Merkel out at 3WS

[trefdawg]

3WS IMOP sounds like a total trainwreck. Two Big negatives: The processing alone is horrible, I am also not pleased with the way the Sunday Night Dinner has been botched ever since the passing of RD.
Sure would be nice to hear a well executed 24/7 oldies station in 'da burgh....even if it was on AM. I know it's in Washington Pa. and the calls are WJPA!

 

[Boss Radio]

The worse their programming gets, the more their ratings improve.

 

[johnsummers]

Merkel is a great guy and, in his own words, had 'a great ride'! All things end, and to stay at one station so long is a remarkable achievement. Let's not forget, Theresa Colaizzi and her 25 (!) years at the station. Both great folks and they'll both be fine. As far as 3WS is concerned, they'll be fine, too. Although, and I know I should keep these things to myself, BUT....the impression I get, as a listener, is that all the 'fun' has been sucked out of the station......'cept for Frazier.

 

[cingram]

the impression I get, as a listener, is that all the 'fun' has been sucked out of the station......'cept for Frazier.

And even Mr. Frazer is more subdued these days.

For me, 3WS passed into history when they stopped playing what I would call "oldies" and started playing
Kansas and Joan Jett. They've done well, and I congratulate them on the ratings, but I can't say I listen
to the station much any more.

C.

 

[Talk_Dude]

the impression I get, as a listener, is that all the 'fun' has been sucked out of the station......'cept for Frazier.

And even Mr. Frazer is more subdued these days.

For me, 3WS passed into history when they stopped playing what I would call "oldies" and started playing
Kansas and Joan Jett. They've done well, and I congratulate them on the ratings, but I can't say I listen
to the station much any more.

C.

What will it take for people to come to realize that "oldies" (which 3WS doesn't claim they play anyway) are songs between 25 and 45 (or so) years old? And that every year, some of them turn 41 and aren't played any more, and some other songs turn 25 and start getting played? In the year 2000, the oldest "oldies" were from 1955, and the youngest "oldies" were from 1975. Now, in 2012, the oldest "oldies" are from 1965, and the youngest "oldies" are from 1985. I realize that's just a general rule of thumb, but radio stations play old songs to capture certain age demographics. Once a listener gets too old, and the radio stations don't want him any more, they drop the really old songs that appeal to really old listeners and add newer songs to appeal to the recently middle-aged.

This should be something everyone already knows. I mean, think about it. Doesn't that make sense?

 

[dB]

What will it take for people to come to realize that "oldies" (which 3WS doesn't claim they play anyway) are songs between 25 and 45 (or so) years old? And that every year, some of them turn 41 and aren't played any more, and some other songs turn 25 and start getting played? In the year 2000, the oldest "oldies" were from 1955, and the youngest "oldies" were from 1975. Now, in 2012, the oldest "oldies" are from 1965, and the youngest "oldies" are from 1985. I realize that's just a general rule of thumb, but radio stations play old songs to capture certain age demographics. Once a listener gets too old, and the radio stations don't want him any more, they drop the really old songs that appeal to really old listeners and add newer songs to appeal to the recently middle-aged.

This should be something everyone already knows. I mean, think about it. Doesn't that make sense?

Sounds to me like a definition that you made up on the spot. I think "oldies" are late 50s thru mid 70s. And will still be that, 10 and 20 years from now. It's shorthand for a generational era, more or less the period when baby-boomers came of age. Disco and rap will never be oldies (by my definition).

 

[Talk_Dude]

What will it take for people to come to realize that "oldies" (which 3WS doesn't claim they play anyway) are songs between 25 and 45 (or so) years old? And that every year, some of them turn 41 and aren't played any more, and some other songs turn 25 and start getting played? In the year 2000, the oldest "oldies" were from 1955, and the youngest "oldies" were from 1975. Now, in 2012, the oldest "oldies" are from 1965, and the youngest "oldies" are from 1985. I realize that's just a general rule of thumb, but radio stations play old songs to capture certain age demographics. Once a listener gets too old, and the radio stations don't want him any more, they drop the really old songs that appeal to really old listeners and add newer songs to appeal to the recently middle-aged.

