WJIB AM 740 should go all oldies this Christmas season

[Varulven]

Heard on WJIB today - Friday nov. 24

1)You're the One The Vogues
2)Down In The Boondocks Billy Joe Royal sounding like Gene Pitney
3)That's Life Frank Sinatra
4)98.6 Keith
5)Summer Song Peter & Gordon


a great antidote to Oldies 103.3's Christmas music. If Bob Bittner got this out on the blogs and such it could drive an audience to 740 AM

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Heard on WJIB today - Friday nov. 24

1)You're the One The Vogues
2)Down In The Boondocks Billy Joe Royal sounding like Gene Pitney
3)That's Life Frank Sinatra
4)98.6 Keith
5)Summer Song Peter & Gordon

a great antidote to Oldies 103.3's Christmas music. If Bob Bittner got this out on the blogs and such it could drive an audience to 740 AM

WJIB has an audience - just over a 1 share in the 12+, and MUCH higher if you isolate just the "senior citizen" demos. You're not going to do better than that with a 250 watt (5 watts nights) automated AM music station in a major market nowadays, especially when only a very small handful of people have wideband AM stereo receivers from the 1980's and can hear it in full stereo with fidelity that approaches analog FM stereo. If you're a WJIB fan and you don't have one of these receivers, you don't know what you're missing! Unfortunately, they are no longer on the market. They appear used on eBay once in a while.

Bob wouldn't want to go ALL oldies on WJIB because he would lose the Standards audience he has built. He tried doing a 1950's and 60's oldies show on Sunday afternoons a few years ago, and he got more complaints from people who wanted the Standards back than compliments for the oldies show. But as noted, some 1950's and early/mid 60's oldies are now becoming a component mixed into Standards formats, since they've been dropped from the formats of most oldies stations, which have updated their playlists through the 70's and even into some 80's. It only makes sense for some of the "older" oldies to filter into Standards stations.

 

[raccoonradio]

>>since they've been dropped from the formats of most oldies stations

Yes, and WBOQ does mix some of these in--and they also run Little Walter's Time Machine
Heard via aircheck (of KPIG San Francisco): Dion doing a new, BLUES version of his classic
"The Wanderer"! You gotta like quirky stations like that--"Great music and serious fun - folk, rock, acoustic, roots, blues - plus comedy", 107-OINK-5 FM... Anyway I digress.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Heard via aircheck (of KPIG San Francisco): Dion doing a new, BLUES version of his classic
"The Wanderer"! You gotta like quirky stations like that--"Great music and serious fun - folk, rock, acoustic, roots, blues - plus comedy", 107-OINK-5 FM... Anyway I digress.

Actually, 107.5 KPIG-FM is licensed to Freedom, CA (yes, that's a real town!), and it serves the Santa Cruz and Monterey/Salinas markets. Their Class A (6 kW equivalent) signal doesn't make it to San Francisco. By San Jose, it gets cut out by adjacent Class B (50 kW equivalent) 107.7 KSAN "The Bone", licensed to San Francisco suburb San Mateo, which serves as Frisco's "Classic Hard-Rock" station (a "Classic Rock that Really Rocks" format, lots of Ozzy, etc...). Clear Channel's KUFX 98.5 "The Fox" San Jose plays the somewhat softer, more adult album oriented Classic Rock in the SF market, so KSAN "The Bone" competes by playing the classic "headbangers".

KPIG did, however, finally get a signal into San Francisco a couple of years ago by buying a failing AM classical (!) station in nearby Piedmont, which beams a directional pattern right into the city, and simulcasting their FM on it. So, 1510 in the Bay Area is now KPIG-AM Piedmont/San Francisco.

KPIG is listed by Arbitron as a "AAA" station, and I think they are what "AAA" stations should be. They are a blast to listen to!! WBOS would never touch most of what they play. Even WXRV "The River" would balk at a lot of it. Yet, KPIG is consistently near the top of the Santa Cruz market book. (In the San Francisco proper book, KPIG-AM can't compete well with heritage FM "AAA" KFOG 104.5 in San Francisco).

Maybe the audience for the KPIG format is a West Coast phenomenon, and perhaps it could not exist here, beyond a small handful of folks listening to eclectic shows on our area college stations.

 

[raccoonradio]

Well, when a friend of mine visited the SF area, he did tape of side of KPIG via their 1510 Piedmont freq...I used San Fran as a generality. He also gave me a wee bit of Gene Burns & Bernie Ward on KGO.

