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106.7 The Beat Detroit - A Rhythmic CHR?

C

CHRles

Officially WDTW Detroit is still considered a Rhythmic/AC, but looking at the music logs for The Beat it appears the station is now 50% Current. Pretty much all of the 80s and much of the 90s titles have been taken out. The end result? A Pop leaning Rhythmic CHR:

http://www.1067thebeat.com/main.html

Keep in mind WDTW is the sister station of both Urban FM 98 WJLB and CHR/Pop outlet Channel 95-5, which these days is leaning a bit less on Rhythmic hits, and is in the midst of a war with the new CHR/Pop outlet in town, 98.7 Amp Radio.
 
This sounds like Clear Channel trying to cover all bases to protect WKQI and WJLB by shifting WDTW to Rhythmic Top 40. I also suspect that WKQI might be taking the same path that sister station KIIS/Los Angeles is doing by moving back to mainstream to counter WDZH and with WJLB trying to stop what appears to be a resurging WHTD (even with a challenged signal) WDTW's tweaking of their format does make make sense at this point, plus they do sound better too.

Keep in mind that Detroit is a Dance town and who knows, maybe they'll evoke the days of DRQ and Power 96 or go for a WKTU-modeled approach.
 
only1moore said:
This sounds like Clear Channel trying to cover all bases to protect WKQI and WJLB by shifting WDTW to Rhythmic Top 40. I also suspect that WKQI might be taking the same path that sister station KIIS/Los Angeles is doing by moving back to mainstream to counter WDZH and with WJLB trying to stop what appears to be a resurging WHTD (even with a challenged signal) WDTW's tweaking of their format does make make sense at this point, plus they do sound better too.
Click to expand...

Good point, I noticed 9-5-5 has been playing a lot of mainstream pop lately, just like what they're sister KIIS-FM down here is doing. They sounds even better now since it gives the playlist a bit of variety. Last year, it really sounded very much like a hip-hop/CHR-rhythmic station (was a bit surprised that heavily-rhythmic playlist didn't affect JLB).
 
WKQI is a fun station. I love especially how they program their mix shows. It's easy to stick to the basics and be boring, but it takes true talent to bring some live, fun, party styled flavor and still do what's necessary to keep your station up.
 
Looks like 106.7 The Beat Detroit has been moved to Mediabases's Rhythmic panel, along with 105.7/96.7 The Groove Atlanta. Both stations are coming over from the Rhythmic A/C panel.
Also look for 102.5 the party to possibly move back more towards CHR/Pop, or as a very Pop friendly Rhythmic in preparation for the PPM rollout in Nashville.
 
I wish I heard WKQI last night. I had no idea they mixed on a SUNDAY night! They even kept it uptempo an entire hour, based on the songs I saw that were played. WKQI is REALLY one of my fav's as of now.
 
106.7 The Beat was smart for using "The Beat" because it remains appropriate in both cases. However, I guess names don't really matter anymore because these days people seem to be using just about anything, regardless of which direction they've changed to. Some don't even use names, but just some of the letters from their call letters.
 
CHRles said:
Looks like 106.7 The Beat Detroit has been moved to Mediabases's Rhythmic panel, along with 105.7/96.7 The Groove Atlanta. Both stations are coming over from the Rhythmic A/C panel.
Also look for 102.5 the party to possibly move back more towards CHR/Pop, or as a very Pop friendly Rhythmic in preparation for the PPM rollout in Nashville.
Click to expand...

It appears that this doesn't surprise me, since both are expected to join the BDS Rhythmic panel as well. Both WDTW and WWVA's playlist seem to have favor more Rhythmic currents within the past 2 months, so it does makes sense at this point.
 
A few more stations have been moved from the Rhythmic AC panel to the Rhythmic one:
Movin 92.5 Seattle (the first successful Movin station in the country), Movin 100.7 Salt Lake City, and Recurrent-heavy Party 93.1 Las Vegas.
 
Personally, I'm beginning to think that I'm not too fond of recurrent heavy rhythmics. There's just something about that type of sound I don't like.

Mainly
1. The playlists of recurrent heavy stations seem to be odd and "incomplete"
2. Unlike regular rhythmics, they tend to seemingly only play certain rhythmic hits and leave the rest out.

In ways it's somewhat similar to creating an MP3 player playlist and only choosing certain hits to put in them. I don't understand why I don't like it because it's not even like the songs they play are necessarily bad to me. Nowadays, I tend to love rhythmics that don't lean too urban and are at least 80 or more % current - with ALL the current rhythmic hits added in. The recurrent heavy rhythmic sound is a format I would've surely died for in the late 90's and early to mid 00's though!
 
KDM 7000 said:
Personally, I'm beginning to think that I'm not too fond of recurrent heavy rhythmics. There's just something about that type of sound I don't like..
Click to expand...

Actually, it's not the sound, but the formatting strategy of a recurrent heavy rhythmic, and it's odd because there are rarely any songs I dislike. A rhythmic AC at least seems to have more of an established format/music selection sound. Maybe if I wasn't a radio freak, I probably wouldn't even care. It's one thing for select songs to make it and become hits from the current category, but when it comes to recurrents, I find it strange when only certain recurrents are played - and are played as if they came out today. It's even more strange when some current rhythmics are knocked out to "make room for" some select recurrents that are being played as 2010 hits.
 
