skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Well, not all of the radio format changes are just to add to the endless list of stations airing only holiday music after all.In Atlanta, WYAY has dropped 'True Oldies', but in a slight format change has gone to 'Greatest Hits'. It's really less talking and changing out 50's and early 60's music for more 80's, but it is considered a format change. Somehow other radio experts consider "classic hits" to be different from "oldies" on the format wheel. In Chattanooga, the 'classic hits' format has come to WOGT 107.9, in this instance replacing the country format which aired for just over 5 years. By the way, the station was "oldies" prior to the 2005 change to country. And in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, WMYF 1380 dropped its adult standards format last week and picked up ESPN Radio to go all sports. The station also carries Boston Bruins hockey.
Another note to the radio executives while they continue to wonder why the AM and FM radio audiences continue to vanish. This may come as a shock, but millions of people are at home or in the car with more time than usual to listen to local radio stations on Thanksgiving weekend. This SHOULD have been a time for local stations to showcase their programming and talent in hopes of increasing their audiences.Instead, us listeners were slapped in the face (or the ear) with reruns of talk shows, substitute hosts, and part-time staff. I can possibly accept some degree of substitutions on Thanksgiving Day itself. Yet, moreso than past years, it seems that radio has made the entire weekend to be like a holiday and thrown away a chance to impress potential listeners.Airing a "Best Of" talk show which is outdated is not a way to keep a listener's attention when he or she has more time than usual to listen and perhaps sample a show he/she would not normally have an opportunity to hear. This past weekend should have been the chance to give people more and more reasons to CHOOSE "your" station.This was not a holiday for PPM's, diaries, or other ratings measurement tools. True, on-air talent deserves some time off just like anyone else. But at least prepare something ahead of time. Make an effort. Listeners have too many other options. My MP3 player wasn't playing music I don't normally listen to instead of my favorite songs. Many of the TV networks were showing marathons, special movie presentations, or some form of themed programming designed to attract and keep viewers for hours, knowing that more viewers than usual would be available. Check the movie box office figures for the weekend. Obviously, a lot of people seeing a lot of movies. Other forms of 'entertainment' were clearly ready for the long holiday weekend.Many smaller retailers, open for extended hours on the year's busiest shopping weekend, had local radio stations on. How annoying it must have been for their customers to have to listen to replays of talk shows or part-time hosts introducing music instead of the station's top guns.All except, of course, the stations in every city already burning us out on the same few hours of holiday music titles weeks before the next set of holidays gets here.I guess we will all have to adjust to the wishes of AM and FM Radio management. We should only listen to local stations between 6 AM and Midnight on working weekdays. Then we wouldn't have these issues.
As much as we yearn for competition among local stations, this takes it a bit too far.It's really not funny, but it fits in as an "only in radio" story.......http://cbs13.com/local/radio.dj.burglary.2.2003579.html
Oldies radio fans in the NYC area might wish to consider the "Oldies Lunch", scheduled for Saturday Nov. 13th at Ben's Deli on West 38th Street in Manhattan from 2 - 4 PM. Russ "Famous Amos" Di Bello and former WNBC and WCBS-FM's Big Jay Sorensen are two of the special guests, with WAXQ's Jim Kerr also expected to attend.
There is no extra cost to attend other than lunch at Ben's. (If only they would go back to 60's prices!!) Reservations are requested by calling (908) 403-8962. I wonder who is bringing the reverb chamber!
(Actually, this sounds like fun, and I wish I could make it.)
It's been rather quiet on the format change front, which is usually the case for November and December until the format switching heats up again in January.
KVI 570 Seattle will be switching back to oldies. The "back" is not about the music. This station stops its current talk format after this week to turn to oldies for the second time in its history. Simply put, this format change is "getting old".
Of course, there are format changes a-plenty coming up across the country over the next 6 weeks, as more and more stations abandon the rest of the year and go with holiday music. But I'm not going to bore you with those after this week.
Here it is November 2, and we already have some stations roasting chestnuts by the open fire all day long. Upstate New York seems to be leading the holiday spirit, for whatever reason.
Believe it or not, Albany NY already has not one but TWO stations on holiday. WTRY-FM 98.3 and Buzz 105.7 have changed over, while Syracuse has WZUN Sunny 102.1 jingling bells and Utica's WUMX Mix 102.5 is doing the same. Everything is up to date in Kansas City as Star 102 is holiday, and Grand Rapids has River 100.5 flowing with the snowy sounds of December already.
Nothing like hearing about the World Series during another hour of holiday music..........
