Jack's switch back to Olides in New York - any implications for Knoxville?

[Tennessee_Steel]

Would this move in New York have any implications for Knoxville's Jack?

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From Mediapost's "Media Daily News"

Jacked Up: CBS Radio Returns To Oldies Format
by Erik Sass, Friday, Jul 6, 2007 7:45 AM ET
WCBS-FM WILL DITCH ITS "JACK" format and return to "Oldies" next week, according to several industry observers, who attributed the decision to newly appointed CBS Radio CEO Dan Mason.

[EDIT]


http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=63620

[EDIT-post truncated because originating material is copyrighted by MediaPost Publications. Unauthorized use of copyrighted content is in violation of Radio-Info's TOS. URL provided by Radio-Info as a courtesy to other users.]

 

[RussAllen]

Would this move in New York have any implications for Knoxville's Jack?

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From Mediapost's "Media Daily News"

Jacked Up: CBS Radio Returns To Oldies Format
by Erik Sass, Friday, Jul 6, 2007 7:45 AM ET
WCBS-FM WILL DITCH ITS "JACK" format and return to "Oldies" next week, according to several industry observers, who attributed the decision to newly appointed CBS Radio CEO Dan Mason.

I would think not. Two totally different companies, in two totally different markets. Perhaps some of the board members can chime in on when the last time format changes in New Yawk City had any implications in Knoxville.

 

[tk]

From Mediapost's "Media Daily News"

Jacked Up: CBS Radio Returns To Oldies Format
by Erik Sass, Friday, Jul 6, 2007 7:45 AM ET
WCBS-FM WILL DITCH ITS "JACK" format and return to "Oldies" next week, according to several industry observers, who attributed the decision to newly appointed CBS Radio CEO Dan Mason.

[/quote]

I would think not. Two totally different companies, in two totally different markets. Perhaps some of the board members can chime in on when the last time format changes in New Yawk City had any implications in Knoxville.
[/quote]

If ever there was a time to sit up and take notice of a format change this is it. Jack as I have mentioned is dead in the water with the flavor format of the week. Oldies can still be a viable and profitable format with the right focus.

 

[RussAllen]

I'm told that the LA Jack station continues to perform well. The success of that station promted CBS to create other Jack stations in their group. Perhaps in NYC (and other cities) Jack didn't jump high enough over the candlestick and burnt his toe. ;D

Personally, I think it would be a good move for SC to drop Jack and go back to oldies. If my memory is correct, they had better ratings performance as oldies. I don't know how the Oldies revenue compares to Jack's.

 

[ARDONAVINDA]

Judging by a lot of these posts on the loss of Music Radio WLSQ. Knoxville did embrace this format more so than say Crossville, Rockwood or maybe Harriman. So yes it tells me that Knoxville was and still is quite thirsty for a Music Radio style or Golden format of some sort again. Yes B-97.5 is turning back to the 70's over the weekend and have added gold cuts during the day as well but they still use the same jingle package they use day to day, and the jocks don't deliver the 70's any different than they do with their regular programming. What WLSQ seemed to do was recreate radio from 30 years ago. Did people notice the reverb on the station, the vintage 89 WLS jingles, the high personality disc jockeys it sounded like we were listening to a Top 40 AM station circa 1977 or something. Only it was on FM. Even the newscasts reminded me of when I was a kid and my favorite T-40 played the news every hour. It was nostalgic to some degree. I also noticed they never gave the years out to the songs they played. Almost as if they were back in time except the dj's did topical current humor. I remember hearing them do jokes about Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan jokes and other topical current events. So in a way if Knoxville picked up that format on one of their failing stations I don't think it would effect B-97.5. They did well before they started doing heavy 70's. I think the only reason they started the flashback was because they knew their company messed up a couple years ago when they dumped their oldies to go Jack. They knew there was still a thirst for that music but didn't want to completely change B around. I was a Music Radio WLSQ fan like most. Maybe the nostalgic delivery was what the charm was all about! I wonder if a bigger company could recreate that as well without consultants screwing things up! Only time will tell.

 

[knoxbob]

I think the format would work well in the Knoxville market the only problem is the big 3 companies won't hire or pay for the type of personalities that it would need to have. Also they wouldn't release the jocks to have fun on the air, they would be required to read this liner card at this certain time and promote the morning show everytime you open your mouth.

 

[BRH]

I have to admit that the production and sound of WLSQ was fun, but musically it really just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm 37 and my teen years were in the 80's. Of course I love 80's music, but I also like most all kinds of music. However, the 70's pop stuff has always been an era I never cared much for. It's not that it is older either. I've always loved 60's oldies and the traditional oldies FM's that were basically all 60's a few years ago, but when they started moving into the 70's stuff, I lost interest. To me, the music of the 60's and 80's was fun, but the 70's pop music, overall, was just really slow and sappy and boring. The whole "me" thing with the singer songwriter, introspective slow stuff just does nothing for me. Sure there are exceptions and 70's hits I like, but overall the 70's format really kind of depresses me. The jocks on WLSQ were great and the upbeat production was awesome, but then came the really slow sappy 70's songs.

So, personally, I would actually prefer that South Central keep "Jack FM" instead of going oldies or classic hits. If they flipped it back to a 60's based oldies format, that might be cool, but not a 70's or classic hits based one. Also, 70's based formats have been attempted in Knoxville several times before and have always failed. "Cool 93.1" tried doing 70's in it's last days as an oldies outlet, also U102 in the mid 90's tried 70's based AC before flipping to oldies, and also suburban rimshot 105.3 tried a satellite fed 70's format for awhile too.

I don't know, and don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking it for anyone that loves it, but you have to admit, that overall the 70's pop music just isn't as fun and accessible as the hit music from decades like the 60's and 80's. That's why most 70's based formats have focused more on the rock side of 70's music and not the pop. I think the difference is that the pop hits of the 60's and 80's are more universal and appeal to people of different ages, while the 70's pop mainly only appeals to people who came of age in that particular time period. And I think it's mainly because the 70's stuff was so introspective and "touchy feely". 60s and 80s hits feel more like a party, while 70's pop is more like a trip to the therapist's couch. Anyway, that's just my take on the format and my personal likes. So while I did like the production and sound of WLSQ, musically, I'd prefer Jack's current adult hits format.