Westwood One adds new 24/7 Good Time Oldies format to replace Scott Shannon's TOC

[firepoint525]

Let alone a NUMBER ONE song from 1963....
Anything good on Hippie Radio lately??

Meant to respond to this yesterday. When Hippie first came on, back in 2012, they frequently had transmitter issues. At one point, they were off the air for at least 24 hours. To make it up to the listeners, they had an "all-request day." I don't typically make requests (not anymore), but I called in and specifically asked for "Turn Down Day" by the Cyrkle. Reason being that "Red Rubber Ball" is played too much. Not surprisingly, not long after that, they indeed played "Red Rubber Ball." But not long after that, they added "Turn Down Day" to their rotation! Cool beans! Not sure if I had anything to do with that or not.

Now if I could just get them to do that for a couple of other groups. (By the way, I am 50, so I am definitely NOT old enough to remember when "Turn Down Day" was a hit!) Definitely a victory for some good quality radio! It CAN be done, people! (Meanwhile, Come-in-last had sold off 97.1 (FINALLY!!) to K-Love by then!)

 

[TheBigA]

Definitely a victory for some good quality radio! It CAN be done, people!

Sure, but it hasn't helped them in the ratings.

 

[firepoint525]

Sure, but it hasn't helped them in the ratings.

*cough* signal issue *cough* But at least come-in-last blinked first.

 

[TheBigA]

*cough* signal issue *cough*

Fine. Show me a station with a better signal that will respond to listener calls wanting to hear non-hit songs in any format.

Getting a station like this to do what you want isn't going to help this small station grow, hire more staff, and maybe look into improving the signal. So in that way, it's not a victory for radio, but rather just for you.

 

[Avid Listener]

If they do, then it's not the classic hits format.

Even when I was an oldies DJ, when I was a teenager, my PD wouldn't let me play Pied Piper. That was a while ago.

Then petition of gods of radio to revamp the "classic hits" format. It's not something engraved in stone. And why would you even mention a turkey like "Pied Piper" to refute suggestions to play GOOD songs that didn't quite make the cut back in the day from the era of classic hits?

 

[TheBigA]

Then petition of gods of radio to revamp the "classic hits" format.

I don't have to anymore.

And why would you even mention a turkey like "Pied Piper" to refute suggestions to play GOOD songs...

Because it's an example of what some might call a "lost hit." To me, it's not. "Good songs" are subjective. I'd counter that every song that gets played now on a classic hits station HAS to be a "good song." But the bigger issue is that as time goes on, a lot of the music of the 60s will cease to get airplay, as that generation ages. That is the very basic reality.

 

[oldies76]

Getting a station like this to do what you want isn't going to help this small station grow, hire more staff, and maybe look into improving the signal. So in that way, it's not a victory for radio, but rather just for you.

No, it's a victory to all the listeners that want more songs, which btw is way way more than you will ever realize. Get out of the office, look around, talk to people on the street, not co-workers and quit relying on miniscule laptop generated sampling numbers that you think represent the millions to what they want to hear, by way of replication. That is not human reality.

 

[oldies76]

Because it's an example of what some might call a "lost hit." To me, it's not. "Good songs" are subjective. I'd counter that every song that gets played now on a classic hits station HAS to be a "good song." But the bigger issue is that as time goes on, a lot of the music of the 60s will cease to get airplay, as that generation ages. That is the very basic reality.

It's not a lost hit to you, because you are a suit in the industry and you could probably care less. The listeners care. And if the 60's are diminishing, then you have the 70's and the 80's to rediscover once again. And there are plenty of them to go around. Good songs?? There are plenty of them, BEYOND the tiny amount that classic radio plays and assumes that they are good songs. Every song is good to some degree and EVERY song is someone's favorite. I've only said this about 317 times now.

On AM 1530 KCMN today, I heard two songs that I've not heard in ages on the radio within 15 minutes of each other. "Where is the Love" by Roberta Flack / Hathaway and "I Can't Tell You Why" by the Eagles. It was great for once not to have heard "Hotel California" for the xx time this year. Obviously the station is playing "Lost Hits" like this, because there must be demand for them, otherwise they would not airing them. The wonders of small markets. Get used to them.

http://www.i25radio.co/

 

[TheBigA]

No, it's a victory to all the listeners that want more songs, which btw is way way more than you will ever realize. Get out of the office, look around, talk to people on the street, not co-workers and quit relying on miniscule laptop generated sampling numbers that you think represent the millions to what they want to hear, by way of replication. That is not human reality.

You don't understand how we work. We've explained it to you over and over, and you still don't understand.

There have been hundreds of stations just like this one that play the bigger list and obscure lost songs, and they never succeed, regardless of the signal, the market, the ownership, the budget, the marketing, or any other excuse. We have 40 years of documentation on this. I'm talking about real world radio stations, not surveys or sampling. This particular station is just another example of a station that's forced to operate on a shoestring because they can't attract the advertising necessary to grow. Just like the one you like in Colorado Springs.

