• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

iHM is getting ready to do what Entercom or Cumulus should've done YEARS ago...

M

MarkW

...and that's bringing Soft AC (or a relatively soft AC) to the FM dial! So speculates a well-known subscription web site.

It's becoming increasingly clear why iHM has slashed spending for its CHR/Pop brand; looks like it's potentially about to be booted from 96.1 FM to either 105.3 or 105.7 to make room for a new Adult Contemporary station.

Now, Atlanta needs a Variety Hits station! I'd be perfectly content with Power going away completely to pave the way for Variety Hits. Current hits and recent hits with a rhythmic lean are well covered by Q100, Star 94, and to a lesser degree, B98.5.
 
You're a bit behind the times.. Sunny 99 in Houston has been soft AC for decades under CC/IHM. iHM tried to do it in Dallas in legacy KEGL but it flopped and 97.1went back to its Rock format.
 
Assuming there's truth to this...

Would iHM bring back the "Peach" moniker? iHM has the WPCH callsign parked on a class D daytimer in West Point, GA.

After one failed attempt to bring back a "Peach" online BM/EZ station (the old www.ezpeach.org), there's another one simply called "The Peach". It's on both TuneIn and iHR (see The Peach | iHeartRadio ) . Not saying that a new station would be BM/EZ but just saying the "Peach" name still has some recognition for softer music. That can be either good or bad--I remember the B98.5 "sleepy elevator music" ads showing a radio with peaches coming out of the speaker.

I had a feeling there would be a shakeout in the CHR/hot AC space, with 4 big players in the space. And Star seems to be doing great with their new format; it strikes me as a cross between Adult/Variety Hits and CHR/R. Both Star and B have abandoned any pretense at soft AC. iHM may have been waiting to see what Entercom/Audacy would do with Star and how that would shake out, and I guess Q100 wasn't affected enough to get them to blink.

If I had to guess, the most viable new format that would cover the most uncovered bases would be a traditional (not soft, not hot) AC station that plays a lot of gold. That would pick up a lot of Adult/Variety Hits listeners without overlapping with Star too much. In a way, that would be similar to the old 1990s B98.5 format that now dips into the gold a lot less than it used to, despite still using the "80s, 90s, and now" slogan. When WFOX 97.1 moved into the Atlanta market in the 80s, their initial format was a 60s, 70s, and 80s heavy-gold AC format that eventually morphed into oldies. There was a shakeout then, too, with 94Q, B98.5, Peach 94.9, Warm 100, and Lite 106 all playing some manner of AC at the time in addition to Fox.
 
I was referring to the Atlanta market specifically, ContinuousWave.

I'm well aware that iHM has preexisting stations in the format in other markets.

There has been a wide void for older music that isn't either R&B-based or rock based in Atlanta for a long time.

Even if a Soft AC appears, I still think there is room for another station to make a go of Variety Hits.
 
MarkW said:
I was referring to the Atlanta market specifically, ContinuousWave.

I'm well aware that iHM has preexisting stations in the format in other markets.

There has been a wide void for older music that isn't either R&B-based or rock based in Atlanta for a long time.

Even if a Soft AC appears, I still think there is room for another station to make a go of Variety Hits.
Click to expand...
Iheart already runs 94.9HD2 The Lake. They need to bring that to the fm dial even if it's on just a translator. The Lake brand seems to be doing well in Greenville/Spartanburg, and Charlotte. I'm surprised that they aren't using the 105.3 signal for soft-ac though. 96.1 has way better ratings and the urban market is crowded. Is the 105.3 signal too weak in town? I'm not from the Atlanta area, but study this market pretty often.
 
I don't think they will even if a competitor launches Variety Hits. They'd just make minor tweaks to B98.5 and to 97.1 The River in an effort to minimize hemorrhaging of AQH share. Would not be enough to prevent the viability of such a station.
 
I think they should relaunch the "Peach" name and put it on 96.1. But most likely it will be the Breeze. From what it appears, it looks like this will be the case which is a great move. It wouldn't make much sense if they put it on 105.3 or 105.7. I don't see Power ATL doing better if they moved to a different yet weaker signal.
 
There's zero chance that iHeart displaces Power from the 96.1 frequency. CHR is iHM's specialty, and they wouldn't stand for placing the format on a second-rate signal, to say nothing of causing listener / branding confusion. While the pandemic has been unkind to Power - and I'm not optimistic about its prospects in morning drive - it has historically performed well enough to earn its keep.

Soft AC doesn't make much sense on either of the 105s, given their directional signals. I suppose they could slap it on 105.3 and improve marginally upon the current 6+ ratings, but the demos would likely skew quite old and make billing difficult.

