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New WCBS-FM Oldies Website Up

I live up here in Vermont, and have been following this story for a while. Pretty damn good when a company when a company (albeit as huge as CBS) can see the value of a good thing, and do a restoration of a very true classic. We have one oldies station in our region that on a much more microscopic scale flipped back to an oldies format using Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel which sounds pretty darn good for what it is.. Welcome back CBS-FM !
 
"...from left to right, I think it's Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, the Doobie Brothers, Rick James (of "Superfreak" fame), and the Beatles.
Click to expand...

Good call on the header photos. I Second That (E)Motion.

Thanks for the link to the website, DT.

The WCBS-FM website looks good: Uncomplicated, clean, lacking hype, easy to navigate and it loads quickly (at least it did tonight) although tomorrow it may be one of the most "hit" websites in America. I only hope the stream is accessible around 1 p.m. Thursday, as the pipeline is sure to shrink.

Enjoyed hearing all the comments from the jocks, GM, PD, Prod Dir and sales people. Bob Shannon is in fine form, Taylor has great pipes and the enthusiasm radiates from Broadway Bill, Mr. G and Mazzei as well. The soundbites sound good and give listeners and radio junkies something to relate to. Very nice.

The positioning of "terrestrial vs. satellite" is pronounced throughout the staffers' comments, as is the reference to "greatest hits," especially when Shannon says, "People say it's the return of Oldies" and in his very personable manner, offers, "I beg to differ... ...it's the greatest hits."

Another staffer comments mentions "It's not gonna be exactly the same..." and talks about 35 years of great music, which would take us to 1972 as a starting point for the music, although previous offerings from the station reference music "from the late 60's."

I'm surprised there wasn't any diagonal banner wallpaper in the background of the video clips, only what appeared to be a lone slice of a WCBS-FM 101.1 banner roll.

I did note an abundance of ElectroVoice RE-20's and what appears to be a Wheatstone or Auditronics board. Yeah, that's radio stuff... better be careful here, somebody might say I'm being "programmer-esque" in my analysis, although I'd prefer the word "observant."
 
So there it is, in the words of the jocks, PD, GM and SM... sounds like "Classic Hits" or "New York's Greatest Hits." Join us again tomorrow, a little after 1 p.m., when we once again play "Let's Parse The Format."

-9-
 
A frequent poster on this and all boards that I know of, David Eduardo, is about to eat his words, I'm afraid, regarding that "agencies don't care for over 50s crowd."

Anybody notice the ads on the new CBS-FM web site?

Let's see ... a cruise company in the top banner. Oh, Lincoln-Mercury (and not small ones) on the right bottom and, oh yeah, that heavy auto favorite for the 24-34 and 34-49 year old generation ... Mercedes-Benz on the bottom banner.

I'm sure we'll hear/see how this is just the excitement of it all ... but I found it very interesting to note.

Hope you did, too. I'd call him on it.
 
Very nice re-introduction to the format on the website. Check out the PD (Brian Thomas), and his thoughts. Except he mentions web-listening as a negative. I hope he is not referrring to their own stream....that is driving a lot of ratings right now!
 
searadiofreak said:
Very nice re-introduction to the format on the website. Check out the PD (Brian Thomas), and his thoughts. Except he mentions web-listening as a negative. I hope he is not referrring to their own stream....that is driving a lot of ratings right now!
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Ratings for the web stream, if any, are not added to the off-air signal ratings. They do not benefit the overall station.
 
David, in most Arbitron markets, top of mind awareness drives ratings. A good web listenership helps that. PPM is another story...my post was more a general statement.
 
searadiofreak said:
David, in most Arbitron markets, top of mind awareness drives ratings. A good web listenership helps that. PPM is another story...my post was more a general statement.
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Web listening detracts from the "radio station" listening in most in-market cases... thanks to the Ludditees at AFTRA.

Since NY only has about 70 days of diary measurement left, the only important thing is PPM... just as in Philly. Obviously, the WODL results with a 70's based format in the PPM has a lot to do with the changes in NY. The diary will be gone in the top 10 markets in 2008... and that is where 30% of radio ad revenue is placed.
 
All well and good, David, and excellent points. But I can't help think that there is "radio-life" outside of the top10 markets. I happen to work in a non-Top 10 market with a mainstream AC that streams, and the competititon doesn't. Last book, we killed! And frankly, to dismiss the web listening in this particular situation is just foolish. Remember, there are a lot of radio stations outside that 30% revenue pool that continue to make money and do well. That's the only point I was making.
 
A frequent poster on this and all boards that I know of, David Eduardo, is about to eat his words, I'm afraid, regarding that "agencies don't care for over 50s crowd.
Click to expand...

Not so fast. There also was a banner for NYPD recruiting, that's 18-34 territory. As to the Mercedes-Benz ad, it featured "previously owned" vehicles, which are quite accessible to 30-49 year olds. Rather than eating crow, I think we should all be fasting until 1 o'clock today.

-9-
 
searadiofreak said:
Very nice re-introduction to the format on the website. Check out the PD (Brian Thomas), and his thoughts. Except he mentions web-listening as a negative. I hope he is not referrring to their own stream....that is driving a lot of ratings right now!
Click to expand...
I think Mr. Thomas is referring to Internet-only stations, not the actual stream of CBS-FM online.
 
No crow eatin' here. It's 11:15 pm in New York and the first banner I see replaced the cruise ad ...

It's now LEXUS.

Definitely a fine automobile (and I note, not pre-owned as you correctly pointed out about the Mercedes ...) for the mainstream 25-35 demo.
 
oaktree said:
No crow eatin' here. It's 11:15 pm in New York and the first banner I see replaced the cruise ad ...

It's now LEXUS.

Definitely a fine automobile (and I note, not pre-owned as you correctly pointed out about the Mercedes ...) for the mainstream 25-35 demo.
Click to expand...

The format is way too new for CBS to have sold any format specific ads on the websites. The fact is that all the ones you mention have been rotating through the CBS New York sites for a long time.

By the way, the Lexus FX and G series are targeted and yuppies and middle age adults, not at over 55. My 31 year old second in command has an FX, and his friend, a hip hop jock and mixer, just got a G today... traded in his BMW 741 for it.
 
Once more, David, you are plainly fixated on all things 55+ ... when, in fact, that wasn't even mentioned as a "demo target." Lexus, as you know, is "not" every person's car. It is a "luxury" car.
 
oaktree said:
Once more, David, you are plainly fixated on all things 55+ ... when, in fact, that wasn't even mentioned as a "demo target." Lexus, as you know, is "not" every person's car. It is a "luxury" car.
Click to expand...

It's a low price very entry level luxury car in many models. You can have a G series for just a little more than a Camry, and the FX is not much more than a well equiped Explorer.

And they are marketed to 35-49, mostly. The FX is a sports car without a trunk, in fact. Very little 50+ appeal.
 
CBS-FM website: Selfish, self-promoting

Exactly what you get from a radio station rushed on the air to please the fanboys and hardcore radio geeks.

JimPastrick said:
The WCBS-FM website looks good: Uncomplicated, clean, lacking hype, easy to navigate and it loads quickly (at least it did tonight) although tomorrow it may be one of the most "hit" websites in America.
Click to expand...

More like something that would qualify for Web Pages That Suck.

This is what you get:

"Welcome Back" on homepage -- a web cliche. A lot of sites that don't know any better put "Welcome to" on the homepage.

Lots of links to soundbites but no "Last 10 Songs" list. Webmaster couldn't bother to include the script.

Video that automatically loads -- a major no-no in web design.

Lack of a "Contact Us" link -- not acceptable on a corporate-run website.

The Clear Channel stations in New York have better websites. PLJ has a better website if a bit overboard.

BTW, CBS-FM will NEVER be among the most visited websites in the U.S. CNN, the TV networks, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have much more web traffic. So do Google and Yahoo!
 
If you're inferring that the site was just thrown together, you're right. The old one was out of date, and it takes some time and money to launch a whole new radio station. Time the've got... and money? CBS doesn't want to spend it on CBS-FM right now. The station has to earn the money first.

Everything will fall into place within 4-6 weeks.
 
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