Rhythmic oldies is aradio format that concentrates on therhythmic,R&B,disco, ordance genres of music. The playlists spans from the 1960s through the 2000s. They depend on market conditions and may be designed for African-American or Hispanic audiences. It is also referred to as "Jammin' Oldies" or "Music From Back in the Day" by various radio stations. Since the late 2000s, much of the library in the "rhythmic oldies" format has been adopted by theclassic hits format. A variation on the format isurban oldies.
On November 19, 1997, theLos Angeles radio station formerly known asKIBB began a new concept in radio. KCMG, which named itself Mega 100.3 after a listener contest, was "oldies with attitude".[1]Chancellor Media, later to be called AMFM, developed the format with the intention of using it on other stations.[2] Just as radio in the 80s had the "urban versuschurban" competition,R & B oldies radio was dividing into two camps—the straight urban oldies stations targeting African Americans, and the "Jammin' Oldies" stations with a wider audience that included both blacks and whites. On Jammin' Oldies radio, DJs were often mostly white or a variety of racial groups. Many of the songs played had crossed over totop 40 radio, while R&B stations continued to play more hits, including ballads, not familiar to top 40 fans, especially if those songs were notsingles. Some of the rhythmic stations played songs completely unrelated to R & B; "Mony Mony" byTommy James on the now defunctWFJO inTampa was one example, though this station dropped such songs eventually.[3]
Another version of the format was "Groovin' Oldies", as in the case ofWGRV in Detroit. This station switched frommodern rock in April 1999, calling itself "The Groove". This format lasted until a switch toadult contemporary in June 2001. The last song was "End of the Road" byBoyz II Men.[4]
In April 1999,WGAY in Washington, D.C., switched to "Jammin' Oldies", which had been successful in every market where it was tried. One reason was that the format was tailored to each specific market. In Los Angeles, the format leaned towardLatin music. Other markets includedFresno, Chicago, and New York City. Listeners changed fromurban contemporary and other types ofoldies stations. Most of the music came from the 70s, but there were also 60s and 80s hits. Unlike most radio formats, Jammin' Oldies did not target one specific ethnic or gender group. Black and white artists were included, and a slight majority of listeners were female.[5] WJMO "Jammin' Oldies 99.5" succeeded at first,[6] but two years later fell victim to a declining economy.[7] Another problem for "Jammin' Oldies" was that it was the "hot new format" in 1998, but there were other "hot new formats" in 2000.[8]
In Chicago, it was rockerWRCX that changed—to WUBT "103-5 The Beat". The result was a significant ratings improvement that resulted from adding pop artists such asMadonna, theBee Gees andTina Turner to what had beenold school urban oldies.[9] But the deregulation of radio in 1996 made consolidation a priority. This meant companies were looking at operating groups of stations rather than at individual stations they owned.[10]Clear Channel bought AMFM, and in 2001 WUBT became top 40 WKSC-FM.[11]
In New York City, Chancellor Media decided to convert a station it had been having trouble formatting for some time. As 1998 began, the company had just boughtWNSR-FM, with initially amodern adult contemporary format that evolved to a cross between its sister stationWLTW and theHot AC format which was being used byWPLJ at the time. In January 1998, Chancellor changed the call letters to WBIX, rebranded the station as "Big 105", and steered it more toward theHot AC format of WPLJ. Eleven months later, with zero improvement in the ratings, WBIX was flipped to the Jammin' Oldies format and became WTJM. The difference from competitorWRKS was described this way byAirplay Monitor editorSean Ross:
TV spots feature former New York mayorEd Koch, not exactly someone you expect to emerge from theP-Funk mother ship.[3]
Music directorWayne Mayo had held the same job at WRKS in New York City and at KISQ in San Francisco. By 2002, the station flipped toUrban Contemporary.[12]
Early success stories includedKMEZ inLouisiana,WRBO inMemphis,XHRM-FM inSan Diego andKTXQ inDallas, as well asKFMK inAustin,KISQ inSan Francisco, andKNRX inKansas City. Contrary to what one might expect, competition fromoldies andurban adult contemporary had little effect on ratings.
The format proved to be little more than a "passing fad", one that stations got excited about but listeners did not—or when they did, not for very long.[13]
In November 2000,WOCL inOrlando,KHZZ inSacramento, andWBBT-FM inRichmond changed several weeks afterWGFX inNashville left the format. But the format was still successful in some markets—KCMG in Los Angeles,WJJJ inPittsburgh,KDJM inDenver,WMOJ inCincinnati andKMGV in Fresno all went up in the Summer 2000 ratings (in fact, KMGV was no. 1 with listeners in the 25–54 group). Joining the format in October 2000 wasKMBX inSeattle.
