Who will pick up the Classic Hits/ Oldies format now?

[Domino Rippy]

Question:

Who runs with the format now? Forget Classic Hits and call it Oldies as KRTH in LA does. Seems to me that someone can do it better. It's alive in Boston, New York, LA, Detroit, Phoenizx, Dallas, Philly just to name a few.

Your thoughts?

 

[LKellerIII]

Question:

Who runs with the format now? Forget Classic Hits and call it Oldies as KRTH in LA does. Seems to me that someone can do it better. It's alive in Boston, New York, LA, Detroit, Phoenizx, Dallas, Philly just to name a few.

Your thoughts?

K-Earth does not "call it Oldies." They're the "Greatest Hits on Earth."

KOOL Phoenix is "The Greatest Hits of all Time."

WCBS-FM is "New York's Greatest Hits."

The word "Oldies" is dead on terrestrial radio. Their playlists have mostly eliminated 50s, early 60s; and brought in carefully selected 80s hits..just like KFRC. But I agree that they all do it better than KFRC did. But that's because of clever formatting, good jingles, and clever DJs who are allowed to open the mic more frequently, and add excitement and become an important part of the format...despite the fact that they're under strict time limits and usually reading liners.

All those things were missing from KFRC. There is a lot more talk on "Less Talk" KOIT than there was on 106.9.

http://www.koolradio.com/
http://www.wcbsfm.com/
http://www.kearth101.com/

 

[andreajesus]

Sentimentally, dear Rippy :-*, I AGREE with you, BUT ya gotta remember this - CONVENTIONAL radio business wisdom says that "oldies" is a FOUR-letter word...and that "Classic Hits" is the CORRECT term to use for this genre...having said that, WHO will pick it up in SF? I don't know, but if this music can re-surface in New York City (and did...), all i can say for the format in SF is...

NEVER SAY NEVER and keep hope alive in your hearts! It worked for the format in New York!!

andrea
(GO TAMPA BAY RAYS!!) ;D

 

[Domino Rippy]

Keller, start listening to KRTH and you'll hear the classic "Oldies Radio..Kearth 101" jingle all the time

KRTH is not affraid to say Oldies. And most would agree that no ones does "Oldies" better than KRTH.

Jonny Kay is not affraid of the word Oldies

 

[RadioStarOne]

Classic Hits, The greatest Hits Of All Time, The Greatest Hits On Earth, New Yorks Greatest Hits, Oldies, Cool Gold, Solid Gold, (My Favorite by the way) Good Times, Great Oldies, Classic Gold Rock And Roll, Jammin Oldies, All Rock And Roll Oldies (ARRO) Who in the world gives a flying fig how you in the broadcast industry describe the music mix on your stations? Certainly not the listeners. They like most of you (and myself) just want to hear music that moves them though their day, without being bombarded with 10 minute commerical breaks that leave them dizzy twice if not more each hour. Get a grip already and just play music that sounds good to their ears. Mass appeal music radio is "DEAD" Lost in a sea of choices for music distribution that leaves them even more satisfied everyday. "My Music, My Way, All Day, Everyday." Whether its Jazz, Hip-Hop, Soul, Rock, Standards, Pop, Country, or whatever else there is. Like its been said on these boards time and time again "The Good Old Day Are Over, And They Are Never Coming Back!" So why the constant debate anyway?

 

[andreajesus]

Be-cause, my dear one :-*, there are those who are trying to be different, there are those who are trying to sound contemporary while playing all this older music, and there are those who just want to be exciting about it (and EX-CITED!! about it....). and there ARE listeners at some of these stations who do as you put it so eloquently "give a flying fig" about their station - and heavens to betsy if ANYONE calls that station ANYTHING than what those listeners know it as...OY VEY!!

 

[davideduardo]

Sentimentally, dear Rippy :-*, I AGREE with you, BUT ya gotta remember this - CONVENTIONAL radio business wisdom says that "oldies" is a FOUR-letter word...and that "Classic Hits" is the CORRECT term to use for this genre...having said that, WHO will pick it up in SF? I don't know, but if this music can re-surface in New York City (and did...), all i can say for the format in SF is...

