V-102.5 Format Change????????????????

[scottwmro]

I got word from a semi-reliable source early this morning that V-102.5 was changing format and going Oldies. What era or type of Oldies, I don't know. Now, don't say that I started this rumor because I will tell who I got this information from. I just the message carrier and wanted to check this out.

***If this is true, it will solve 3 problems, especially one small one for me:

A. All the people who complained when 97.1 change will be happy now.

B. Since I changed Gallatin's Magic 1560 from Oldies to Hot AC, I, personally will no longer be be "picked on" by Pat Julian, Bill Buntin & Buddy Sadler and it will get rid of of weak competition. ;D

C. WVNS does not come in too well in Gallatin, so this would help. (Oh, I like Pat, Bill & Buddy, I think are great guys, but we argue over this "Oldies Thang"!) If this is ture, Tibbs, Get out the ARBOR MIST!

DISCLAIMER....Now remember folks, this is JUST A RUMOR I HEARD THIS MORNING AND IS NOT THE GOSPEL TRUTH! If somebody know anything about this, please come forth and tell us about it.

Scott @ Magic 1560, Gallatin

 

[Tibbs4]

Scott ---

I'm filling the Arbor Mist shelves now. I dunno, seems like the fires of True Oldies is/are sparking the thoughts
of a lot of management in fringe stations just trying to get a share of the pie. I can't say it
is a bad move. Here, I have to wonder if the signal on 102.5 will ever allow them to climb above a 3.0?

Why does the current Hot AC format seem to bomb in Nashville? I know it
has to be done right, and hasn't really ever been correct on 97.1 or 102.5.

Would it make more since to wait and see how bad The Buzz gets hit (if much at all by 97.1)
before you flip, when things may end up being worse at 102.9? Would moving Hot AC over to
the better signal help V-102's ratings and put Oldies on?

Only time, and a couple hundred bottles of AM will allow the truth to be known.

 

[scottwmro]

Scott ---

I'm filling the Arbor Mist shelves now. I dunno, seems like the fires of True Oldies is/are sparking the thoughts
of a lot of management in fringe stations just trying to get a share of the pie. I can't say it
is a bad move. Here, I have to wonder if the signal on 102.5 will ever allow them to climb above a 3.0?

Why does the current Hot AC format seem to bomb in Nashville? I know it
has to be done right, and hasn't really ever been correct on 97.1 or 102.5.

Would it make more since to wait and see how bad The Buzz gets hit (if much at all by 97.1)
before you flip, when things may end up being worse at 102.9? Would moving Hot AC over to
the better signal help V-102's ratings and put Oldies on?

Only time, and a couple hundred bottles of AM will allow the truth to be known.

You know, that's what I heard this morning, that it will be Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel. It's a good AM Format, but I wonder just how go it will do in this market on FM. Gee, I'm 100% sure it would do much better than what V-102.5 is doing now, with Q-108 stomping all over them. I can hear Q-108 here in Gallatin, and they play a much better Hot AC mix than V-102.5

Only time will tell, just keep the Arbor Mist Chilled. I HOPE Bud will do this!

Scott Shannon is doing mornings on New York's 95.5 WPLJ. and he's playing "Hot AC" on that station. Must feel strange to deal in your head with two different formats. I've listen to his morning show on line and I must say it beats any station doing any AC format in this market.

 

[yorkie9]

Scott - isn't True Oldies 100% automated? Wouldn't that mean the current airstaff would be released?

Or, (pure guess - total speculation) maybe the AC format jumps to 102.9 and takes advantage of the better signal?

I thought VNS was on to something good. Seems like the Buzz/Rock format is getting a little crowded with 97.1 in the field too - yet I still recall there being some legal reason why the Buzz is still the Buzz having to do with copyrighting the name. Just funny for Bud to pull the plug so fast at 102.5 but True Oldies appears to be catching on in a lot of places. The Buzz is the one that could use a new format IMHO. ZZZZZZZZZ.

 

[scottwmro]

Scott - isn't True Oldies 100% automated? Wouldn't that mean the current airstaff would be released?

Or, (pure guess - total speculation) maybe the AC format jumps to 102.9 and takes advantage of the better signal?

I thought VNS was on to something good. Seems like the Buzz/Rock format is getting a little crowded with 97.1 in the field too - yet I still recall there being some legal reason why the Buzz is still the Buzz having to do with copyrighting the name. Just funny for Bud to pull the plug so fast at 102.5 but True Oldies appears to be catching on in a lot of places. The Buzz is the one that could use a new format IMHO. ZZZZZZZZZ.

