Interested in opinions from radio experts :)

[gunterm]

My oldies format is a hybrid of what I call "the chart" (Oldies chart from mediabase) which has the old tired songs one must play to get good ratings, and what I feel is the true oldies format which includes a lot of 50s "birth of rock" music as well as the 60s lost hits type of stuff.

So anyway, here is the listen link: www.oldiesradionet.com/oldies56.asx

would appreciate your comments!

Matt...

 

[fred flintstone]

Whom are you targeting? (What age? Any other demographic variables?)

The "Real Oldies" format does include "birth of rock" music. The Oldies format does not (any more).

 

[gunterm]

I was interested in the most liked oldies format, the one that is disappearing. I get e-mails all the time from people who turned to internet radio since their local FM/AM flipped to something terrible like Jackoff-FM. You wouldn't believe how many e-mails I got from former WCBS listeners.

 

[radiofriend1]

I was interested in the most liked oldies format, the one that is disappearing. I get e-mails all the time from people who turned to internet radio since their local FM/AM flipped to something terrible like Jackoff-FM. You wouldn't believe how many e-mails I got from former WCBS listeners.

if it was "the most liked" among actual radio listeners the format wouldn't be disappearing

and if oldies was truly that in-demand in nyc don't u think SOMEBODY would have put it back on terrestrial radio???????

 

[gunterm]

Well I think CBS is pretty clueless, their new FM talk sucks and they're still sticking with it also. WCBS-FM has worse ratings now than with oldies, I think they're just greedy for money...

 

[RadioMan203]

I was interested in the most liked oldies format, the one that is disappearing. I get e-mails all the time from people who turned to internet radio since their local FM/AM flipped to something terrible like Jackoff-FM. You wouldn't believe how many e-mails I got from former WCBS listeners.

That's easy to believe - I received a large influx of email as well as having my listenership jump through the ceiling once the CBS-FM format change took place. It then jumped again when local "Kool-96.7" changed their format from oldies to a Jill-like approach called "The Coast". Sadly, the demo that oldies music usually appeals to is one that advertisers aren't all that interested in catering to. Hey, they have to earn a living and who can blame them.

 

[semoochie]

I've been thinking about this: When I was a kid, no one played music from the 1920s, except as an occasional curiosity and think about how old that music seemed in 1966! Even the elderly thought it was old.

 

[fred flintstone]

I've been thinking about this: When I was a kid, no one played music from the 1920s, except as an occasional curiosity and think about how old that music seemed in 1966! Even the elderly thought it was old.

Somebody gets it!
Congratulations.

Doesn't anybody here remember your parents complaining when MOR, big band and beautiful music stations started disappearing? When ABC cancelled Lawrence Welk? When CBS cancelled everything with an audience too old and too rural? Maybe your parents complained about the Baby Boomers in ad agencies who didn't appreciate how much spending power the parental generation had (turns out, more than Baby Boomers will have).
Nothing new under the sun.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
What goes around, comes around.

Maybe we will all live long enough to see people in the current money demos complaining about no more Classic Hits or 80s-90s music stations - if radio is still around.

 

[radiofriend1]

but times and technology have changed so much, u can't really compare the 20's, the 60's and the 2000's

if that were the case the all 70's formats would have worked-they did not

it (music & generations) isn't like the rat moving thru the snake (pls forgive the comparison)

and i'm afraid the more things change these days the faster they change

that "this isn't your father's oldsmobile" was a lousy ad campaign but is a great case in this discussion

 

[fred flintstone]

Well I think CBS is pretty clueless, their new FM talk sucks and they're still sticking with it also. WCBS-FM has worse ratings now than with oldies, I think they're just greedy for money...

You are becoming a station owner but you don't think CBS should care about profit and loss?
You think ratings matter but revenue does not?
CBS made the move knowing ratings would like drop. They are more concerned about the bottom line.
You are asking people on a radio board for (free) programming advice and you think you know more than "clueless" CBS?

