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Heritage Station in Savannah, GA Gets Taken Over By JACK FM

F

FilmCritic3000

Guest
Thursday (10/06) at 10AM, Oldies 98.3, WGCO-FM flipped to JACK FM. This station has been around in this market for more than eleven years. Those listeners will no doubt be flocking to Cumulus's less-than-a-year-old Oldies station, WTYB-FM, Cool 103.9<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FilmCritic3000 on 10/09/05 03:22 AM.</FONT></P>
 
A "heritage" station?

> Today at 10AM, Oldies 98.3, WGCO-FM flipped to JACK FM. This
> station has been around in this market for more than eleven
> years. Those listeners will no doubt be flocking to
> Cumulus's less-than-a-year-old Oldies station, WTYB-FM, Cool
> 103.9


It seems EVERY station in the nation calls itself a "heritage" station.

Just my opinion, 11 years fall short of that benchmark.
 
"heritage" station?

Seems to me to have "heritage" you not only have to have longevity(you're right about 11 years), but you also have to be at a consistently high lever of success for that extended period. This station had neither.

>
> It seems EVERY station in the nation calls itself a "heritage" station.
> Just my opinion, 11 years fall short of that benchmark.
>
 
"heritage" station?

> Seems to me to have "heritage" you not only have to have
> longevity(you're right about 11 years), but you also have to
> be at a consistently high lever of success for that extended
> period. This station had neither.
>
> >
> > It seems EVERY station in the nation calls itself a
> "heritage" station.
> > Just my opinion, 11 years fall short of that benchmark.
> >
>

I think we can set heritage at 15 years. For example, WMJI has been oldies that long, and no doubt it's a heritage oldies station. (Hell, it's an old-timer now that CBS-FM is gone, haha.) I mean, lots of oldies stations came about in the late 80s/early 90s, so we can't go off the wall here.

Success? Benchmark: Top 5 in every book since inception (or thereabouts).

Comments?
 
Re: "heritage" station?

> > Seems to me to have "heritage" you not only have to have
> > longevity(you're right about 11 years), but you also have
> to
> > be at a consistently high lever of success for that
> extended
> > period. This station had neither.
> >
> > >
> > > It seems EVERY station in the nation calls itself a
> > "heritage" station.
> > > Just my opinion, 11 years fall short of that benchmark.
> > >
> >
>
> I think we can set heritage at 15 years. For example, WMJI
> has been oldies that long, and no doubt it's a heritage
> oldies station. (Hell, it's an old-timer now that CBS-FM is
> gone, haha.) I mean, lots of oldies stations came about in
> the late 80s/early 90s, so we can't go off the wall here.
>
> Success? Benchmark: Top 5 in every book since inception (or
> thereabouts).
>
> Comments?


Well, in Dallas, some tout their stations as "heritage" in the trades, although the stations have been dead and six feet under for years.

I won't name names ... unless you want me too " :).
 
Re: "heritage" station?

> > Seems to me to have "heritage" you not only have to have
> > longevity(you're right about 11 years), but you also have
> to
> > be at a consistently high lever of success for that
> extended
> > period. This station had neither.
> >
> > >
> > > It seems EVERY station in the nation calls itself a
> > "heritage" station.
> > > Just my opinion, 11 years fall short of that benchmark.
> > >
> >
>
> I think we can set heritage at 15 years. For example, WMJI
> has been oldies that long, and no doubt it's a heritage
> oldies station. (Hell, it's an old-timer now that CBS-FM is
> gone, haha.) I mean, lots of oldies stations came about in
> the late 80s/early 90s, so we can't go off the wall here.
>
> Success? Benchmark: Top 5 in every book since inception (or
> thereabouts).
>
> Comments?
>

I did say "eleven or more years". I believe WGCO started its run as Oldies 98.3 in 1990 but am not certain, therefore I went with what I knew: that the station existed with this format at least eleven/twelve years ago.

And in market #159, Oldies 98.3 was the "heritage" station, however you define it.
 
Ratings ... for the "heritage" station?

