Different shades of CHR in the past.

[tall_guy1]

It seems like in the past (pre-2010s) the differences between Top 40 stations used to be more pronounced. For example, when I vacationed in LA around 2005-2007 and listened to KIIS FM, it sounded almost like a different format than KMXV in KC, though both were CHRs (way more rhythmic product). Looking up the chart positions, I remember KMXV spinning pretty heavily for months the Rob Thomas song Someday in 2010(Rob Thomas | Biography, Music & News | Billboard) and 21 Guns (Green Day | Biography, Music & News | Billboard) 2009, even though both songs peaked at #30 on Mainstream Pop airplay, according to Billboard. They also used to wait until 7 p.m. to play rhythmic songs like Blame It (#2 on the charts in '09) and ignored a lot of rhythmic songs like I Wanna Love You by Akon and Hypnotized by Plies. In 2010, KCHZ overtook them in the market. Is there a reason why the differences were more pronounced back then?

 

[TheBigA]

Is there a reason why the differences were more pronounced back then?

Music changes and evolves. Radio stations reflect their audience demographics, which also change. Pop culture is a moving target.

 

[radiorobert]

Prior to 2010, in the midwest at least, the Rhythmic product was highly compartmentalized. Many CHR's were known for sound almost all Rhythmic at night and virtually Hot AC during the day. There were CHR's with alot of variability to them and it actually made for some pretty cool dynamics.

Today, things seem to have blurred more. Culture, pop-culture, music tastes, etc. all play a role.

 

[tall_guy1]

Music changes and evolves. Radio stations reflect their audience demographics, which also change. Pop culture is a moving target.

What I mean is that there used to be more pronounced differences between CHRs. For example, one station might have heavily tilted towards Hot AC, while othees like KIIS tilted more rhythmic. Hot AC in of itself was completely different than today. But, what I am talking about is around two decades ago where some CHRs would lean more into stuff like Creed and Natasha Bedingfield while ignoring a lot of rhythmic/rap product, while there were other stations that leaned more rhythmic.

 

[davideduardo]

What I mean is that there used to be more pronounced differences between CHRs. For example, one station might have heavily tilted towards Hot AC, while othees like KIIS tilted more rhythmic. Hot AC in of itself was completely different than today. But, what I am talking about is around two decades ago where some CHRs would lean more into stuff like Creed and Natasha Bedingfield while ignoring a lot of rhythmic/rap product, while there were other stations that leaned more rhythmic.

Much of the difference in "CHR" had to do with the ethnicity of each market; a city with high Hispanic or Black populations was influenced by those populations.

So we got rhythmic CHR and more rock based CHRs.

And much had to do with what competitors were doing. If a market had high Hispanic and Black populations, a lit depended on what the Urban station did; if it purely targeted Blacks, then Hispanics were a good audience for a rhythmic CHR. But if the Urban programmed for both Blacks and Hispanics, a CHR might have been less rhythmic.

 

[tall_guy1]

Prior to 2010, in the midwest at least, the Rhythmic product was highly compartmentalized. Many CHR's were known for sound almost all Rhythmic at night and virtually Hot AC during the day. There were CHR's with alot of variability to them and it actually made for some pretty cool dynamics.

Today, things seem to have blurred more. Culture, pop-culture, music tastes, etc. all play a role.

I think starting around 2010, stations that took a more mainstream approach started beating the more diverted CHRs. KMXV lost to KCHZ (The Vibe) in that year 4.5 to 6.8, making KMXV it change that formula it had and lean more rhythmic like it continued to do and drop the Hot AC sound during the day.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

What I mean is that there used to be more pronounced differences between CHRs. For example, one station might have heavily tilted towards Hot AC, while othees like KIIS tilted more rhythmic. Hot AC in of itself was completely different than today. But, what I am talking about is around two decades ago where some CHRs would lean more into stuff like Creed and Natasha Bedingfield while ignoring a lot of rhythmic/rap product, while there were other stations that leaned more rhythmic.

Michael Hagerty was discussing this awhile back, and he was saying that an L.A. station ( or NYC, or another major market station) which billed itself as CHR, will often have a "hotter" sound than a station in the midwest which bills itself as CHR. Also, as David Eduardo has often said, stations can choose to define themselves by whatever format they want. So, a midwest station can define itself as CHR, an L.A. station can define itself as CHR, and each of those stations could have different playlists. So, you're correct about this.

 

[AM-FM-DXer]

I grew up in a county that was surrounded by other large population centers. There was a CHR station in our metro that was completely different than the one in the nearby county. I could listen to both stations clearly. The reason for the difference? Demographics and income levels. The country where I lived was predominantly white. The nearby county was far more diverse. The average income in my county was higher than the neighboring one. The ad buyers were different. Those factors, if I had to guess, explain the differences.

 

[bturner1]

In my time in top 40 the playlist leaned soft or more rock oriented or more rhythmic . In one market 3 of the 6 local stations were top 40. One was a step above chicken rock, the station I was with was rock leaning and the third, uniquely, played the album version of the hits whenever possible trying to be perceived as the 'cool' station with more low-key jocks. This was in the mid-80s in a town of about 90,000.