93.9 MIA - Not Customized Enough For Miami

[davideduardo]

And the 18-34 demo says.....who cares about radio....sad.

I see...

Miami Winter 2009
18-34
Cume rating 93.1
TSL 16:15

The average 18-34 in Miami listens for 16 hours and 15 minutes a week, and 93.1% of them listen to radio.

The 18-34 crowd seems to care enough about radio to listen over 2 hours a day.

 

[Groove1670]

Between the diary and PPM.. I don't think anyone has a accurate grasp on who is listening. 2 hours a day for 18-34 (unless driving or office listening). Nah....sorry. I bet TSL is much lower in this group now than in the past and ad buyers and clients know it.

 

[davideduardo]

Between the diary and PPM.. I don't think anyone has a accurate grasp on who is listening. 2 hours a day for 18-34 (unless driving or office listening). Nah....sorry. I bet TSL is much lower in this group now than in the past and ad buyers and clients know it.

I see. Arbitron surveyed how many thousands of people in the last year, and you talked to your friends.

 

[PhDance]

David, look up Power 96's freestyle concert anywhere (e.g., youtube) and you'll see how popular it is in Miami. IIRC they sold out of tickets within a matter of days. Couple that with how Mega is one of the most freestyle friendly spanish station in America and you'll see how popular the late 80s/early 90s dance music was. A lot of freestyle acts originated in Miami, and the sound was much different than it is in the rest of Florida. Plus, you do realize how popular this music is with hispanics!

I loved Party, but it has no place in a thread about classic dance music. It's about as fair as me talking about a Mexican station in a thread about a Puerto Rican reggaeton station. Party was not around when freestyle was very popular, and I know that the station was positioned/skewed very young at first. It wasn't until the final year of operation that the station skewed older. Too little, too late.

 

[davideduardo]

David, look up Power 96's freestyle concert anywhere (e.g., youtube) and you'll see how popular it is in Miami. IIRC they sold out of tickets within a matter of days.

Playing the show card in music discussions usually indicates the end of the argument. Filling a venue with 10,000 people is not at all related to radio, where the reported cumes on stations like Power and WEDR and WMIA is in the close vicinity of 1 million people.

In every format I hear arguments for adding elements that are ultra-fringe based on selling out an arena. In this case, if freestyle is so great, why don't we heare three or four cuts an hour all day on Power? I mean, they do the event, so they should play the cuts. Maybe they know something... their research obviously steers them clear of any focus on freestyle.

Couple that with how Mega is one of the most freestyle friendly spanish station in America and you'll see how popular the late 80s/early 90s dance music was.

Mega has a very tight list, with currents on near 2 hour rotations. Except for a play a week for Nina Sky and Leona Lewis, I seen nothing played in the last week that indicates a freestyle presence that is anything but casual.

A lot of freestyle acts originated in Miami, and the sound was much different than it is in the rest of Florida. Plus, you do realize how popular this music is with hispanics!

No, I realize how popular it was with Miami Hispanics. Having witnessed how awfully it did when WRTO played a lot of it, I understand why it is not part of any regular rotation on any Spanish language station. As to Hispanics elsewhere, there is no issue at all.

I loved Party, but it has no place in a thread about classic dance music. It's about as fair as me talking about a Mexican station in a thread about a Puerto Rican reggaeton station.

Oh, then I should not mention that many Mexican stations play lots of reggaeton? I don't get the point.

Current dance and classic rhythmic are two different formats, but one is an extension of the other. Obviously the current dance station did not work in Miami, as it is gone. And classic rhythmic is not necessarily going to play the songs that were hits as currents 15 to 20 years ago. The idea that WMIA researched the music and is not playing more freestyle because of that research seems to not be well understood.

 

[Groove1670]

David, Haven't Talked to friends... but sometimes I have little faith in the ratings. I Know of one station in the past that was dark and showed up three rating periods (Peaked at #5). I didn't know that thousands were surveyed for the PPM.... my bad. I was at one station that showed up in another metro with a 1.0 share and because of of secondary channel interference and distance you couldn't hear it. In our town the stations cume was almost the population of the whole town, but over twenty other major market signals also city graded the market. I would like to think we were that popular, but that was not the case. Bottom line..It doesn't matter what I think or say... the courts will settle it with the PPM.... one group says the ratings at flawed, he or she who throws out the most money, will win the ratings gold.