> > > Seems to me to have "heritage" you not only have to have
>
> > > longevity(you're right about 11 years), but you also
> have
> > to
> > > be at a consistently high lever of success for that
> > extended
> > > period. This station had neither.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > It seems EVERY station in the nation calls itself a
> > > "heritage" station.
> > > > Just my opinion, 11 years fall short of that
> benchmark.
> > > >
> > >
> >
> > I think we can set heritage at 15 years. For example,
> WMJI
> > has been oldies that long, and no doubt it's a heritage
> > oldies station. (Hell, it's an old-timer now that CBS-FM
> is
> > gone, haha.) I mean, lots of oldies stations came about
> in
> > the late 80s/early 90s, so we can't go off the wall here.
> >
> > Success? Benchmark: Top 5 in every book since inception
> (or
> > thereabouts).
> >
> > Comments?
> >
>
> I did say "eleven or more years". I believe WGCO started its
> run as Oldies 98.3 in 1990 but am not certain, therefore I
> went with what I knew: that the station existed with this
> format at least eleven/twelve years ago.
>
> And in market #159, Oldies 98.3 was the "heritage" station,
> however you define it.


What were the station's ratings like through the years?
 
Re: Ratings ... for the "heritage" station?

> > > > Seems to me to have "heritage" you not only have to
> have
> >
> > > > longevity(you're right about 11 years), but you also
> > have
> > > to
> > > > be at a consistently high lever of success for that
> > > extended
> > > > period. This station had neither.
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > It seems EVERY station in the nation calls itself a
> > > > "heritage" station.
> > > > > Just my opinion, 11 years fall short of that
> > benchmark.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > I think we can set heritage at 15 years. For example,
> > WMJI
> > > has been oldies that long, and no doubt it's a heritage
> > > oldies station. (Hell, it's an old-timer now that
> CBS-FM
> > is
> > > gone, haha.) I mean, lots of oldies stations came about
>
> > in
> > > the late 80s/early 90s, so we can't go off the wall
> here.
> > >
> > > Success? Benchmark: Top 5 in every book since inception
>
> > (or
> > > thereabouts).
> > >
> > > Comments?
> > >
> >
> > I did say "eleven or more years". I believe WGCO started
> its
> > run as Oldies 98.3 in 1990 but am not certain, therefore I
>
> > went with what I knew: that the station existed with this
> > format at least eleven/twelve years ago.
> >
> > And in market #159, Oldies 98.3 was the "heritage"
> station,
> > however you define it.
>
>
> What were the station's ratings like through the years?
>

It was never #1 (Urban stations always claim that spot in this market) but it was consistently in the top ten in the Arbitrons and its listenership was *very* devoted and loyal.
 
"heritage" station?

That "top 5 every book since incpetion" is unrealistic. Many a heritage station have started slowly, then built to dominance.

Again- consistently high level of ratings success over an extended period works (with your 15 years as a general longevity measure). We could probably also work in some sort of level of industry influence-- all adding up to being somewhat subjective and a case-by-case call.

>
> I think we can set heritage at 15 years. For example, WMJI
> has been oldies that long, and no doubt it's a heritage
> oldies station. (Hell, it's an old-timer now that CBS-FM is
> gone, haha.) I mean, lots of oldies stations came about in
> the late 80s/early 90s, so we can't go off the wall here.
>
> Success? Benchmark: Top 5 in every book since inception (or
> thereabouts).
>
> Comments?
>
 
"heritage"

Not if they had slid so far in the ratings that a format change could even be considered. One could make the argument that ESPECIALLY in market 159, they should have been HIGHER in the rankings (as it was, they were out of the top 10 when the flipped).

You may have revered them and that's admirable- they were NOT even close to a heritage radio station by any other standards.

>
> And in market #159, Oldies 98.3 was the "heritage" station,
> however you define it.
>
 
"heritage"

You've proven our point. "It's listenership was very devoted and loyal" is a matter of personal opinion, not ratings performance. Consistently Top 10 for a couple of decades in Atlanta or Detroit COULD define heritage- in market 159 it ain't even close.

