WBOQ changes to 60s/70s AC/oldies

[Pete Ferrand]

Bob Nelson writes:

>Maybe today's radio listeners WANT something
>different, not just the same songs over and over.
>Maybe they want SHORTER stop sets and DJs who don't
>ramble on and on! Wider playlists! Adventurous
musical selections!

I think the bulk of listeners want those things, but they're not
prepared to actually listen to a station like that, just like they want
responsive and efficient government, but never show up at Town Meeting,
etc. ad nauseum. Plus their recollections when they fill out the ratings
diary are for the simple and familiar.

Radio is used to accompany other activity and as such it drifts in and
out of people's consciousness - if there's much that isn't familiar,
it's distracting and irritating for the average listener. The aficionado
might be thrilled, but it doesn't help ratings.

BTW, outside of a few well-known morning drive efforts, where do you
find DJ's who ramble???

Now I think there's another potential reason for the WBOQ switch - it
could be the old format was working, but was just too much effort. Radio
is management-intensive anyway, and it could be the new owners looked at
it and said, "Well they made it work, to a point, but I've no idea how I
can make it work." If whoever was managing isn't there anymore, the new
owner might reasonably feel he could handle AC/Oldies, or find someone
who could, while finding someone who could make a little of this and a
little of that work is a crap shoot, with crappy odds.

And not just the air product - the owner might also believe he can sell
time for AC/Oldies, but hasn't a clue what to say to sell this "other
stuff" that he may not understand. We all know how people really don't
want to risk losing their investment any more than they have to.

Should he decide to sell down the road a ways, he knows he'll have a far
easier time selling an AC/Oldies property than one he can't really
describe, even though the new new owner would probably change it anyway.

Merry/Happy to all,

-Pete
Enfield, NH

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss of
enthusiasm." -		-Winston Churchill