Why Not Find A Niche?

[tk]

What I don't get is why none of these struggling little stations now in the Knoxville market are not trying a niche format like Classic Country or Oldies again. Yes the demo would be a little higher...but they could still perform better than what some of these stations are doing now. There are at least 5 small signals around town like this (Jack, etc). Surely somebody could do something unique to the market..

booger!

 

[wimzfan]

I'd say with Oldies being gone as long as it has - this is the first time probably since the mid 1980's that Knoxville has not had an FM oldies station on the air. And with oldies being gone this long, I'd say if we got a new oldies FM station with a decent signal - it would do fairly well. I've noticed that trends all across the country for stations like Jack have started nosediving and stations that stuck with oldies have started seeing their once low numbers rebound. This isn't everywhere, though - but it's happening in some markets.

Alot of people don't know it but we do have a good oldies station in Knoxville as we speak. It's on 670 a.m. They call themselves "Mighty 670" and they play some really good stuff going back to the 50's all the way through the 70's. These guys dig out the deep stuff and play it too - stuff that our FM oldies stations had forgotten all about. They have no dj's though. It's all automated. They have very few commercials - kinda gives me the idea that not many people listen - ha ha. For an a.m. station - the sound quality and reception are great. I've picked it up all the way into Anderson County and everywhere in Knoxville. And the sound quality is very close to f.m. quality. The station is from Farragut. I think Horne runs it, but it's a great station if you like oldies and really enjoy hearing deep stuff from the 50's and 60's.

 

[BRH]

Yes, oldies,without a doubt, would probably score higher ratings numbers, but it all boils down to advertising revenue. The fact remains that the audience that likes oldies is aging and is basically over that magic 54 age number at the top of the 25-54 demo. Even though the ratings for "Jack FM" type formats may be lower overall, the demos that they do do well in are what advertisers are interested in (30 and 40 somethings basically). After all, "Jack" is basically just the oldies format moved 20 yrs. ahead and updated for Generation X.

So while I agree that strictly numberwise, oldies would draw a bigger number, but the advertisers aren't interested in the demos that these numbers come from.

 

[BRice16]

> So while I agree that strictly numberwise, oldies would
> draw a bigger number, but the advertisers aren't interested
> in the demos that these numbers come from.
>

The funny thing with that is, ouside of radio, advertisers are going crazy over the over 50 market because of the high amount of disposible income that segment has. There have been tons of articles about this in Advertising News and other publications. If the radio buyers ever catch on to this trend, Oldies stations will be very popular with them.

 

[tk]

> Yes, oldies,without a doubt, would probably score higher
> ratings numbers, but it all boils down to advertising
> revenue. The fact remains that the audience that likes
> oldies is aging and is basically over that magic 54 age
> number at the top of the 25-54 demo. Even though the
> ratings for "Jack FM" type formats may be lower overall, the
> demos that they do do well in are what advertisers are
> interested in (30 and 40 somethings basically). After all,
> "Jack" is basically just the oldies format moved 20 yrs.
> ahead and updated for Generation X.
>
> So while I agree that strictly numberwise, oldies would
> draw a bigger number, but the advertisers aren't interested
> in the demos that these numbers come from.
>

True...agencies won't buy...but you could make a decent living in Knoxville
off mom and pops who would loyally support the station.

 

[cheapman]

> > So while I agree that strictly numberwise, oldies would
> > draw a bigger number, but the advertisers aren't
> interested
> > in the demos that these numbers come from.
> >
>
> The funny thing with that is, ouside of radio, advertisers
> are going crazy over the over 50 market because of the high
> amount of disposible income that segment has. There have
> been tons of articles about this in Advertising News and
> other publications. If the radio buyers ever catch on to
> this trend, Oldies stations will be very popular with them.
>
I agree with that. Note the market does currently have a nostalgia
station (WQBB) with a giant billboard on I-40. If this format can
survive, oldies shouldn't have any problem!

 

[radioranch]

Note the market does currently have a
> nostalgia
> station (WQBB) with a giant billboard on I-40. If this
> format can
> survive, oldies shouldn't have any problem!
>

There is a difference in accepting the return you get on a daytime AM that you wish you didn't own, versus the return you need to get on a station you have several million dollars invested in.