This should be something everyone already knows. I mean, think about it. Doesn't that make sense?

Sounds to me like a definition that you made up on the spot. I think "oldies" are late 50s thru mid 70s. And will still be that, 10 and 20 years from now. It's shorthand for a generational era, more or less the period when baby-boomers came of age. Disco and rap will never be oldies (by my definition).

It's based on listening to what stations play, and looking up playlists on Yes.com. It isn't hard to pay attention to what is played and extrapolate backwards to figure out how they came up with the lists. I'll admit, it could just be a coincidence that songs are added when they reach a certain age, and dropped when they reach another age. Maybe it's not by plan, Maybe it just works out that way. But if you think about it, how can you say that it doesn't make sense?

 

[cingram]

Once a listener gets too old, and the radio stations don't want him any more, they drop the really old songs that appeal to really old listeners and add newer songs to appeal to the recently middle-aged.

Well, of course they do. I'm aware of this as a programmer. My post was made as a listener.

C.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

In 1972 or so, WRGM in Richmond billed itself as an "oldies" station playing stuff from the late Fifties and early Sixties. By that standard, music from 2000 could be called "oldies".

 

[Talk_Dude]

In 1972 or so, WRGM in Richmond billed itself as an "oldies" station playing stuff from the late Fifties and early Sixties. By that standard, music from 2000 could be called "oldies".

Well then, maybe they should be reported to the official Agency for Strict Enforcement of Radio Format Naming Standards.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

In 1972 or so, WRGM in Richmond billed itself as an "oldies" station playing stuff from the late Fifties and early Sixties. By that standard, music from 2000 could be called "oldies".

Well then, maybe they should be reported to the official Agency for Strict Enforcement of Radio Format Naming Standards.

They are long gone. only AM music in Richmond is Disney and gospel

 

[Talk_Dude]

In 1972 or so, WRGM in Richmond billed itself as an "oldies" station playing stuff from the late Fifties and early Sixties. By that standard, music from 2000 could be called "oldies".

Well then, maybe they should be reported to the official Agency for Strict Enforcement of Radio Format Naming Standards.

They are long gone. only AM music in Richmond is Disney and gospel

I wouldn't know about that. I don't live in Richmond, and even if I did, I almost never turn my radio to AM for any reason.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

In 1972 or so, WRGM in Richmond billed itself as an "oldies" station playing stuff from the late Fifties and early Sixties. By that standard, music from 2000 could be called "oldies".

I remember in 1990 or so hearing a cut from Journey's Escape album and the DJ coming on afterwards saying "Classic Rock!" The album was a whopping 8 years old!! Then again, "classic" is another kettle of worms - same as it is with cars.

The thing that comes across to me is that what they're doing just doesn't seem to ring true - like the people who work there absolutely hate playing some of this stuff and they don't know how to integrate it into the songs that were there previously. It's almost like what happened to WAMO only on a smaller scale.

(Please forgive me if this doesn't make sense, I am quite hung over.)

 

[johnsummers]

My comment regarding 3WS, as Clarke said, was made as a listener. Of course you can't play 'traditional' oldies any more and expect to stay in business. Hence the change in the format label from 'Oldies' to 'Classic Hits'. As I've posted on another site, '...the Duke Of Earl is dead'. I've been in the format for the past 15 years in Dallas/Ft. Worth, and we, also, HAVE moved the music forward. In addition, we use jingles, tongue-in-cheek sweepers, phone interaction (when we're not voice tracked) and a tight, bright, fun Top 40 approach. That being said, it's hard to argue with their success, and I congratulate them. I do believe, though, that the approach I describe, leaves a more lasting impression on the listener and is more likely to put a smile on their face.

 

[Talk_Dude]

In 1972 or so, WRGM in Richmond billed itself as an "oldies" station playing stuff from the late Fifties and early Sixties. By that standard, music from 2000 could be called "oldies".

