According to Yes.com, last night at midnight, they started playing 5 or 6 60s songs in a row with almost nothing past the early 70s. At this point, they're very close to an Oldies station without pre-Beatles. I just heard a promo referring to "Kool Classics".

they are going oldies hardline

hardline?

What about Advertisers???
Who is going to advertise on a station that doesn't play anything past the early 70's??

HMMMM-Hemrrhoid cream, Viagra, Depends, Low Blood Pressure Medication, Rogain, Denture Cream, AARP subscriptions, Cream that helps with those nasty "Saddlebags".

I sometimes wonder if the days of Kool 1059 are numbered. The problem with KOOL is that they still Voicetrack way too much, and its really starting to hurt them.

There is nearly a whole generation, not born yet when the songs were new, who grew up on Oldies! Many of this group still like these songs. KISN was still in the top 10 in 18-34 before adding all those 70s songs and dropping pre-Beatles. When does Kool voicetrack? Listening casually, it isn't apparent to me. The only thing I notice is the automation that runs after 7pm and on weekends but that isn't voicetracking. You'd think, if they were going to voicetrack, they'd do it in place of the automation also.

This is KOOL's MYOL phase.

MYOL for the baby boomers...how long will it last?

Meanwhile us "Boomers" can sit back and enjoy it.

If you can still hear Frank Sinatra on the radio, The Beatles should be fair game!

They seem to have eased up on the 60s the second day. It's still a lot, just not 6 in a row, more like 3 or 4 but still not much past the early 70s. That's compared to 3 or 4 for an entire hour on K-Hits.

Could the 60's have been more of a Memorial Day weekend special of Kool Classics?

They may have played more to kick it off but it's still mostly 60s. Maybe, they're just tightening up.

MYOL??????

MYOL(dies)?

Music Y'all Otta Like?

Don't write off the ad potential of (much less insult) the older demo. While a dismaying proportion of seniors are indeed poor, most of the country's wealth today is actually in the hands of older people. It's not all Walter Drake catalogs up there; for better or worse, the face of our new plutocracy has wrinkles.

(I gather that about half of the retired don't need Social Security, while the other half are semi-starving by living on it alone ... but that's for the other side of the board.)

The main problem I can see is that they don't need to buy a lot of consumer goods, the primary engine of mass marketing. Instead, tapping into this market will require hawking stuff like services, or travel, or perhaps even upscale, premium varieties of consumer necessities and the places that sell them. It's been kicked around here before, on and off, to some extent.

WaMu's weird "Raging Grannies" (or whatever) campaign of a few years ago comes to mind, though it was a bizarre stab in that direction. A better example is their "Friend of the Family" campaign of 25 years ago, perhaps not seen much here, but a legend in Seattle. (It made an obscure older Hollywood character actor into a very well-recognized celebrity there, to his great surprise when he returned to visit.)

Bob Hazen came up here recently. Though I can barely recall that far back, and I'm sure he was hoping to reach all ages, it certainly wasn't the kids of 1965 whose bucks were going into his banks. So selling to the older certainly isn't a new idea on the local airwaves. Indeed, it's not new at all; we just forgot about it while our swelled boomer cohort took over the media from the early sixties on. Indeed, what memory of radio/TV my folks listened to in the very early sixties was dominated by advertising for an older demo: Banks, North-West-Or-ee-ent Airrrrliiines, and so forth (plus of course those depressing home remedies and Geritol).

On the possibly brighter side for radio, this demo probably listens to broadcasting, out of habit and familiarity, in higher proportion than the others who are stampeding off to alternative media. I suspect older listeners are bankrolling public broadcasting in considerable proportion, for example. (And still subscribing to the daily paper, etc.)

If I can venture a speculative observation, it seems that e-commerce took off about the time the Internet attained significant penetration into the middle-aged to senior demo around six years ago, which was driven largely by their need to have it to communicate with children at college, and now grandkids. (Who are probably emailing them for money...) Yes, I know, that's other media, but I think you can see where I'm coming from here.

I'm sure there are many expert minds working on this, though, while I'm just guessing, as my own impoverished world doesn't give me much opportunity for insights into the lives of the wealthy elderly. (The closest peek I get is the ads in some magazines like Sunset.)

Excuse me, I hate to jump in here but we're not talking about the elderly. Listeners of this programming fall in their 50s!

Thats why I refered to KOOL as being essentially the 'New MYOL" for lack of a better analogy. So , yes , we are talking about 53 to 75 demos. We are a lot more active than our forebearers.

If Al Ham were still alive, it might be the new MOYL, assuming he wanted to keep going! Can we back this off to 53-65? I'd just feel a whole lot better.

