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What station will change format in 2024

I'd like to see 100.3 flip to the traditional form of Adult Hits. Probably won't happen, though, due to fear of cannibalizing WDRV to a minor degree.
 
Probably the most likely of the major stations is WSHE - it's an extremely weak link in Hubbard's stable and many months it lags behind fellow straggler WCHI. Whether it will be outright flipped or simply retooled I don't know, and for all I know Hubbard may do nothing. There isn't a clear place for WSHE to go if Hubbard opted to do a format flip - it would have to be in direct competition to another station, and that's always an incredible risk.

iHeart has struggled with WCHI as long as I can remember - but the "neo-classic rock" format is doing marginally better than the country format it previously had, so I suspect iHeart will stick with it for at least another year.

I don't see any other major stations in the market with a notable chance of flipping unless there is an unexpected sale.
$50 on SHE for sure!
 
The same Good Karma that recently announced they weren't going to pick up an option to buy 98.7 in NYC from Emmis when the LMA expires next year? The one that said they had enough presence on digital and AM to make an FM unnecessary at that price?
Here is the complete deal. Good Karma acquires 100.3 from Hubbard. Good Karma sells AM 1000 to News Web. News Web moves WCPT to AM 1000. News Web moves WSBC to AM 820. News Web takes AM 1240 off air.
 
Except that isn't unique to AAA. Taylor Swift's career was built on songwriting, and she doesn't get played on AAA.

In terms of radio airplay, the songwriters are the ones who get the royalties, not the performers. So that has redirected the emphasis on songwriting in most formats. The country format is a singer-songwriter format, and has been that way going back to Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams.
Except a lot of great country singers like Charley Pride and Moe Bandy and even Johnny Cash sang many songs written by others. Cash wrote several hits like “Walk the Line.” The tendency has been to write some of their own songs and also sing songs written by others. Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, and Eddie Rabbit wrote most of the songs they recorded. Waylon and Willie both wrote many songs but also covered many others.
 
Not that I think WKQX/Q101 is any danger of flipping (especially not after so much investment was made into getting the iconic branding back), but I've been streaming the STL Alternative 105.7 The Point (KPNT) and the third Chicago-area winner of their contests in as many months was just announced on air. There is absolutely no way the KPNT signal travels all the way to Chicago, so if Chicago-area listeners are winning STL-area contests, this only means one thing.

WKQX is clearly so unsatisfying to some number of listeners that they're streaming an out of state radio station to get what they want to hear.

A radio station has to be royally f***ing up for their audience to be listening to an out of state radio station that plays the same format (that does allow Illinois entrants for their contests due to their location). Not that WKQX/Q101 has ever been perfect (the running "joke" is that half the songs are always crap), but whatever they're doing right now must be immensely unsatisfying.

They're going to have to get their act together very soon, or when 2025 rolls around the seats over there are going to start getting warm.
 
Not that I think WKQX/Q101 is any danger of flipping (especially not after so much investment was made into getting the iconic branding back), but I've been streaming the STL Alternative 105.7 The Point (KPNT) and the third Chicago-area winner of their contests in as many months was just announced on air. There is absolutely no way the KPNT signal travels all the way to Chicago, so if Chicago-area listeners are winning STL-area contests, this only means one thing.

WKQX is clearly so unsatisfying to some number of listeners that they're streaming an out of state radio station to get what they want to hear.

A radio station has to be royally f***ing up for their audience to be listening to an out of state radio station that plays the same format (that does allow Illinois entrants for their contests due to their location). Not that WKQX/Q101 has ever been perfect (the running "joke" is that half the songs are always crap), but whatever they're doing right now must be immensely unsatisfying.

They're going to have to get their act together very soon, or when 2025 rolls around the seats over there are going to start getting warm.

Q101 ran the same format as KPNT in its final years under Emmis. It was actually programmed from St. Louis. The 6+ ratings were worse than they are now.

Merlin's 87.7 had better ratings than Q101 did with the KPNT clone.

KPNT is more Active Rock than it is Alternative. Chicago, as you might know does not have a full market Active Rock station
 
What is the newest song 95.5 will play? 15-20 years old? They have a very methodical mainstream rock playlist that seems to be the template for iHeart’s Premium Choice for “mainstream rock” (just here in the Carolinas I can think of 3 stations using it). One song will be a classic alt track from the 90s-early 00s, next song will be a harder classic rock track from the 70s-early 00s or so, repeat over and over.
 
Q101 ran the same format as KPNT in its final years under Emmis. It was actually programmed from St. Louis. The 6+ ratings were worse than they are now.
Remember, it really does not matter where a programmer is if there is good research and a good staff and budget.

I programmed the #1 station in Buenos Aires (bigger than New York City) from Burbank, California... 6,100 miles. It really does not matter who is where if the format and execution are right.
 
Q101 ran the same format as KPNT in its final years under Emmis. It was actually programmed from St. Louis. The 6+ ratings were worse than they are now.

Merlin's 87.7 had better ratings than Q101 did with the KPNT clone.

KPNT is more Active Rock than it is Alternative. Chicago, as you might know does not have a full market Active Rock station
I’m not saying a KPNT clone is the solution. I didn’t even mean to imply it.

It is simply anecdotal evidence that the station is likely screwing up somewhere for the phenomenon to be happening. There’s probably some people streaming WLUM in Milwaukee because they are much faster with new indie than WKQX is too. I haven’t listened to WLUM long enough to hear any sign of Chicago listeners yet though.
 
Except that isn't unique to AAA. Taylor Swift's career was built on songwriting, and she doesn't get played on AAA.

