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What's Wrong With Oldies Formats and Radio in General

N

n326jt

Guest
So the rumors are flowing regarding a new oldies format in Orlando? Are we going to have a repeat performance of the other fiascos? (No wonder the last one was replaced by Really Useless Miserable Broadcast Attempt).

Someone has to step away from the highly knowledgable and skilled consultants and program oldies the way it should be and I mean with a greatly expanded playlist of much more than the same 200 songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. No oldies station I've heard in recent times even comes close to the enjoyment I get from WEUS 810 and the XM channels. Why? Because I've heard songs there I haven't heard for years! Who the hell wants to hear Louie Louie every day? The consultants say "play the 'safe' songs" and forget the rest. I say play the real oldies and forget the consultants. Program a real oldies station with real oldies and real oldie jocks.

But then again, listen to the sad state of radio today...

Production with excessive and exaggerated sound effects. Hey production people, your job is to motivate people to buy your client, NOT TO SHOWCASE YOU. Just because we have the capability to do all this editing and add this effect and that effect, that doesn't mean its good for the client. But just listen....over and over again...prodduction sounds the same.

You news people...what the hell ever happened to using a "HARD LEAD" to introduce a story??? Do you even know what a hard lead is? You are in radio, right? Whatever happened to having a "news conference" instead of a "press conference"? Did it ever occur to you the "press" is newspapers? Have you ever heard of "broadcast style books" or did the college instructor with ZERO commercial experience never expose you to such foundations?

And of course when it comes to using female voices, we need to follow the consultants without ever questioning them, afterall they "know"! Yes sir, we need to find that "distinct" female voice...the one who may be 35 but sounds like she's 13 or how about the female who sounds like she just coated the roof of her mouth with glue and sounds accordingly.

That's right radio people...follow those consultants, don't think for yourself. Why not come up with that new oldies station and play those 200 songs over and over.
For a great oldies format I'll turn my XM back on.
 
Not being particularly a fan of the oldies format, I tried WEUS and was hooked - for exactly the same reason you cite.

I've emailed Scott Shannon some suggestions for older songs I remember and he's added several of them to the rotation.
 
That first post......... was a thing of beauty my friend, and your probably way to smart
to even be a PD who could change things, cause you got to be a 23 year old moron to get
that job.
 
I've been out of radio for some 15 years now, and the complaints are still the same. Hasn't radio programming evolved? Apparently not.

Thank God for other careers, right?

(By the way, don't jump to TV. They have consultants, too!) ;D

PS: Do you know of all the various components of radio today, which is the absolute worst and in need of a major overhaul? Traffic reporting. While in some cases, it might rate a B-, most leave a bad taste in my mouth. :-\
 
Traffic reports...hehehehe...they sound like a bunch of random street names read as quickly as humanly possible...with a witty little "fender bender" or an "OHP" thrown in for variety.

As for Oldies formats... I really don't fit the demo but WEUS is great. Too many Oldies stations are adding songs from the 80's and in my opinion...it ruins the format. If WEUS were on FM I'd listen more often.
 
and the 80s songs they are adding are all by billy joel, genesis, journey or duran-duran.....if you are going to add 80s tunes, at least add decent ones.

i grew up listening to WLOF/BJ105 in the 70s and i think there are a ton of songs - that were hits, top 10 even - that are being ignored by program directors of oldies formats. Some of the stuff was cheesy, hey it was the 70s, but why not add a 'let her in' john travolta; run, joey, run - david geddes; rocky -austin roberts; chevy van - sammy johns - could go on and on.......tampa station, q105, runs a 60s show on sundays with an old school jock, scotty phillips, i turn the show on and i can't turn it off. Great songs i remember hearing as a kid that i haven't heard on the radio for years. unfortunately, the nugget is usually followed by a song that's been overplayed. Can't we find a happy medium? and the heck with the consultants, trust the jocks - if there are any - and the callers........

just my two cents, wishing WLOF would come back.......
 
I've done traffic "reporting" for Clear Channel. If you only knew!!!!

Talk about a gold mine!! Low overhead (no secrets will be revealed here) Big time ad revenues.

And inaccurate information, the likes of which I'd never have believed had I not seen it with my own eyes, and reported with my own voice!

Olides formats can survive, as long as there are LIVE DJ's (I can only take so much Scott Shannon 24/7) who have access to good music of the 50's through 70's.


Just my 2 cents.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is something coming in regards to Oldies...

