fmradio1 said:Paul, the only beef I would have with your assessment/prediction is a pop/alternative Hot AC could steal listeners from WBOS and Magic. The bulk of the available cume is sitting with Kiss, Jam'n and Amp. All three are playing contemporary pop music to some degree. Kiss & Jam'n have heritage, and there are plenty of 25-44 women who grew up with those stations that may be disenfranchised. A "stepdown" station between Kiss/Jam'n and Magic makes sense, and it fits in with what GM normally does, but I think doing it with a pop alt lean instead of a rhythmic one could inflict more damage on their other properties than on the competition. I think if they do Rhythmic AC, playing lots of the songs WJMN did back in the day, along with selected current songs and aim it 25-44 women, they'd do very well. It wouldn't conflict, and it would squarely target older demo listening among the big cuming stations. They could fall into that #4 or 5 in the target demo and be very sale-able. Plus this format would play to Cadillac Jack and Pebbles' strengths.
You're right. I haven't been in the market in 8 years. So, my perception is almost a decade old. I base my theory (and it's nothing more) on what I see nationally. And, of course we know Boston isn't like everywhere else.
From a contemporary music standpoint, a lot of "Mix" stations are killing in PPM. And to fragment with the compression the way it is in PPM, isn't as silly a strategy as we once thought. One, or two exposure/week can be the path to winning.