In terms of radio airplay, the songwriters are the ones who get the royalties, not the performers. So that has redirected the emphasis on songwriting in most formats. The country format is a singer-songwriter format, and has been that way going back to Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams.
Which explains why so many of the four- and five-writer hits cobbled together in Nashville writing rooms these days usually give the singer one of those credits, no matter how minor his or her contribution to the song may be. I understand that it can be as little as the title, a line or a single phrase, with the full-time songwriters composing the rest. In cases like this, do all four or five "writers" get an equal share of the royalties, or are the shares proportional to each one's actual effort in writing the song?
 
Not that I think WKQX/Q101 is any danger of flipping (especially not after so much investment was made into getting the iconic branding back), but I've been streaming the STL Alternative 105.7 The Point (KPNT) and the third Chicago-area winner of their contests in as many months was just announced on air. There is absolutely no way the KPNT signal travels all the way to Chicago, so if Chicago-area listeners are winning STL-area contests, this only means one thing.

WKQX is clearly so unsatisfying to some number of listeners that they're streaming an out of state radio station to get what they want to hear.

A radio station has to be royally f***ing up for their audience to be listening to an out of state radio station that plays the same format (that does allow Illinois entrants for their contests due to their location). Not that WKQX/Q101 has ever been perfect (the running "joke" is that half the songs are always crap), but whatever they're doing right now must be immensely unsatisfying.

They're going to have to get their act together very soon, or when 2025 rolls around the seats over there are going to start getting warm.
Huh? I stream kroq all the time. it means thar people like certain stations, nothing more or nothing less. A station in St. Louis isn’t stealing listeners from Chicago
 
Q101 ran the same format as KPNT in its final years under Emmis. It was actually programmed from St. Louis. The 6+ ratings were worse than they are now.

The 6+ share was about the same - right around a 2 share or a bit less.

The beyond awful Manno Brothers in afternoon drive likely suppressed AQH share.
 
What is the newest song 95.5 will play? 15-20 years old? They have a very methodical mainstream rock playlist that seems to be the template for iHeart’s Premium Choice for “mainstream rock” (just here in the Carolinas I can think of 3 stations using it). One song will be a classic alt track from the 90s-early 00s, next song will be a harder classic rock track from the 70s-early 00s or so, repeat over and over.
I pulled up the sample hour from AllAccess and it's literally what you said.

5:01 AM: Guns N Roses - "Paradise City"
5:08 AM: Collective Soul - "Shine"
5:21 AM: U2 - "With or Without You"
5:26 AM: Bush - "Machinehead"
5:30 AM: Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'"
5:34 AM: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give It Away"
5:39 AM: Whitesnake - "Here I Go Again"
5:51 AM: Nirvana - "All Apologies (Unplugged)"
5:55 AM: Kiss - "Rock N Roll All Nite (Live)"
5:58 AM: Linkin Park - "Faint"

This is an incredibly robotic playlist judging by my scan of their current "recently played" as well. The DJs are performing a Herculean effort keeping this station engaging. Whatever their pay is, it is not nearly enough.
 
I pulled up the sample hour from AllAccess and it's literally what you said.

5:01 AM: Guns N Roses - "Paradise City"
5:08 AM: Collective Soul - "Shine"
5:21 AM: U2 - "With or Without You"
5:26 AM: Bush - "Machinehead"
5:30 AM: Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'"
5:34 AM: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Give It Away"
5:39 AM: Whitesnake - "Here I Go Again"
5:51 AM: Nirvana - "All Apologies (Unplugged)"
5:55 AM: Kiss - "Rock N Roll All Nite (Live)"
5:58 AM: Linkin Park - "Faint"

This is an incredibly robotic playlist judging by my scan of their current "recently played" as well. The DJs are performing a Herculean effort keeping this station engaging. Whatever their pay is, it is not nearly enough.
Yep, this is just like Real Rock 105.7 in Winston Salem/Greensboro NC and Rock 105.1 in Asheville NC. Both run the premium choice format that’s this rotation every day. The pattern just gets old and some of the songs are out of place. It wouldn’t kill them to mix it up a bit more.
 
105.7 was a darn good station before it shifted to the national playlist. Ratings cratered within several months of the change and never recovered. Rock 92 (classic rock) wipes the floor clean with 105.7 in the Piedmont Triad.
 
Yep, this is just like Real Rock 105.7 in Winston Salem/Greensboro NC and Rock 105.1 in Asheville NC. Both run the premium choice format that’s this rotation every day. The pattern just gets old and some of the songs are out of place. It wouldn’t kill them to mix it up a bit more.
It's quite telling that even though Walter Flakus is the music director that the music is what it is - Flakus ran an extremely quirky WKQX in the mid-to-late 10's that, despite the debatable music quality, was certainly never boring and WKQX's ratings were a bit better than they are now. I can't even say this is PD James Howard's fault - he and Flakus are probably just trying to do the best they can with what iHeart is giving them. It's to Howard's credit that he and the staff have 95.5 running like a well-oiled machine despite the crap they have to work with. It's like a low-budget NASCAR team getting top-20 finishes on the regular despite not having the best equipment and sponsorships.
 
The 6+ share was about the same - right around a 2 share or a bit less.

The beyond awful Manno Brothers in afternoon drive likely suppressed AQH share.

They had a solid 1.5, 1.6 in 2009 or so. The airstaff made it tolerable, Sherman & Tingle in particular. Calling Metallica "Alternative" just didn't sit well. People used to joke at how much Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers they would play.

87.7 averaged 2s. The first year or so when they shifted that format to 101.1 they were up in the mid 3s
 
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