I hope this station of your's is a hobby and you have plenty of surplus money sitting around.
It would be a lot cheaper if you just got an iPod and downloaded your favorite 300 oldies.
Actually, there might be an opportunity for one of the music download services.
Sell Oldies packages: The CBS Oldies Playlist. The Clear Channel Oldies Playlist.
Fill up your iPod with the sound of your favorite late-great Oldies stations.
Toss in some jingles, too.
Might work.

 

[fred flintstone]

but times and technology have changed so much, u can't really compare the 20's, the 60's and the 2000's

if that were the case the all 70's formats would have worked-they did not

it (music & generations) isn't like the rat moving thru the snake (pls forgive the comparison)

and i'm afraid the more things change these days the faster they change

that "this isn't your father's oldsmobile" was a lousy ad campaign but is a great case in this discussion

The difference is: 20s recordings were primitive by the standards of 60s. However, MOR stations did include later recordings of songs from the 20s.
Singing styles changed radically in the early 30s. People now don't realize the extent to which Bing Crosby ("the first hip White man") revolutionized popular music. Now, he's remembered as the old guy who did Christmas specials and beat his kids.
And the beginning of swing and big bands in the early-mid 30s was as drastic change as the birth of rock 20 years later.
By the time Baby Boomers came along, MOR/Standards from the 30s and 40s were what your parents listened to. This was their version of Oldies - the music they grew up with. And when Boomers were kids, their parents were the money demos (although the term had not been invented yet). 20s music was what Boomers' grandparents listened to and radio didn't program to older listeners then either.

To reach the money demos (25 to 54), program music that was popular when they were 12 to 24. Oldies is falling off the treadmill - just as older music did.

 

[DougD]

[

 

[DougD]

I was interested in the most liked oldies format, the one that is disappearing. I get e-mails all the time from people who turned to internet radio since their local FM/AM flipped to something terrible like Jackoff-FM. You wouldn't believe how many e-mails I got from former WCBS listeners.

if it was "the most liked" among actual radio listeners the format wouldn't be disappearing

and if oldies was truly that in-demand in nyc don't u think SOMEBODY would have put it back on terrestrial radio???????

Very simplistic, thoughtlessness there.
After all, didn't CBS-FM have supposed "listener" testimonials saying how much they liked the format change from day one? As if they had a chance to listen.

Get this, pal. It isn't about what LISTENERS want. It's only about what ADVERTISERS and their willing accomplices want.

Listeners count for squat.

Doubt that?

Just listen to nearly any Clear Channel or other corporate radio station.

 

[davideduardo]

After all, didn't CBS-FM have supposed "listener" testimonials saying how much they liked the format change from day one? As if they had a chance to listen.

At stations I have launched recently, we had listener comments to record within 30 to 40 minutes of going on, and more than we could use in the first few hours.

 

[gr8oldies]

I don't know if you're launching on over-the-air or internet station..if its internet, you may find your niche, but over the air, I can say from a situation I know well that an approach of trying to please collectors and music geeks will have you bleeding red ink. This station went on the "everybody's tired of hearing the same songs over and over again (no research to back that assumption up)" so decided to play literally everything that ever charted, no matter how bad. They purposely avoided the big hits and it was all-obscure all the time. And it failed miserably except for people who post on boards like this.

As for Doug, who apparently believes radio stations should bleed red ink just to be his personal iPod, you really need to get satellite or an iPod. That's where Buddy Holly will live forever.

 

[radiofriend1]

I was interested in the most liked oldies format, the one that is disappearing. I get e-mails all the time from people who turned to internet radio since their local FM/AM flipped to something terrible like Jackoff-FM. You wouldn't believe how many e-mails I got from former WCBS listeners.

if it was "the most liked" among actual radio listeners the format wouldn't be disappearing

and if oldies was truly that in-demand in nyc don't u think SOMEBODY would have put it back on terrestrial radio???????

Very simplistic, thoughtlessness there.
After all, didn't CBS-FM have supposed "listener" testimonials saying how much they liked the format change from day one? As if they had a chance to listen.

Get this, pal. It isn't about what LISTENERS want. It's only about what ADVERTISERS and their willing accomplices want.

Listeners count for squat.

Doubt that?

