3.31.99: Here's an article from yesterday's New York Daily News on how local regular oldies powerhouse WCBS-FM is adding more variety to its playlist to compete with Jammin' 105 (WTJM). The article was written by David Hinckley.

he strong start for WTJM (105.1 FM, Jammin' 105) has turned a lot of attention to WCBS-FM (101.1) — and to whether "New York's Oldies Station" will overhaul itself to fend off this newcomer that says it's "not your father's oldies station."

WCBS-FM is the last major city station whose regular rotation features the '50s and the pop '60s, from Chuck Berry to the Four Seasons and Beach Boys.

Other stations, like Jammin', start with Motown and soul, late '60s/'70s.

Jammin' also overlaps with WWRL (1600 AM), which often gets overlooked, and with WRKS (98.7 FM). But attention at the moment seems focused on WCBS-FM, which has countered Jammin' by stressing its own Motown tunes, stepping up its theme weekends and reminding listeners it plays the "widest variety" of music.

That last line is a big reason it's unlikely WCBS-FM will do anything radical. WCBS-FM's core audience grew up in the '50s and '60s, when top-40 radio played everyone from Dean Martin to the Beatles, Stones, Wilson Pickett and Little Richard. They like variety.

Most Jammin' listeners grew up as radio was breaking into niches: disco, rock, whatever. "Superserving," it's called. Jammin' fans may like other uptempo soul records, and they may enjoy an occasional Righteous Brothers, but they don't want Beach Boys.

Radio thinking today is that most listeners demand superserving — although it's worth noting that the market's No. 1 station, WLTW (106.7 FM), has one of its widest stylistic ranges.

But the real key to WCBS-FM is simply that it has worked so well: top five since the '80s, huge with the 25 to 54-year-olds advertisers covet. It's one of the top 10 ad-revenue stations in the country.

Risk this core audience to chase someone else's? Unlikely.

WCBS-FM also took a hit when WRKS went to classic soul in early 1995. It stayed in the pocket, with a few adjustments, and four years later has held its position. Odds are good program director Joe McCoy is looking at a similar strategy now.

Of course, that Jammin' promo about "your father's oldies station" is actually true. Core WCBS-FM listeners are 40 to 50 now, meaning their numbers eventually will fall. But that isn't close yet. Those listeners today are baby boomers in their peak earning years — and you know that can't be bad.

3.26.99: Boy, have we got news on Jammin' 105 in New York! Here's an article by John Mainelli at The New York Post, who wrote about J105's impact on "classic soul" station Kiss-FM, and, of course, regular oldies powerhouse WCBS-FM. The article is titled: "It's (Radio) War!"

It's been a long time since New York has seen a knock-down, drag-out radio war like the one that's suddenly erupted over oldies.

It has gotten so bad, so quickly that one station is even flirting with making the battle a racial issue.

Brand-new R&B oldies station Jammin' 105 (WTJM/105.1 FM) surprised even its own staff yesterday by almost doubling its ratings in just two months.

WTJM, once one of the city's lowest-rated stations under its incarnations as WBIX, WDBZ and WNSR, shot up from 20th to 12th place in overall listeners and did even better in the age group advertisers like best, 25-54, climbing from 16th to 7th, according to Arbitron's monthly ratings trends.

At the same time, rival WCBS-FM (101.1) dropped 18 percent and another direct competitor, Kiss-FM (98.7), sagged from 14 percent among listeners 25-54.

"CBS-FM clearly took a whack," says Jammin' 105 program director Joel Salkowitz. "They held their 45-and-older listeners but we took the younger ones.

"They've started playing more '70s and early '80s music," adds Salkowitz, "but people who like music from the early '60s go nuts when they hear disco like the Village People."

Longtime oldies leader WCBS-FM is now reminding listeners that it too plays Motown artists like the Four Tops, Supremes, Temptations and Stevie Wonder.

Jammin' 105 has been twisting the knife by running announcements like, "Where you never have to sit through [a '50s doo-wop clip is then played] to hear this...," after which the station plays a '70s era R&B record or an early '80s disco hit.

The station also delights in stating, "This is not your father's oldies station," another direct dig at CBS-FM.

Meantime, "Classic Soul" Kiss-FM has begun telling its largely black audience, "This is the station for our community.' Kiss-FM's air staff is mainly black.

Jammin' 105's weekday DJs are white, except for Carol Ford and Supersnake. Nightsider Famous Amos, though he's named after the black cookie baker, is white.

"If a station plays the race card, it can blow up in their faces," warns Salkowitz. "When we launched this format in Dallas, we parodied the phone company and ran an announcement that said, 'The number of your favorite station has changed.'

