True Oldies 106.7 vs. 97.1 The River

[jal41]

With True Oldies in town, the staff at the River should panic.

The only reason the River has been as successful is because it was the only station playing any type of older rock music whatsoever. That has changed. The River may be on the format rotisserie soon. (Although The River could flip officially to classic rock and still do well.)

The only downfall to True Oldies is Imus. The River should still do well in AM drive, but come down once the oldies resume on 106.7 at 9 AM. The River's only advantage is live DJs in the mornings and middays (and a voicetracked DJ from a sister station in the afternoons), whereas 106.7 will be VT and automated outside of Imus. I see the River beefing up their promotions in response.

Which brings us to another issue. Cox does have money, whereas Citadel does not. It sounds like Citadel cannot afford local TV advertising like the River does (not even cable ad-insertions). Citadel might be able to afford a few billboards or newspaper ads (only a few), but they don't have the budget. They will have to rely on word of mouth (especially Internet websites and bulletin boards such as this one) to get out the word.

The River will lose some listeners...it will be a few months before we find out how many. 106.7 has the deep playlist, but the River clearly has the $$$$$$.

 

[BIGSTICK]

I hope they are panicking. The "River" is a complete joke. 106.7 blows them out of the water.

 

[menotti1]

i thought oldies was a dead format.It appears you just can't kill it..it's just no other music has that kind of staying power.HECK,I PLAYED THEM WHEN THEY WERE NEW.Unbelievable how many stations are picking this format again.

 

[Inside your head]

i thought oldies was a dead format.It appears you just can't kill it..it's just no other music has that kind of staying power.HECK,I PLAYED THEM WHEN THEY WERE NEW.Unbelievable how many stations are picking this format again.

so if i wait 30 years i can hear atl again/?

 

[actuallyinatlantaradio]

I'm sure no one is panicking.

The number of songs that overlap on the River and 106.7 are pretty much as many as B98 and the River...

VERY different formats...

 

[RoddyFreeman]

106.7 might shave as much as a share point off The River, only because The River was the closest thing to oldies out there. I actually think 100.5 might take half a share from The River, because The River was the closest thing to a mainstream (non-alternative or AAA) rock station...not that it was really close.

 

[itburnswhenipee]

With True Oldies in town, the staff at the River should panic.

The only reason the River has been as successful is because it was the only station playing any type of older rock music whatsoever. That has changed. The River may be on the format rotisserie soon. (Although The River could flip officially to classic rock and still do well.)

The only downfall to True Oldies is Imus. The River should still do well in AM drive, but come down once the oldies resume on 106.7 at 9 AM. The River's only advantage is live DJs in the mornings and middays (and a voicetracked DJ from a sister station in the afternoons), whereas 106.7 will be VT and automated outside of Imus. I see the River beefing up their promotions in response.

I completely disagree with you about whether voice tracking and automation are somehow a disadvantage. The average listener has no idea---nor do they care--- whether there is a "local" disc jockey physically sitting in the studios in Atlanta. Are you saying that local afternoon drive jock A.J. Cannon is a far superior air talent than the legendary Don Imus?

The syndicated shows offer legendary air talent (Imus, Tom Joyner, Scott Shannon) at virtually no cost.

A local jock is relatively unknown, usually mediocre, and a massive financial drain on the radio station's bottom line.

What do you think is the smarter management decision?

 

[JR1967]

So far, I have enjoyed True Oldies 106.7 driving around in my car today, and they seem to play a wider variety of the 70's classics, unlike the former Fox 97.1 (As one poster called it-Great Times, Eight Oldies).
While I am sure the former personalities of Eagle were great people and will very likely land on their feet somewhere else, this city needed an oldies station since it has been over-saturated with country music. As far as Imus, he should be fine since this is an election year and listening to his show in the past, his show does well during the months leading up to Presidential elections with the vast array of political pundits and politicians that will be appearing on his show this year.

Now if Atlanta could only get a 24-Hour news station in the mold of WCBS (New York) or WBBM Chicago....

 

[OgOgglby]

Atlanta DID have a great news station...as good as WCBS. It was WGST in the 80's when (the other) Mike Wheeler ran it.