I just heard one of my stand-by (i.e. parent safe) radio stations in Chicago switched formats. Is it true that Oldies 104.3 is no longer and Oldies station?

 

Lame thread I know, but just wanted some confirmation on the rumor....

I heard that on another board. The guy who posted the message was pissed that the oldies station is gone.

 

They changed to a JACK format. Which is the new craze in the radio world

 

the JACk format is supposed to be like listening to your IPOD. A coutnry song to a 70s song to a current song. Just a bunch of stuff mish mashed together

No more Dick Biondi (sp?)???

Link to 104.3

Link to 104.3

not a terrible idea.

my dad's gonna be pissed the oldie's station is gone though.

They did it sometime during the day on Friday. Literally when my wife went to work in the morning it was Oldies 104.3, and when she came home it was Jack radio or some s***.

NEW YORK - It's the day the music died. WCBS-FM, the top oldies station in the nation for more than three decades, stunned its legion of listeners by abruptly switching formats this weekend.

 

Goodbye, Buddy Holly and the Beach Boys.

 

Hello, Duran Duran and Jet.

 

"I'm sure this move angered and bewildered its listeners," said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio. "A lot of people punched in WCBS-FM, heard Pink's `Get The Party Started,' and said `Something's wrong with my radio.'"

 

The station had switched to an oldies format in 1972, initially as a bastion for the doo-wop sounds of the '50s. Although the playlist changed over the years, WCBS-FM always remained the outpost for classic Top 40 radio in the nation's largest radio market.

 

It was also the home to many of New York's legendary Top 40 DJs, including "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, Harry Harrison, Dan Ingram and Norm N. Nite.

 

Radio formats came and went — disco, punk, hip-hop, talk, sports talk — but WCBS-FM remained unchanged, a warm and welcoming presence at 101.1 on the FM dial.

 

The station's new format is called "Jack," an eclectic mix of hit music from the '70s through the present. The station's owner, Infinity Broadcasting, made the same format shift Friday at its Chicago oldies station, WJMK-FM, where classic Top 40 had aired for the past 21 years.

 

"We did a lot of market research and found a hole in the market that wasn't being served by any other station," said Chad Brown, WCBS-FM vice president and general manager.

 

There are currently about a dozen stations nationally using the Jack format.

 

"Youth must be served," Taylor said about the changes. "If you look at a lot of media, older Americans aren't important unless you're selling Craftmatic beds."

 

At 5 p.m. Friday, just as Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind" faded out, WCBS listeners heard a voice announce: "Why don't we play what we want? There's a whole world of songs out there."

 

The first song played on the new 'CBS-FM: "Fight for Your Right" by the Beastie Boys.

 

Until that moment, there were no indications of any imminent change at the station. Earlier in the day, morning show host Mickey Dolenz — yes, the former Monkees drummer — celebrated his 100th show with the station by hosting a live broadcast from B.B. King's Blues Club just off Times Square.

 

In the winter 2005 Arbitron ratings, WCBS-FM was ranked eighth among the city's stations — a strong showing, but apparently not strong enough.

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050604/ap_en_...HNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

If Nine FM couldnt get any results with three signals.... how is Jack gonna work?

 

This is such a mistake, on so many levels.

 

CBS-FM and Oldies 104.3 are absolute legendary radio stations...

 

Check out WRLL 1690 for your Oldies fix now. Plus Uncle Lar's still on in morning drive.

 

Real Oldies just got a new lease on life.

Just so you know, Oldies will be back as the second signal on 104.3 when they finish upgrading their transmitter to HD. it will be WJMK-FM 104.3 Channel 2. CBS-FM the same I imagine. You can still stream Oldies Chicago online.

 

With WNEW-FM performing SO poorly in NYC, why arent they doing Jack there?

The one flaw that these radio stations are making with the selling point of "It's like listening to your I-Pod on shuffle" is that I put the music on my I-Pod, while some suck bag suit from NY put the music on the radio station. Yeah, I love my I-Pod, and get a kick putting it on shuffle and seeing what song pops up, but that's because I PUT THE GOD DAMN SONGS ON THERE!!! Which means I like all the songs on my I-Pod.

