The problem is HOW the all-80s stations were done:
* First, pick only about 250 songs from the 80s. Make sure they weren't all the biggest hits, so you can claim "variety."
* Second, do your best to get a rim-shot signal to whatever market you're trying to hit.
* Third, position the station so that it is either mocking its audience ("TOTALLY Awesome 98.9!!!") or draining the life out of the music ("The station EVERYBODY at work can agree on.").
* Finally, don't give it enough time to develop a following. Classic rock stations can take years to gain any kind of traction, but make sure to dump the 80s format after three books max, preferably, after two... and blame it on the decade, not the programmers.
The 80s format is not that far away from being the new OLDIES format. If you figure 40s music was oldies in the, what, 60s? the opportunity to use 80s music to reach the upper end of the money is closing.
If you take everyone who was 24 in 1980 to everyone who was 12 in 1989 (& the 80s audience is likely much more narrow) you're looking at an audience that is current 32 - 53 yr old. Two years, & the upper end of that audience is in the 55+ demo! Ugh...
Eighties needs to be done NOW to get any money from the advertisers. 90s needs to figured out in the next 5 years or so, the sooner you can get on it the longer the devoted listeners.
The 90s format may not be as big as the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s (& potentially 80s) formats because the hits were not as much a shared experience as in previous decades... but I still bet there's enough of an audience to justify a well-programmed and carefully tracked station.
As tough a time as a 90s station is going to have, imagine someone trying to program '00s in 5 - 10 years! No MTV to speak of, iPods, fewer & fewer top-40 stations... how will you make the playlist... will it be the soundtracks to viral videos?
In comparison, 90s radio looks downright easy.
BTW, if you're looking for a station that appears to be doing a decent job of the 80s ("& more," carefully selected early 90s hits), you might check out Rewind 94.9 in Cincinatti... haven't listened enough to see if they're burning everything, & they do focus a bit on the "at work" image (can't totally blame 'em, that's where the TSL is), but the mix struck me as pretty enjoyable the times I've tuned in... YMMV:
http://www.rewind949.com