I should mention I just heard a new promo on Kool that mentions both the old KGW and KISN by name, then says that 'all the favorites are back on one station.'
So this is definitely what they're trying to hit these days.

I was enjoying the 80's pop mixed with 60's and 70's. I guess i will start my Live 365 station back next month!

I think the promo referred to KISN-FM. I never connect on the beginning so I'm not sure. Kool hasn't played any 80s since the last adjustment, right after the A to Z Weekend.

I have been listening, and it's sounding pretty good. KHits dj's talk over the beginning of each song. I heard 2 in a row on Kool with no jingle or dj. They're playing the same songs i did at Live 365.

For what it's worth, while traveling to and from Denver last week, I noted that Nostalgia stations seem to be on the decline. Generally, I found them in the larger markets. In the smaller markets and rural areas, AM seemed dominated by talk and Spanish programming, with several oldies (1960s-early 1970s) and country stations thrown in. Classic Rock seems to still be thriving on FM everywhere. In other words, I think that "Oldies" is on its way to becoming the new "Nostalgia."

Ok, 53 to 65, tighten up the format.

But a 75 year old is about the same age now that Elvis would have been had he not eatin deep fried cheese burgers, 7 egg omlettes with bacon every morning for breakfast followed up with a dose of Morphine to get to sleep.

Little Richard and Tina Turner are making their way to 75. Chuck Berry is actually older--He's 81.

Little Richard's and Elvis' music is older than what is playing on Kool or K-Hits. Even if we were talking about the beginning, 1955 was 53 years ago. Add 18 to that for 71 and you can pretty well determine that no one older than that(in numbers)is passionate about the music.

"Little Richard's and Elvis' music is older than what is playing on Kool or K-Hits. Even if we were talking about the beginning, 1955 was 53 years ago. Add 18 to that for 71 and you can pretty well determine that no one older than that(in numbers)is passionate about the music."

Obviously you have not been to a car show lately. The Fifties is still hot with all ages. It brings back a time that most long for, simple times. The music evokes that feeling. Programmers just are not savvy to that. They push their pencils and rack up their numbers and don't take into account the actual passion for the music and the era that is still very big in this country. It's heard in movies, tv shows and Broadway hits. It is a music genre that will ALWAYS be timeless.

I have to agree with Dodger. There are some decades that seem to have lives of their own which transcend the demographics. I'm thinking of the "Roaring" 1920s and the "Gay" (it had a different meaning then) 1890s. Writing as a semi-professional astrologer now, I was always amused that Elvis and Bob "Gilligan" Denver were born on consecutive days in 1935!

Music is only timeless to people in its time. Pick any song from 1935 and ask your kid what he thinks about it.

And that kid will probably say "hey I heard that song in ______ movie".
Pegging songs to a time period only is not very deep.
I think we have to give people a little more credit.
Beside the fact that the discussion was 1950's rock and roll, not Fats Waller or Benny Goodman.
1950's rock and roll, like Elvis, Marilyn, Chevy's, diners, and much more is timeless. Always will be. That was a moment in time that EVERY kid no matter the age or era will dig.

Latest slogan on Kool 105.9:

"Playing the music that just makes you feel good."

Where have we heard that one before?!

I don't think that's new. I'm pretty sure they've been using that for a while.

I've never heard that slogan on kool 1059. It usaed to be on Movin 1075, than k103 stole it and started using it, now Kool 1059 is using it. I Think it is the cheesiest liner I have ever heard.

It looks like Kool isn't done tinkering. They've added even more 60s. A typical order would now be 3 60s, 1 70s and repeat AND they now play "Navy Blue", a true Oldie in anyone's book!

"...that makes you feel good."

Was also in a liner in the mid to late '90s at Kisn when it was Oldies 97.1 KISN-FM.

Correct me if I'm wrong Craig, but I remember that one still in my sleep.

Was also in a liner in the mid to late '90s at Kisn when it was Oldies 97.1 KISN-FM.
I remember the TV commercial.
"97.1 KISN-FM, Playing the songs that make you feel good!"

This got me to thinking (partial thread hijack in progress)...
Maybe slogans are just as burnt out as some formats/songs/etc. Perhaps listeners have heard "feel good" or "best variety" or "today's hottest hits" for so long that they no longer believe it, and change the station because the song doesn't do what the slogan says it should. Throw on a song that "tests well" but very few people actually like, and there goes some more (to another station). Then comes a 5 minute commercial break. Then a "40-minute music set" that lasts 32 minutes, and the process repeats. Very few are going to hang around for that (unless they're on hold, in a waiting room, or a place that plays one radio station all day long). Then, consider that every other station in the market is doing something similar, and the listener won't stick around... they'll turn the radio off, and everyone loses!
They're all components that add up. There are stations out there that people would otherwise like, but they don't like the presentation, so they don't listen. Sure, not everyone can be pleased at all times by all people, but if they're not pleased at the choices on the radio, yes they will go to their digital audio player, their CDs, or whatever else does please them.
I hope this makes some kind of sense. Thanks for reading.

