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70's-style AM radio - anywhere locally?

I

indieradioguy

Leading Participant
I wish there could be a 70's-style AM radio (or FM, but AM would be better) that played nothing but Gerry Rafferty, Air Supply, Dan Fogelberg, Pablo Cruise, Donny & Marie, maybe some ABBA. Maybe that "Brown Eyed Girl" song, too. Like what 94.5 used to be in the 80's -- I wish they could have just kept their now-old songs in rotation.
 
indieradioguy said:
I wish there could be a 70's-style AM radio (or FM, but AM would be better) that played nothing but Gerry Rafferty, Air Supply, Dan Fogelberg, Pablo Cruise, Donny & Marie, maybe some ABBA. Maybe that "Brown Eyed Girl" song, too. Like what 94.5 used to be in the 80's -- I wish they could have just kept their now-old songs in rotation.
Click to expand...

Who'll listen, and more importantly, who'll bother to advertise on a station that is broadcasting the most banal music of the 1970s, especially on Ancient Modulation? There was good music in the '70s, mostly from 1970-75, but the end of that decade was mostly bland, mediocre garbage other than British punk rock/early new wave. Tom Petty, Van Halen, and Cheap Trick were also exceptions, but there were few others. Music that is best forgotten for the most part, IMNSHO. Playing disco on the radio in 2018 should cause a station's license to be revoked. ;) :D
 
indieradioguy said:
I wish there could be a 70's-style AM radio (or FM, but AM would be better) that played nothing but Gerry Rafferty, Air Supply, Dan Fogelberg, Pablo Cruise, Donny & Marie, maybe some ABBA. Maybe that "Brown Eyed Girl" song, too. Like what 94.5 used to be in the 80's -- I wish they could have just kept their now-old songs in rotation.
Click to expand...

Closest you'll get to that on Ancient Modulation is Lumberyard 14~Forty, rebranded as Oldies 92~Seven and KDKB 93~Three HD~Too. Steve Goddard does his Seventies show on KAZG as well. Lumberyard 14~Forty has been mining the golden nuggets for years, but had to rely on brokered time to make any money. With the translator and HD~Too, they're now a pure music station. (psst - here's a Media Hut secret: old songs attract old listeners)
 
indieradioguy said:
I wish there could be a 70's-style AM radio (or FM, but AM would be better) that played nothing but Gerry Rafferty, Air Supply, Dan Fogelberg, Pablo Cruise, Donny & Marie, maybe some ABBA. Maybe that "Brown Eyed Girl" song, too. Like what 94.5 used to be in the 80's -- I wish they could have just kept their now-old songs in rotation.
Click to expand...

I think the last time you had a station like that was KTWC, unless KCCF came and went after Twice the Train Wrecks gave way to Cool Jazz at 103.5.

The recurring theme to stations that emulate the old school KOY or KARZ MOR approach today is they didn't do very well and changed to something else. Even KOAZ quickly ditched the yacht rock when it didn't gain any traction a few years back.
 
WKHB-AM 620 comes pretty close (at least after their brokered informercial programming
ends for the day). The playlist does include some 80's stuff, but overall it comes awfully
close to what my friend was playing on a big AC formatted AM station back in the 70's.

It is automated with no jocks. The 50's-60's music has largely been moved to their
sister station, WKFB.

Both stations are out of Irwin, PA, east of Pittsburgh.
 
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FreddyE1977 said:
WKHB-AM 620 comes pretty close (at least after their brokered informercial programming
ends for the day). The playlist does include some 80's stuff, but overall it comes awfully
close to what my friend was playing on a big AC formatted AM station back in the 70's.

It is automated with no jocks. The 50's-60's music has largely been moved to their
sister station, WKFB.

Both stations are out of Irwin, PA, east of Pittsburgh.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, WKHB is inaudible in Phoenix, thanks to KTAR and about a 2200 mile distance. :D
 
Why AM? I doubt anyone would listen. Music sounds terrible.
In my vehicles, for music I usually have it set to 92.7 FM. I prefer to hear 60s & 70s songs, I'm not a fan of current pop. And to me 94.5 plays the same 80s & 90s stuff over & over...with too many commercials.
I wish 92.7 would play a little more variety. But to give them credit, every once in a while they toss in a few that aren't over-played, which is nice. I know quite a few old farts like myself (over 45) that listen to 92.7. It's too bad their signal isn't stronger.
Think about it, most people under 30 don't listen to terrestrial radio for music these days.

Why not create stations aimed at the over 40 listeners?
 
Billkex said:
Why not create stations aimed at the over 40 listeners?
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You think that KOOL and KSLX aren't aimed at people over 40? They are, which is why they are centered in the 80s.

If you're 45, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, and Guns & Roses are bands you listened to in high school and college.

