WOKY Goes Classic Country

[classic_rocker]

Wishful thinking I know but perhaps AM1250 will bring back oldies as WEMP.
 As far as WOKY goes goodbye old friend I will miss you

[TheFonz]

Were their billings particularly bad, or likely to be better somehow with this switch? If those are the numbers it had been getting, I wonder why they made the decision and just how they expect the flip to improve things.

What puzzles me is that the format is "classic" Country.  That would be the '50s/early '60s audience that left Top 40 in the mid '60s and went to Country.  And that audience, for the most part, would be 55+, a demo that radio says it doesn't want.

[stuckinthe50s]

Sad to hear this.  I grew up listening to WOKY in the '50s; Johnny Logan, 'Mad Man Micheals, Jim O'Hara...  they defined the '50s in Milwaukee.  I moved away in the '60s, but the times I visited the station still had the same sound and feeling.

But I'm not all that surprised.  We haven't had a real oldies/nostalgia station here in Houston for years.  Maybe the genre, like many of it's fans, is dying off.

 

[jh]

What puzzles me is that the format is "classic" Country.  That would be the '50s/early '60s audience that left Top 40 in the mid '60s and went to Country.  And that audience, for the most part, would be 55+, a demo that radio says it doesn't want.

I don't know why CC did this.  I can only assume the oldies format wasn't making enough money.  But classic county won't bring in more money... maybe they can run it a lot cheaper, or they think it will make more money by selling it in combo with WMIL.

Classic Country has been put on AMs in several markets in recent years... Quad Cities, St. Louis, Memphis, Buffalo, Las Vegas.  Some were on the frequency of the heritage AM country of the 60s or 70s.  If any of them got over a one share, they were lucky.  Three of those have since been sold, with new formats put in by the new owners. 

I don't think classic country really ever works, even on FM, at least not after the first couple of books.  Few if any country stations have ever been successful long-term without playing currents. 

[dxer720]

Who, in their right mind, would go after the Country giant that is WMIL?...Unless they have mad cow.

[TheFonz]

Who, in their right mind, would go after the Country giant that is WMIL?...Unless they have mad cow.

Well, I think that Classic Country would have a different audience than current Country.  But the Classic audience would probably be 55+, and radio claims that they don't want 55+.  So go figure.

[jjschim]

They are playing songs that are well into the 80's, so that's not really a 55+ audience.

[TheFonz]

They are playing songs that are well into the 80's, so that's not really a 55+ audience.

I didn't listen long, but I was hearing songs like Roger Miller's "King Of The Road" (1965) and Merle Haggard's "Swinging Doors" (1966).  I guess that if they're covering 30 years of Country, it might work.

[genghis]

It's really sad from a heritage standpoint. WOKY was one of the greats. But that was then and this is now. The oldies format is dying all across the country. (Though maybe you could make an excuse for it in Milwaukee.)

But a flanker for WMIL makes sense. It'll be a great combo buy.

[Barefootom]

Sad to hear this.  I grew up listening to WOKY in the '50s; Johnny Logan, 'Mad Man Micheals, Jim O'Hara... 
 

I was 8 years old the first time I heard the "WOKY in Milwaukee" jingle and it changed my life and set me on the path to a career in radio.  Imagine my excitement when I realized they weren't far from our house on the NW side!  I used to ride my bike to their studios at 3500 N. Sherman Blvd. and fantasize about being a DJ.

Goodbye, old friend.