Why 3WS has the ratings it has

[Radio_Realist]

The population of Pittsburgh is old. With the exception of some retirement communities in Florida, the Greater Pittsburgh Metro Area has the oldest population in the US.

Younger people from Pittsburgh have been forced to decide between crappy jobs or no jobs at all here in Pittsburgh or moving away. Most moved away. Those of us who are left aren't young.

People tend to like listening to music that sounds the same as what they liked when they were young. It doesn't have to be the same songs, but it should be the same sound. People who liked the Four Seasons in 1964 also like Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl". People who liked Frank Sinatra in the 40's, 50's, and 60's like Harry Connick, Jr. today. And so on.

3WS is the only station in town that still plays the pop music of the 60's and 70's. So they get the listeners who like that music to tune in by default. It's not because they're all that good at playing oldies, it's because they're almost the only game in town. The only other stations playing the same genre of music are located in nearby towns, and their signals only cover fringes of the Pittsburgh area. Or, they are on AM, and their sound quality sounds like AM, and most people won't tune in music on the AM band. Hell, most listeners don't know that there are still stations playing music on the AM band.

If WJPA from Washington, PA could move it's transmitter into Pittsburgh, it would eat 3WS's lunch. Audience support for 3WS is a mile wide and an inch deep.

3WS being the #1 oldies station in Pittsburgh is rather like winning the prize for coming in first in a footrace when you're the only competitor running. It's nice to get the trophy, but it's nothing to brag about.

 

[OldiesCat]

3WS has the ratings

That can be said about every Oldies station in any typically Midwest industrial market- Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, etc. Have you not noticed there's no more than one oldies station in any Top 100 market? Think about it.

(The more you try to cover your previous mis-steps, the more foolish you look.
GIVE IT UP!) <LMAOAY>

> 3WS being the #1 oldies station in Pittsburgh is rather like
> winning the prize for coming in first in a footrace when
> you're the only competitor running. It's nice to get the
> trophy, but it's nothing to brag about.

The statement below is nothing more than opinion, which is fine. Except, you always post your opinion as if it's fact. Is this another "show-of-hands- in- the- break-room" research method? It's great you love WJPA- signals being equal, there aren't many who would give them a ghost's chance in hell to beat WWSW, especially with Clear Channel's much deeper pockets, 3WS' heritage in the market and one of the best morning Oldies shows in the nation. Of course, that's just my opinion.

> If WJPA from Washington, PA could move it's transmitter into Pittsburgh, it
> would eat 3WS's lunch. Audience support for 3WS is a mile wide and an inch deep.

 

[radioalogo]

Re: 3WS has the ratings

Just my 2 cents worth,

I drive around the eastern seaboard (sales) and I like the oldies radio network that’s carried in many a small markets, locally its 92.1fm and 99.3fm and if your in the fringe its 105.5 out of Wheeling WV, of course these are all locally owned by Keymarket (and they call it the pickle, They need to sell that concept to Heinz) but I like the mix of oldies, 3WS is ok but it kind of reminds me of being hypnotized "you will like what we play, you will like what we play" with the little gold watch being waved in front of you with the sounds of "Billy, Don't be a Hero" playing in the background

 

[corpradiosux]

> People tend to like listening to music that sounds the same
> as what they liked when they were young. It doesn't have to
> be the same songs, but it should be the same sound. People
> who liked the Four Seasons in 1964 also like Billy Joel's
> "Uptown Girl". People who liked Frank Sinatra in the 40's,
> 50's, and 60's like Harry Connick, Jr. today. And so on.

I beg to differ. Uptown Girl does NOT sound like the Four Seasons - the production values are completely different, it was recorded in a different way and that's what makes 3WS's music mix so incredibly jarring and unpleasant.

Oh, and my dad (for whom everything not Frank or big band is considered "bebop music") certainly does not care for any of the new artists like HCJ that ape other peoples' style. Nor do I. It's really condescending to intimate that older people have that big of a lack of discrimination.

 

[Radio_Rancher]

What's your point? KDKA got good ratings for decades because it had 50,000 watts instead of 5,000. Otherwise, WTAE might have blown KD out of the water in the late '70s.

Arbitron measures who's listening, not who's listening under protest or wishing the station was better.

You spout these generalites like everyone is old and there are no jobs...if that's the case, how are stations aimed at under-50 demos making a dime? If oldies is a such a slam-dunk, low-effort revenue machine in this market, why don't Infinity, Frischling and Renda all put oldies stations on the air and grab some of that action?







> The population of Pittsburgh is old. With the exception of
> some retirement communities in Florida, the Greater
> Pittsburgh Metro Area has the oldest population in the US.
>
> Younger people from Pittsburgh have been forced to decide
> between crappy jobs or no jobs at all here in Pittsburgh or
> moving away. Most moved away. Those of us who are left
> aren't young.
>
> People tend to like listening to music that sounds the same
> as what they liked when they were young. It doesn't have to
> be the same songs, but it should be the same sound. People
> who liked the Four Seasons in 1964 also like Billy Joel's
> "Uptown Girl". People who liked Frank Sinatra in the 40's,
> 50's, and 60's like Harry Connick, Jr. today. And so on.
>
> 3WS is the only station in town that still plays the pop
> music of the 60's and 70's. So they get the listeners who
> like that music to tune in by default. It's not because
> they're all that good at playing oldies, it's because
> they're almost the only game in town. The only other
> stations playing the same genre of music are located in
> nearby towns, and their signals only cover fringes of the
> Pittsburgh area. Or, they are on AM, and their sound quality
> sounds like AM, and most people won't tune in music on the
> AM band. Hell, most listeners don't know that there are
> still stations playing music on the AM band.
>
> If WJPA from Washington, PA could move it's transmitter into
> Pittsburgh, it would eat 3WS's lunch. Audience support for
> 3WS is a mile wide and an inch deep.
>
> 3WS being the #1 oldies station in Pittsburgh is rather like
> winning the prize for coming in first in a footrace when
> you're the only competitor running. It's nice to get the
> trophy, but it's nothing to brag about.
>

 

[KeyTimes]

Re: 3WS has the ratings

> Just my 2 cents worth,
>
> I drive around the eastern seaboard (sales) and I like the
> oldies radio network that’s carried in many a small markets,
> locally its 92.1fm and 99.3fm and if your in the fringe its
> 105.5 out of Wheeling WV, of course these are all locally
> owned by Keymarket (and they call it the pickle, They need
> to sell that concept to Heinz) but I like the mix of oldies,
> 3WS is ok but it kind of reminds me of being hypnotized "you
> will like what we play, you will like what we play" with the
> little gold watch being waved in front of you with the
> sounds of "Billy, Don't be a Hero" playing in the background
>

For what it's worth, Renda also runs the same oldies feed (an ABC network) on Cool 103.3 in Brookville (Punxsutawney-DuBois area).

Also, for what it's worth, if the national DJs on that network would refrain from cracking open the mike and showing their IQs, I could listen to that oldies format for more than five minutes.

Having said all that, the point about Allegheny County having the second-oldest demographic in the nation (and, by the way, McKeesport and White Oak having the oldest demographics among its 130 municipalities) does influence at least one Renda station (WJAS) and the moldy-oldie style WWSW only airs Sunday nights (up against, of all things, Doug Hoerth on WJAS) but others put out at various hours on WKHB-AM 620, WKFB-AM 770 and WLSW-FM 103.9.

Proof there was variety even in the days when Mad Mike Metro was still with us and Porky Chedwick was doing "The Great 8" (cable access) in Homestead among other points.

Again, just for what it's worth.