Just listen to nearly any Clear Channel or other corporate radio station.

blah blah blah-yes doug. no clear channel stations cares about listeners..................

hey if you got canned by CC and have sour grapes that's one thing-if u just hate them because they are a big corporate group, deal with it

so is mcdonalds, coke, microsoft, apple, toyota..........the list goes on & on

don't blame big companies if u don't have what it takes to cut it

 

[DougD]

if it was "the most liked" among actual radio listeners the format wouldn't be disappearing

and if oldies was truly that in-demand in nyc don't u think SOMEBODY would have put it back on terrestrial radio???????

Very simplistic, thoughtlessness there.
After all, didn't CBS-FM have supposed "listener" testimonials saying how much they liked the format change from day one? As if they had a chance to listen.

Get this, pal. It isn't about what LISTENERS want. It's only about what ADVERTISERS and their willing accomplices want.

Listeners count for squat.

Doubt that?

Just listen to nearly any Clear Channel or other corporate radio station.

blah blah blah-yes doug. no clear channel stations cares about listeners..................

hey if you got canned by CC and have sour grapes that's one thing-if u just hate them because they are a big corporate group, deal with it

so is mcdonalds, coke, microsoft, apple, toyota..........the list goes on & on

don't blame big companies if u don't have what it takes to cut it

CC was used as but one example. Do a web search and see how many times CC comes up in disgruntled listeners' blogs about the demise of their local oldies station (Orlando is an example). Don't trust CC, one said.

I guess you're right about listener demand having the final say.

That's why there are so many radio stations and formats appealing to older adult listeners, like real oldies, MOYL, etc. They're everywhere. <G>

 

[radiofriend1]

if it was "the most liked" among actual radio listeners the format wouldn't be disappearing

and if oldies was truly that in-demand in nyc don't u think SOMEBODY would have put it back on terrestrial radio???????

Very simplistic, thoughtlessness there.
After all, didn't CBS-FM have supposed "listener" testimonials saying how much they liked the format change from day one? As if they had a chance to listen.

Get this, pal. It isn't about what LISTENERS want. It's only about what ADVERTISERS and their willing accomplices want.

Listeners count for squat.

Doubt that?

Just listen to nearly any Clear Channel or other corporate radio station.

blah blah blah-yes doug. no clear channel stations cares about listeners..................

hey if you got canned by CC and have sour grapes that's one thing-if u just hate them because they are a big corporate group, deal with it

so is mcdonalds, coke, microsoft, apple, toyota..........the list goes on & on

don't blame big companies if u don't have what it takes to cut it

CC was used as but one example. Do a web search and see how many times CC comes up in disgruntled listeners' blogs about the demise of their local oldies station (Orlando is an example). Don't trust CC, one said.

I guess you're right about listener demand having the final say.

That's why there are so many radio stations and formats appealing to older adult listeners, like real oldies, MOYL, etc. They're everywhere. <G>

bet cbs had more when they blew up one station, cbs-fm

cc is not the only group that has blown up oldies stations they're just the biggest and that means they have the biggest bullseye on them

yes there are lot of upper-demo stations as you mention-a great majority are not in top 100 markets and yes that is where the revenue is.

if u think of it-your logic is backward. u purport that there are millions of potential upper-end listeners available with those older targeted formats. don't u think if that were true and there were millions upon millions to be made doing it cc cox cbs cumulus and so on would be all over it. you say all they're after is money. well if there was that much money to be made doing oldies or moyl or whatever (using YOUR reasoning) they would be doing it and raking in the bucks

but they're not cuz the advertisers aren't interested in 55+ listeners as part of their business' groth

end of story

 

[gr8oldies]

Other groups, past and present, have blown up AM Top 40 stations, Beautiful Music stations, Music of Your Life stations, Country stations, disco stations, Jammin' Oldies stations..the list goes on and on. Clear Channel wasn't the first radio group in history to ever change a format.

 

[fred flintstone]

Radiofriend1:

Should you ever send a resume to Clear Channel (or Coke, McDonalds or any of the others you mentioned), I recommend you capitalize words and use correct spelling. This is not text messaging.