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Oldies vs Adult Standards

A

airforcetwo

Guest
The Oldies format is fading from the radio dial all across the country while many markets still have/or is getting an Adult Standards station. It seems like the Adult Standards listener would be older than the Oldies listener.

A few markets with an Adult Standards station:
Charlotte, NC: lost Oldies MAGIC 96.1, but still has an FM Standards MIX106.1
Los Angeles: 540/1260 is moving from Oldies to Standards
Fort Wayne, IN: Standards move from FM to WGL 1250
Memphis, TN: WMPS-AM 1210 drops AAA for Standards

Can anyone help me figure out why Oldies is getting unplugged and Standards is still on the air?<P ID="signature">______________
John Sells
Concord, NC</P>
 
Standards is what I call "head-in-the-sand radio." It's the radio equivalent of a private yacht.

You'll notice that all of the stations you mentioned are privately owned: In LA, 540/1260 are owned by Saul Levine's Mount Wilson FM Broadacsters; WMPS is Arlington Broadcasting; WGL is Summit City, and WNMX is Ghb of Waxshaw, Inc.

These companies are all old-time, single-owner stations run by older guys who basically run standards as a private jukebox. They really don't care much if it makes money (although that's a plus); it's there to make them and their cronies in the 64 - death demo happy.

Every now and then these guys will get an itch because their Perry Como format gets no respect in the book, and a member of the programming staff will convince them to try something new - which they do, for about 3 books. But they don't give it any promotion or support, and the new format dies on the vine, and they switch back to what they wanted anyway.

Case in point: Last year, Art Astor's KSPA in Escondido, CA switched from automated classical (on AM!) to a nicely programmed mix of '70's oldies after longtime staffers convinced Art that the classical could not be sold (it couldn't). The station was a real hoot, with live jox during daylight hours and lots of great imaging. It was attracting some listenership (with no promotionn or advertising, of course) when Art abruptly pulled the plug one day with no notice whatsoever and all of a sudden, the satellite classical was back on the air. See what I mean? Private yacht format. Art is in his 70's.

Anyway, that's my opinion and it's very true :)

- Doc

> The Oldies format is fading from the radio dial all across
> the country while many markets still have/or is getting an
> Adult Standards station. It seems like the Adult Standards
> listener would be older than the Oldies listener.
>
> A few markets with an Adult Standards station:
> Charlotte, NC: lost Oldies MAGIC 96.1, but still has an FM
> Standards MIX106.1
> Los Angeles: 540/1260 is moving from Oldies to Standards
> Fort Wayne, IN: Standards move from FM to WGL 1250
> Memphis, TN: WMPS-AM 1210 drops AAA for Standards
>
> Can anyone help me figure out why Oldies is getting
> unplugged and Standards is still on the air?
>
 
> The Oldies format is fading from the radio dial all across
> the country while many markets still have/or is getting an
> Adult Standards station. It seems like the Adult Standards
> listener would be older than the Oldies listener.
>
> A few markets with an Adult Standards station:
> Charlotte, NC: lost Oldies MAGIC 96.1, but still has an FM
> Standards MIX106.1
> Los Angeles: 540/1260 is moving from Oldies to Standards
> Fort Wayne, IN: Standards move from FM to WGL 1250
> Memphis, TN: WMPS-AM 1210 drops AAA for Standards
>
> Can anyone help me figure out why Oldies is getting
> unplugged and Standards is still on the air?
>

This is an interesting dichotomy, but a general rule can be established from your examples--except for Charlotte's FM standards (lucky kids there!), all the standards stations are on AM.

Now, here's the thing: we know that standards as a whole appeals to 55+ (or even older). In that age bracket, there are lots of niche advertisers that can and do seek 55+/65+ listeners. Off the top of my head I can remember from Cleveland's most recent standards station--

Assisted living communities
Garage doors, roofing, concrete, etc. (you'd be surprised how many adults fix up their long-owned homes after the 401k and retirement/pension kicks in)
Mattresses
Home health care
Financial planning/investments
Package tours/vacations/crusies
Lincoln-Mercury dealer (actually, Frank Nero had been advertising on standards in C-Town forever, so either the audience was old to begin with, or Frank Nero was the greatest business mind in history)

The key here is that most of these advertisers are the local travel office, the local roofer, the local mattress shop, etc. If you have a dedicated sales staff, they can easily sell to these local companies.

Let's not also forget that in many cases, the standards stations are locally owned, often anemic signals--so they can have a local dedicated sales staff and take a chance on the format.

Third, how many of these stations are running a bird standards format--Westwood One or otherwise? That's pretty low-cost to do.

Now, here's my argument: the oldies audience is (a) not quite at the same stage in maturity as the standards audience, (b) even if the oldies audience is at the same maturity, they don't think of themselves that way, and (c) buying patterns and habits are boomers do differ from standards listeners.

The oldies audience right now is just at that point of grey--and I don't mean hair. They're too old for agencies' and common-current marketing and sales' beliefs and methods of operation (that is, the oldies fans don't fit nicely in the sales "box"). But, they're still young enough to buy BMWs, computers, golf gear, HDTVs, etc. The oldies fans haven't reached the point of being niche targeted with assisted living, mattresses, and vacations; they envision themselves as much younger (and the music helps that). But, although they feel younger and the oldies fans may in fact "buy younger" (computers, electronic gadgets, movies, etc.), they don't fit the marketing plan drafted by the people who draft such things.