As noted above, The Lake is a considerably better gambit. I'm unclear as to why no one in Atlanta will run a straight-ahead 80s hits format. At the absolute most, B98.5 *maybe* plays 4-5 80s titles over a 24-hour period - there's no reason for them to adjust, but they leave a gaping hole in the market. I would submit that Star's long-term prospects would be stronger if they had pivoted to Adult or Classic Hits rather than their current format, but...that's another discussion.
 
jabba17 said:
Star seems to be doing great with their new format
Click to expand...

I recall how before Q signed on when Star was Adult Top 40 and it being frustrating for some that there wasn't a full-blown CHR in that market.

One of the things that I feel is so awesome about their new format (which has somewhat of a 1990s KTU vibe) is the addition of classic dance such as Stardust, Alice Deejay and more - it has to be one of the only stations in the country playing these artists. A few currents are playing there too, which is a great hedge against the burnout that can occur with throwback stations.
 
THE BREEZE will more than likely be on 96.7 FM. No way they’d blow up Power 96.1 and 105.3 gives The Breakfast Club a clear signal in the market, the only reason they flipped 105.3 to Urban.

iHeart has registered the following:
thebreezeatl.com
96breezeatl.com
96thebreeze.com
96rockatl.com
atlantasrock.com
 
Why is there, according to RadioInsight.com, iHM buying domains for 96.1 in Atlanta then?
TheMusicMan said:
There's zero chance that iHeart displaces Power from the 96.1 frequency. CHR is iHM's specialty, and they wouldn't stand for placing the format on a second-rate signal, to say nothing of causing listener / branding confusion. While the pandemic has been unkind to Power - and I'm not optimistic about its prospects in morning drive - it has historically performed well enough to earn its keep.

Soft AC doesn't make much sense on either of the 105s, given their directional signals. I suppose they could slap it on 105.3 and improve marginally upon the current 6+ ratings, but the demos would likely skew quite old and make billing difficult.

As noted above, The Lake is a considerably better gambit. I'm unclear as to why no one in Atlanta will run a straight-ahead 80s hits format. At the absolute most, B98.5 *maybe* plays 4-5 80s titles over a 24-hour period - there's no reason for them to adjust, but they leave a gaping hole in the market. I would submit that Star's long-term prospects would be stronger if they had pivoted to Adult or Classic Hits rather than their current format, but...that's anot
Click to expand...
 
RadioInsight is reporting that the most likely station the "Breeze" will be on is 96.1. However, 96.7 (as well as 105.7) both have call signs with the letters "BZ" in them, WBZW and WBZY, respectively (which look like the word "Breeze"). Obviously, these calls were adopted for both stations months ago to represent the letter "Z" but "BZ" could also be used for the upcoming "Breeze" station on 96.7 since a corresponding call sign is already in place there.
 
Alex4490 said:
Seems like B98.5 is transitioning to more Hot AC (90s to Today) than before. I was thinking Star would launch to the Variety Hits.
Click to expand...
B98.5 seems to be a lot more current-based today. The number of 80s/90s songs they play now has gone down considerably. And since Star has shifted, they have the non-rhythmic AC lane all to themselves. Not sure why they would pivot back to mainstream or soft AC or variety hits since they've done somewhat better since leaving that material behind.
 
WCON's AM side at 1450 and a translator at 107.7 (both out of Cornelia) play Soft AC with "The Breeze" as a moniker.
 
96rockatl.com has my attention. I can't see Iheart flipping 96.1 with all the billboards around town and the new on air talent that just came over from 3 different markets. 96.7 seems like the most likely station the Breeze would land on, but I wouldn't be surprised if 105.3 is the station that gets flipped here.
 
redlight0 said:
96rockatl.com has my attention. I can't see Iheart flipping 96.1 with all the billboards around town and the new on air talent that just came over from 3 different markets. 96.7 seems like the most likely station the Breeze would land on, but I wouldn't be surprised if 105.3 is the station that gets flipped here.
Click to expand...
105.3 just hired a new PD not too long ago and they are very active on social. IHM would not be so quick to get rid of The Breakfast Club having a home in the ATL market. 96.7 has always been the signal to just throw something on to say it’s in Atlanta. Today makes a year since THE BEAT moved from 96.7 to 105.3. This also makes about a year to see how Z-105.7 listeners has utilized the 96.7 simulcast.

96rockatl domain is more than likely a flanker to get us talking.
 
I would not be surprised to see a short lived "96Rock" stunt over a portion of Memorial Day weekend. It also would not surprise me to see a "Breeze" launch later that same weekend.

In the very unlikely chance 96Rock does make a long-term return, I'd like to see a playlist much closer to what Project played than what 96Rock played. That station sounded very, very stale its last few years on the air.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom