Oldies at 104.3 or 93.3??

[eepstein]

Has always been hard to believe that Austin can support two hip hop stations and Kansas City can't support one. Of course, I consider BOTH 104.3 and 93.3 to be total wasted signals...any chance that someone would take a risk and bring back oldies to Austin? To my knowledge, Austin is the only metro area in Texas (or probably most of the country) without an oldies station. Sure there is KFMK, but that is no KONO or KLUV. Any thoughts??

 

[jras20]

I'd like to see a oldies outlet again in Austin, but I dont know if anyone will have the guts to try it. I dont know why "channel 102.3" doesnt try it unstead of trying more and more like KGSR. I would also though like to see a better rock station in Austin, 101X realy to me just BS's way to much. I think a few other markets though did loose a oldies station to "Jack" or "bob" I cant remember which ones they were though. I agree with you though 93.3 & 99.7 & 104.3 are a pretty well much wasteland.
<P ID="signature">______________
jras20</P>

 

[Kent]

> Has always been hard to believe that Austin can support two
> hip hop stations and Kansas City can't support one. Of
> course, I consider BOTH 104.3 and 93.3 to be total wasted
> signals...any chance that someone would take a risk and
> bring back oldies to Austin? To my knowledge, Austin is the
> only metro area in Texas (or probably most of the country)
> without an oldies station. Sure there is KFMK, but that is
> no KONO or KLUV. Any thoughts??

First things first...just because Austin has two hip-hop stations doesn't mean it can support two hip-hop stations. I'd be curious to see the billing of both stations since hip-hop stations usually have pretty low power ratios. That would be the best way to find out if Austin can actually support two hip-hop stations.

As for oldies, I don't know if you'll see it return to Austin, or at least return on FM. The format is having problems nationwide. New York, San Diego and San Francisco (KFRC flipped to gold-based AC a few months ago) are now effectively without an oldies station. Another top-75 market, Knoxville, recently lost its oldies station to Jack, and oldies has never played all that well in Memphis, which now has the format on two rimshot stations. It has to be frustrating for those who are committed to programming the format and those who have jobs selling it. As over half of all products on the market are purchased by people over 55, it doesn't seem smart that companies don't want to target those people. The owners of many of the oldies stations and their advertisers say the audience just isn't receptive enough to new products. However, those same owners have, at least in a few situations, put the oldies format on the HD-2 feeds of some of their stations. Why would you do that when your audience isn't receptive to new products as HD Radio is definitely a new product? Also, as news/talk continues to see an aging audience, it gets almost all the agency buys targetting 55+ while oldies and standards gets restaurants and the like, all historic no pays. A lot of the decline of the older skewing formats just doesn't make sense when put into perspective. However, good luck convincing people to advertise there. It's just not happening, and it's not likely to happen anytime soon.

 

[daypart]

> As over half of
> all products on the market are purchased by people over 55,
> it doesn't seem smart that companies don't want to target
> those people. The owners of many of the oldies stations and
> their advertisers say the audience just isn't receptive
> enough to new products. However, those same owners have, at
> least in a few situations, put the oldies format on the HD-2
> feeds of some of their stations. Why would you do that when
> your audience isn't receptive to new products as HD Radio is
> definitely a new product?

I don't doubt your premise, Kent, but a thought crossed my mind here. Could this move actually be reasonable if the vehicles traditionally driven by the advertiser-preferred segment of that age group (new Cadillacs, Lexi, etc.) are more likely to be equipped with HD radio technology?

 

[peppertree]

I have not checked the stats for a few years, but the last time I did, I found Austin to have the youngest average age of its residents of any major city. If that is still the case, then Austin will be the first to lose its oldies. The cities with the old people (Miami?) will be the last to lose oldies, and the oldies should have good numbers and a good budget in those "old" cities.

Since my cassette player in my car is broken, I have been listening to oldies on the road on KONO AM 860, but only during daylight hours.


> Has always been hard to believe that Austin can support two
> hip hop stations and Kansas City can't support one. Of
> course, I consider BOTH 104.3 and 93.3 to be total wasted
> signals...any chance that someone would take a risk and
> bring back oldies to Austin? To my knowledge, Austin is the
> only metro area in Texas (or probably most of the country)
> without an oldies station. Sure there is KFMK, but that is
> no KONO or KLUV. Any thoughts??
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>

 

[JamzUSA]

> I have not checked the stats for a few years, but the last
> time I did, I found Austin to have the youngest average age
> of its residents of any major city. If that is still the
> case, then Austin will be the first to lose its oldies. The
> cities with the old people (Miami?) will be the last to lose
> oldies, and the oldies should have good numbers and a good
> budget in those "old" cities.
>
> Since my cassette player in my car is broken, I have been
> listening to oldies on the road on KONO AM 860, but only
> during daylight hours.
>
>
> > Has always been hard to believe that Austin can support
> two
> > hip hop stations and Kansas City can't support one. Of
> > course, I consider BOTH 104.3 and 93.3 to be total wasted
> > signals...any chance that someone would take a risk and
> > bring back oldies to Austin? To my knowledge, Austin is
> the
> > only metro area in Texas (or probably most of the country)
>
> > without an oldies station. Sure there is KFMK, but that
> is
> > no KONO or KLUV. Any thoughts??
> >
>

Move to Miami Ethan. I'll even pack your bags for you....

 

[rockhard]

> I'd like to see a oldies outlet again in Austin, but I dont
> know if anyone will have the guts to try it. I dont know
> why "channel 102.3" doesnt try it unstead of trying more and
> more like KGSR. I would also though like to see a better
> rock station in Austin, 101X realy to me just BS's way to
> much. I think a few other markets though did loose a oldies
> station to "Jack" or "bob" I cant remember which ones they
> were though. I agree with you though 93.3 & 99.7 & 104.3
> are a pretty well much wasteland.
>

I agree. An oldies station could definately work here in Austin. I'd love to see KROX go active rock. KROX right now is too weak for Austin musically. They need to play more Godsmack, Tool,Pantera,etc. The ratings they have only reinforce these thoughts. There are a ton of people right here in Austin who feel the same way I do about this. Look how well the active rock format does in S.A. If it's done correctly in Austin,the format could prove to be a huge money maker for anyone who decides to take a chance. Just my observation.

 

[IgnoranceIsBliss]

> Has always been hard to believe that Austin can support two
> hip hop stations and Kansas City can't support one. Of
> course, I consider BOTH 104.3 and 93.3 to be total wasted
> signals...any chance that someone would take a risk and
> bring back oldies to Austin? To my knowledge, Austin is the
> only metro area in Texas (or probably most of the country)
> without an oldies station. Sure there is KFMK, but that is
> no KONO or KLUV. Any thoughts??
>

Oldies. Ick. How about something like KQUE was in Houston. It was nice to hear George Strait, then Frank, maybe a little Elvis. Oldies stations are overrun with The Beatles, The Turtles, and The Monkees. I can only take Happy Together and Daydream Believer so many time before I ponder driving off a freeway overpass...

I will at least give Clear Channel come props for putting KBME (what KQUE became) on the AM dial for a while before making it the Sports Animal, or whatever it is now. It's just sad that a complete demographic - and one with money, at that, is being totally ignored.