Want oldies? Forget terrestrial radio!

[peppertree]

They get live deejays on WJMK. Ones who used to be on the regular FM station.

WCBS-FM gets automation. Not even some high school kids who want to be heard and paid minimum wage.

It may sound outlandish, but if many high school deejays in the Metropolitan area were auditioned, there would be some good ones in the bunch of applicants.

Tom Lawler could probably do a good job running WCBS-FM HD2.

> WJMK and WCBS -- do they stream those??
>
> Yes.
>
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[wwes]

Re: Want oldies? Forget COMMERCIAL terrestrial radio!

> Yes, forget it it, its a losing cause as the experts in
> COMMERCIAL radio have told us on here numerous times.....
.......You have to pay for what you get.....those oldies fans that
> listen to FREE radio have found that out the hard
> way...move on.

This is correct stuff....COMMERCIAL radio needs money...it's a business.
Sat radio is a great place to go...
although some may not be able or wish to pay for it.
(I have Sirius myself & love it...esp Norm N Nite).

However, if you're lucky...
in some markets, you may find some NON-COMMERCIAL stations still playing THOUSANDS of commercial-free oldies on a regular basis...
or there's a ton of it on the Internet (for home enjoyment).

Ocassionally there may even be an non-comm FM that plays "real oldies" from the 40's...etc...such as Clevelands' FM 91-5 (www.wkhr.org)...but it takes a bit of searching around FM 88.1 - 91.9 to find them and not all are 24/7.

BTW...If I were a NYC non-comm, I'd consider providing that HUGE loose mass with either format..Oldies or Pop Standards 24/7.
As evidenced by WKHR & others, the "listener support" would be HUGE...
and no commercials. The audience is there and waiting.
Bill
www.SundayOldiesJukebox.com

 

[RayDios]

Re: oldies?

I read recently that XM was hiring a sales staff. This would imply that they are going to sell and broadcast advertising on at least some of their channels.
It seems like a good business plan for their stock holders. How will their subscribers feel about paying to hear commercials?
I am lucky that there is a good oldies station here to listen to, so I don't have to pay for it. Even some of the commercials are done 60's style.

RD

 

[TheFonz]

Re: oldies?

> [I read recently that XM was hiring a sales staff. This would
> imply that they are going to sell and broadcast advertising
> on at least some of their channels.
> It seems like a good business plan for their stock holders.
> How will their subscribers feel about paying to hear
> commercials?
> I am lucky that there is a good oldies station here to
> listen to, so I don't have to pay for it. Even some of the
> commercials are done 60's style.]



Not to worry if you're a satellite Oldies listeners. Terrestrial radio can't get advertisers to support Oldies radio. There's no reason to believe that advertisers would want to buy into Oldies on satellite either.

 

[johnsummers]

Re: oldies?

> >>
>
> Not to worry if you're a satellite Oldies listeners.
> Terrestrial radio can't get advertisers to support Oldies
> radio. There's no reason to believe that advertisers would
> want to buy into Oldies on satellite either.
>

I was visiting my brother in Pittsburgh last week and he's got 'the dish' with XM. We were listening to one of the oldies stations and I couldn't help thinking....does anyone REALLY want to hear "Stupid Cupid", "Pink Shoe Laces" etc.. ? Are songs like these 'hits' in anybody's world? In fairness, that's not all you hear, but there were enough of these songs to make a radio guy wonder. What's next...maybe "Baby-Sittin' Boogie" by Buzz Clifford? A 'Frank Ifield' weekend? Comments anyone??

 

[TheFonz]

Re: oldies?

> [I was visiting my brother in Pittsburgh last week and he's
> got 'the dish' with XM. We were listening to one of the
> oldies stations and I couldn't help thinking....does anyone
> REALLY want to hear "Stupid Cupid", "Pink Shoe Laces" etc..
> ? Are songs like these 'hits' in anybody's world? In
> fairness, that's not all you hear, but there were enough of
> these songs to make a radio guy wonder. What's next...maybe
> "Baby-Sittin' Boogie" by Buzz Clifford? A 'Frank Ifield'
> weekend? Comments anyone??]


Well John, I would guess that you grew up listening to "oldies" radio. That would be different from those of us who grew up listening to Top 40 radio. Your idea of good music from the '50s & '60s would be what Oldies radio programmers and "testers" have decided you should hear. On the other hand, those of us who valued Top 40 radio want to hear the music that was actually played on the radio back then. THAT'S what makes satellite radio so great..........and worth every penny.

