99 X Is Back

[PrezSquid]

Huh? Who?



Fantastic. I'm sure there's a station somewhere that does that, and it probably streams. Knock yourself out. But there are only so many local radio stations in every town, and they prioritize their programming based on what makes them money. Radio is not in the music distribution business. The record labels have deals with streaming services that ensure their music is getting out. That's how the system works. If radio in your area doesn't play what you want, subscribe to a streaming service. There are lots of them.

However radio stations are not going to change their format to suit one person. That's what personal streaming lists are for. Radio is a mass medium. It programs to masses. If that's not you, then find something else.

One of the posters here speaked for gen z by saying "We listen to hip hop and country".

Also, how am I making it a ME-specific station, I'm not, how is playing new music not programming to the masses? Artists that are selling out shows in my own city? Or artists that have a popular internet base that could be fitting for alt radio? You're literally just implying "radio programs to masses, but only 1 generation, the rest can go stream stuff LOL fm radio is gonna die anyway"

 

[PrezSquid]

do you think millenials and gen zers really want to hear 5 stations in 1 market play the same 80s hit? no.

 

[PrezSquid]

I actually know a lot of san diegan redditors who are gen x and don't even wanna hear that LOL

 

[TheBigA]

how is playing new music not programming to the masses?

There's lots of new music being played on the radio. You may not like the particular artists or songs, but a lot of stations play new music.

do you think millenials and gen zers really want to hear 5 stations in 1 market play the same 80s hit? no.

They can do whatever they want. There are lots of options besides local radio. They know this.

 

[PrezSquid]

There's lots of new music being played on the radio. You may not like the particular artists or songs, but a lot of stations play new music.

A lot of alt stations are more gold-based than new music lmfao... or they shove half the new songs late at night. Alternative has been more anti-new music than they've ever been.

There's lots of new music being played on the radio. You may not like the particular artists or songs, but a lot of stations play new music.



They can do whatever they want. There are lots of options besides local radio. They know this.

Yeah, but I'm a young person who's passionate about FM radio and I like listening to what my local stations are up to, they'd be willing to give local radio a shot if it actually appealed to that demographic, but it doesn't.

Radio needs to survive as a format, even if streaming is the biggest thing, even if I stream a lot, I still think radio is neat.

 

[TheBigA]

A lot of alt stations are more gold-based than new music lmfao... or they shove half the new songs late at night. Alternative has been more anti-new music than they've ever been.

Yes I know. That's their choice. At the same time, there are other stations doing things differently. Everybody is allowed to do what they want. If your interest lines up with theirs, then that's good for you.

I'm a young person who's passionate about FM radio and I like listening to what my local stations are up to, they'd be willing to give local radio a shot if it actually appealed to that demographic, but it doesn't.

As I said, these stations are not personal music services. You have a very specialized taste in music, and you can't expect them to cater to just you. There are stations that are appealing to your demographic playing different music. That's how things work. There isn't just one way to reach a certain demographic. There are lots of ways, and apparently the choices they've made don't appeal to you.

 

[CTListener]

One of the posters here speaked for gen z by saying "We listen to hip hop and country".

No, I said that hip-hop and country have "siphoned off" young suburbans who used to listen to rock. That doesn't mean all of them, but a number significant enough to erode rock's previous overwhelming dominance among that demographic. Boomers and Gen X'ers didn't listen to country music when they were 18-24 nearly as much as Gen Z does right now. Just look at country radio's numbers today compared to 35 or 40 years ago. I can't do a similar comparison with hip-hop because it either didn't exist or wasn't mainstream when boomers and Gen X'ers were young.

 

[Kent]

do you think millenials and gen zers really want to hear 5 stations in 1 market play the same 80s hit? no.

Of course not. Marketing 101 says you always segment the market. Those stations playing the same 80's hits aren't going after millennials and Gen Z.

A lot of alt stations are more gold-based than new music lmfao... or they shove half the new songs late at night. Alternative has been more anti-new music than they've ever been.

It's not a matter of anyone's preference. There is no agenda against new music. If owners and operators thought they could get enough millennials and Gen Z'ers to listen, they'd be running new music focused alternative stations. Their research and previous attempts indicate they can't.

Yeah, but I'm a young person who's passionate about FM radio and I like listening to what my local stations are up to, they'd be willing to give local radio a shot if it actually appealed to that demographic, but it doesn't.