KDM 7000 said:
Personally, I'm beginning to think that I'm not too fond of recurrent heavy rhythmics. There's just something about that type of sound I don't like.

Mainly
1. The playlists of recurrent heavy stations seem to be odd and "incomplete"
2. Unlike regular rhythmics, they tend to seemingly only play certain rhythmic hits and leave the rest out.
Click to expand...

These stations are becoming more and more current-based. Remember, they're still transitioning from Rhytmic A/C to Rhythmic, and they're trying to do so without losing the majority of their listeners. As you know, programming a station can be quite tricky, and you don't want to be too many steps ahead of your listeners that just want to hear their favorite songs on the radio.
Let's also remember the playlists of many of the Hip Hop leaning Rhythmics are oftentimes incomplete as they tend to stay away from anything that doesn't sound too Churban.
Lastly, let's remember that in some markets Recurrent-friendly Rhythmics tend to do quite well. That's been the case with stations like 99.1 KGGI Riverside, Kiss 97.3 Albuquerque, and Jam'n 94.5 Boston. Despite the fact that some on these boards may knock these stations for being conservative on new records, these stations post great ratings in their markets.
 
CHRles said:
These stations are becoming more and more current-based. Remember, they're still transitioning from Rhytmic A/C to Rhythmic, and they're trying to do so without losing the majority of their listeners. As you know, programming a station can be quite tricky, and you don't want to be too many steps ahead of your listeners that just want to hear their favorite songs on the radio.
Click to expand...

Ok well that explains it. I was just hoping that their current states was not some new format sound they were going to adopt and stick with for the long run (with possibility of starting some new trend). It seemed like all of their transitions were a little too slow and similar, so I was beginning to think "what if this is as far as they are going?"

After all, KKFR is a recurrent heavy rhythmic, and that is just the way they've become. What's funny is that they try to lean more urban while still playing the urban pop hits, then on top of that, they are recurrent rhythmic hip hop friendly. That in itself is a little strange, and I figured if they are "permanently" staying that way, then it wouldn't be too far out to think the stations being discussed here could "get stuck" as they are right now. Well I'm glad to know that they are in transition.

Not sure how well it will work out for Detroit to get another rhythmic, but for WWVA, I can see them filling in a gap. Question about WWVA is
1. What would they have done if WBTS never changed, and
2. If they decided to suddenly go straight rhythmic after WBTS flipped rather than slowly change over time, would they have gained more Beat listeners searching the dial (faster) than they would've lost old Groove sound listeners or not? After all, WBTS had 3.5 and WWVA was last at 1.5. It's also funny how the ratings sheet here shows WWVA as "URBAN".
 
KDM 7000 said:
CHRles said:
These stations are becoming more and more current-based. Remember, they're still transitioning from Rhytmic A/C to Rhythmic, and they're trying to do so without losing the majority of their listeners. As you know, programming a station can be quite tricky, and you don't want to be too many steps ahead of your listeners that just want to hear their favorite songs on the radio.
Click to expand...

Ok well that explains it. I was just hoping that their current states was not some new format sound they were going to adopt and stick with for the long run (with possibility of starting some new trend). It seemed like all of their transitions were a little too slow and similar, so I was beginning to think "what if this is as far as they are going?"

After all, KKFR is a recurrent heavy rhythmic, and that is just the way they've become. What's funny is that they try to lean more urban while still playing the urban pop hits, then on top of that, they are recurrent rhythmic hip hop friendly. That in itself is a little strange, and I figured if they are "permanently" staying that way, then it wouldn't be too far out to think the stations being discussed here could "get stuck" as they are right now. Well I'm glad to know that they are in transition.

Not sure how well it will work out for Detroit to get another rhythmic, but for WWVA, I can see them filling in a gap. Question about WWVA is
1. What would they have done if WBTS never changed, and
2. If they decided to suddenly go straight rhythmic after WBTS flipped rather than slowly change over time, would they have gained more Beat listeners searching the dial (faster) than they would've lost old Groove sound listeners or not? After all, WBTS had 3.5 and WWVA was last at 1.5. It's also funny how the ratings sheet here shows WWVA as "URBAN".
Click to expand...

Yea....why is GROOVE 105.7 listed as Urban?
 
ShawtyBlack_ATL said:
Yea....why is GROOVE 105.7 listed as Urban?
Click to expand...

Format classifications in the ratings section aren't always precise. Here's a few examples:
Movin 99.7 San Francisco is still listed as a Rhythmic A/C although they've been CHR/Pop for a while now:
http://www.radio-info.com/site/markets/grid/san-francisco

Denver's 95.7 The Party is still listed as a Rhythmic AC even though it's been Rhythmic for a while now:
http://www.radio-info.com/site/markets/grid/denver-boulder

104.3 Now FM Las Vegas is a CHR/Pop even though it's listed as Hot A/C
http://www.radio-info.com/site/markets/grid/las-vegas
 
CHRles said:
A few more stations have been moved from the Rhythmic AC panel to the Rhythmic one:
Movin 92.5 Seattle (the first successful Movin station in the country), Movin 100.7 Salt Lake City, and Recurrent-heavy Party 93.1 Las Vegas.
Click to expand...

Don't forget WKTU/New York City.
 
htowler said:
The Beat should have been moved to Chr/Pop it's more that than Rhythmic.
Click to expand...

That wouldn't happen since they have Channel 955 in the same cluster.
 
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