Remember you heard it here first...

I think everyone will be pleased...
 
What many of you are missing is just what we've been chatting about on the NYC board about the return of CBS-FM. Seems most radio listeners in New York are thrilled to have their music back; the only fly in the ointment: radio geeks bitching there isn't enough fifties music!

For the love of God, how many times does it have to be said? "Oldies", the way it was for 20 or so years (late 50s to early 70s) was losing listeners out of the 25-54 demo in droves. In 2007, if you have an Oldies station who's listeners average 60 yrs old or higher, you will be left out of most spot buys. Orders come in for 18-49 and 25-54 (or a subset within those general demos). Major companies, the advertisers, are not using radio to target 55+ consumers. And, any company (radio, auto, retail) that can't generate enough revenue to turn a profit will fail.

So you guys can drool all over each other about how great Scott Shannon's True Oldies is, but if you're expecting an FM Oldies station to come in and play music from Elvis & The Everly Brothers thru the 60s and stop at Cornelius Bros & Sister Rose, don't hold your breath. If CBS decides to flip one of their properties, most likely WOCL, it will be the CBS-FM model, not the Oldies version from 10 years ago.

Sorry, that's just the truth. Bitch & moan about 200 song playlists, "consultants" and playing David freakin' Geddes songs all you like- what you're asking for would be a total loser radio station and another reason the Oldies format is fading away.
 
So, if CBS decides to throw the format switch...do you think it will be done on Labor Day Weekend? ;)
 
Yeah, we've read this argument, ad nauseam, on the boards since June 2005 and realize "oldies" as we know it won't be returning. However, the 200 to 300 (or whatever) limited playlist is another issue and adding more popular songs from the 60's to the 80's should not be a difficult concept. There are plenty of hits from that period that simply do not get airplay. I currently reside in Tampa and have had more than my fill of "Don't Stop Believing", "Uptown Girl", "Sweet Home Alabama" just to name a few. But the people of Orlando would just be thrilled to get an FM that played Classic Hits which they haven't had in quite a while.

Hey MusicMan, I also grew up listening to BJ/WLOF in the 70's and would love to see it come back as a Greatest Hits outlet like Q105, CBS-FM, and KFRC. Not that this would ever happen, but if CBS were to move Mix over to 105.9 and then they could resurrect BJ105 while locating some of the original talent, if possible. Even the personalities from Cool 105.9/100 would be a great addition. But if WOCL were the one to flip then that would work as well... just wish someone would do something. Oh well... I can dream. ;)
 
I like Kol's idea of making bj/wlof into an 'oldies' station. I work weekends at Q105 in Tampa bay and that's basically what CBS has done here. Q105 was big years ago, with some of the same voices here now, and it's back playing 'tampa bays greatest hits,' it seems folks are avoiding that 'oldies' tag. Our format includes 60s, 70s and 80s tunes........we have specialty shows for each Era too.

i am sure there are some old BJ/WLOF jocks still in the area - bill barber, kevin casey? dave edwards??????

i can dream too.......
 
An Oldies station in a market the size of Orlando has to do one of two things.

1. Target 45-54's exclusively. If you can own that 10-year demo, the station will score solid 25-54 numbers and generate enough* revenue to satisfy the Wall Street dependent executives at the top. However, those 45-54's couldn't name an Everly Brother if their lives were at stake. And, in order to get more than a few years out of it, the music will have to morph "younger" each year. You 60 & 70-somethings would still bitch up a storm.

2. Or, hire a killer staff of local direct sellers charged with selling 55-74's on the street--i.e., directly to retail advertisers who don't use ad agencies. (Good luck finding those sellers. And good luck generating enough* revenue to satisfy those execs).

* How much revenue is "enough" revenue? How much profit is "enough" profit?
 
Big 100.3 (Now WRUM "Rumba 100.3") had $5 million in revenue according to 2004 BIA reports. Apparently that was not enough for Clear Channel, or the numbers were severely inflated.

Let's see what happens at the begining of 2008...
 
redneckriviera said:
REALITY CHECK TIME(for those who think somebody should go Oldies in Orlando): there are no 35+, 35-64 or "55-74" ad buys coming down the pike. The few direct accounts you may get here and there are not nearly enough to sustain a major signal and airstaff like Big 100.3 used to have these days.

Might CBS do it? Could be, but unless they could quickly ramp up to the ratings and revenue levels of a WRBQ(Tampa), they wouldn't be around for long.
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