 

I'm not going to listen to a radio station just for the wacky factor that might occur if they play the New Kids on the Block followed by Hall and Oates... both bands suck, I don't want to listen to them ever.

 

Q-101 did basically the same thing with a 20 year time span and limiting it self to one basic genre of music. Those S.O.Bs also pulled Loveline off the air, but thank God WCKG is picking it up... I've missed Adam and Dr. Drew for the last couple of months

Let me get this straight, this format is for people who want an iPod shuffle experience, but don't have an iPod. So, are there many advertisers that want to market to people too cheap to buy their own iPod shuffle?

The one flaw that these radio stations are making with the selling point of "It's like listening to your I-Pod on shuffle" is that I put the music on my I-Pod, while some suck bag suit from NY put the music on the radio station.  Yeah, I love my I-Pod, and get a kick putting it on shuffle and seeing what song pops up, but that's because I PUT THE GOD DAMN SONGS ON THERE!!!  Which means I like all the songs on my I-Pod. 

 

I'm not going to listen to a radio station just for the wacky factor that might occur if they play the New Kids on the Block followed by Hall and Oates... both bands suck, I don't want to listen to them ever.

 

Q-101 did basically the same thing with a 20 year time span and limiting it self to one basic genre of music.  Those S.O.Bs also pulled Loveline off the air, but thank God WCKG is picking it up... I've missed Adam and Dr. Drew for the last couple of months

 

Except Q-101 didn't do the same thing, they broadened their playlist, changed their clocks and stopped playing their top three or four songs 40 times a week and only play them 25 or 30 times a week. They've also shifted their audience older and seems like they are going for listeners 25-34 who remember the alternative format when it just started and sounded a lot like Q-101 does now. If they could just get an afternoon show with talent, they might actually have something there.

 

And I love the "on shuffle" phrasing. Much better than variety, free flight or music mix.

Let me get this straight, this format is for people who want an iPod shuffle experience, but don't have an iPod. So, are there many advertisers that want to market to people too cheap to buy their own iPod shuffle?

 

So this is 'Jack' radio, okay. Can anyone tell me how exactly that's different than 'Mix' radio?

 

C'mon corporate goons, don't be cruel. I can't remember any time growing up when that station wasn't on, unless a Beatles tape was in. You might say we rocked around the clock. So no goofy sendoff mixing lyrics from old songs, I'm just sad that the roller coaster trip we took is finally at an end.

 

For now, anyway, the old format is still alive online, at wjmk.com. So it's death is being drawn out a bit. But at least I get to listen to 'My Midnight Confessions' (right title?) while I type -- it's something.

My parents said they changed over to 1690 AM for their oldies fix. I think what WJMK (JACK) did is akin to radio suicide, but to each their own.

They did this in Dallas too. And JACK has just absolutely kicked the s*** out of other stations as far as ratings.

And it will for about a year and then everyone will get over it. You can have a variety format that works, but you need to have the personality behind it that will make it work. Jack is really nothing more than a classic rock/hits format with a few extra songs added along the edges. I hate it.

But at least I get to listen to 'My Midnight Confessions' (right title?) while I type -- it's something.

 

Close. "Midnight Confessions" by Grass Roots.

 

This JACK changeover is very unsettling for me. In addition to symbolizing corporate greed, it's quite malicious to immediately swap formats without prior notice.

 

This entire fiasco sounds like the plot to a campy 80's comedy. The EVIL corporation has successfully shut down the traditional Oldies format. As a result, the main character (likely a nerd) finds a collection of caucasian misfits; possibly including one foreigner for comedy relief, to spread the word of Oldies-rock . This is where the craziness and hairball schemes ensue.

 

It was odd tuning the dial to 104.3 yesterday afternoon and hearing Avril Lavinge. Afternoon prior, I heard Gregg Brown accepting requests for their 'Brown-Bag Lunch' special. :headshake

 

While 97.1 will adequately satisfy my Classic Rock fix, it's a shame another radio company has fallen into this mix genre craze. Couldn't there have been a soft-jazz station willing to accept the slaughter of a corporate takeover?