Yes, ABC's True Oldies Format is a satellite automated format. I don't see Bud changing the Buzz anytime soon. It's doing to well from what I hear. VNS has got the worse signal in the market for a 100 KW station, with it's transmitter site so far out in Dickson County, but I've seen some crazy things happen in this market over the years that made no sense.
Now remember, this is just an unconfirming rumor and is not the gospel truth. Only time will tell. Let's sit back and listen is all I can say.
But one thing that bugs me, he has had an application since January of 2004 to move WQZQ from Clarksville to Goodletsville/Madison and change channels from 1550 to 830. That app is still sitting there. I saw where they had 1 or 2 STA's granted to do some testimg at the 1430 site, but I don't understand why his attorney is not pushing on that either.

 

[Tenn Radio Boy]

V-102.5 needs to change. The 80's 90's and today thing is too ambiguous to catch and hold a listener. The air talent on the station is okay, nothing to hold you, but Oldies no matter who is throwing it together is still an older demo not too desirable by the agencies, IMHO.

 

[scottwmro]

V-102.5 needs to change. The 80's 90's and today thing is too ambiguous to catch and hold a listener. The air talent on the station is okay, nothing to hold you, but Oldies no matter who is throwing it together is still an older demo not too desirable by the agencies, IMHO.

I agree with you on the ad agencies not buying an late 50’s, 60’s, & early 70’s format, but you would be surprised of the smaller businesses that will buy it. It is hard to hold an audience to a oldies station because song test are done, and the station’s consultants, General Managers, and Program Director’s prefer to “play it safe”, and fearful of running anybody off. You will never hear artist like Jack Scott, Ronnie Dove, Johnny Mathis, etc. who these gentleman had big hits in the 60’s, but the consultants are scared of playing them. They want the station to sound bubbly and alive and these artist recorded lots of love ballads.

Even if the Oldies format is jocked or not, it’s the music that holds the audience in this generation, not the air personality. Formats like Jack have proven this. Richard Deck did this at WYXE when it was Classic County, (music and no jocks) and it worked because the station had a loyal audience. The bad thing about this demo is the audience dies off to quick, then as a GM, you begin to wonder if your programming to a demo that has one foot in the grave. You’ve got to go out there and play tunes that were hits that typical regional program directors are afraid of, especially ballads of the era!

Bill Barry at WAMB does it, and he has listeners of all types. They may be a minority, but it is an audience.

 

[barnaby_wilde]

Scott,
I listen to oldies because of the music, but I would expect an oldies station to offer more than that. Traffic, weather, air personalities to relate to, and local promotions. That, I believe, would not only build a loyal listener base, but could result in younger listeners. My 27 year old daughter listened to the Oldies station(s) because she liked the music and their traffic reports. As for music selections, Jack Scott, Ronnie Dove, Johnny Mathis, and Connie Francis should be played (even if in small doses). But, I enjoy oldies music -- even if I hear something unfamiliar, I don't tune out.

So, if this does happen, I hope that they will at least put some local talent on in drive time and have them out on weekends at shopping centers and such so they can create some listener loyalty. Hey, I met Bobby Knight once. Not a super star, but I liked him. And, because I liked him, I listened to his show (and I would listen again if he were on).

NO I AM NOT BOBBY'S MOM!!!!

 

[yorkie9]

I don't see Bud changing the Buzz anytime soon. It's doing to well from what I hear.

OK - I agree with that. I like the Hot AC format and VNS has already strayed from that too much.

I also used to be a big proponent of Oldies on here, but I agree with the many pitfalls that come with the format. Like Mike Bohan once said when talking to Gerry about Coyote - "They're not making any new Oldies!"

On the topic of announcers, Jack has proved the station works well without them. I do flip for traffic and I've really grown tired of Jack but that's probably because of the playlist more than the lack of talent. I think one thing working well for 97.1 is the talent, but it varies by station and market. My dad still talks about WYXE - it's truly about the connection to the music/format. Personality driven radio is great when it works but not a necessity (like I once thought!).

 

[scottwmro]

Scott,
I listen to oldies because of the music, but I would expect an oldies station to offer more than that. Traffic, weather, air personalities to relate to, and local promotions. That, I believe, would not only build a loyal listener base, but could result in younger listeners. My 27 year old daughter listened to the Oldies station(s) because she liked the music and their traffic reports. As for music selections, Jack Scott, Ronnie Dove, Johnny Mathis, and Connie Francis should be played (even if in small doses). But, I enjoy oldies music -- even if I hear something unfamiliar, I don't tune out.