"The leading black station said listeners could find us by 'looking in the white pages.'"

In New York in the early '90s, when white-owned Kiss-FM signed on with its classic soul format, black-owned WBLS (107.5 FM) called it "the plantation station" in on-air sniping.

"They realized their mistake and quickly pulled that slogan," says Salkowitz, who programmed Hot 97 at the time.

Never have competitive stakes been higher as radio advertising revenues continue to hit the stratosphere.

Last year, WCBS-FM grossed $36.4 million and Kiss-FM collected $26.7 million, according to BIA Research. WTJM (then WBIX) managed only $9.8 mil.

Program directors for WCBS-FM and Kiss-FM did not return calls.

And here's a little snippet from today's New York Daily News, on the sudden ratings jump of J105...

Early ratings are looking good for WTJM (105.1 FM, Jammin' 105) — and that may not be so good for oldies WCBS-FM (101.1) or soul WRKS (98.7 FM).

The monthly Arbitrend ratings came out yesterday and Jammin' averaged 3% of the audience, up from 1.5% when it was Big-105 in the fall. Jammin' averaged 4.1% among listeners aged 25 to 54, the ones advertisers most covet.

WCBS-FM fell from 4.7% to 4% overall, and 5.5% to 4.5% in the 25-54 group. WRKS is down 3.8% to 3.6% overall and 5.1% to 4.4% in 25-54.

WKTU has stayed about even.

These ratings are interesting as a listener gauge. But the next ratings that really count — because they set ad rates — are the April-June quarterlies. Jammin' should rise higher by then, but could settle back some after that.

Right now, program director Joel Salkowitz is happy. "I think," he says, "that we have a hit."

And while we're on the subject of ratings, let me fill you in on how WUBT, the Jammin' Oldies station in Chicago is doing: It came in 8th place overall. There are four other music stations ahead of it: two urban, one CHR, and one "Smooth Jazz". The other three are news or talk stations. By comparison, 'UBT logged a 3.7 WGCI, an urban station, and Tribune-owned WGN-AM, news/talk, were tied with a 6.4 rating.

But the big news is that after only a few months, 'UBT (better known as "The Beat") has risen near the top of the 25-54 demos! Read on:

The biggest story among Chicago radio watchers is the incredible rise of Chancellor's WUBT-FM. The 103.5 frequency struggled with various formats including Mancow and Rock 103.5. The current nostalgic craze was an opportunity Chancellor seized upon in ditching Mancow [Webmaster's note: local morning personality and/or Howard Stern imitator] and the Rock format in favor of Jammin' Oldies. It worked! WUBT-FM has gone from 14th to 2nd in the latest Arbitron trend (25-54). In the adult demographic (25-54) which is the format of choice for the majority of advertising agencies WUBT-FM is so hot that it's now expected to dethrone WGCI-FM when the final Winter ratings results come out next month. (Source of both stories: Chicago Media Rumormill.)

Okay, as long as I've got stuff for New York and Chicago, why not something on L.A. Here's a description of the format and recent developments ratings-wise over at KCMG, or Mega 100:

Mega 100 has shot up the ratings charts in its first year of operation, and the recent demise of KRLA's oldies format will likely see more people jump to this station. The "Urban Oldies" format, already being duplicated in other cities, is a potpourri of R&B classics, Soul, Disco, Motown classics, and dance music, a veritable history of R&B and soul up to the late '70s, stopping just short of the appearance of rap.

These songs are familiar friends, comfort food for the ears, positive and uplifting -- probably the highest proportion of love songs in LA -- and definitely grabbing a large and diverse female listenership of all ages and races. The kind of great programming format you'd expect to originate in a city like Los Angeles.

If this page looks a bit cluttered or untended to right now (still have a January news item near the bottom), fear not. Soon, I will organize a "news archive" where the old news will go to. Hang tight!

3.24.99: I found a couple more stations to add to the list: First, Mega 95.5 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Is it just me, or is this, like, the fourth Jammin' Oldies station called Mega?) anyways, they have a web site, and - be warned - the word "sponsors" was spelt incorrectly. But the rest of their site looks great.
Next, a station (actually, two; one simulcasts the other) in Houston that dubs itself "The Jam". I found them under the format name "rhythmic/oldies", and after browsing their web site, I was convinced that this was indeed a Jammin' Oldies station. They also have live radio feed, too, so check them out.
And finally, check out this poll I came across. I reckon they're starving for the Jammin' Oldies format in Philadelphia.