My experience has always been that most owners want what the rest of us want. They want everyone listening to the radio as often and as long as possible. They'd give all of us what we want if they had the real estate. The actual radio dial, however, is finite, and they can only do so much with it. We have more options today than we had 25 years ago, and you've grown up with a lot more options than I ever had. Whatever you might think of iHeart and Audacy, both offer a plethora of alternative options, and you have them almost everywhere you go.

 

[acheron1982]

A lot of alt stations are more gold-based than new music lmfao... or they shove half the new songs late at night. Alternative has been more anti-new music than they've ever been.


Yeah, but I'm a young person who's passionate about FM radio and I like listening to what my local stations are up to, they'd be willing to give local radio a shot if it actually appealed to that demographic, but it doesn't.

Radio needs to survive as a format, even if streaming is the biggest thing, even if I stream a lot, I still think radio is neat.

WEQX all day long. Check it out. It’s also an independently ran station. For profit but relies on legacy and the internet.

We all have biases but I do believe FM trends older in focus because that is what hasn’t yet left to streaming in droves…. Yet. Even hip hop is starting this trend hence the less than desirable ratings these stations get today vs what they use to get.

BTW - I have yet to meet anyone locally who has even heard of Squid.

 

[davideduardo]

WEQX all day long. Check it out. It’s also an independently ran station. For profit but relies on legacy and the internet.

But it is really a small peripheral town station near both the Albany/Schenectady market and the Hanover market. It's 70 dbu signal only covers 56,000 people and the 65 dbu gets to 118,000.

We all have biases but I do believe FM trends older in focus because that is what hasn’t yet left to streaming in droves…. Yet. Even hip hop is starting this trend hence the less than desirable ratings these stations get today vs what they use to get.

The issue with hip hop is the huge percentage of songs radio can not play due to lyrics.

 

[acheron1982]

The issue with hip hop is the huge percentage of songs radio can not play due to lyrics.

That is partly true but explicit language and hip hop is not a new phenomenon but the ability to access other outlets for the uncensored version is.

 

[davideduardo]

That is partly true but explicit language and hip hop is not a new phenomenon but the ability to access other outlets for the uncensored version is.

People have been able to download uncensored songs since at least Napster and that was 24 years ago. And you had BitTorrent, eDonkey and Kaaza and others back when we logged on with dial-p modems

 

[upstate29651]

I actually know a lot of san diegan redditors who are gen x and don't even wanna hear that LOL

(((redditors))). Give us a break.

I admire your passion for your chosen musical preference. Your comparison of a San Diego station to one in Atlanta is laughable however. Two different markets with different demographics and those demos can be parsed down even further. Suburban white kids in SD may love alt rock (which doesn't exist now BTW...more of an alt-pop sound) and the same demo in Atlanta may prefer something else.

As an aside, the alt station in Jacksonville (a city who's population skews younger and whiter than Atlanta) moved from a class A to a translator. Alt as a format has been suffering for years now.

 

[acheron1982]

(((redditors))). Give us a break.

I admire your passion for your chosen musical preference. Your comparison of a San Diego station to one in Atlanta is laughable however. Two different markets with different demographics and those demos can be parsed down even further. Suburban white kids in SD may love alt rock (which doesn't exist now BTW...more of an alt-pop sound) and the same demo in Atlanta may prefer something else.

As an aside, the alt station in Jacksonville (a city who's population skews younger and whiter than Atlanta) moved from a class A to a translator. Alt as a format has been suffering for years now.

Agree on your last part and Jax station but I take a different argument. Alt doesn’t belong on commercial radio. I’m a huge alt fan and X in Jax absolutely sucked. It was pop punk leaning with a small playlist. I feel that the audience on these Alt stations (not all but most) are the rock leaning top 40 listeners. True alternative really doesn’t make sense on commercial radio which is why the current true Alt stations out there are independent. Highest rated Alt station for years has been KPNT. Their playlist really isn’t Alt though. It’s more active Alt mix and skew more 2Ks.

 

[TheBigA]

. Highest rated Alt station for years has been KPNT. Their playlist really isn’t Alt though. It’s more active Alt mix and skew more 2Ks.

The real attraction is The Rizzuto Show. Everything else is gravy.

 

[acheron1982]

The real attraction is The Rizzuto Show. Everything else is gravy.

