Celebrating our one-year anniversary as the premier Internet source for Jammin' Olides news!
Our goal is to fill you in on the new format that has America, er, Jammin'! It's called Jammin' Oldies, and it consists of old hit songs with a soul flavor to it. It's like a little bit of Motown, a little bit of disco, a little bit of soul, all popular hits. Some Marvin Gaye here, some Kool and the Gang there. You might hear Diana Ross, then a ballad from Al Green, and then a powerful classic from the O'Jays. This site is here to bring you basically everything you need to know about Jammin' Oldies radio. If you don't get Jammin' Oldies in your area, and want to hear it for yourself, just go to the links under "Listen Live!" and choose one.
Contrary to what I have previously been stating here, Jammin' Oldies is actually the brainchild of Chancellor Media (now AMFM Inc.), who started the format in Los Angeles on KCMG (Mega 100). (Source: Michael D. Hanks, whose voice is heard on various Jammin' O stations.) It was not the idea of Joel Salkowitz, former PD at Dallas' KTXQ (Magic 102), and now New York's WTJM (Jammin' 105). Magic 102 started the format eight months after L.A. However, I read somewhere that the first ratings success of the format was in Dallas. Well, it's everywhere now, and there's no escaping!
NOTE: If you have any information whatsoever about your local Jammin' Oldies station, please let me know. I live in New York. Don't be surprised if most of the news items listed here are about WTJM/Jammin' 105. The more Jammin' Oldies news I get from other cities, the better.
FACT: Jammin' Oldies has been registered by Chancellor Media Corporation for use on air by Chancellor-owned station. However, there are other stations that use the "Jammin' Oldies" name on-air despite the fact that they are not run by Chancellor.
Jammin' Oldies can be very addictive... it can grow on you like a fungus... but it's worth it! Enjoy!
UPDATE: 3.19.00: Slow news month, huh? Well, here's a little something to keep you occupied: I found a website called bdsradio.com, which records the music logs of participating radio stations in the country. I've taken the liberty of linking a few Jammin' Oldies stations so you can see for yourself the variety the format has to offer. Click on any of the following links to view the playlists for the Jammin' O stations is: New York Chicago Dallas Los Angeles
If you notice, Chicago's station "The Beat" likes to do "triple plays" of artists three times a day. Anyway, the music log is updated every week to reflect the past Wednesday. To obtain the playlist of your local Jammin' O station, or virtually any other FM msic station, replace the calls at the end of the URL with those of the desired station.
At this rate, I guess I'll catch you back here next month. :)
RECENT NEWS: 2.6.00: No, this website is not dead... nor has it been neglected... I am one busy man, but when so much news piles up, I must obligate and motivate myself to put it here, because that's what it's here for... I'll try and put more blurbs up as soon as possible, you have my word.
First, I figured it's been awhile since I reported ratings, so with the latest Arbitrons coming out for Fall 1999, here's how Jammin' 105 fared: 12+ demos: 2.7, 16th place (Leader: WQHT). 25-54 demos: 3.8, 8th place (Leader: WLTW). Mornings: 2.1, 16th place (Leader: WXRK/Stern). Middays: 3.4 [up .4 points!], 10th place (Leader: WLTW). Afternoons: 3.0, 13th place (Leader: WLTW once again). Nights: 2.6, 13th place (Leader: WQHT).
Speaking of Jammin 105, a couple of notes on air personalities there: Jay Thomas (yes, the Jay Thomas), initially hired to do mornings temporarily while Al Bandiero was on vacation, has apparently agreed to stay with Jammin for awhile. Bandiero has since left the station. There were also rumors of Jay's morning show to be syndicated to other AMFM-owned Jammin' O stations across the country, but no true, clear-cut word as of yet. And at the Marconi Air Awards announced last month, Beth Bacall won for best nighttime radio show, congratulations.
Michael D. Hanks, professional radio voice-over, emailed me to say he's now voicing a station in Salt Lake City called "The Fever - Utah's Movin' Oldies". This is apparently a new station to me, but when I get more info, I will add it to the list.
Last but not least: The wait is over... Mobile's Q102 is finally broadcasting online! Check the link in "Listen Live!"
We'll be back with more news more often... we're working on it...
1.9.00: Here it is - not only the first update of the new millennium, but on what better day - the one-year anniversary of this very website. I look forward to serving you with more news on Jammin' Oldies. Most of it coms from you, the listeners, the industry people, the ones in the know - you all helped out everyone else who wants to be in the know by going to this very website. I'm proud of the business we've done in the first year, and here's to much more business in the next century!