Now, if you're asking why they don't create stations aimed at people over 60, the answer is there's more money to be made targeting people over 40 than over 60.
 
johndavis said:
You think that KOOL and KSLX aren't aimed at people over 40? They are, which is why they are centered in the 80s.

If you're 45, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, and Guns & Roses are bands you listened to in high school and college.

Now, if you're asking why they don't create stations aimed at people over 60, the answer is there's more money to be made targeting people over 40 than over 60.
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I guess I prefer hearing older stuff...and a variety. I listened to all that (GNR, Bon Jovi, etc.) growing up & to tune into a station that plays the same 50 songs over & over, doesn't do it for me. I know plenty of other folks in their 40s & 50s that feel the same way. BTW: I heard Steve Goddard on 92.7 today...NICE!
 
indieradioguy said:
I wish there could be a 70's-style AM radio (or FM, but AM would be better) that played nothing but Gerry Rafferty, Air Supply, Dan Fogelberg, Pablo Cruise, Donny & Marie, maybe some ABBA. Maybe that "Brown Eyed Girl" song, too. Like what 94.5 used to be in the 80's -- I wish they could have just kept their now-old songs in rotation.
Click to expand...

Not on AM, but 103.1 KCDX. :D
 
johndavis said:
I think the last time you had a station like that was KTWC, unless KCCF came and went after Twice the Train Wrecks gave way to Cool Jazz at 103.5.

The recurring theme to stations that emulate the old school KOY or KARZ MOR approach today is they didn't do very well and changed to something else. Even KOAZ quickly ditched the yacht rock when it didn't gain any traction a few years back.
Click to expand...

The Oasis did not have patience. They launched the format, only to tinker with the playlist every two months. Did I see any commercials for them on TV? I saw billboards, but few and far between.

Now with KOY gone, I can see an HD2 filling a niche for a softer gold format like the syndicated MeTV format. That’s if you get the people who have those later-model Buicks and Cadillacs with HD in Sun City to work the controls in order to receive the station. MeTV is experimenting with this in Milwaukee (with a promotion blitz on TV). I can see this work in Arizona, where the MeTV station outranks several other primary TV stations (which would be good for promotion). I don’t see Hubbard doing it though, because that would cannibalize KAZG.
 
EricStein said:
<...>Now with KOY gone, I can see an HD2 filling a niche for a softer gold format like the syndicated MeTV format. <...> MeTV is experimenting with this in Milwaukee (with a promotion blitz on TV).
Click to expand...
Explain...or, better yet, a link to read about this would be effective.

Autos in the desert can last a really long time. That's why the '84 Olds is still in the driveway at MeMaw's place.
 
kwthom said:
Explain...or, better yet, a link to read about this would be effective.

Autos in the desert can last a really long time. That's why the '84 Olds is still in the driveway at MeMaw's place.
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But for every ‘84 Olds in their driveway, there’s an couple driving a 2018 Buick with premium audio. Sure, it would be better to have a translator for that HD2. Sierra H. could have controlled their destiny if they hadn’t sold 92.7 to Hubbard, but hindsight is 20/20. What does an operator have to risk other than the equipment/licensing costs for activating an HD2 with the syndicated format? At the least, with a little consumer education, it would drive some interest in receivers.
 
EricStein said:
What does an operator have to risk other than the equipment/licensing costs for activating an HD2 with the syndicated format?
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The real question that will get asked is: What does an operator have to GAIN? The answer is: Not much.

I'm not aware of syndicators that will allow their music formats to be used for HD channels.
 
TheBigA said:
The real question that will get asked is: What does an operator have to GAIN? The answer is: Not much.

I'm not aware of syndicators that will allow their music formats to be used for HD channels.
Click to expand...

See WMYX-HD2, Milwaukee. See the whole Radio Disney HD experiment. The only problem with that is that RD paid to be on those subchannels and there were several other options to receive RD. I’m not even counting the iHeart jukebox formats on their HD2s.

Now, I’ll get a numerically-backed counterpoint from the “Old Gringo,” but we are over-radioed in terms of younger-skewing formats. If this worked on a “Franken FM” in Chicago, why wouldn’t it work on a 40,000 watt rimshot in Phoenix (and I’m not even talking about HD)? You won’t be the highest billing station in town, but you probably be billing enough to be comfortable. Is being the second hip hop station good enough? We don’t have any small in-market class A’s, so we might just be out of luck with standard analog broadcasting.
 
EricStein said:
See WMYX-HD2, Milwaukee. See the whole Radio Disney HD experiment. The only problem with that is that RD paid to be on those subchannels and there were several other options to receive RD.
Click to expand...

From what I've read, the Radio Disney HD experiment, as you call it, ended in April. The main upside I see for MeTV in Milwaukee is cross-promotion of the TV station. So looping it back to Phoenix, if there is such an affiliate in Phoenix, it might make sense for Entercom & Envision to make a similar deal.

But let's not think you can compare the audience for a Franken FM with an HD-2. Very different situations.
 
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