 

[davideduardo]

I
On AM 1530 KCMN today, I heard two songs that I've not heard in ages on the radio within 15 minutes of each other.

This is a station with no ratings in the last book and billing that is less than what it costs a dentist to maintain their office... in other words, an annual level of less than the cost of the cheaper Bently.

 

[oldies76]

I don't typically make requests (not anymore), but I called in and specifically asked for "Turn Down Day" by the Cyrkle. Reason being that "Red Rubber Ball" is played too much. Not surprisingly, not long after that, they indeed played "Red Rubber Ball." But not long after that, they added "Turn Down Day" to their rotation! Cool beans! Not sure if I had anything to do with that or not.

Good songs from '66. The wonders of small market radio!! Forget the big cities, they will never latch on to this growing trend.
I've heard the "Pied Piper" on KCMN before by the way.

 

[oldies76]

This is a station with no ratings in the last book and billing that is less than what it costs a dentist to maintain their office... in other words, an annual level of less than the cost of the cheaper Bently.

But they have been on the air for over two years now, maybe longer. So whatever they are playing (and it's classic hits) it's working and myself and many others are satisfied.

 

[davideduardo]

No, it's a victory to all the listeners that want more songs, which btw is way way more than you will ever realize. Get out of the office, look around, talk to people on the street, not co-workers and quit relying on miniscule laptop generated sampling numbers that you think represent the millions to what they want to hear, by way of replication. That is not human reality.

"Sampling numbers" are generated by conducting interviews with "people on the street" and not by a laptop.

"Replication" is not a sampling or polling technique. It is a manner of verifying that a sample size is accurate by means of conducting multiple surveys of the same size and finding at what point additional sample does not increase accuracy as multiple parallel samples of a smaller size all produce the same results.

We've been explaining this to you for years. This is the same kind of sampling and verification that all industries use to research consumer preferences.

 

[TheBigA]

But they have been on the air for over two years now, maybe longer. So whatever they are playing (and it's classic hits) it's working and myself and many others are satisfied.

One day, listeners to this station will wake up, and it'll be sold to a religious organization.

 

[Avid Listener]

You don't understand how we work. We've explained it to you over and over, and you still don't understand.

Yes, we do understand how it works. Understanding how it works doesn't mean that we like how it works. You are chasing people away from broadcast radio. You are killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

 

[oldies76]

One day, listeners to this station will wake up, and it'll be sold to a religious organization.

Sounds like A cannot even appreciate the effort a small market station can make to its listeners. I hope it stays classic hits for the next 5-10 years. And by switching formats, it would mean job losses. Negative type aren't you?

It's not all about you or your agenda.

 

[ok walters]

It has always been my experience that when two people agree on absolutely everything, that one of them is irrelevant. So who is irrelevant here, you or David? He can actually argue his points. You can't even copy and paste correctly, as we found out last month. If your stations are anything like your debating "skills" (term used loosely here) then your stations change formats every month.

You may want to count again - more like several of us agreeing on everything - and it is those of us actually in the business. Then there are the listeners group who all agree that the people in the business are all wrong, and you are one of them. So you agree with the people not in the business and I agree with those in the business. Your debating skills are what should be questioned, not mine.

Why don't you tell us what business you are in so we can tell you what is wrong with it and how to fix it?

 

[ok walters]

That's it. Chase us away from radio. Easier to please the masses that way.

Yep - that is why they call it "broadcasting" and not narrowcasting. Still don't understand the business model after it has been explained umpteen times?

 

[ok walters]

"Sampling numbers" are generated by conducting interviews with "people on the street" and not by a laptop.

"Replication" is not a sampling or polling technique. It is a manner of verifying that a sample size is accurate by means of conducting multiple surveys of the same size and finding at what point additional sample does not increase accuracy as multiple parallel samples of a smaller size all produce the same results.

We've been explaining this to you for years. This is the same kind of sampling and verification that all industries use to research consumer preferences.

They understand - at least I hope they understand at this point - but they just refuse to accept it.

I love the "human reality" term oldies used. How about the "human reality" of this being done thousands of times at different stations in different areas, all with the same result? And now they are down to citing college non-profit stations that are gone as examples. How about an example that is actually working somewhere? For every one that is even successful enough to stay afloat, there are 10 that have failed before them doing the exact same thing.

I think there should be pay phones on every corner again, but history has shown the pay phone business no longer works - just like it has shown us about the radio station with the huge library.

 

[ok walters]

Sounds like A cannot even appreciate the effort a small market station can make to its listeners. I hope it stays classic hits for the next 5-10 years. And by switching formats, it would mean job losses. Negative type aren't you?

It's not all about you or your agenda.

Want to bet that it is sold or flipped or off the air in the next 5 years? All of the effort in the world makes no difference if it is a failing business model.