Infinity, the largest owner of oldies formated radio stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join the mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to lack of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies stations- WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
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Atlanta no longer top market without oldies
- Thread starter RickRose
- Start date
J
jeffco
Guest
WCBS is out of their minds
Its absolutely stupid that in New York of all places the oldies format was replaced by this Jack garbage.
Well maybe I shouldn't say garbage but in New York the thiking that this Jack format will work to any large degree of success is unrealistic in my way of thinking.
In some towns in this country including here in Atlanta I believe a format like Jack can make some headway. Some.
In NY it is almost unfathomable that they will have no station with an oldies format.
My prediction is that Jack will sink quickly in New York and Infinity owned WCBS-FM will soon see the error of their ways.
> Infinity, the largest owner of oldies formated radio
> stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
> oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join the
> mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to lack
> of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies stations-
> WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
>
Its absolutely stupid that in New York of all places the oldies format was replaced by this Jack garbage.
Well maybe I shouldn't say garbage but in New York the thiking that this Jack format will work to any large degree of success is unrealistic in my way of thinking.
In some towns in this country including here in Atlanta I believe a format like Jack can make some headway. Some.
In NY it is almost unfathomable that they will have no station with an oldies format.
My prediction is that Jack will sink quickly in New York and Infinity owned WCBS-FM will soon see the error of their ways.
> Infinity, the largest owner of oldies formated radio
> stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
> oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join the
> mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to lack
> of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies stations-
> WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
>
J
jeffco
Guest
Re: From todays NY Post
From todays NY Post and the story makes some excellent points.
Clearly the Jocks are not only stunned but seem to be saying that the management staff is living ina delusional world.
They are.
Check it out:
June 4, 2005 -- It was hit the road, Jack, for oldies fans who listen to WCBS-FM radio after the station yesterday ended 33 years of playing rock classics and abruptly axed legendary DJs Cousin Brucie, Harry Harrison and Bill Brown.
WCBS, 101.1-FM on the dial, changed its name to "Jack" and stunned listeners by ditching its tried and true playlist to embrace a new format that features random songs of various styles.
"We're going from 400 to 500 songs to well over 1,200 songs, with less repetition," said CBS-FM vice president Chad Brown, who flipped the switch to the new format at 5 p.m. "This is going to be different than anything else in the market."
Jack — known also as "Bob," "Ben" and "Dave" in other cities — is frequently described as "an iPod on 'Shuffle,' " — meaning you never know which kind of song listeners will hear next.
"Jack has twice as many songs and is 15 years newer than CBS-FM," said Sean Ross of Edison Media Research. "It's a blend of WPLJ and [classic rock station] Q-104 with a little bit of everything else." Jack — using the slogan "playing what we want" — is also a format without DJs, traffic and weather.
"I think my audience is going to go out of their minds," said Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, who lost his gig along with former Monkee Micky Dolenz, who celebrated his 100th wake-up show on the air yesterday.
"New York is a very different market — it ain't Dallas or St. Louis," Morrow told The Post. "We're very different animals and we have to be serviced very differently."
WPLJ executive Tom Cuddy said he was "shocked" by the move.
"It's off the map," he said. "It's rap to rock to pop to one-hit wonders. Now there's no oldies station in the world's largest radio market."
Industry observers had expected the arrival of the new format in New York since it's been rolled out in dozens of other cities this year.
Most expected that Infinity, which owns CBS-FM, would put Jack on its troubled WNEW-FM (102.7).
"They didn't want to drain listeners from CBS-FM by doing that," said a company insider. Ross said oldies stations are "changing now at the rate of one or two a month" because they no longer deliver the younger listeners advertisers demand.
Infinity says Jack will feature artists like Aerosmith, Beastie Boys (their "Fight For Your Right" was the station's kickoff song yesterday), Duran Duran, No Doubt, Lenny Kravitz, The Eagles, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M.
The "old" CBS-FM will continue via streaming audio at Jack's brand-new Web site, ilikejack.com.
> Its absolutely stupid that in New York of all places the
> oldies format was replaced by this Jack garbage.
>
> Well maybe I shouldn't say garbage but in New York the
> thiking that this Jack format will work to any large degree
> of success is unrealistic in my way of thinking.
>
> In some towns in this country including here in Atlanta I
> believe a format like Jack can make some headway. Some.
>
> In NY it is almost unfathomable that they will have no
> station with an oldies format.