So, it may not makes sense, but if you can believe it: younger than oldies and older than oldies can be targeted, but oldies listeners are apparently left to float in the middle of the sea.

It can be recified, but it takes some effort and a little "street walking" by sales and good programming by PD/MD.

Hope this makes sense.
 
Clear Channel has a couple of small town AMs in Ohio they run Standards (actually freally old skewing) on, but nothing in the majors around here.







> Standards is what I call "head-in-the-sand radio." It's the
> radio equivalent of a private yacht.
>
> You'll notice that all of the stations you mentioned are
> privately owned: In LA, 540/1260 are owned by Saul Levine's
> Mount Wilson FM Broadacsters; WMPS is Arlington
> Broadcasting; WGL is Summit City, and WNMX is Ghb of
> Waxshaw, Inc.
>
> These companies are all old-time, single-owner stations run
> by older guys who basically run standards as a private
> jukebox. They really don't care much if it makes money
> (although that's a plus); it's there to make them and their
> cronies in the 64 - death demo happy.
>
> Every now and then these guys will get an itch because their
> Perry Como format gets no respect in the book, and a member
> of the programming staff will convince them to try something
> new - which they do, for about 3 books. But they don't give
> it any promotion or support, and the new format dies on the
> vine, and they switch back to what they wanted anyway.
>
> Case in point: Last year, Art Astor's KSPA in Escondido, CA
> switched from automated classical (on AM!) to a nicely
> programmed mix of '70's oldies after longtime staffers
> convinced Art that the classical could not be sold (it
> couldn't). The station was a real hoot, with live jox during
> daylight hours and lots of great imaging. It was attracting
> some listenership (with no promotionn or advertising, of
> course) when Art abruptly pulled the plug one day with no
> notice whatsoever and all of a sudden, the satellite
> classical was back on the air. See what I mean? Private
> yacht format. Art is in his 70's.
>
> Anyway, that's my opinion and it's very true :)
>
> - Doc
>
> > The Oldies format is fading from the radio dial all across
>
> > the country while many markets still have/or is getting an
>
> > Adult Standards station. It seems like the Adult
> Standards
> > listener would be older than the Oldies listener.
> >
> > A few markets with an Adult Standards station:
> > Charlotte, NC: lost Oldies MAGIC 96.1, but still has an
> FM
> > Standards MIX106.1
> > Los Angeles: 540/1260 is moving from Oldies to Standards
> > Fort Wayne, IN: Standards move from FM to WGL 1250
> > Memphis, TN: WMPS-AM 1210 drops AAA for Standards
> >
> > Can anyone help me figure out why Oldies is getting
> > unplugged and Standards is still on the air?
> >
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"There ain't no reason to fight over a woman. There's two more down the street!".."Senisble Don", 700 WLW</P>
 
Long Island - 1100 WHLI is #2 12+ (4.8), #1 on weekends.

Why? Because unlike the typical oldies station, the modern adult standards station is playing new product...Renee Olstead, Rod Stewart, Jane Monheit, Michael Buble...and mixing it with older songs. Oldies stations stopped growing years ago...and then narrowed the playlist to burn out the same 250 or so songs.

Will OLDIES as a format disappear? No, but chances are it will be revisited soon with a wider playlist -- playing the songs listeners think of as "oldies" -- 50s, 60s...maybe on AM stations if the FMs are all doing well in the market.
 
Oldies is being unplugged by an FM-driven industry who cannot represent the format's demos to the customers they want. Oldies is being exiled to AM...and my WFBS in Columbia County PA ( part of the Wilkes Barre-Scranton DMA) launched a hybrid format of Pre-Beatle Oldies which replaced a failed " Nostalgia" station, and flanked a post-Beatle Oldies FM beginning in April of 2000.

When that station converted to Classic Rock, WFBS evolved its playlist to include all the sixties...and today we still feature Fifties, play all the sixties, and a couple of compatible early '70s titles.

When we launched, another local AM station was taken dark...it featured MOYL. Our choice was to avoid a market position that local businesses and advertisers knew was dead...and come in as the older brother or sister to the post-Beatle FM. Instead of saying we're 55+, we claimed to be 45+...which advertisers deemed to be more plausible.

Now five years later, those same people say we're the 55+ station...and they're right.

At this moment, I'm waiting for the only "Oldies" station on the FM dial, upriver about 40 miles in Scranton, to flip to " Jack". We've evolved our product to the point where any Oldies Radio user will have a comfort level with us...and if you listen on line, you can tell that we're not just playing the tunes. WFBS is a carefully produced product that doesnt sound thrown together...like a lot of Oldies stations today do.
 
Re: WFBS

.and if
> you listen on line, you can tell that we're not just playing
> the tunes. WFBS is a carefully produced product that doesnt
> sound thrown together...like a lot of Oldies stations today
> do.
>
I checked the website and don't find a link to access the stream.... Are you online and if so, please post a link. Thanx!!
 
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