well. I missed any tribute. Glad to hear all that was said earlier in the day.

 

[kevinob]

You're right philly, the ONLY place you are going to find great cuts from the 50's and early 60's is on internet radio my man. corporate radio KILLED the oldies. the same cuts being played over, and over and over again. the DJ'S on the internet are true fans of that genre and are playing from their own collection. which means they are playing from the heart. the "DJ'S " today, you could put a CD of thunderstorms and dogs howling for 4hrs, and they will play It. as long as they are in the business and getting a check, that's all that matters.

Yup. The post above said they were excited to hear "private eyes" and "Im so excited" Geez, is that the best you can find from the 80's. They'd land in my "NO" file. OGL has been plagued buy the poorest choice of music that they can select. There are SO many songs out there and they play tha same 50 or 60 motowm, R&B crossovers and mellow crap over and over again. I love music, All music, and I can't listen to OGL for more than 10 minutes at a time.

 

[crmc]

But the good news is that more people listen to WOGL today than in any time in it's history. Highest ratings ever. So while it may not please the eclectic palate of us radio aficianado posters, the listeners and the advertisers seem to gobble it up.

 

[Bruce Truckman]

So I go back to that original question: If WOGL is doing SO well, why hasn't this format been copied by other stations in Philadelphia? There are at least 20 viable stations on the FM dial that are TRAILING Oldies 98 in the ratings. And kevinob said it perfectly--they play the same 50 to 60 Motown songs over and over and over again...(to the point that their airplay during regular programming is 50% Motown--that's no exaggeration. It wouldn't take much of an investment for another station to get the same 400 songs that get 80% of the airplay on this monotonous station.

Up until this year I've refused to pay for satellite radio, but in this city, there isn't much choice.

 

[DToTheJ]

What about WVLT 92.1? I know it's a rimshot, but it appears to be the true "oldies" alternative to WOGL in the market.

 

[imhomerjay]

So I go back to that original question: If WOGL is doing SO well, why hasn't this format been copied by other stations in Philadelphia? There are at least 20 viable stations on the FM dial that are TRAILING Oldies 98 in the ratings. And kevinob said it perfectly--they play the same 50 to 60 Motown songs over and over and over again...(to the point that their airplay during regular programming is 50% Motown--that's no exaggeration. It wouldn't take much of an investment for another station to get the same 400 songs that get 80% of the airplay on this monotonous station.

That logic doesn't hold up, though. To follow it to the logical next step, the fact that no one else is copying B101 means they're not successful. That KYW isn't successful because no one else is doing all news.

Perhaps they're not to the tastes of all on a radio board, but a radio board does not likely mirror the general population.

 

[csp-1]

It seems the more the posters on this board ctiticize WOGL, the higher it goes in the ratings. Currently an all time high # 2 in total persons.
Makes you wonder.....this board makes it seem so broken.Yet the People Meters, and diaries before them, say something else.

Can't argue with success. If your only criteria of success is to make money then WOGL seems to be doing the correct thing. WOGL is a business, also a commercial station, so that is the bottom line, selling advertising, which means trying to pull in the most people from that popular demo of 12-49 so the advertisers will buy time at their station. Because something is popular doesn't make it quality, good, well done, or even worth listening to or viewing (on TV), but all radio or TV business' want to sell spots, so if airing the same 150 songs over and over will accomplish that, they'll do it. If airing 500 songs would generate more spot revenue then they'd do that. This explains much of the lousy programming found on TV as well.
I find WOGL boring, as many here do, but WOGL doesn't care about being interesting or stimulating, they just want a lot of the correct demo listening so they can generate lots of spot revenue which they seem to be getting.

A non-comm (NPR, WRTI, WHYY-FM, WVUD, etc, have the luxury of going for quality or at least airing unique programming which serves an underserved audience rather than pleasing the general masses that are listening to commercial radio. They get smaller audience share, but those non-comm station's listeners value their programming and support it during their respective begathons. The same could be said of television (PBS/WHYY/NJ network, etc) vs the commercial networks and stations.

.......................... a sad , but correct posting from "mike from delaware" ................ the dollars beat quality and diversification of playlist

 

[roark3175]

I hate to sound like a Stepford Fan, but WOGL's success is anything but sad. This board seems to be full of grouchy music store employees who never grew out of their self-righteous phase.

It's called "broadcast", not "narrowcast". I'm shocked that a community of seemingly intelligent people can't understand the simple business concept of "giving the masses what they want".

And before you argue about what "they want", please refer to the ratings. It certainly appears that lots of people - 1.36 million of them - want WOGL to keep on doing what they're doing.

For you "deep cuts" folks, I suggest giving 88.5 more attention, reading some Chuck Palahniuk novels, and track #5 on Beggar's Banquet (Jigsaw Puzzle).

 

[Bruce Truckman]

So why doesn't WOGL advertise or promote the fact that Motown accounts for 50% of their regular airplay? If this is what listeners want (based on ratings) then how come WOGL doesn't confirm that over and over via promotion?

There's one thing that some (including WOGL) are missing here: Yes, they may be 2nd or 3rd in the ratings, and yes, they may be selling ads. But that is 2nd or 3rd in the group that IS listening. The industry itself could be losing money and shares due to ipod use or due to satellite radio, and they can still be in 2nd place. Compare it to newspapers: Everyone knows that the percentage of readership is going down all the time--and most papers seem to have no plan to rebuild, no plan to change their product to appeal to younger readers. The Philadelphia Inquirer could be losing readers faster than ever before in their history and their defense could be, "Hey... we're still number one." The richest house on a poor block is doing well IN COMPARISON to its neighbors, but that doesn't mean it's doing well. Or take the Philadelphia Eagles: They sell every ticket, every year. What's their incentive to be better? They get 100% of their tickets sold, 100% of the television revenue, people buy food, buy beer, pay to park--THERE'S NO INCENTIVE TO IMPROVE. Sure, they may try to win, they may hope to win, but since their numbers are where they want to be, they're not losing sleep if they don't. As far as the numbers go, they're "doing well".

And since the numbers people think OGL IS "doing well", obviously the status quo will continue. But I don't think being in the 2nd or 3rd best position in the market is grounds for the station to just say, "We're fine. We don't need to worry about what individuals think... it's the big picture we're focused on." It's those people who forget that the big picture is MADE UP of all those individuals--individuals who ultimately leave the market entirely because their opinions are ignored. Newspapers have tried that--ignore the critics, and hang on for dear life.

In the end, the best are always trying to get better--listening to comments, responding to critics. They don't sit in 3rd place (which WOGL scored in May) saying, "You just mind your own business. We're doing just fine."

 

[Those RRRRs]

Doesn't anyone see through the Woggle Dog and Pony Show? There is one reason they are in 2nd or 3rd...and one reason only. That reason is that for many people there is nothing else to listen to.

There is no more Sunny or Standards on 950 to split the audience. The dial is made up mostly of rock and rap/r&b/pop. Period.

The rest of the audience who is turned off by the above has either The B, which many find either boring or offensive due to some of the newer but "lite rock" cuts The B plays, or they have Woggle which is tolerable at best but people equate the station with being "safe" for mixed audiences.

There are a lot of offices and people (especially people who run family-friendly stores) who think they need a "safe" station playing in the background that doesn't bore them to death like B101 does.

That's the only reason the Woggle does as well as it does. I mean, there couldn't possibly be that many people who dig all that freakin' disco and horrible 70's music.

It goes on in the background and gets blocked out, but still gets recorded in the PPM.