WARM 103

[JSM]

Well said Vinyl

 

[RockofHBG]

Carpenters, Dan Fogelberg, Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, etc have all been exiled to the AM Band. They have no relevance to winning BIG in the 25-54 demo. For a station to make serious money, it must score in the top 3 in that demo.Yes there are those who like that stuff,even a few younger people but not enough to invest a full-market signal like WARM in. Every major Adult Contemporary station in the nation has MOVED ON and wins big by jettisoning the old stuff. If you have a rim-shot FM or an AM that will never be a major player, you can still play Air Supply and by doing so serve the old demos. You will never see WARM return to the "wimpy" stuff any more than you'll see them return to the Susquehanna strings on WSBA-FM. If you like that music, WHYL, Nice 960 is great sounding station...almost as good as FM.

 

[gpassmore]

I feel that Vinyl is correct, in a way. The one thing that made WARM so popular was that you knew what you were going to get. And yes, people that listen to soft rock like to hear Dan Fogelberg and the the singer/song writers because they make good music. Consistency is what makes a radio station good. As a listener you need to know that when you turn it on you will hear what brought you to that station in the first place... and that is that deep within even the most staunch hard rock listener, i.e. myself, it is the constuction of good music that keeps you listening. I like to hear a Dan Fogelberg song because it is musically sound. I believe there are alot of WARM listeners that appreciate the "soft rock" "sissy" music for just that reason. With this change of format they have no idea what their station is going play. When I turn on radio and I here a good song, I listen, then they follow up with a song that has no relation musically with the previous song and I shut it off. Consistancy is the key. If WARM is going to change the consistancy of their line up then they need to change who they are presenting it too and how they present themselves. Lose the "Soft" moniker and bill your station as a "pop" or "variety" station. The damage is done and the WARM 103 of yesteryear is gone. But just as in the case of classic rock if something is good it will return. Maybe not at 103.3 FM, but someone will see the need and make a mint.

 

[RockofHBG]

Cumulus wants to be competitive in the 25-54 demo and will have an adult contemporary format at 103.3 unless they eventually throw in the towel. To be competitive as an AC, they will play songs and artists that the majority of 36 year-old women will know and love. Today, that includes Taylor Swift, Hootie and The Blowfish, Rob Thomas, David Cook and Maroon Five, among others. It will not include Fogelberg, Manilow, Carpenters, etc. anymore than today's Top 40 stations are playing Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Phil Collins. My point of changing the name of the name "WARM" maybe what is now needed because the evolution of the brand was handled poorly and leaves some people pining for what it was. Simply put, if a broadcast company's business plans requires the amount of revenue that can only be generated by 25-54 agency business, it will not be it the "sissy" music business. If not though, it is a possible to do a niche format playing soft 70s and 80s, fueled by much lower local direct sales.

 

[Seltzer]

The early incarnation of MIX 1067 is what is being described here minus the heavy dose of the Carpenters and Barbara Streisand. That station never caught on, yet, at the time they were the only station on the FM band playing some of that music. They even added a couple of WARM fixtures; Rick Sten and later John London to the on air lineup. It didn't matter and MIX is no longer with us.

For another station, especially one with a huge signal, to return to that era of A/C would be suicide. And sorry, there aren't enough 27 year olds around to make such a station sellable to clients.

 

[karlyle]

I'll throw my 2 cents in on this string: My belief is that the reason that WARM won so big in its hey-day is because it was the only station that was doing what it was doing & doing well, plus it was one of the only stations in the market that could truly be heard just about anywhere you went. Also, it was HUGE in TSL because EVERYONE who worked in an office had it on...because it was the only station all parties could agree on & thus garnered tons of Arbitron numbers because it was what people were exposed to most of the day. Once other stations began trying to switch formats to do what they were doing, it watered things down and the share of THAT format started going away, especially with the increase in Country (specifically WGTY) becoming more "acceptable". WARM will NEVER go back to doing what it was doing, and even though some of the younger demos know who Neil Diamond, Air Supply and the rest are, they don't have those artists in their I-Pods, CD Players, etc. Remember, the 35 year old woman today was BORN in 1976...by the time they were truly at the point to appreciate music, all those 70's artists were beyond their prime and the 80's is what they grew up with and now identify with & THAT'S where stations of WARM's ilk will base their research on. Its not to say they don't like it, but they don't like it enough to build a whole format around it anymore. But then again, its just my opinion, I could be wrong