Is a new Saga Type Station Needed?
wavejockglw
Posts: 10,596 Forum Member
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Radio for the over 50's was a big hit with the Saga branded stations in some areas of the UK.
A diet of oldies, old tv themes, classic jingles, older well known presenters and specialist jazz, songs from the shows, 50's classics and documentaries about the music of the 60s and 70s was a great listen that filled a gap neither BBC or commercial radio catered for.
Has the time come for the reintroduction of a Saga/Primetime station on National DAB?
Would something like Saga not extend the range of choice when Heart and Smooth along with local Magic and other Bauer stations compete with similar playlists?
A diet of oldies, old tv themes, classic jingles, older well known presenters and specialist jazz, songs from the shows, 50's classics and documentaries about the music of the 60s and 70s was a great listen that filled a gap neither BBC or commercial radio catered for.
Has the time come for the reintroduction of a Saga/Primetime station on National DAB?
Would something like Saga not extend the range of choice when Heart and Smooth along with local Magic and other Bauer stations compete with similar playlists?
Would a new Saga type station work? 55 votes
Yes it's badly needed
74%
41 votes
I don't know or care
9%
5 votes
No that format is unworkable now
16%
9 votes
0
Comments
I would love to have Saga and Primetime back on DAB, they were the reason I got a DAB radio in the first place. Both stations had a fantastic playlist and great jingles compared too Gold, Absolute 60's and The Wireless.
IMO the BBC let the over 50's down when Radio 2 morphed into an old version of Radio 1 a few years back.
The trouble with radio these days is the restricted playlists and lack of personality radio that the over 50's grew up with, this is especially the case when it comes to the commercial stations.
There is far too much radio for kids, oldies, and Asians,
The older demographic and those who prefer music other than the pop genres are appallingly served. Radio 2 has its fig leaf shows on Sunday night to fill its remit of covering the upper end of its 35 - 105 age group and genres other than mainstream pop and oldies but most of the time it wants to be Radio 1 for those that are too old for Radio 1.
Also there is a dearth of gentle but intelligent presentation suitable for the older listener and those that don't want to listen to shouty me me me presenters. The spectrum is full of inane pop 'n' prattle stations all chasing the same audience. Many older people take refuge in BBC local radio or Classic FM not because these stations are fantastic but because there's little else.
Years ago I bought a DAB for my father because of Prime Time - the choice on DAB today and the choice of radio in general is worse than it's ever been.
The older generation also has a lot of disposable income so should be attractive to advertisers.
I agree but many stations aim at kids, the same kids that use youtube, dodgy download sites, mp3, iPods etc.
The same kids who receive pocket money from family.
Are these really that attractive to advertisers.
I always felt the Saga Radio concept was ahead of its time.
It might have a better chance of flying now as a national station due to the growth in digital listening.
Also, demographic and social changes may soon make the over 50s a much more attractive market. The ageing population means there are increasing numbers of them and the trend now is to retire later and work ever longer.
I think the recession focused the minds of station owners to focus on 25-44 year olds, particularly mums, but I think that increasingly the over 50s will become more important as they stay in work longer, have more involvement with grandchildren, remain more active and healthy and in touch with trends and so on.
www.morethan40.co.uk
UnCool radio here- www.rogerday.co.uk
Like many others, I bought a DAB radio for Saga/Primetime. When Primetime Radio closed there was nothing left for us "oldies." Although I'm not 60 yet, I do love different eras of music, especially the 40s and 50s.
When Saga was merged with Smooth we expected something exciting. Originally the new National Smooth, with regional variations, featured many of the names from Saga and Primetime. They seem to have all disappeared and the station has become a mirror version an old Radio One, aka Radio Two. At least Radio Two has a dedicated programme for show tunes and a few dedicated to other specialist music. That, I fear, will soon disappear,
Is it time for a new station in the Primetime/Saga style? I would love to say yes but would it be a financially viable venture?
Roger De Haan, the Saga chief, thought not!
I recently purchased an internet radio. It wasn't that dear and now I can listen to an abundance of stations catering for all my tastes.
However I assume the idea was for the Saga group to use the radio stations to promote Saga's core businesses, so when the parent company changed hands the marketing strategy changed and the radio stations were no longer seen as relevant.
I always thought there was a mismatch between the Saga/Primetime format and the Saga Group's target market, who struck me as being more in the Radio 4 bracket. That was how the articles in the Saga magazine came across anyway, with features on unusual holiday destinations, reviews of new films and music and so on. For example the current issue has articles about Bill Bailey, the top 50 over-50 bloggers, and the new film The Way, Way Back.
So Saga is really a lifestyle brand and although there is no prospect of a new Saga Radio, there could be a market for a station that reflected that lifestyle, rather than the somewhat bland format that Saga Radio used to have. What my generation doesn't want (well, everyone I know, anyway) is oldies and chit-chat. That's what's wrong with so many of the stations we already have.
Not sure how we would fund such a radio station, though. In an ideal world the BBC would create a '3 extra' to play big band. jazz, swing, folk and world music, but the BBC is strapped for cash right now, and I can't see that changing in a hurry.
