The oldies format has returned to Austin's FM airwaves, courtesy 92.5 KXXS. Less than a month ago, the station switched, along with its simulcast partner, 104.9 KTXX, to sports/ESPN; now, the station has adopted Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel (ending its simulcast with KTXX).
The True Oldies Channel is a satellite-based station which plays songs from the late 50s to the late 70s (see, for example, their recent playlist using this link) and claims to have a much larger library than most terrestrial oldies stations. Whether that is true remains to be seen, but according to at least one person who has already heard the format here in Austin, nary a human voice has been heard. (Aside: I don't necessarily think that constitutes much of a problem, given people's use of iPods and the link, and also given Bob FM's success despite (or because of) their being mostly jockless.
This change to KXXS represents the first real return of the oldies format to Austin, since "Oldies 103" became Bob FM in 2004. Sure, there have been rather half-baked attempts to bring oldies back to Austin before, such as KITY (whose website still erroneously claims to have a translator in Austin) or Majic 95.5's subchannel, KKMJ-HD2 (which, last I heard, was playing 60s-70s oldies, but I can't verify, as I do not have an HD radio), but KXXS is the first real attempt at an oldies format on FM in Austin. Oldies 103 consistently pulled top-ten ratings in this market, so this could be a pretty good move for KXXS, though the target audience of oldies may be getting too old for advertisers' tastes.
KXXS has filed with the FCC to move its city of license from Elgin to Sunset Valley; this can only help its penetration in the Austin market. The oldies format should also be a draw for listeners of stations which have recently switched to all-Christmas music (Majic, The River), and so I would not be surprised to see a major improvement in the ratings for KXXS in the near future.
Update 8/15/11: People looking for the oldies format should check out 98.9 in the future; see here for details.
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15 comments:
thank you for bringing the oldies back,there is a whole lot of people that still love oldies,even youn people.it is so nice to hear music that stii brings memories back.
Just found you by accident tonight. Yea!!! It's about time Austin had an oldies station again.
Thank you soooo much for bringing back the oldies! This will be the only station that I will be listening to from now on. GREAT MUSIC!
I don't understand why I cannot receive this station anywhere but my house. The only music that I like to listen to is oldies and it is upsetting that this station is not coming thru in my car or at work.
Found out about this station after I heard a car blasting it in a parking lot and went up and asked what they were listening to. I love having an oldies station again and my toddlers are really digging this music. Less talk is perfect--I usually switch stations when DJs get to yapping and wait for the music to come back on! I'm telling lots of friends about the format change. I pick up the station perfectly in town but have noticed problems getting it in the Spicewood Springs/360 and N183/Lakeline areas of town.
I discovered this station about a month ago, and am warming up to it. As a former longtime resident of the NYC suburbs, I grew up listening to the hands-down greatest Oldies staton ever, CBS-FM. Although Scott Shannon's offering doesn't quite match up with that venerable institution, it comes close...and for that Shannon deserves credit. My only complaint is that at night there's some local jackass DJ who tries to squeeze in three to four seconds of chatter between the songs from the national feed, and he comes off like a total idiot. First, there's not enough time for him to say anything meaningful, so he shouldn't even try. Second, what he does say is stupid, and third, he's stepping on the songs, and I HATE that. I emailed Shannon, and thankfully he wrote back and said he'd check into it. Nice.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for some oldies out of Austin. What a great change of pace! Love the station.
yep, raised on oldies by parents (born in late 70's) and although i listen to all kinds of new stuff you still can not get away from the classics. I was really upset when they killed the last austin oldies station in 04. Bob FM is ok but it plays a lot of crap too. 93.7 was decent but hell they dont even start playing tunes till after 1pm nowadays.
Argh! Can't get True Oldies Austin TX farther north than about Cedar Park. In Georgetown (my home) a country 92.5 channel walks all over True Oldies. Hey, I like country music... but miss "my" music since Oldies 103 went bye bye. Crank up the power! I don't live there, but you have a HUGE audience waiting for you in Sun City, Georgetown! Thank you!!!
Thank you, Thank you! I really enjoy this station. I love the oldies and you guys are playing everything.
I love this station!!
Thank you so much for not letting me forget the oldies! What a joy to be able to listen to MY MUSIC, THIS GROUNDS ME.What a treasure! You have made my day!I think my kids and SO happy.
Great music. Considering Austin is suppose to be the MUSIC CAPITAL, its pretty bad when you limited to the radio stations that we have. San Antonio and even Corpus Christi had better stations. Its time we have a station with some classic varieties. KLBJ use to be my favorite station but they seem to be limited in their selection nowadays. Its the same music or group that is played repetively. You have great songs. When was the last time you could listen to the radio and hear the BEATLES?
Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Please don't go away!!
I am ecstatic!! I'm listening to the radio again!!
My wife listens to 95.5 (Chinese torture to me). When your station came online it was like a breath of fresh air. Great music which I referred your station to all my friends. But over the last two weeks the music has been horrible. I don"t even know who most of the artist are. What happened to the true oldies????
Starting to sound like Chinese torture over again.
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