 

[WRADIO]

The problem with that type of format is that the audience is so old. If you take away the 65+, there would be nothing left...except radio junkies, of course.
I miss WCAS. no that station did all could do with 250 watts!

 

[Eli Polonsky]

The problem with that type of format is that the audience is so old. If you take away the 65+, there would be nothing left...except radio junkies, of course.
I miss WCAS. no that station did all could do with 250 watts!

I miss WCAS too. It was a wonderful, unique station. There is nothing like it in the market.

But, I've come across Senior Citizens who are VERY glad WJIB exists. If not for WJIB, they would have no Standards format on the dial to listen to in the area, and many folks from that generation are not internet stream or satellite radio savvy to find Standards programming on those mediums. I've seen disabled, housebound Seniors living bleak lives who are cheered up by the music on WJIB. That alone must make Bob feel good about what he's doing, since he's obviously not in it to make any major profits.

 

[Oldbones]

KPIG is listed by Arbitron as a "AAA" station, and I think they are what "AAA" stations should be. They are a blast to listen to!! WBOS would never touch most of what they play. Even WXRV "The River" would balk at a lot of it. Yet, KPIG is consistently near the top of the Santa Cruz market book. (In the San Francisco proper book, KPIG-AM can't compete well with heritage FM "AAA" KFOG 104.5 in San Francisco).

Maybe the audience for the KPIG format is a West Coast phenomenon, and perhaps it could not exist here, beyond a small handful of folks listening to eclectic shows on our area college stations.

What are the demographics of that area? Never been there myself, but I somehow picture it as being home to a lot of ex-hippies & artsy-fartsy types. If so, a station like probably would be successful.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

KPIG is listed by Arbitron as a "AAA" station, and I think they are what "AAA" stations should be. They are a blast to listen to!! WBOS would never touch most of what they play. Even WXRV "The River" would balk at a lot of it. Yet, KPIG is consistently near the top of the Santa Cruz market book.

Maybe the audience for the KPIG format is a West Coast phenomenon, and perhaps it could not exist here, beyond a small handful of folks listening to eclectic shows on our area college stations.

What are the demographics of that area? Never been there myself, but I somehow picture it as being home to a lot of ex-hippies & artsy-fartsy types. If so, a station like probably would be successful.

I've visited there, and you're correct, to a degree. What I don't understand is how all those folks afford to live there, and apparently quite well, for the most part. Everything there (and in the whole Bay Area) is at least twice as expensive as here in Boston, and we ain't cheap. If that wasn't the case, I'd probably have moved out there and be enjoying the mellow vibe, and the good weather year 'round... maybe KPIG would hire me to do a weekend 60's/70's hippie album rock show...

 

[JIBGUY]

Re: WJIB AM 740 : Audience Make-Up

WJIB's audience is about---

75% - 65+
20% - 50-64
5% - 30-49

I am amazed on how many emails I get from people in their 30's who say they are totally disillusioned with 'today's music', and prefer the really older music.

WJTO (in Maine) skews somewhat younger than WJIB's, with about 30% in the 50-64 age group. WJTO also plays more 60's oldies than WJIB, but still with a lot of standards.

 

[argytunes]

Hi Bob!

Whether you realize it or not, your last comment brought up an excellent point!

So here's my question:

"Is it more important for a radio station to reach the 'highly desirable demographic' (age 25-49) and have a limited number of advertisers that are willing to support a particular format? OR...is it better for a radio station to offer programming (or a format) that might appeal to a more selective group of listeners that are older (or younger)...but ALSO has the power to generates more advertiser interest than a 4-7 minute stop set can handle?

And before anybody answers WE CAN DO BOTH...please read my question again! :

argytunes

 

[JIBGUY]

First: A station CANNOT do both, effectively. Secondly, to answer the big question there, the power/coverage of the station must be considered before answering. If it's a high-power station, then its always best to go for the masses. But if a station is a lower-powered station, then it cannot compete for 'the masses' with the same format as the big station. Therefore, the lower-powered stations pick a format than no 50kw FM (in a market like Boston) would touch; such as urban-gold, adult-standards, liberal talk, business, Spanish etc. There IS a reason for different-powered stations... not just becasue newer stations had to 'fit in' the spectrum with lower power, but also as a result for format diversity. - BB (from .025kw-land)

 

[Varulven]

Jib Guy - WBUR played some Bill Maher from his TV show last week. You are right, his voice is smooth
and is absolutely perfect for radio. This was about 8:40 PM on Friday night, Dec. 1 - WBUR. They were
talking about The Democrats and Comedy, The Republicans and Drama, and how comedy effects politics today.
ON POINT was the show.