Posted by Bob Smith on October 21, 2005 at 16:07:52:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Our dreams may not come true posted by Marty Glenn on October 21, 2005 at 14:41:39:
Thing is, personality "oldies" stations which have shifted their focus to 1964-84 hits are doing quite well. Latest example; WHTT in Buffalo, which repositioned itself over the winter from "Oldies 104" to "Buffalo's Greatest Hits" with a freshened and expanded music library spanning 1964-1984. They're up from a 5.6 and mid-pack finish to a 7.0 and solid third place overall 12+ and 25-54 in the latest book, which is their third "up" book in a row.
CBS-FM could have easily become "New York's Greatest Hits" and accomplished similar success (although nobody in NYC will ever see a 7.0). Hell, they still could now. But they won't. Instead it's an opportunity another struggling station in the market is still free to take.
I'd advise ABC to turn WPLJ into "New York's Greatest Hits", and do it soon. They can get out of that overcrowded AC battle and score a better showing in the same target demos with what's now a unique format in the market. And if they do it, I'D CHANGE THE CALLSIGN TO WABC-FM and bring out as many of the old PAMS and JAM jingles as they can get which don't have the "77" dial position front and center.
The strategy would be, as they change the music, to keep the current morning crew (which would be a good fit in any format from CHR to gold) and bring back as many of the CBS-FM and/or WABC-AM vets as they can. Hey, who says a station's only allowed to have one guy named Shannon on staff?