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WHY CORPORATE RADIO IS KILLING OLDIES

doowopvault said:
You read the lies why Doo Wop isn't heard on the radio and why generally radio sucks, well, read the truth....http://www.walkerpub.com/radio_consultants.html
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/20/who-killed-rock-radio
http://www.tragic96.com/brethren.htm
Click to expand...

Since you are posting the same drivel to multiple sections of this discussion group, here is the response to your same post on the Sallas board:

http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=229735.0

In any event, "oldies" as a format has died and either gone away or been replaced by "classic hits" because the demographics of traditional oldies stations are unsalable in the rated markets where much of the revenue depends on ratings in specific age groups.
 
DavidEduardo said:
doowopvault said:
You read the lies why Doo Wop isn't heard on the radio and why generally radio sucks, well, read the truth....http://www.walkerpub.com/radio_consultants.html
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/20/who-killed-rock-radio
http://www.tragic96.com/brethren.htm
Click to expand...

Since you are posting the same drivel to multiple sections of this discussion group, here is the response to your same post on the Sallas board:

http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=229735.0

In any event, "oldies" as a format has died and either gone away or been replaced by "classic hits" because the demographics of traditional oldies stations are unsalable in the rated markets where much of the revenue depends on ratings in specific age groups.
Click to expand...




The same nonsense that hasn't been proven. Your response is proof that what this DJ says is true 100%
http://www.walkerpub.com/radio_consultants.html
 
doowopvault said:
Daivd...another little piece of info to shoot your theory down in flames http://www.salon.com/2001/03/14/payola_2/
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Well, you gave it your best shot.

And you came up with an article from 2001 about "allegations" published on a commentary page that is certainly not trending today.

12 year old accusations. Pre-recession. Pre-Twitter. Pre-Ipod. Pre-Facebook. A different world.

Today, the record companies are having a hard time making any money, and are busy lobbying Congress to take a piece out of radio's revenue pie. They sure are not in a position to pay radio... which they tend to claim is irrelevant now... to play songs now that they see radio as a way to return to profitability.
 
David,

Despite the "unsaleable" demographic there are still stations running a genuine Oldies format. I listen to one of them over the 'net most every day. They may not belong to a major broadcasting corporation but they are still out there. And some of us still enjoy them.

I'm guessing the Oldies genre will gradually follow some other niche genres onto the Internet and away from terrestrial broadcasting due to lack of big money sponsorship but they will continue to exist.
 
landtuna said:
David,

Despite the "unsaleable" demographic there are still stations running a genuine Oldies format. I listen to one of them over the 'net most every day.
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As I've commented before, the remaining oldies stations tend to be in unrated markets or are second or third tier metro AMs or rimshot FMs.

Any market where there is enough agency sales to make the difference between being profitable and not will be ratings and demo driven; oldies has a really hard time there.

But in smaller markets where perception, relationships and sales results are the drivers of sales, oldies can still do well. Think WLNG with its multi-thousand song library and hundreds and hundreds of jingles!
 
"Hey, who the heck is this Fabian person? And who is Bobby Rydell? And I've never heard of Connie Francis or Bobby Vee or Frankie Avalon or the Coasters either! I think I've heard of Sam Cooke and Ricky Nelson and Chuck Berry, of course, but I couldn't name any songs that they ever did. Those artists must not be very good or my favorite FM oldies station would be playing their songs. Aww, who cares? I'm perfectly content to hear my favorite songs over and over and over and over and over .I can never get enough of Happy Together or Brown Eyed Girl or Light My Fire or Oh Pretty Woman or Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye!"
 
Good point, advertisers don't care about targeting the older generation because they don't think we buy anything. LOL I am past caring what commercial radio does or think. I have my library on a 3x4 Ipod that gives me a greater selection than any radio station could do. We had an oldies station here in Cincinnati on a little AM station, and it didn't make it and now is has degenerated into "God knows what". With the advent of the new technology in the last 10 yrs I'm surprised anyone listens to radio anymore. Anything found on radio, ( music, news, weather, mindless talk) can be found on other sources. The only you don't get are the commercials, and who wants to listen to that anyway.

I have no data to back this up, but I wouldn't doubt that younger folks listen to radio even LESS than us oldsters, since they use hand held mobile devices much more than us old folks. My kids, who are in their 30, seldom listen to radio. Their Ipods have literally thousands of tunes on them and they might tune in to radio for traffic reports but that is all.

I'm not sure why anyone would ever BUY a CD in this day and age. Everything is online. Even the CD racks at Best Buy and other music outlets are so small compared to 10 years ago. I've never been in the industry, but I just can't help but think that the future of commercial radio is pretty bleak.
 
FRR said:
Good point, advertisers don't care about targeting the older generation because they don't think we buy anything. LOL
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Nope. They don't target 55+ because, while they buy, it takes more advertising impressions to make the sale, thus removing or reducing the profit on each sale.

I have no data to back this up, but I wouldn't doubt that younger folks listen to radio even LESS than us oldsters, since they use hand held mobile devices much more than us old folks. My kids, who are in their 30, seldom listen to radio. Their Ipods have literally thousands of tunes on them and they might tune in to radio for traffic reports but that is all.
Click to expand...

While the number of hours per week of usage by 18-34 is declining, still about 92% or better (it varies by market) use radio every week.

