Oldies are back! Again. This time, KJR FM flips to 60s & 70s Top 40, giving 570 KVI a run for the biggest share of Oldies listeners. Time will tell what either Oldies 95.7 [not KJR FM, as Clear Channel pushes the historic call sign to the rear of the bus] or 570 KVI sound like six months from now. Is it wise for Clear Channel to relegate the KJR call letters to an hourly legal ID only?
Will there be DJs at KJR – uh, Oldies 95.7, to add personality to the station? Will this alter the KVI game plan slightly? And, will either Oldies 95.7 or 570 KVI really have a deep playlist, reaching back into the record library for gems like, The Platters, The Sensations, Bobby Darrin, James Darren… You catch my drift. Stay tuned…
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Odd… It seemed like oldies in Seattle were gone for good, never to return. Now it seems everyone is jumping on the oldies band wagon? At last count if you count AM & FM, there is what… 3 Oldies stations now in the Seattle area? Does this have anything to do with the increase of the availability of medicinal marijuana? Or have people come to their senses? Or maybe half way to their senses? As for hearing The Platters, Bobby Darin, and similar artists, I hate to say it but I doubt it. Program Managers in radio these days are not old enough to know who those artists are. But… Will take what good there is and enjoy it!
I’ve noticed something during the last year or two. Stations are increasingly going with station ID’s that refer to the “brand” as opposed to the stations call letters. I’ve noticed this going on with stations not just in Seattle but other areas as well. I wonder if this has something to do with the idea that owners and programmers are trying to really embrace internet radio. My point is, you can’t make your brand on internet radio with call letters. Using your call letters creates an image that you’re still in a city some place, not world wide.
In the case of KJR FM (or whatever they are now), this may not be the case, they may be changing call letters, or just not identifying much.
Speaking of KJR FM, I’m not too thrilled from what I’ve heard. I’m hearing “Against The Wind” by Bob Seger and numerous Neil Diamond songs. That’s nothing new or fresh. That’s the same crap KJR played the last time they were an oldies station. But I haven’t listened much so to be fair I just may have tuned in at a bad time.
The best oldies station I have ever heard on the internet is Real Oldies 1600 (KRKE AM) in Albuquerque. Their station does not pound out a lot of watts AM station at 1600 on the AM band and I’m not sure that many people actually listen to the AM source. But they have a rather good sized (and growing) following on the internet, and they have real DJ’s who do radio just like it was done when the oldies were a stack of wax. Nice station.
The change to identification of stations, not by call letters, but by the name of a mascot or format, BUZZARD, EAGLE, WOLF, WARM, LITE, FRESH…has been happening for years. Call letters have become less important. But ask most people what they listen to, and I will bet they identify the dial position more often than the cutesy name.
But, I could be wrong…