What is the difference between Urban Contemporary and Rhythmic CHR aren't they basically the same
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Urban Radio Question
- Thread starter CassChopper96
- Start date
Similar, not the same.
Urban is pretty much focused on the Black population (although in some markets they broadent to Hispanics as well).
Rhythmic CHR is principally aimed at all three major groups in the US, non-Hispanic whites, Blacks and Latinx. In each market, the blend of music and the on-air personalities generally reflect the local market make-up.
While not true in absolute terms everywhere, Urban tends to play nearly entirely Black artists while rhythmic CHR plays a broader blend and is more like a CHR without the rock and Alt stuff.
It always cracked me up that 95.5 WPGC in Washington reported as a CHR/Rhythmic. Is that still the case today?
I first heard that station in 1996. It was about as Urban sounding as one could possibly imagine. A good number of the CHR/Rhythmic reporters have always been frauds, in my eyes.
I first heard that station in 1996. It was about as Urban sounding as one could possibly imagine. A good number of the CHR/Rhythmic reporters have always been frauds, in my eyes.
BDS and MediaMonitors use a formula to determine formats. It's based on the historic and current playlist as well as the composition of audience as evaluated by folks who are recognized as being knowledgeable about music and media.
Generally, when current based stations that play a lot of music also played on Urban stations have large percentages of non-Black listeners, they are considered to be CHUrban or Rhythmic CHR.
We have had decades of this controversy in LA with Power. The station has traditionally had more Hispanic and non-Hispanic white listeners than Black fans, so it's generally regarded as rhythmic CHR.
Of course, some of the format terms are overlapping or very similar. Stations don't use those names on the air, so it's really not a big deal anyway.
Most of us don't look at total station list charts and action by songs. We look at our own custom sets of stations we find credible and which have similarities to our station and our market.
One thing I can say is WPGC isn't CHR/Rhythmic anymore although Mediabase has the station on the Rhythmic panel. All one has to do is look at the playlist and daypart musical programming on Mediabase of WPGC and WVEE to reaffirm this point. Both stations are full-service urban stations, but uniquely programmed towards their respective markets.
Entercom lists on WPGC on corporate listings as an Urban, but bills and sales it as CHR/Rhythmic such for various economic beneficiary reasons. WPGC is programmed as much as a full-service urban contemporary as possible. WPGC even mirrors sister station WVEE in most ways including increases in R&B/soul in its overall musical programming and 3 hours of R&B/soul slow jams from Sunday through Thursday nights. WPGC airs 1 hour of programming of a local AME (black) church service, 1.5 hours of public affairs programming targeting the black community, and 2 hours of urban contemporary gospel music on Sundays. The only thing that WPGC is missing from their M-F programming is urban gospel music.
Reggie Rouse being based at WVEE is the only real reason why WPGC isn't the flagship urban of the Urban/Rhythmic division of Entercom.
WJMZ Greensboro is still listed on https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb166 as Rhythmic CHR. I don't know whether it was ever listed correctly there, but it has been urban since at least the 90s. It started as rhythmic in the late 1980s.
I concur on the oddity of WJMH. The only thing about WJMH is similar to WBHJ. As both stations are CHR/Urban, but due hip-hop hypertensive playlists and lack of musical programming variety (such as spinning R&B) pigeonholes both as CHR/Rhythmic. It's a similar problem that WQHT faces in NYC.
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