Studies have shown that the average iPod has only a few hundred songs on it, not thousands.

I'm not sure why anyone would ever BUY a CD in this day and age.
Click to expand...

That's like wondering, in 1985 or so, if anyone bought vinyl any more. It's just a change in distribution.


I've never been in the industry, but I just can't help but think that the future of commercial radio is pretty bleak.
Click to expand...

Not really. The future is one of decline for AM and FM transmissions, but radio is not in the transmitter business. Stations are making their content and variations on that content available in new media streams, and that will be the future of radio.
 
In the future a converter will be required to listen to FM radio. The analog spectrum will be reserved AM will be encrypted police, emergency, fire band. FM will be for Community Radio. LP FM will be Analog FM. I say probably in the next 6 years. For rural areas, Community Wi-FI will use those frequencies. Nobody thought Analog TV would go away at one time, well it has.

They will probably roll it on it New York City first.
I would say by 2019.
 
doowopvault said:
You read the lies why Doo Wop isn't heard on the radio and why generally radio sucks, well, read the truth....http://www.walkerpub.com/radio_consultants.html
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/20/who-killed-rock-radio
http://www.tragic96.com/brethren.htm
Click to expand...

Oh, the irony, if not the hypocrisy, of the American Spectator, spiritual and ideological descendants of those who bemoaned Elvis's "Negro-fication" of pop music and had to retreat to their fainting couches with a case of the vapors when first they saw the Beatles hair, complaining about the killing of rock radio by big corporations.
 
The Beatles' hair really WASN'T any longer (at first, anyway) than any other musician's hair back in those days. The difference was that the Beatles did NOT comb their hair in pompadours like everyone else did in that day.
 
Let me toss in my two cents. I am an ex-oldies DJ that had my career ended when I was laid off by Clear Channel in 2009 after 47 years in the biz. I was bitter ... still not a big fan of CC. But I have come to realize that radio, as a whole, is dying and that digital music, i.e. MP3s, is the "future." I have over 2200 songs on my computer and a great software package from OTS Labs to be my jukebox. IF I could afford one I would have an iPad loaded with "my songs" just like the younger folks have. (I am 63, by the way.) No wonder the under 30 crowd does not listen to radio for music. So .... to those who feel that the Oldies format should be more available on terrestrial radio you need to drop your personal feelings and see what is happening out there. "Progress", whether we like it or not, is what is occurring.
 
firepoint525 said:
The Beatles' hair really WASN'T any longer (at first, anyway) than any other musician's hair back in those days. The difference was that the Beatles did NOT comb their hair in pompadours like everyone else did in that day.
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Those of us who were Three Stooges fans already knew this. We had seen Moe's famous soupbowl haircut on film compared with his normal street cut. He even demonstrated this on the Mike Douglas Show one afternoon.

Based upon the antics of my two younger sisters the Beatles became popular because (a) they were foreign and "cute" and had British accents, (b) their hair and clothes were a bit different than the average American pop singer and (c) their music appealed to the girl-fan of the early 60's in much the same way as Sinatra's bobbysoxers two decades earlier.
 
pollitt said:
"Progress", whether we like it or not, is what is occurring.
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I'd prefer to call it just normal change, not progress. The only thing very different these days, as compared to the evolution of OTA radio genres past, is the availability of cheap MP3 players (including embedded players in phones) that make it easier than ever to create and carry your personal music library with you.

Progress, to me, would have been the continued experimentation and evolution of music genres, particularly Pop, instead of the calcification we've seen for the past 20 years.

For the same reason that Big Band/Swing music isn't popular on terrestrial radio today Oldies are aging off the airwaves as their fans become unimportant to advertisers. As long as radio is advertiser supported genres will come and go along with the most desired demos. As long as the music industry can keep coming up with juvenile-appealing acts like Justin Bieber and the various Idol characters that are long on visual and short on talent this scenario will continue.

Personally, I've given up OTA radio in my home listening instead to Internet streams from far away stations that still play my music. In my car I listen to the couple of HD streams that still play Oldies. When and if that dies I have my personal library on flash stick and/or DVD audio. My long love affair with radio that began in the early 50's will then become just a memory.
 
Getting off-topic again:

Mister landtuna, I remember Moe's appearance on Mike Douglas's show. Moe had his hair combed back and Mike asked him to let it fall over his forehead. Moe did so and everyone applauded. Then Moe and Mike---who was no replacement for Curly, lemme tell ya!---did a routine where they played surgeons operating on a patient. At one point, Mike asked Moe, "Do you think you know what you're doing?" Moe replied, "I don't think---I know." Mike was supposed to say, "I don't think you know either," but he goofed the line and said, "Well, I don't know either." It's a good thing they didn't attempt the "Maharajah" routine!
 
LARadioRewind said:
It's a good thing they didn't attempt the "Maharajah" routine!
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AH HA! (The remainder of Curly's routine remains unintelligible - but funny. Very funny.)
 
To get this thread back on topic, we should quote the famous line that Moe uttered when the Stooges played janitors in a radio studio (Micro-Phonies, 1945): "Quiet, numbskulls, I'm broadcasting!" When Jack Armstrong was on radio in Los Angeles (KTNQ, KFI, KKHR) he always played that line as part of his ID.
 
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