3.22.99: What a difference a little post in the rec.radio.broadcasting newsgroup can make! I had asked for Jammin' Oldies info, and sure enough, I now have record of another three stations playing such format. They will be listed here, as well as below with the others. I will also check if they have websites, too.
First off, in Tucson: "Mega 106.3", KIXD, although I'm told that new calls in the form of KJMG have been applied for. I'm told that the previous format on that frequency was country, and it launched there just 11 days ago, and it's "getting some positive buzz." Thanks to Allan Sherrill for the info.
And a thank you also goes out to Toby Eddings, who informed me of the following two stations operating in the Carolinas: WKXB 99.9 FM, Wilmington, NC, and WYNA 104.9 FM in Myrtle Beach, SC, as well as Calabash, NC. What's different between the three is that WYNA is known as "Cool 104.9", while the aforementioned two use "Jammin' Oldies". Toby told me that they were planning to use the moniker "Groovin' Oldies". But they do play Motown and Disco, 60's, 70's and 80's hits... all traits of the playlist of the Jammin' Oldies station in New York.
If you have any info on a Jammin' Oldies station near you, or if there is one I have failed to list, e-mail me and I shall put it on this page. And thanks once again to Joel Salkowitz for inventing this hot new format that's sweeping the nation!

3.20.99: First off, you may have noticed a minor change in the site. This page has been moved right to the default page, so you don't have to see that picture of Kyle anymore. At least not here, anyways.
Secondly, I've discovered new websites for THREE Jammin' Oldies stations, check them out: Q102 in Mobile, Alabama, WXLE in Albany and KTYL in Tyler, Texas (also available on another domain).
Also, before checking 'XLE's web site, be sure to read this review.

3.11.99: Have you seen the KTXQ website lately? They've got a super-cool effect that you can only see if your browser is 4.0 or above. Click here to go to their site now!
Also, just out of curiosity, I asked a couple of the jocks at New York's Jammin' 105 what the "T" stood for in their new call letters, WTJM. They both guessed it stood for "the". Now, I'm not saying it's a weird answer: the question itself was weird.
In other news, 'TJM has officially named their daily on-air staff, with most of their DJ's in their same slots.

3/8/99: After just over three months, the Jammin' Oldies station in New York, nee WBIX, now has new call letters: WTJM. The new calls are likely a "reward" for the recent ratings growth (see story below) that the new hot format has brought to the station. (What I wanna know is... what does the "T" stand for?)

3/4/99: I've just came across an article in the New York Post regarding New York's Jammin' 105's ratings. I had to type the following passages in myself, since the article was not available on the newspaper's own website...

... Jammin' 105 jumped 30 percent in both total listeners and in the age group most favored by radio advertisers, adults between 25 and 54, in Arbitron's monthly trend report. ... "We've got a lot of happy people who haven't seen these numbers on this frequency for a long time," beams program director Joel Salkowitz, who arrived along with the new records in early December.
Jammin' 105 plays uptempo R&B and dance oldies from the late 60's through the early 80's with blissfully nostalgic lyrics like "I'm a soldier in the War on Poverty". [Webmaster's note: That lyric is from Billy Preston's "Nothing from Nothing."] ... "A lot of word-of-mouth helped us coming out of the box since our TV campaign didn't start until the end of January," said general manager Kathy Stinehour. "We've very optimistic and hope to be in the top six in 25-54 [in the winter ratings book]."
The hot new format that's making big bucks for Chancellor in increasing numbers of major cities bumped WBIX's overall listener share from 1.7 to 2.2 and, more importantly for the bottom line, from 2.3 to 3.0 in the 25-54 age group. "It won't be long before we're a 4 or 5-share station in 25-54," vows Salkowitz, who returned to New York after launching the same format in Dallas. "The breakout analysis says we're already there."

Also in the article, Salkowitz quipped about how Jammin 105's gains didn't come from Chancellor-owned WLTW (Lite-FM) or WKTU (hit dance), but from classic soul WRKS (Kiss-FM) and oldies station WCBS-FM, which "has been reminding listeners lately that it still plays 'the most Motown'."

If I forget to thank John Mainelli for putting together this excellent piece, I'm going to shoot myself.

1/29/99: Here's a couple of tidbits about WBIX, the Jammin' Oldies station in New York: First up: Their very own website will be on the way very soon. I e-mailed Beth Bacall, a WBIX DJ, and she said a website is in the works. Furthermore, I checked register.com, and the domain name jammin105.com has been taken. So be prepared.
Also, if the station makes a ratings splash, you can expect WBIX to be changing their call letters soon, too. (WBIX carries over from the name of the last station, the hot AC Big 105.)