I remember in 1990 or so hearing a cut from Journey's Escape album and the DJ coming on afterwards saying "Classic Rock!" The album was a whopping 8 years old!! Then again, "classic" is another kettle of worms - same as it is with cars.

Classic rock is to rock what classical music is to music. There are brand new symphonies and other works of "classical" music being written and performed all the time. A great deal of movie theme music is as much "classical" music as a Beethoven sympony. So, by the same token, a song recorded this week could be a "classic rock" song if it had the sound of classic rock.

BTW, that's a musician thing, not a radio person thing. But then, radio peoples' definitions of music and musicians' definitions of music are often worlds apart.

 

[ejjeff]

I agree with John. Just because the music has changed doesn't mean that you no longer have to be entertaining. 3WS gave up when Bob came on. They dropped the jingles and the station all of it's "stationality". Good imagining and jingles are not going to chase away the audience. Programming forgot what made 3WS successful in the first place.

 

[db59]

I too, am a long-time 3WS listener, and I hate what the station has become, and that is BORING!!. My taste is music has always been for what was termed as "oldies", the music from 1955 to 1975. I can even accept music from the late'70's to very early '80's, but that's about as far as I can go. Even though I like '50's music, I can see why a station might not want to play "Earth AngeL" on a regular basis in 2010. However, as 3WS moved forward in their musical playlist, they have totally forgotten their core audience, that is those of us who enjoy oldies, especially from the '60's which they have totally abandoned. I hope many long-time 3WS listeners would agree that both the music and the on-air talent made 3WS a fun station back in the day. When you remember the lineup that 3WS once had, names such as Jim Merkel and Gary Dickson, Theresa Colaizzi, Mike Frazer, RD Summers, Sheri Van Dyke, and Kenny Woods, and you listen every day, you get to know these people more as friends than just voices on a radio. And of course if these same people are playing the music you love to listen to, it really makes it special. Those that now program the station have thrown all the fun out the door. They used to have special weekend themes like Lost Oldies Weekends, All-Request Weekends, or salute a special type of music like Motown, British Invasion, Beatles, Girl Groups, etc. Now it's just the same stuff from the late '70's and '80's all the time. As another posted suggested, this town needs an actual traditonal oldies station once again. For those who say this format is dead, let me remind you, this is Pittsburgh, and oldies will never die here.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Clear Channel must not care. They axed long time personalities from WLTW in NYC and KOST in LA. and did not seem to hurt ratings.

 

[Talk_Dude]

I too, am a long-time 3WS listener, and I hate what the station has become, and that is BORING!!.

One series of questions, does the fact that you're such a long time listener, and such a fan of music of the 50's and early 60's indicate that you have lived long enough to have reached the age that no radio station cares about whether you listen or not? Have you had enough birthdays that you've moved into the upper age demographic that advertisers don't care about? I have. If I am counted on a ratings report, it means nothing. As one old guy to another, one of the things that sucks about getting old is that our taste in things like popular culture or music don't matter any more.

At least I can now identify with my parents' generation when they could no longer hear Glenn Miller or the Dorsey Brothers on the radio any more. And, I can understand how the radio personalities who were identified with the Big Band era fell by the wayside along with that kind of music.

 

[db59]

[
One series of questions, does the fact that you're such a long time listener, and such a fan of music of the 50's and early 60's indicate that you have lived long enough to have reached the age that no radio station cares about whether you listen or not? Have you had enough birthdays that you've moved into the upper age demographic that advertisers don't care about? I have. If I am counted on a ratings report, it means nothing. As one old guy to another, one of the things that sucks about getting old is that our taste in things like popular culture or music don't matter any more.

To answer your question, I am the ripe old age of 51. Does that mean I am dead in the eyes of the Clear Channel execs? Most of the commercials I hear on 3WS have to do with things like hair loss, home refinancing, and losing weight. Wouldn't I fall into their core audience just by that?