Some in radio believed that Jammin' Oldies tried to target too many types of listeners.R & B oldies stations specifically targeting African American listeners were doing better than Jammin' Oldies--WWSO inNorfolk, KMEZ, and WRBO.[8] Other stations of this type includedWNPL inNashville andWPLZ inRichmond.[3] Former KCMG program directorDon Parker said a mass-appeal format would not do as well as one that targeted a specific ethnic group (his station went after Hispanics despite requests to add moredisco). ConsultantBarry Mayo also said targeting blacks was a good strategy.
By 2000, Jammin' Oldies stations had different approaches, with some playing only 60s and 70s music, and others focusing more on the 80s, with still others such as WMOJ playing earlyrap. KMBX played no 60s music, while WJJJ (which was co-owned with oldiesWWSW) added songs from the 80s and 90s and de-emphasizedMotown. WUBT program directorJay Beau Jones said stations that ventured into the 90s probably should not be considered oldies.
WEJM inPhiladelphia was one of the stations with older music dominant. Still, some radio program directors did not like using the term "oldies" even for these stations.[8]
Other stations emphasizing older music were WJMO andWZJM inCleveland. By contrast, WFJO played nothing from the 1960s, andWZMX inHartford played few songs from before 1970.[13]
In some markets, Jammin' Oldies should never have been tried, in the opinion ofInfinity Broadcasting senior vice presidentJohn Gehron. Former AMFM Chief Programming Officer Steve Rivers said the format was tried when conventional oldies was not succeeding, but this turned out to be a mistake. Rivers also said that with the format's phenomenal success, expectations might have been too high, but some stations experienced success like they had not in the past.
Smaller-market stations such as KHZZ found it hard to achieve the numbers found in the big cities. KHZZ experienced competition from former oldies stationKHYL, but both stations ended up giving up the format, with KHZZ turning to oldies and in 2000, KHYL shifted towardsUrban AC, branded at "V101.1".[3]
By 2002, numerous stations were changing to R&B anddance music. In addition to WTJM, which switched its call letters to WWPR and became anurban contemporary station, format pioneer KCMG (which became KHHT) was playing newer hits, along withWJMR inMilwaukee andKMJK inKansas City, Missouri.Greg Love, theprogram director in charge of switching KMJK to Jammin' Oldies, said the format began to lose its appeal because people got excited to hear the songs, and then they were no longer special. Wayne Mayo said hits were chosen from too narrow a time period. WJMR program directorLauri Jones said people listened to several stations, and that when she worked in Minneapolis, she observed that her station was no longer the primary choice of many listeners.
KHHT program directorMichelle Santosousso said many R&B stations were focusing on rap, and the more adult hits were hard to find. This led to a change not only in musical style but also target audience. Jones said Jammin' Oldies stations went from 70% white and 30% black, to 70% black and 30% white. Love and Mayo both said there were black listeners, and now the stations had to focus on that audience. Santosousso, on the other hand, said the number of ethnic groups in Los Angeles required a different approach. Jones said the term "old school" replaced "classic soul", while Love said "old school" had to go. Love also saidThe Isley Brothers,Barry White andThe Temptations were recording new music, and an oldies station could not play those. But listeners wanted to hear them.[12]
In late 2012,Clear Channel Radio announced a new Rhythmic Oldies format forKOGO-FM in San Diego, which had been stunting withChristmas music. It features a broad mix of mainstream dance and pop hits (with musicians such asDonna Summer andMariah Carey), withsoft rock musicians likeGeorge Michael,Hall and Oates, andElton John mixed in. However, due to low ratings, the station shifted toRhythmic Adult Contemporary with its playlist shifting towards 1990's, 2000's and current material.
On February 6, 2015,KHHT—Los Angeles, the successor to the first rhythmic oldies station, KCMG, flipped tourban contemporary, returning that format to the 92.3 FM dial position for the first time since 2000. Legendary Los Angeles radio personalityArt Laboe, whose show was carried at nights on KHHT, later moved toKDAY. Since the demise of KHHT, a few stations in the suburban areas in and around Los Angeles have flipped to the format, includingKQIE in theInland Empire,KOCP inVentura, andKQAV in theAntelope Valley.