• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Oldies for Harrisburg-York-Lancaster

We're in the process of getting an oldies station together since it seems that no one in this area wants to play them anymore. We're running tests with some of the music we're going to run. We'll also have a Part 15 station going in the Shrewsberry area. Hopefully things will be running full tilt in December. Give it a listen www.oldiesradio1620.com Thanks!
 
Dave;

It's not that no one wants to play them anymore, it's just that the appeal for that type of music is primarily 55 plus and almost no one wants to appeal to that demo. Harrisburg has had a very successful Oldies station years ago and when it was around, the format was a perfect fit for the 25-54 demo. A lot of Oldies stations, especially at the end of the cycle, started adding more titles and that helped to kill the format. There are really not as many songs as one would think that have stood the test of time and are worthy of airplay in 2008.

The music BACK THEN on a successful Oldies station was the mid 60', then the late 60,s Early 60's, 50's and 70's. Now, the few that remain are 70's based, like WSOX. Even CBS FM now is a 70's based station.

Tom " Radio Dude" Stevens
 
Thanks for the imput Tom. If someone stuck with am oldies format in this area and played the REAL thing, they'd have listeners I'm sure. Then why do you hear complaints that there are no oldies around on the radio from others? Why are the 50's and 60's channels sucessful on XM/Sirus? It just comes down to the fact that the 55 year old demo has been written off? Like I said, we're just going to offer something THIS way that no one else wants to in this area.
 
I will agree that there is a niche segment of the population that enjoys hearing
nostalgia type formats. Yes, they are successfull on xm/sirius etc. and even
on some terrestrial stations; but largely commercial radio is dependent upon
advertising revenue and from that standpoint it is difficult to sell 55+ demos
to agencies regional or national; that really is the larger issue. It is not that
there is not an audience its more the reality of developing revenue to support it.
They key demos have been and always will be 25 - 54.
 
Dave,
I was one of the full-time jocks for years on that "very successful oldies station" that you mentioned. If I can be of any help, just drop me a note.
Good luck with the project!
 
Like I said in an earlier posting, Traditional oldies is not a format that most companies are interested in anymore as no one wants the 55 plus demo. Sure, the format may get decent ratings and have listeners, but if sales can't sell it and the company can't make money with it, forgetaboutit!!

Tom from jersey
 
There is an audience for Oldies, granted. But it is true that they are not being serviced because the majority of media buyers at national agencies and rep firms are under 35 and of the opinion that anyone over the age of 55 does not spend money. Your advertisers are going to be local businesses....mom and pop shops. Unfortunately, alot of those are shying away from advertising these days because of the economy.

I wish you luck, but you will have a tough row to hoe if you want to be break even.
 
Tom Whats happened to CREARUVE sales? Very few, if any do it these days. Here is what I have seen happen, I went to work for a 'group" of stations, 11 of them in this clister, they had a sales staff for each of the stations/formats, they worked on getting advertising for that specific station/format. Then the cuts come along, the sales staff gets reduced and the remaining ones are told to get the advertising for ALL of the stations. Naturally, they go after the easy sales, they make their bottom line and the ones that were the 'tough' sales go by the wayside, the station blows out the staff or gets sold off. I realize that anything is a tough sale in light of the economy but I'm willing to give it a shot, others are doing it, why not here?
 
Dave;

PLain and simple..If Oldies had appeal to LOCAL or National advertisers..someone would be doing it. Especially in a city like Harrisburg, where Oldies performed very well. The 60's based format has VERY little appeal to anyone in the 25-54 demo.
 
Do the math. Anyone growing up in the 60's, even down into the late 50's, listening to music in their early teens is in their 60's now or more. Well out of the 25-54 demo. People in their late 40's to mid 50's grew up listening to music in the 70's. That believe it or not is oldies now!
 
ANY of the music from the 50's, 60's and 70's is what I grew up listening to and I'm 57, still lots of us left out there and spending money! Theres still a market for us. May I suggest you give www.theoldieschannel.com a listen and look at what they're doing with an internet station thats also on the local cable channel. If theres someone out there, finds us, thats one person that made the move.
 
I strongly agree with the last post. I spend many enjoyable hours listening to Sam Lit's site Hylitradio.com. If your an oldies lover, this is a great site not to mention the jingles. Sam does an excellent job at filling that spot. Yes, I support a good oldies station in the area.
 
No one is saying that it is not a format someone won't listen to. It is however a niche format now, considered a "dead" format by many large groups. It is not commercially viable in all but a few markets. Radio was, is and will remain a business to make a profit.
 
To Dave Williams
I live in the Shrewsbury (New Freedom) area. Please advise on your proposed station.



Regards
Tim
 
Tim. the stream is running music now with a test system I set up> It should work on dial up since we're using a low baud rate. A Part 15 xmtr will be following shortly. www.oldiesradio1620.com If this is the way we have to get the oldies back out to people who enjoy them, we'll do it! More to come
 
Sounds promising. The best of luck to you, Dave. I hope you get 1620 AM on the air soon.

Dollars are dollars. There aren't "under 55 year old dollars", and "over 55 year old dollars".

Popular station's have mixed in oldies for decades. Younger people have grown up with them.

You should be able to get local and internet advertising, bypassing the thick headed younger ad agency crowd.
 
radiodood said:
Dave;

PLain and simple..If Oldies had appeal to LOCAL or National advertisers..someone would be doing it. Especially in a city like Harrisburg, where Oldies performed very well. The 60's based format has VERY little appeal to anyone in the 25-54 demo.

EXACTLY.. if the format was viable, someone would already be doing it.
 
RadioGuy Then why doesn't someone have the tact to try it rather then just write it off? Statistics can be wrong ya know Is there really a need for all the sports radio one can hear in this area?
 
radioguybroadcasting said:
radiodood said:
Dave;

PLain and simple..If Oldies had appeal to LOCAL or National advertisers..someone would be doing it. Especially in a city like Harrisburg, where Oldies performed very well. The 60's based format has VERY little appeal to anyone in the 25-54 demo.

EXACTLY.. if the format was viable, someone would already be doing it.

Oldies is viable if done right. The reason stations aren't doing local oldies is it requires an expensive, hard working real salesperson to close and service those local accounts, whereas it only takes a part time McDonalds employee to answer the "agency hotline" with "May I take your order." Calling on the agency hotline will be another young McDonalds employee and they instantly relate to one other. Shazam! Instant, and very cheap sales.

I doubt that an ad agency of any size will call a part 15 streaming internet station to "place their order' anyway. So in the context of what Dave is doing he has a very viable station. Whereas a group broadcaster with syndicated, repetitive limited playlist (biggest hits only), voice tracked oldies, transmitting from any one of the unmanned multiple transmitters they own is a different story.

Dave is on the right track. It's called localism, and lack of localism is what's making radio very boring.

Dave is on the right track. Doing exactly what large corporate broadcast chains won't, by counterprogramming their bland, repetative corporate pablum.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom