3 CHR stations in Syracuse!

[nd2023]

I noticed that there are 3 different CHR stations in Syracuse: 93Q (pop), Hot 107.9 (rhythmic), Z89 (rhythmic). There's also hot AC Y94, but it was all-Christmas when I was in Syracuse this weekend. Z89 seemed to break out new music and even played a few dance songs only heard on 1 other station in New York state.

Isn't 3 CHR stations overkill for one small market?

 

[BobRoss]

I noticed that there are 3 different CHR stations in Syracuse: 93Q (pop), Hot 107.9 (rhythmic), Z89 (rhythmic). [...] Isn't 3 CHR stations overkill for one small market?

Not necessarily. It's worth noting that Z89 is operated by students at Syracuse University. They have the advantage of being able to offer commercial-free music, and the playlist isn't held as tightly as it would be on the other two stations, who likely have consultants and corporate mandates to follow. They also break format from time-to-time for news and sports programming. Another plus: since it's all students working for little or no money, they can be staffed live and local around the clock, as long as people are willing to take the shifts. (But they often wind up being nearly 100% automated when school's not in session.)

On the other hand, Z89 doesn't have a massive publicity budget to reach a massive audience, the signal is relatively weaker, and there aren't any "known" on-air personalities because they're all college students who are only there for 4-6 years.

Usually, yes, two CHRs is usually enough for a market this size, but considering Z89 is a college station, it works. They manage to publicize well on campus, which is their target audience. And they manage to do well enough to keep the bills paid -- while the station is located on campus, it's not owned by the campus. It's independently owned by the students who manage it. Sure, they aren't raking in wheelbarrows of cash with those underwriters, but they aren't paying out salaries and benefits to the jocks, nor are they paying big bucks for consultants, testing, or other major expenses commercial stations typically encounter.

 

[Lame_Listener]

I noticed that there are 3 different CHR stations in Syracuse: 93Q (pop), Hot 107.9 (rhythmic), Z89 (rhythmic). [...] Isn't 3 CHR stations overkill for one small market?

Not necessarily. It's worth noting that Z89 is operated by students at Syracuse University. They have the advantage of being able to offer commercial-free music, and the playlist isn't held as tightly as it would be on the other two stations, who likely have consultants and corporate mandates to follow. They also break format from time-to-time for news and sports programming.

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. I wouldn't really consider Z89 in the same category as 107 or Q. Z89 has a pretty weak signal and now is automated most of the time (unfortunately). They are always going through format changes/adjustments such as mainstream CHR, rhythmic CHR then back to mainstream, etc. Remember back in the 90's when they even tried going alternative rock and became 89-1 The Pulse?

Anyway, my point is, there's only really two commercial CHRs and they both have their own little niche and it works.

 

[BobRoss]

They are always going through format changes/adjustments such as mainstream CHR, rhythmic CHR then back to mainstream, etc. Remember back in the 90's when they even tried going alternative rock and became 89-1 The Pulse?

Another product of the ongoing, unavoidable turnover that comes with the territory in college radio. Student management typically enjoy their positions (GM, PD, MD, ND, etc.) for only one academic year, maybe two. You usually don't see management turning over that frequently in commercial radio. And again, no "corporate" management above to prevent the station from changing formats... if the GM and his team decide to make a big change, they can just do it.

On the plus side, at least the format changes have been relatively minor - just waffling between various flavors of CHR. In theory, there's nothing (besides possible ratings suicide) stopping them from suddenly going to country or polka or any other format at the drop of a hat.

Oh, and apologies for my redundancies in my earlier response in this thread. Wacky sleep schedule lately, and I guess I wasn't quite awake when I wrote that. Re-reading it now, I wish the "Edit" link was available for a longer window of time after posting.

 

[Mark Vanness]

I think I might still put them in the same category regardless of their commercial/ non commercial status, as long as they are playing similar music then they are sharing the same pie as the commercial properties and that makes them competition... Maybe even more so since they have greater freedoms...

 

[Bob1370]

Nothing really new in this...Syracuse has always been a good market for hit music. Back in the 70s it was WNDR vs. WOLF vs. the slightly more adult-skewing WHEN (which you might call the very first hot AC station in the country when it launched in 1972). Then 93Q came along and for a while in the 80s it was a four way contest until contemporary music pretty much left the AM band about 20 years back.

With all the colleges and universities in the area I'd wager Syracuse is demographically one of the youngest large markets in the state, younger than Rochester and Buffalo and second only to NYC.

 

[Rob Jason]

Nothing really new in this...Syracuse has always been a good market for hit music. Back in the 70s it was WNDR vs. WOLF vs. the slightly more adult-skewing WHEN (which you might call the very first hot AC station in the country when it launched in 1972). Then 93Q came along and for a while in the 80s it was a four way contest until contemporary music pretty much left the AM band about 20 years back.

With all the colleges and universities in the area I'd wager Syracuse is demographically one of the youngest large markets in the state, younger than Rochester and Buffalo and second only to NYC.

I wouldn't put the WOLF of the 70s in the same category as WHEN of the 70s. WOLF back then was more CHR -- they'd play the hard screaming stuff, and WHEN didn't go that far. WNDR back then I think was in between those two. Then there was WFBL (in the early 70s, well before "Fire 14"), which I guess was MOR with some AC leanings. Then it went to 14FBL in 1975 and became hot AC, up against WHEN. THEN, at that point, you could say there were FOUR hot AC stations going.