 

[johnsummers]

Re: oldies?

> > [I was visiting my brother in Pittsburgh last week and
> he's
> > got 'the dish' with XM. We were listening to one of the
> > oldies stations and I couldn't help thinking....does
> anyone
> > REALLY want to hear "Stupid Cupid", "Pink Shoe Laces"
> etc..
> > ? Are songs like these 'hits' in anybody's world? In
> > fairness, that's not all you hear, but there were enough
> of
> > these songs to make a radio guy wonder. What's
> next...maybe
> > "Baby-Sittin' Boogie" by Buzz Clifford? A 'Frank Ifield'
> > weekend? Comments anyone??]
>
>
> Well John, I would guess that you grew up listening to
> "oldies" radio. That would be different from those of us
> who grew up listening to Top 40 radio. Your idea of good
> music from the '50s & '60s would be what Oldies radio
> programmers and "testers" have decided you should hear. On
> the other hand, those of us who valued Top 40 radio want to
> hear the music that was actually played on the radio back
> then. THAT'S what makes satellite radio so


To tell the truth, I've been a "Radio Geek" since about age 7, I'm 52 now. I heard it all growing up. I will admit to smiling occaisionally when I hear some suburban station or satellite station play some totally stupid oldie that maybe 3 or 4 people even remember let alone WANT to hear. Especially in Pittsburgh, the home of the 'underground oldie' and Porky Chedwick and Charlie Apple and Mad Mike and Zeke Jackson and Bob Lavorio and Terry Lee and ...am I forgetting anybody?..oh, Bob Mac etc....I've heard it all and I love to listen when I'm back there. There's really no oldies scene like that here in Dallas. But, I also realize that I am atypical as, I'm betting, are you, Fonz. (BTW, I just heard
hylitradio dead seg from one song I didn't know into another one I didn't know) I'm just saying that we're all in the business of getting people to listen whether by subscription or not. And I sometime hear programming geared more toward the oldies tweak and less toward the public at large and I wonder why. Is it the ...oh boy, you won't hear this on you local station" thing, or maybe folks like to show off their oldies collection and say..."I'll bet you never heard THIS one". The tweak has his/her own collection of stuff. Besides, as anyone who has been involved with this format for more than 5 minutes knows, there just aren't enough oldies tweaks out here to support you, even if ALL of them listen. It's probably ne of the many things I just don't 'get'.Oh, hylitradio just bounced back with "Denise" by Randy And The Rainbows. Yaaay! I love the old jingles, too.

 

[TheFonz]

Re: oldies?

> [To tell the truth, I've been a "Radio Geek" since about age
> 7, I'm 52 now.]


If you still enjoy listening to terrestrial radio, John, cherish the next 3 years. At age 55 they're going to toss you in the dumpster.






[Especially in Pittsburgh, the home of the 'underground
> oldie' and Porky Chedwick and Charlie Apple and Mad Mike and
> Zeke Jackson and Bob Lavorio and Terry Lee and ...am I
> forgetting anybody?..oh, Bob Mac etc....I've heard it all
> and I love to listen when I'm back there.]

Those are some pretty good radio-listening credentials, John.


[I sometime hear programming geared more toward
> the oldies tweak and less toward the public at large and I
> wonder why. As anyone who has been involved with this format
> for more than 5 minutes knows, there just aren't enough
> oldies tweaks out here to support you, even if ALL of them
> listen.]


Remember when we could only watch network TV and a few local channels. Then cable TV came along. Who would ever think that people would watch a channel that showed room decorating 24/7? Or motorcycle building? Or old TV sitcoms? Or the weather? I could go on, but you get my point. In the past, when terrestrial changed formats, they knew that their listeners would just move down the dial to another station if they didn't like the change. Not so anymore. The listener's time is too valuable to be spent listening to something they really don't like. The options are endless. So do yourself a favor and give satellite radio another listen, John. And start planning ahead for age 55.

 

[uncamark]

Re: oldies?

> I read recently that XM was hiring a sales staff. This would
> imply that they are going to sell and broadcast advertising
> on at least some of their channels.
> It seems like a good business plan for their stock holders.
> How will their subscribers feel about paying to hear
> commercials?

I think it's safe to say that the salespeople are for the news and talk channels, not the music channels.

When XM started, some music channels had ads--but when Sirius launched with a commercial-free music policy, XM changed its policy to match them. At this point, the competition's too fierce for either one of them to add commercials to music channels. If it's going to happen, it will probably only be after a merger of the two services--if that happens at all.