Anyway, to open the new millennium, what better way to punctuate this update than the arrival of a station in Jacksonville, Florida known as "Millennium 105.3 and 105.5 - Groovin' Oldies". Mondocoo writes: "After looping Prince's 1999 for more than two weeks, the station launched at 6PM on New Year's Eve." If anyone knows of the owners, or if it has a website, let me know. And note the new email address: tkn2k@hotmail.com.
12.19.99: A few items on Jammin' 105: First off, last Wednesday maked the arrival of Jay Thomas. Jay is actually a New York radio veteran, working at WXLO/99X (ironically, now urban outlet 98.7 KISS-FM). He sounded well this week, IMHO, but I couldn't compare it to his work over at 99X, since I was practically a mere fetus at the time. At first, we were given the impression he would only be filling in for morning man Al Bandiero, alongside Nichole Andrews, who remains on the morning show. But soon we learned that Al has left the station for good. I'm hearing all these stories that he wasn't liked at the station. Let me just say, Al is a legend, such a legend that he was the very first DJ on the new Jammin' 105 in its first hour on the air. Now, I don't know if anything happened behind the scenes between Al and management, and I'm not one to post stories here that are not true, but from all the information I gathered, I can only say nothing more than Al has left the station. He was not dismissed, he just went on vacation as planned, and it's just gonna be a bit longer this time around... But we wish Al all the best.
Also, in the latest Arbitrends ending Wednesday, Jammin' 105 held steady at 2.7 (17th place), and also remained unchanged in the 25-54 category with a 3.9 (9th place).
But the big news: Jammin' 105 is finally online. Go to www.jammin105.com or http://jammin105.amfmi.com (same thing; the former, easy to remember URL redirects to the latter URL) \. Right now, the only thing you can do is vote for the top 300 songs, but I can imagine more content as we enter Y2K...
Happy Holidays from the Jammin O' Newsletter. It's been a great first year. Thanks for all the e-mails and support. I might have taken a delay in posting a few items, but the truth is, while I am dedicated to this format, I operate about two dozen different websites, and I have a job as well... but I always strive to make sure the information is here for all to see, and my motivation comes from you. Thanks a bunch!
12.4.99: It was one year ago today at 6 PM that Jammin' 105 debuted in New York City with Koll and the Gang's "Celebration". And a year later, Jammin' is still jammin' in New York.
In a related item, Rona Landy, VP/GM on Lite-FM in New York, will honor the same double-title at Jammin' 105, replacing Kathy Stinehourm who will be VP/GM of AMFM-owned stations in Chicago, including 103.5 The Beat.
10.28.99: Good ol' Norm gave us another tidbit of info: KCHX in Odessa, TX ID's on-air as Jammin' Oldies, and is also owned by AMFM, Norm tells us. Their website doesn't work as of now, and I have yet to try their live feed. But, they're linked here, anyway!
And Mark from Palm Beach Gardens provided me with the owner info of 92X there. Find all of the info for today's update on the stations list.
10.18.99 (actually 10.17.99 at 11:50 PM EDT - but who's counting?): An update on Q102 in Mobile: They have a new logo, and they no longer dub themselves as Jammin' Oldies (although their format remains intact). Plus, the program director, who e-mailed me today, assured me that webcasting of Q102 will be taken care of within a month or so, and when it is ready, that we will be the first to know.
And it would be mean of me not to mention the good deed Jammin' 105 in New York has done about a week ago. They held a benefit concert to help the flood victims of Hurricane Floyd in Bound Brook, New Jersey. The concert featured artists such as the Trammps and Carol Douglas. To everyone that participated in that event, way to go!
10.10.99: Surprise... It's a whole new look for the fastest-growing music website on the Internet. Hope you like it. Well, that's all for now...
10.8.99: Norm Murcheson sent me a ton of valuable information. A new station have been added to the list: WRBO 103.5 in Memphis "Soul Classics", and there is a website for WGFX in Nashville, groovinhits.com. It's pretty cool, check it out. Also, both stations can be heard online; go under the "Listen Live" section for the links.
Another source for some information I discovered is this page from the AMFM Radio website. They have a Jammin' Oldies section. Of the several stations that are listed, WTJM in New York has a URL linked at www.jammin105.com. But when I link on, nothing. But if it's linked on the AMFM website, you gotta believe it's on its way. Perhaps I'll give them a buzz next week on this issue when I find the time. Also, there's a station in Modesto, CA, WFRY 96.7 FM, dubbed "Froggy 96.7" (their website froggy967.com; also doesn't work) listed as Jammin' Oldies. My guess is that they switched from country, since a station that goes by the moniker of "Froggy" is most likely to be country. I'm not sure whether they officially switched yet, but if anyone has info on this, let me know.