>
> My prediction is that Jack will sink quickly in New York and
> Infinity owned WCBS-FM will soon see the error of their
> ways.
>
>
> > Infinity, the largest owner of oldies formated radio
> > stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
>
> > oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> > Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> > market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join
> the
> > mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to
> lack
> > of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> > "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies
> stations-
> > WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
> >
>
From todays NY Post and the story makes some excellent points.
Clearly the Jocks are not only stunned but seem to be saying that the management staff is living ina delusional world.
They are.
Check it out:
June 4, 2005 -- It was hit the road, Jack, for oldies fans who listen to WCBS-FM radio after the station yesterday ended 33 years of playing rock classics and abruptly axed legendary DJs Cousin Brucie, Harry Harrison and Bill Brown.
WCBS, 101.1-FM on the dial, changed its name to "Jack" and stunned listeners by ditching its tried and true playlist to embrace a new format that features random songs of various styles.
"We're going from 400 to 500 songs to well over 1,200 songs, with less repetition," said CBS-FM vice president Chad Brown, who flipped the switch to the new format at 5 p.m. "This is going to be different than anything else in the market."
Jack — known also as "Bob," "Ben" and "Dave" in other cities — is frequently described as "an iPod on 'Shuffle,' " — meaning you never know which kind of song listeners will hear next.
"Jack has twice as many songs and is 15 years newer than CBS-FM," said Sean Ross of Edison Media Research. "It's a blend of WPLJ and [classic rock station] Q-104 with a little bit of everything else." Jack — using the slogan "playing what we want" — is also a format without DJs, traffic and weather.
"I think my audience is going to go out of their minds," said Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, who lost his gig along with former Monkee Micky Dolenz, who celebrated his 100th wake-up show on the air yesterday.
"New York is a very different market — it ain't Dallas or St. Louis," Morrow told The Post. "We're very different animals and we have to be serviced very differently."
WPLJ executive Tom Cuddy said he was "shocked" by the move.
"It's off the map," he said. "It's rap to rock to pop to one-hit wonders. Now there's no oldies station in the world's largest radio market."
Industry observers had expected the arrival of the new format in New York since it's been rolled out in dozens of other cities this year.
Most expected that Infinity, which owns CBS-FM, would put Jack on its troubled WNEW-FM (102.7).
"They didn't want to drain listeners from CBS-FM by doing that," said a company insider. Ross said oldies stations are "changing now at the rate of one or two a month" because they no longer deliver the younger listeners advertisers demand.
Infinity says Jack will feature artists like Aerosmith, Beastie Boys (their "Fight For Your Right" was the station's kickoff song yesterday), Duran Duran, No Doubt, Lenny Kravitz, The Eagles, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M.
The "old" CBS-FM will continue via streaming audio at Jack's brand-new Web site, ilikejack.com.
> Its absolutely stupid that in New York of all places the
> oldies format was replaced by this Jack garbage.
>
> Well maybe I shouldn't say garbage but in New York the
> thiking that this Jack format will work to any large degree
> of success is unrealistic in my way of thinking.
>
> In some towns in this country including here in Atlanta I
> believe a format like Jack can make some headway. Some.
>
> In NY it is almost unfathomable that they will have no
> station with an oldies format.
>
> My prediction is that Jack will sink quickly in New York and
> Infinity owned WCBS-FM will soon see the error of their
> ways.
>
>
> > Infinity, the largest owner of oldies formated radio
> > stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
>
> > oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> > Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> > market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join
> the
> > mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to
> lack
> > of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> > "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies
> stations-
> > WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
> >
>
> Infinity, the largest owner of oldies formated radio
> stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
> oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join the
> mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to lack
> of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies stations-
> WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
>
I will not say that I am a loyal listener to oldies stations but I do enjoy them a few times a day, I know at home I listen to oldies on the internet a lot because they play better variety.
Its a shame to see these stations leave guess if I want oldies I will have to get an Sirius car kit.<P ID="signature">______________
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day</P>
> stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
> oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join the
> mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to lack
> of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies stations-
> WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
>
I will not say that I am a loyal listener to oldies stations but I do enjoy them a few times a day, I know at home I listen to oldies on the internet a lot because they play better variety.
Its a shame to see these stations leave guess if I want oldies I will have to get an Sirius car kit.<P ID="signature">______________
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day</P>
Re: From todays NY Post
I ask this question in all seriousness - not trying to be flip, or to denegrate oldies fans and programmers.