>
> It was never #1 (Urban stations always claim that spot in
> this market) but it was consistently in the top ten in the
> Arbitrons and its listenership was *very* devoted and loyal.
>
 
Re: "heritage"

> Not if they had slid so far in the ratings that a format
> change could even be considered. One could make the
> argument that ESPECIALLY in market 159, they should have
> been HIGHER in the rankings (as it was, they were out of the
> top 10 when the flipped).
>
> You may have revered them and that's admirable- they were
> NOT even close to a heritage radio station by any other
> standards.
>
> >
> > And in market #159, Oldies 98.3 was the "heritage"
> station,
> > however you define it.
> >
Eleven years with the same format should count as something in this day and age of format flips for the sake of new formats.
 
Re: "heritage"

> You've proven our point. "It's listenership was very
> devoted and loyal" is a matter of personal opinion, not
> ratings performance. Consistently Top 10 for a couple of
> decades in Atlanta or Detroit COULD define heritage- in
> market 159 it ain't even close.
>

Look, I'm not defending Oldies 98.3 here. I'm glad JACK FM is here in Savannah now and I hope it's here to stay.

All I meant was that WGCO was the WCBS of Savannah.

BTW, I really enjoy your posts, OldieCat. :)
 
"heritage"

There's a big difference between being classified in the rare class of "heritage" radio stations over the years- radio's landscape is littered with stations who've been in the same format for 10 years or more, but that hardly makes them the stuff legends are made of.

> > >
> Eleven years with the same format should count as something
> in this day and age of format flips for the sake of new
> formats.
>
 
"heritage"

You cannot really, REALLY call WGCO the CBS-FM of Savannah. Other than the fact they were both oldies, I mean, c'mon. <LOL>

They were a decent Savannah radio station for around a decade- and that's about it. Some are understandably sad they're around no longer, some like you enjoy JACK but to take it any further for the 159th market would be a little silly.


>
> All I meant was that WGCO was the WCBS of Savannah.
>
> BTW, I really enjoy your posts, OldieCat. :)
>
 
Re: "heritage"

> You cannot really, REALLY call WGCO the CBS-FM of Savannah.
> Other than the fact they were both oldies, I mean, c'mon.
>
> They were a decent Savannah radio station for around a
> decade- and that's about it. Some are understandably sad
> they're around no longer, some like you enjoy JACK but to
> take it any further for the 159th market would be a little
> silly.
>
>

Look, obviously Oldies 98.3 wasn't getting the ratings it needed to stay alive.
Oh well. That's the radio business. The only thing I'm trying to say is that Oldies 98.3 was a favorite station for *alot* of people in this city over the many years it stuck with the format, like WCBS was to generations of New Yorkers. These people weren't desirable anymore to the demos and advertising Triad wants, so bon voyage Oldies. I'm not trying to compare a beloved New York radio station with one little Oldies station in market #159, and I'm sorry if it sounded like I was.


<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by FilmCritic3000 on 10/09/05 11:23 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: "heritage" station?

> That "top 5 every book since incpetion" is unrealistic.
> Many a heritage station have started slowly, then built to
> dominance.
>
> Again- consistently high level of ratings success over an
> extended period works (with your 15 years as a general
> longevity measure). We could probably also work in some
> sort of level of industry influence-- all adding up to being
> somewhat subjective and a case-by-case call.

WMJI industry influence: 4 station Marconi's since 1998, 2 AM Show Marconi's. Additionally R&R Large Market Station honors (1998) and 2 time R&R honors for the AM show, John Lanigan & Jimmy Malone. In fact, WMJI won a Marconi and R&R award over WCBS. <P ID="signature">______________
Everyone is entitled to my opinion.</P>
 
WMJI- yes!

Totally agree that WMJI is a true heritage station (it's the one in Savannah that was ranked #11 when it bit the dust after 10 years that wasn't).

>
> WMJI industry influence: 4 station Marconi's since 1998, 2
> AM Show Marconi's. Additionally R&R Large Market Station
> honors (1998) and 2 time R&R honors for the AM show, John
> Lanigan & Jimmy Malone. In fact, WMJI won a Marconi and R&R
> award over WCBS.
>
 
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