How do you have a song that "tests well" but very few people actually like???????????? It makes no kind of snese

"Tests Well" means the majority of the station's target audience liked the song a lot, with little or no burnout.

A song wouldn't test well if very few people liked it. That's like saying "jumbo shrimp" or "military intelligence"!

Where are they "testing" these songs Danner???? New York??? I think that is crap unless they are doing local testing in portland. New York IS NOT portland.
"Just like sex, Testing is over-rated".

Here is something Pathetic. K103 is now running the liner "5 feel good songs in row, starting now." Heard that liner on k103 last nignt then the song "Dance with my father" by Luther vandross came on. Hello K103??? That is the most depressing song I have ever heard in my life! If you're going to brag about feel good songs, than play "dance with my father" you are sounding very hypocritical. JUST AN FYI!

Most companies still test their gold based stations' libraries locally on at least an annual basis.

Weekly callout has become so prohibitively expensive that I believe many companies have pooled samples for CHRs, for UCs, and for country stations, combining samples from 3-4 similar markets to get a larger weekly sample.

But just like oxygen, testing in vital to your (station's) health. It actually tells you what your core and casual listeners like and dislike, a far more valid measurement than the perceptions of DJs, their friends, the PDs wife, and the guys in the bar who all answered "yeah" when I said "aren't you really sick of _______."

[And in 30 years of testing music, I don't think I've seen more than a couple dozen songs total, that test significantly better in one market than they do in another. "Local hits", like snipe hunting, is more concept than fact. With our mobile society, a song Kisn or Kink played to death 30 years ago is still unfamiliar to the huge chunk of the local population that either didn't live here when the tune got local play, or listened to different stations/formats back then.]

Kool has an interesting contest going. It seems the winner has to guess the first day it's 105 degrees. It seems like there's a good chance that won't happen. I wonder where they came up with this one.

LOL! I was laughing at that one too Smoochie! Who came up with that?? This is Portland we are talking about!
I wonder if you can call up and guess "It will never reach 105, that would be my guess.

The all time high is 107. I believe it's hit that number 4 times, once before I was born, once in 1967 and twice within about 3 days in 1977. I'm thinking there might have been a fifth time in later years. The point is that 105 degrees isn't very common around here!

I could look into sending some of out hot air your way, but it would be expensive...It was 107 here in Phoenix yesterday...

Being closer to the ocean, Portland FEELS 107 more than we do in the desert. I remembered those record-setting days WITHOUT air conditioning...

Heck, there's no guarantee Portland will hit 100 each year, but the odds *are* better than 105.

And what's with the "June-uary" weather? If this weekend's forecast doesn't pan out, you may be looking at the makings of a "green tomato" year. Not good, given the recent turn of events...

Anybody have some plans handy for a greenhouse?

Greetings to Melanoma Land from the Chalk People!

The weather's always perfect in Portland from July 5th to September 28th.

Most natives get nervous if we go more than 5 days without rain.

Maybe all the Californians will MOVE BACK!!!!!
Please....

That's true, Cweakly!! (You can NEVER have enough sunscreen in these parts...) Trixter, some things will never change. (How's activity in the James G. Blaine Society lately anyway?)

I'm coming up for a few days in the last half of August to escape our muggy "monsoon" time, visit family, pick up a couple of Ragdoll kittens from a friend in Vancouver, and bring my 90-year-old father-in-law down with us to visit for a couple of months. (I think he wants to test-drive life in the desert...) Don't know if I'll have enough time to make it to the coast, though.

Oh...and I'll get to hear the Portland radio dial for myself, too! (Curious to hear how your Kool compares to the original KOOL-FM down here...)

If you just want to compare the music, Yes.com works quite well in that respect. At this point, KQOL is probably closer to KOOL Oldies than whatever they're doing now.

Well, that's true...but it's not the same as hearing it with the air talent. I could stream online, but I'd miss the local ads...and I'd like to try punching back and forth between Kool and 106.7...and a couple of others, too.

At any rate, it should be fun!

It actually hits 100 in this area more than you may realize. The official readings are taken at the airport which is a little cooler than locations away from the Columbia River. It can be warmer in West Linn/Oregon City/Hillsboro than in Portland. Of course, it will be warmer in The Dalles and Central Oregon than in the Valley. August tends to be more humid than July, also. Those of us who spend everyday outside in the summer can tell the difference.