So, if this does happen, I hope that they will at least put some local talent on in drive time and have them out on weekends at shopping centers and such so they can create some listener loyalty. Hey, I met Bobby Knight once. Not a super star, but I liked him. And, because I liked him, I listened to his show (and I would listen again if he were on).

NO I AM NOT BOBBY'S MOM!!!!

Understandable, I hear where you’re coming from. Most people that grew up in the 60’s never even heard of Automation, although it did exist, it was clumsy, and back then the FCC rules were different where you had to have a person at the station with a “Third Class License” to take transmitter readings each 30 minutes to 1 hour. Some of the so call engineers that took the 2nd and 1st class examination ended up to be radio superstars personalities of the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. Never the less, somebody with a license had to monitor that transmitter.

This is the one of the reasons why your generation would rather hear a live, human body on the air, than some Dell PC Jukebox Software. That’s why Oldies 96.3 and Oldies 97.1 were not automated, except in the overnights, to cut down on expenses.

One thing to bear in mind is it has gotten more and more expensive to pay “live jocks”, due to advertisers are not spending their advertising money with radio like they once did. They have other sources to advertise and its killing terrestrial radio.

The reason why I got so sick of “Oldies Radio” was because every hour it was:

The Supremes, Baby Love
The Beatles every 4th song.
The Turtles, Happy Together
The Temptations, My Girl
Marvin Gaye, Heard it through the grapevine. (That song make me sick!)
Mary Wells, My Guy

“Basically”, Oldies radio became owned by the Beatles, Motown & The Beach Boys. They wore it to the ground! Ad Agencies heard this and started running away from the 400 song playlist, dominated by Motown & the Beatles.

Below are some great titiles I miss hearing! I'm 44 years old and was a baby or wasn't in the world yet when they came out!

What every happen to Bobby Venton’s, Blue Velvet? That never got played!
What every happen to Bobby Darin’s, “Sea of Love”
What every happen to Ronnie Dove’s, “One Kiss for Old Times Sake”.
What ever happen to Connie Francis, “Who’s Sorry Now?
What ever happen to The Dave Clark Five’s, “Everybody Knows”?

See what I mean! WHY in the world do these stupid people in Nashville think oldies is nothing but the beatles, beach boys, and Motown? Shows me they have no mentality in the “true hits” that made the 50’s and 60’s what they were!

Sorry for my rant!

Oh yea, I was so sick of hearing "Bobby's Girl!" UGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

 

[barnaby_wilde]

Scott,
You are partially right about how I feel about automation. My wife's uncle used to manage an oldies station in Oklahoma that was automated. Ten big reel to reels with songs starting and stopping on cue, carts in a barrel that rolled around to set up for the next commercial, and one jock voice 24/7. It sucked.

The newer PC Jukebox and satellite feeds are better, but they still come off as cold, from afar, and impersonal. I don't care how folksy and tight the John Tesh show is, I know he doesn't really exist at 4 am in Nashville. Same thing with JB&B, B&T, etc.

As for tune selection, I give you two thumbs up on something that was really wrong with the Nashville oldies format. I don't think that the program directors had the love for that kind of music and were able to recognize how to include other good artists and broaden the playlist. There's a ton of good oldies music that hasn't seen the light of day for sometime.

For example. "Take Your Time" by Buddy Holly, wasn't a super hit even when it was released. But it's still a good song. It gets resurrected for a commercial, and I bet a lot of youngsters heard it for the first time and thought it was new music.

Nothing wrong with the Beatles, Beach Boys, and Motown. However, they are just part of the music of the top 25 years of rock and roll ('55 to '79). Besides the Beatles, there's Gerry And The Pacemakers, The Dave Clark Five, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, the Rascals, The Raiders, The Turtles, The Kinks, and a bunch more bands. Besides the Beach Boys, there's Jan And Dean, The Vogues, The Happenings, The Mamas and Papas, The Four Seasons, and a bunch more harmonizers. Besides Motown, there's Dobie Gray, Arthur Alexander, Sam And Dave, Joe Tex, Major Lance, Aretha Franklin, Booker T and the MG's, The Righteous Brothers, The Walker Brothers and more soul music. Then there's Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Bobby Vee, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Freeman, Bobby Russell, Lou Christie and a lot more multiple hit makers that only have one or two songs on an oldies playlist.