Also, I'm asking anybody in the Washington, D.C. area to find me the website (if any) of Jammin' 99.5. WGAY.com only links to the station on AM which now carries "music of your life". Any info would be greatly appreciated, mmmkay?
10.4.99: Another month-long due update yet again... I received an e-mail from a fellow named Jon, who I assume does radio station websites. He informed me that an employee at AMFM (who shall remain nameless here) sent an e-mail to programmers and group managers informing them that they can go to this website as a resource. Well, I sure am pleased... I guess if someone over at AMFM sent out word of this site, I think this site has reached the big time, wouldn't you say? Well, to the guy at AMFM - I know your name, but I wasn't sure if you wanted your name up here - if you're reading this, thanks.
By the way, this website is now accessbile by the URL http://JamminOldies.tripod.com. Make sure the J and O are capitalized. (The original URL, https://members.tripod.com/JamminOldies, still works as well.)
9.11.99: There is an article in today's New York Times reporting the so-called "oldies battle" between Jammin' 105 and standard oldies station WCBS-FM 101.1. Now, normally, I'd post the whole article, but since the Times requires (free) registration for viewing articles, as a public service, I will post only excerpts of the article. (For those who want to read the entire article, feel free to go to nytimes.com and register, then search for the article.)
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The bratty newcomer in the battle for the future of golden-oldies radio boasts that it never plays doo-wop, Elvis or the Beach Boys. In fact, WTJM-FM has greeted Presley acolytes with the unthinkable slogan, "Elvis has left the building."
This upstart has even broadcast the sound of an 18-wheeler squishing a ribbiting frog; the background music was the fanfare "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" from Three Dog Night's perennially cherished "Joy to the World."
The unkindest cut of all? The station's motto: "We're not your father's oldies station." The clear target, its archenemy in the metropolitan New York region -- which happens to be the biggest radio market in the country -- is WCBS-FM, which has dominated the New York oldies radio market for 27 years.
A year ago, WCBS-FM, at 101.1 on the radio band, was riding high, ranking fourth among all New York radio stations with an impressive 4.7 percent share of listeners, according to Arbitron, the radio ratings service. In the fragmented New York market, a 5 percent share of the average number of radio listeners older than 12 is considered strong.
Enter the money-losing WBIX-FM, incongruously named Big 105 though it was attracting a tiny 1.7 percent of listeners with its mix of 80's and 90's dance music, Top-40 songs and rock. Suddenly, last December, with the fanfare of a splashy million-dollar television advertising campaign, WBIX recast itself as WTJM-FM, took the nickname Jammin 105 and introduced its new format to New York.
"Our goal was to make a flank attack and take the younger end of their audience," said Jammin 105's veteran New York program director, Joel Salkowitz, 43. By March, when Arbitron's quarterly ratings appeared, WCBS-FM and WTJM-FM were tied with a 3.5 share of the audience. Worse for WCBS-FM, Jammin 105 had forged ahead in what broadcasters call "the money demographic," the affluent 25-to-54-year-old audience that advertisers will pay more to reach.
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Basically, the article points out how both stations are becoming aggressively competitive toward each other, by scheduling more music with even less talk, and planning contests and promotions (like Jammin' 105's "Jammin' Boat Cruise" series this summer).
The article also listed information that (I apologize) I was too busy to report here: The July Arbitron numbers. After being tied at 3.5 with each other in March, CBS-FM had a 4.2 to Jammin' 105's 2.6, as a result of CBS-FM PD Jow McCoy slightly tinkering with his station's presentation. But Jammin' 105 was still knee-deep in the 25-54 demographics with a 3.8. "We were right on target for where we'd planned to be, six months out", noted Salkowitz in the article, referring to the 25-54 demos.
As for how the two stations will survive down the road, Salkowitz said in the article: "The two stations will coexist for quite a while. We'll pick off the younger end of their audience. And eventually WCBS's audience will age out of that format." The CBS-FM GM is even quoted as wondering how the New York listening audience would buy into "such a bland, predictable, cookie-cutter radio station". Stay tuned...
By the way, hope you like the new logo at the top of the page. We've just had our 2,500th hit, I figured I had to do something to mark the occasion. Here's to 5,000, eh?
Got Jammin' Oldies info? Let us know.
NOTE: This website is not endorsed, nor condoned, by AMFM Inc. (formerly Chancellor Media Corporation) or such stations.