Agree. While I am not hoping for failure, I don’t think 99X will last. Why? 99X is essentially classic rock for Gen X with a large caveat- It’s a niche (alternative). It would be equivalent to someone starting a classic rock station that focused on bands like Kansas, Yes, early Rush, King Crimson. Are there people who would love that? Absolutely - We all know Yes has a significant cult following but at the end of the day, it’s still very niche and largely wouldn’t have the top chart hits which is what gets the ratings. You could maybe get by with a specialty show that digs into this but even The River tried that like 10 years ago on a Sunday night and it went nowhere. Exception is KSHE which has the Sunday Morning Klassics and they dig deep but KSHE is also a legacy rock station that has been around for nearly 50 years in a city that by in large, doesn’t have a lot of transplants so they get by with it. Star is another example - They are already skewing tighter with the playlist because all the deep cut dance songs of the 80s was losing the majority - Which are are not as music eccentric as most of us are. I’m 41 and my mom is 60. She listens to a lot of classic rock but she couldn’t tell you one song by Yes, other than Owner of a Lonely Heart and I’m pretty sure she thinks REO Speedwagon is only an 80s band and and Phil Collins was the only lead singer for Genesis. She is an example of most listeners of The River and they would lose her if they started playing YYZ by Rush.

Back to 99X, I expect to hear less and less of the new wave stuff - Focus will primarily be 90s and eventually, deeper artist like The Fly’s and Tori Amos will be replaced with more and more Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Nirvana - The bread & butter of rock in the 90s that you would hear on any rock station today rather it be classic rock, active or mainstream heritage rock stations.

 

[Kent]

The real attraction is The Rizzuto Show. Everything else is gravy.

Plus, as has been mentioned several times, KPNT underbills its ratings share by about 25%.

Exception is KSHE which has the Sunday Morning Klassics and they dig deep but KSHE is also a legacy rock station that has been around for nearly 50 years in a city that by in large, doesn’t have a lot of transplants so they get by with it.

KSHE also bought out its competitors, flipped one of them, and took its format. It would likely have gone the way of WKLS had it not have bought out its competItion. “If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em!” 99X could succeed, but that wouldn’t mean classic alternative would be viable everywhere. Atlanta doesn’t have the rock demo covered well, and classic alternative could be too small of a niche most places.

 

[MarkW]

KSHE generally led 97.1 The Rock in the ratings (although 97.1 gave 94.7 a spirited battle and was a well programmed station). KSD-FM's heyday as a classic rock station was before my time, so can't comment on that one.

99X sounds terrific. So many great songs that I cannot even find on SXM on a regular basis! Seriously, 99X's playlist is better than SXM's Lithium channel. 99X played the Von Bondies earlier today. I don't believe I've ever heard them on SXM.

The turnaround at 100.5 in terms of programming quality is remarkable.

 

[Kent]

KSHE generally led 97.1 The Rock in the ratings (although 97.1 gave 94.7 a spirited battle and was a well programmed station).

KSHE's problem with the Rock was that it cut into its share significantly, and it had high expenses, including a bloated payroll. A lot of your heritage AOR's that went away in the 90’s had the same problems. Their competitors didn’t have to do particularly well to mortally wound them. Had Emmis not bought The Rock, KSHE would, at best, be a shell of itself today. We've often talked about how new stations and move-ins during the 80’s and early 90’s made too tough of a go for too many stations. St. Louis is a good example of just such a market. It's still a highly unionized market with better salaries than most markets of similar size. People who get there tend to stay for a reason, but lower cost competitors definitely did damage, and consolidation helped stabilize that.

99X sounds terrific. So many great songs that I cannot even find on SXM on a regular basis! Seriously, 99X's playlist is better than SXM's Lithium channel. 99X played the Von Bondies earlier today. I don't believe I've ever heard them on SXM.

I visited my family over the holiday weekend and made the 5 1/2 hour drive back home today. About an hour into the drive, I decided I needed something louder than classic hits and flipped on alternative. Driving out of Oklahoma is boring, and I was feeling like I was about to fall asleep at the wheel. I listened to Alt 103.7 out of Dallas, 107.3 out of Cleveland, and X96 from Salt Lake City mostly. On all of them, at least 1/3 of the music was gold. Dallas had the least gold and sounded like an active rock station that happened to play a few alternative tracks. KTBZ-FM out of Houston is similar. Cleveland and Salt Lake seemed majority gold with just a few currents sprinkled in. 99X may be a little different in that it doesn’t play currents, but it’s not an anomaly by any means.

 

[MarkW]

I respectfully disagree about 99X not being an anomaly. Tons of great gold on 99X those other stations would never play (but for maybe a special themed weekend, such as what 107.3 in Cleveland was doing this past weekend, or a lunchtime throwback hour).

99X plays about 300 or 350 more unique titles a week than 103.7 in Dallas and also moves golds in and out of rotation more frequently (meaning over a full month, it wouldn't surprise me if 99X plays 500+ more unique songs than KVIL).