Thursday, March 17, 2011

Radio: Oldies Are New Again

Chicago radio war pays off for listeners
From Robert Feder, Time Out Chicago:

If competition is good for the marketplace, then fans of oldies and personality radio in Chicago have reason to celebrate this week.

“After Two Decades, Oldies Battles Return,” read the headline Tuesday on Ross on Radio. Calling it the “final confirmation of the resurgent appeal of the revamped greatest hits format,” columnist Sean Ross put Chicago at the head of a list of oldies radio wars stretching from Las Vegas to Albany, New York.

On the same day CBS Radio replaced its jockless Jack FM franchise here with a live, local K-Hits format on WJMK-FM (104.3), Citadel Broadcasting oldies WLS-FM (94.7) transformed its midday hours — from 10am to 3pm Monday through Friday — into a local showcase for Radio Hall of Famer Scott Shannon.

While Shannon has been the syndicated midday, overnight and weekend voice of the station since it switched to oldies in 2005, Monday marked the first time he began hosting a customized version of the show for Chicago listeners only.

Michael Damsky, president and general manager of WLS-FM, acknowledged the coincidence with the debut of rival K-Hits, but said the move had been in the works for months.
Read more here.

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