I recall reading an interview with Lloyd Thaxton where he mentions an oldies station was sponsoring a Gene Pitney concert and, in their interview with him, they admitted that they only had two of his songs in their entire library. TWO FREAKIN' PITNEY TUNES IN A BIG CALIFORNIA OLDIES STATION LIBRARY!! That's what is wrong with oldies stations. Now my rant is over and I feel much better.

 

[deltas69]

"The reason why I got so sick of “Oldies Radio” was because every hour it was:

The Supremes, Baby Love
The Beatles every 4th song.
The Turtles, Happy Together
The Temptations, My Girl
Marvin Gaye, Heard it through the grapevine. (That song make me sick!)
Mary Wells, My Guy

“Basically”, Oldies radio became owned by the Beatles, Motown & The Beach Boys. They wore it to the ground! Ad Agencies heard this and started running away from the 400 song playlist, dominated by Motown & the Beatles." that's why they need my 8 day ,4500 song format..thats the only comment i'll make on the subject..don't want to drive scott too deep in the arbor mist on a weeknight.. :-X

 

[jason99]

Well it's great if we do get an oldies channel back in Nashville. The sad thing is no one will be able to hear it. It would be great if they switched 102.5 music to 102.9 and vice versa. I can always get the buzz but never can get 102.5.

 

[jetfli]

Could this be Tincy's first act as the new GM?

You know, I was told by a staffer they pulled those fairly new V102.5 billboards down in a hurry recently because they needed to fight back on the Buzz. Come to think of it, was there a wink that went with that?

And of course the next question is... would it be the combo of Imus in the Morning and True Oldies all day long?

 

[jimnmidtn]

I'm out of town at the moment. Any idea when this change is going to take place? I know I'll be listening in the morning when I get back into earshot.

 

[scottwmro]

"The reason why I got so sick of “Oldies Radio” was because every hour it was:

The Supremes, Baby Love
The Beatles every 4th song.
The Turtles, Happy Together
The Temptations, My Girl
Marvin Gaye, Heard it through the grapevine. (That song make me sick!)
Mary Wells, My Guy

“Basically”, Oldies radio became owned by the Beatles, Motown & The Beach Boys. They wore it to the ground! Ad Agencies heard this and started running away from the 400 song playlist, dominated by Motown & the Beatles." that's why they need my 8 day ,4500 song format..thats the only comment i'll make on the subject..don't want to drive scott too deep in the arbor mist on a weeknight.. :-X

I was beginning to believe that Diana Ross owned stock in Westwood One. It seemed like every other song Magic 1560 was playing was a Surpreme Song or some sort of Motown. Then here come the Beatles. Gee, there is so much drama going on with Paul and his former squeeze, Heather Mills, I'm sick of hearing about that too!

Yesterday afternoon, I hit my button that is preset for 1200 WAMB, and was treated to Bobby Darin's "Sea of Love". Now that's a good song. Yes, I know it's not a contemporary tune, but it was a well produced, well preformed by Bobby.

There was more R-n-B out there besided Barry Gordy and his way overplayed group of stars. They even overplayed Rick James & his Motown tunes when he was big in the 80's. If I hear "SuperFreak" one more time, I'm going to scream!

 

[jimnmidtn]

I noticed tonight that 102.5 wasn't on Satellite like it used ot be on Sunday night. They used to run a Sunday night 80's show. Instead, the station was on auto-pilot with no jocks and local commericals.

 

[courier37027]

Jimn, I noticed same at lunch today. V-102.5 Retro 80's lunch was not there. Some 80's tunes were played along with 90's and currents, did not hear a jock. Hmm.

 

[shooterz]

Well actually that was my fault... Ace who normally does mid-days woke up sick this morning, and as a last minute fill in, I had to voice track today... I did not load the Retro Zone hence why it missed. Music was added to fill the time without any of my tracks. So please don't let today be a sign of anything more than me being an idiot. However, thanks for listening LOL

As for a format change, well who really ever knows, it seems any station is a bad book away from a format change. I can tell you the vibe I get from the building, both stations are working on improving on their current positions and looking for ways to get better.

to steal a line from Dennis Miller.... That's just my opinion... I could be wrong

 

[Tibbs4]

Shooterz --- stick in there. who is actually running and making the "key" decisions over there? we all hear so much guessing?
I for one have to say its pretty far fetched to believe Citadel is going to let True Oldies roll over there. But, that's just my
opinion. Cool that you'd post the truth.