trying to listen to WPAT 930 AM as they were playing more music oldies...the sound is orful both on the air and streaming...
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What's Wrong with WPAT 8030 AM ?
- Thread starter xmradiopro
- Start date
WPAT plays music to fill up unsold airtime. Keeping something on the air is more important than how good it sounds.
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andreajesus
Guest
three words - "Oldies 930 - WPATAM" - it is the perfect AM station to do a 50-60's oldies format in - PERIOD!
As long as it's owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, it's never going to happen.
But I bet if you put together a credible offer of $10 million, you might get it, and then you could play any music you want.
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Joylovepulse967
Guest
Test something plus
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andreajesus
Guest
oh if i had that kind of money.....but the frequency is perfect for a 50-60's oldies format....or any kind of oldies format....
You personally don't have to have that kind of money. In Seattle, a University was selling its radio station for $7 million. A community group got organized and raised the $7 million among themselves from fans of the station and fans of the format. They bought the station from the University, and are currently running it as an independent community-owned station. The same thing happened with WFMU in New Jersey.
I'm still hearing 60s on the local Classic Hits and Classic Rock stations. The last time I checked, that was pretty widespread. Any thoughts as to when they might be gone completely? I was 51 when they got rid of pre-Beatles. Now, I'm nearly 65. Are there really that many people in their 40s and 50s who want to hear music they can't remember?
This raises the question of whether music on an AM station has any chance of success in an advertiser-supported world.
If I (rarely) want to hear 50's or 60's oldies, I ask Alexa for a dose... or, if I am in the car, I find the Sirius / XM options.
One of the last major AM stations in the US to play music is WSM-AM in Nashville TN. This station had a huge signal, reaching most of the southeast at night. The June book came out this past week, and the station now gets less than a 1 share. Just a few years ago, it got double that. This is the radio station of the Grand Ole Opry, with live broadcasts from that famous stage five nights a week. During the day, they play a broad range of classic country and Americana. But they also stream online, and the Opry broadcasts can also be heard on Sirius. The DJs are all live and local. They spend a lot of money on this station, but it's mainly a marketing tool for the Opry and other co-owned properties.
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andreajesus
Guest
but BECAUSE many associate the Opry with an older demo......
Doesn't matter. This station is owned by the Grand Ole Opry. So the advertising really doesn't matter.
The point is the audience (and we're talking the 6+ audience, not 25 to 54) is less than 1 share. That means the audience, even the older audience, doesn't listen to music on AM. Even if it's music from their generation.
They stopped subscribing to the ratings at the end of last year. But two years ago, in July of 2016, they had a 2 share.
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North of the border, there's AM 740 CFZM "Zoomer Radio" in Toronto, Ontario playing Oldies. In the latest Toronto PPM ratings they have a 3.5 share -- but that's probably helped by the FM translator they added a few years ago in downtown Toronto.
I listen to AM 740 OTA, during the night when I can get their signal a lot better, and they recently did a programming shift [within last 2 or 3 months]. It's actually undergone a few changes since I started listening to it years ago because of their wide musical variety. At one point they played music from the 40s to the 90s but eventually dropped the 90s. Now they've changed again and play 60s, 70s, 80s. Gone are the 40s and most of the 50s; they dust off a 50s song every once in a while. But basically they now sound like every American FM station on the dial playing the same songs over and over with the exception of the Canadian Content which I believe is now 35%. And a lot of this now consists of Canadian artists that had made it big in the states. I figured this was going to eventually happen once they added that FM translator. Robbie Lane's Decades shows [60s at 6, 70s at 7, 80s at 8 and at 9 where they mix it all together] is great for hearing songs that rarely get an airplay anymore as well as the aforementioned Canadian artists. It's strange hearing a Canadian group/singer covering a song that was a hit for the original artist in the states and it sounds almost exactly the same as the original.
The Apr-May-Jun average in 2018 was a 1.2 share, and it is 100% over 55. A zero in 25-54.
It is the lowest rated and lowest billing of the 25 former 1-A clear channel stations.
But's its iconic in the market; there is even a miniature WSM tower on the roof of the round corner of the CMHoF building.
That's amazing. I suspect the main revenue comes from the Opry sponsors, whose commercials run in the venue and on air.
The Opry is a dying piece of Americana. Most of the current country stars, with their arena-rock aesthetic, are either incapable of or uninterested in playing a venue like the Opry. Some of the stars of the '80s and '90s, no longer desirable to country radio, play there, as do the few survivors of country's golden age who are still alive and able to sing. Unfortunately, there are no true country legends left anymore outside Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, so the Opry limps along with the likes of Jeannie Seely and John Conlee, second-tier stars largely unknown to anyone under 60. I doubt that even the truckers listen to WSM much anymore, as most in the 55+ demo have retired.
Not exactly true. Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton, and others are regular members of the Opry, and see it as an honor to play there.
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