The only way I could see such a station making it commerically was if it was given a free/ very cheap slot on DAB along with the introduction of some sort of reduced royalty rate for music over 60 years old. Even then, there would be lots of voice tracking and automation needed to keep costs to the bone.
As well as "morethan40" there is a community station Angel playing old music. Also David Hamilton seems involved with "Smooth like" "theWireless" but still has specialist shows sponsored by Age UK (and uses Smooth news) and also "Smile Sussex radio" playing older music sponsored by Juice radio (for automatic licence renewal). http://smilesussex.com/
No - There are already enough oldies stations like Gold, Smooth, Smooth 70's, Absolute 60's & 70's on mainstream radio.
I think we are talking here about music even older than that -eg stuff like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinartra, Glenn Miller, music from Broadway and so on.
That's a different issue, though. It would be great if there were a station that played music like that in the daytime but it would be better not to pigeonhole the audience by age. I can't see a commercial station being viable if it was aimed at the Bing Crosby audience because they're probably in their 80s now. On the other hand a PSB station should be able to do it. For example in the US non-profit radio stations play older music (jazz, blues, bluegrass etc) but not 24/7. It's part of their overall format and they'll also play current music in the same genres. Something like that would be fantastic.
However we don't have the radio licensing infrastructure here to have stations which just play good music regardless of era.
Hang on. You've just said "don't pigeon hole audiences by age" and then go on to do just that by saying people who like Bing Crosby are in their 80s!!!!
As rider on the wheel says, going by that logic noone left alive would like the music of Bach,Elgar Beethoven etc!!
I'd bring this station back if it was in my power to do so
Yes, because they're the big spending consumers of the future. If you can get kids hooked on a brand, chances are they'll stick with it for many years. If a child's introduced to Coca Cola aged 10, and likes it, there's little chance they'll defect to Pepsi. Why do you think banks are so desperate to sign up students and the cigarette and alcohol manufacturers are frequently told off for targeting underage smokers & drinkers?
The over-50s, on the other hand, are worth virtually nothing to advertisers - which is why commercial radio offers very little of interest to them. The theory being even if they've got money to burn (and many haven't), they're far less impulsive and more picky about how they spend it. They know what they like, they're set in their ways and they buy the same products they always have, and won't try new brands. Clearly there are exceptions but mass advertising is based on generalisations.
I think it was Phil Riley, Orion's big boss, who suggested 30-something housewives are worth 3 times more to advertisers than a pensioner. That's why radio for the over-50s will, by and large, remain the preserve of the BBC, the internet and the voluntary sector (like Age UK who run The Wireless).
www.melodyradiouk.com
Maybe this will appeal to you
You can't apply logic to musical taste, can you? People like particular styles or genres of music regardless of whether it's logical for them to do so. I'm white, middle-class, in my late fifties and British, so "logically" I should like John Lennon and dislike bebop, but that's not the case.
As for Bing Crosby, I would expect his fans to be older because he died over 25 years ago, so is not still in the public eye in the way that, say, Tony Bennett is. I suspect that my 89 year-old father-in-law (who told me he hasn't listened to the radio for years) would be a Bing Crosby fan, but would have no interest in Tony Bennett's duets with Queen Latifah or Amy Winehouse.
Or he might hate him, just as there are young people today who don't neccessarily like Adele or Lady Gaga.
All you can say with certainty is that your father in law is likely to have heard of Bing Crosby and have an opinion, one way or the other, on him.......
I'll leave this here as it's getting off topic and I'm not sure we are disagreeing over anything substantial......
Like any strata of society there are some that are poor, some that are rich and some that do okay thanks. Many of the older generation that I know live a pretty good life.
Also, the media, and many people on this forum, get hung up on the idea that a particular radio station has got to relate to a particular period and if that you grew up in a particular era all you want to hear is music from that era. This is a pretty narrow viewpoint. People's tastes change and develop and widen as one goes through life.
There is also a yawning gap when it comes to - dare I say it - intelligent talk between records and this will run across the age groups.
I think that an easy listening type station would have to be national. (I think the local commercial model is doomed to become the equivalent of the free-sheet newspaper, if it is not that already, but that is another discussion.) If Classic FM can last 20 years I don't see why an easy station wouldn't. However, Classic FM might not be happy about it as I suspect it would take a chunk of its listenership.
Jazz, blues and bluegrass are still being played and recorded today, as you say Tony Bennett is still making albums which are selling, the Body and Soul duet would fit into any easy listening station. I heard Michael Feinstein last night covering a Jimmy Webb song on a specialist show that was doing a countdown of his hits. An easy listening station should include recently recorded music in that style, not just the oldies to give it a contemporary feel.
They restricted their advertising market, if Saga offered a product, for example insurance and holidays, they would not take adverts for competitors.
http://www.seeburg1000.com/ - a continuous stream of background music played off old Seeburg 16rpm records
or this one http://angelradio.co.uk/
This was discussed on here some time ago and apparently the problem is that the 50+ age group is much less responsive to advertising - in my case in one ear and straight out of the other:D