Why, if the format is such a great one, have not some of the also rans in markets where stations dumped oldies picked it up? From what I have read in the trades, and watching Arbirons, it seems there have been very few cases when someone picked up oldies when a heritage station dropped it.
Is it about revenue? As the demo grows older (as with the old beautiful music formats of the 70s and 80s) has oldies done enough to create new listeners? I submit the answer is NO!
And, as a result, the median age of the format has made it harder and harder for the ratings based sellers to get the buy.
Jack may not be the answer - but the question is valid!
I ask this question in all seriousness - not trying to be flip, or to denegrate oldies fans and programmers.
Why, if the format is such a great one, have not some of the also rans in markets where stations dumped oldies picked it up? From what I have read in the trades, and watching Arbirons, it seems there have been very few cases when someone picked up oldies when a heritage station dropped it.
Is it about revenue? As the demo grows older (as with the old beautiful music formats of the 70s and 80s) has oldies done enough to create new listeners? I submit the answer is NO!
And, as a result, the median age of the format has made it harder and harder for the ratings based sellers to get the buy.
Jack may not be the answer - but the question is valid!
> I will not say that I am a loyal listener to oldies stations
> but I do enjoy them a few times a day, I know at home I
> listen to oldies on the internet a lot because they play
> better variety.
>
We know that oldies stations are a dying breed because of the aging demo and burnout factor. However, the strange thing is that Infinity owns 2 FM's in New York with far lower ratings and billings than CBS-FM. WNEW-FM has been near the bottom of the ratings for years, and flailing around looking for a format. And WXRK's numbers die after Stern's show. Yet Infinity selected their best-performing station to put JACK on.
I think WCBS-FM as well as WJMK-FM in Chicago (which Infinity also flipped to JACK on Friday) and WQSR-FM in Baltimore (flipped to JACK 2 weeks ago) had another 5 years of making money left with oldies.
> but I do enjoy them a few times a day, I know at home I
> listen to oldies on the internet a lot because they play
> better variety.
>
We know that oldies stations are a dying breed because of the aging demo and burnout factor. However, the strange thing is that Infinity owns 2 FM's in New York with far lower ratings and billings than CBS-FM. WNEW-FM has been near the bottom of the ratings for years, and flailing around looking for a format. And WXRK's numbers die after Stern's show. Yet Infinity selected their best-performing station to put JACK on.
I think WCBS-FM as well as WJMK-FM in Chicago (which Infinity also flipped to JACK on Friday) and WQSR-FM in Baltimore (flipped to JACK 2 weeks ago) had another 5 years of making money left with oldies.
G
georgiametfan
Guest
Re: WCBS is out of their minds
I grew up listening to WCBS-FM. They set the standard for a what a true oldies station should be. They were one of the last stations that let the on-air people be personalities. When I read the shocking news on Friday, I was devistated. Infinity, once again, showed that they don't know what the hell they're doing. Dave-FM here is a joke. And now taking a station that pulled great numbers for 33 years in NY and turned it to another God-knows-what format is ridiculous.<P ID="signature">______________
Drive carefully and have a nice day!</P>
I grew up listening to WCBS-FM. They set the standard for a what a true oldies station should be. They were one of the last stations that let the on-air people be personalities. When I read the shocking news on Friday, I was devistated. Infinity, once again, showed that they don't know what the hell they're doing. Dave-FM here is a joke. And now taking a station that pulled great numbers for 33 years in NY and turned it to another God-knows-what format is ridiculous.<P ID="signature">______________
Drive carefully and have a nice day!</P>
T
thebelle
Guest
> Infinity, the largest owner of oldies formated radio
> stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
> oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join the
> mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to lack
> of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies stations-
> WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
>
You can listen to Majic 102.9 for oldies. But I agree with you, we need a good oldies station.
> stations in America's top 20 markets has just killed their
> oldies stations in New York and Chicago. Up until today
> Atlanta (radio market #11)was the largest arbitron rated
> market without a oldies station. Now markets 1 & 3 join the
> mix of markets to lose their main oldies outlet due to lack
> of advertiser support. Infinity placed the anything goes
> "Jack" format on two more of their heritage oldies stations-
> WCBS NYC and WJMK Chicago.
>
You can listen to Majic 102.9 for oldies. But I agree with you, we need a good oldies station.
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