Classic hits is a 70's based format, while Oldies designates a 60's based format. In any case, the names are given mostly to provide guidance to agency buyers, not to listeners.

 

[RadioStarOne]

There isn't a radio station on the planet, and most likely in the universe that even remotely comes close to playing the music mix I like. I guess I must be out of this world and beyond the reach of todays radio professionals. lol. Seriously though all I was saying or trying to say is most people I know listen to a greater variety of music than what you can hear on any individual radio station on the air anywhere in the country. And those I know that don't find the music mix they like on the radio just listen to their own mix on I-pod or whatever and are being lost to radio.

 

[landtuna]

And those I know that don't find the music mix they like on the radio just listen to their own mix on I-pod or whatever and are being lost to radio.

Nope. Already Gone (with apologies to The Eagles).

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Jonny Kay is not affraid of the word Oldies

And apparently, if you're correct, neither is Jhani Kaye.

http://www.kearth101.com/Jhani-Kaye/1695778

They may or may not throw in jingles that mention "oldies", but the station's website very much avoids the "O" word...even when referring to their 50s/60s oldies HD2 channel, which is called "K-Earth Classics"...if they were gonna use the "oldies" word anywhere, it'd certainly be there!

 

[LKellerIII]

Jonny Kay is not affraid of the word Oldies

And apparently, if you're correct, neither is Jhani Kaye.

http://www.kearth101.com/Jhani-Kaye/1695778

They may or may not throw in jingles that mention "oldies", but the station's website very much avoids the "O" word...even when referring to their 50s/60s oldies HD2 channel, which is called "K-Earth Classics"...if they were gonna use the "oldies" word anywhere, it'd certainly be there!

I think we can officiallly declare the "O" word dead...unless you're referring to Oprah or Obama. The word was coined (or at least popularized) by Art Laboe in the mid 1960s to sell his "Oldies but Goodies" record collections of 50s hits. He used to buy time on brokered stations in LA like XEPRS/XERB and KTYM to market them. He also sponsored Oldies concerts at the El Monte Legion Stadium.

I believe he was also a KRTH DJ when it first became an Oldies station.

I doubt we'll see a Classic Hits station anytime soon. As David Kaye has pointed out, there are too many other formats with this music in their mix - KOIT, KISQ, KBLX, KFOG, KSAN, etc. They're more attractive for advertisers because they also play current or more recent hits (with the exception of KSAN, I guess) and appeal to a younger demo.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Sidebar to all of this: when building a website that tries to attract eyes (and the ears that follow) to a station that plays music from the '50s and '60s, you've got to use the word(s) that your target audience will put in Google or Yahoo to search for you.

When we launched the Classic KYA website a few months ago, we avoided using the words "Oldies," "Oldies Radio" or "Oldies But Goodies" anywhere in the text. The connotation is that Oldies = Old People.

Despite advertising online and getting good placements in search engines, there was little search activity and scant traffic -- until we liberally peppered the website with the term that people were actually searching for: "Oldies."

Suddenly, the numbers increased spectacularly. People found the website and stuck around for the music. That's what they were looking for.

People who are interested in this brand of music aren't searching for "classic hits" in Google. The word they know, whether it's taboo or not, is "Oldies."

DJ

 

[BossRadioDJ]

The word was coined (or at least popularized) by Art Laboe in the mid 1960s to sell his "Oldies but Goodies" record collections of 50s hits. He used to buy time on brokered stations in LA like XEPRS/XERB and KTYM to market them. He also sponsored Oldies concerts at the El Monte Legion Stadium.

Actually, the term "Oldies But Goodies" was around earlier than the mid-1960s: remember Little Caesar & The Romans and their classic hit* "Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me Of You)"? It made the Billboard Top 10 in the Spring of 1961!

DJ


* -- Had to get that term in there...