Looking at the MIA music logs, does indicate that some songs that were big in the Miami market are showing up, kudos.

I do see some Expose, Sweet Sensation, and Stevie B on The List. MIA is giving the playlist some regional flavor.

 

[davideduardo]

David, Haven't Talked to friends... but sometimes I have little faith in the ratings. I Know of one station in the past that was dark and showed up three rating periods

This could happen in the diary if a person wrote down what they thought they were listening to rather than what they listened to. Unless a station advises Arbitron they are not on the air, Arbitron will not know. Also, imprecise diary entries are attributed by ascription, so a "107" might be given to the station on 107.1, 107.5 or 107.9 and these credits are given by random number generation. To not give any credit would mean that total listening would be underreported, so this procedure is fair and MRC approved.

I was at one station that showed up in another metro with a 1.0 share and because of of secondary channel interference and distance you couldn't hear it.

This could be caused by a family that was visiting your area, but which had diaries from the hometown, putting your station down. Or, it could also be caused by ascription or error. Generally, when odd things occur, someone contacts Arbitron and the data is verified. When there is a significant error, Arbitron reissues the book... I've gotten several reissued, so it can be done.

Looking at the MIA music logs, does indicate that some songs that were big in the Miami market are showing up, kudos.

I suspect that all along, the station had done local music testing. Some observers just think any station owned by an out of town company is just too "corporate" to do the right thing... yet stations like WQAM, WFUN, WHYI, WMYQ, WEDR, WPOW, WHQT and other great Miami stations were owned by non-local companies!

 

[CHRles]

David, this is about much more than just the Freestyle records, but since that genre was brought up I want you to take a look at something. The music logs for WKSL 93.9 Kiss FM in Raleigh, NC. A market where Freestyle was never big, and I don't ever remember G-105, the dominant CHR in the market, even being all that supportive of it. Since that's the case why is WKSL playing songs like Lil Suzy's "Take Me In Your Arms", Lisettle Melendez "Together Forever", Stevie B "Spring Love", Noel's "Silent Morning", Nocera "Summertime Summertime", Nice & Wild "Diamond Girl", Freez "I.O.U.", and Collage "I'll Be Loving You".

Miami was definitely one of the world's Freestyle capitals, but it doesn't seem like 93.9 MIA is playing some of the Freestyle records that made Miami. Instead, it's opting for records that were big on Hot 97 and 103.5 KTU New York. Whatever kind of research WMIA did in Miami it's been sloppy at best.

Oddly enough I've just noticed the new Z-100 Ft. Myers is playing records that were big in Miami, but I don't remember them getting radio support in Ft. Myers. Modjo's "Lady" is a good example of a record that did very well in Europe as well as on Power 96 Miami, as well as staions like Wild 94.9 San Francisco. It wasn't a big national radio hit though. Z-100 Ft. Myers also played "Set It Off" by Straffe in the past hour, which I don't remember being played in Ft. Myers at a time when the only CHR the market had was Wink 97.

 

[davideduardo]

David, this is about much more than just the Freestyle records, but since that genre was brought up I want you to take a look at something. The music logs for WKSL 93.9 Kiss FM in Raleigh, NC. A market where Freestyle was never big, and I don't ever remember G-105, the dominant CHR in the market, even being all that supportive of it.

And the station, with a 1.7 12+ in Winter, is 17th in the market, and the explanation may be in the music they play.

Miami was definitely one of the world's Freestyle capitals, but it doesn't seem like 93.9 MIA is playing some of the Freestyle records that made Miami.

I've seen research on both sides of Freestyle... general market and Hispanic market... two different stations. Nearly none of the freestyle cuts that got played out 15 to 18 years ago in Miami are playable today.

Instead, it's opting for records that were big on Hot 97 and 103.5 KTU New York. Whatever kind of research WMIA did in Miami it's been sloppy at best.

Maybe those are the songs that are still hits today. The freestyle stuff really, really is not.

 

[DJ Mo]

Ft. Myers had a radio station in the late-80's to early-90's called "91.5 The Spark/Power 89.5". The station had Saturday night events broadcasted live with performers from South Florida coming every week. They played the Booty Bass, Freestyle, & Top-40. My favorite station, EVER!

Z100.1 in Ft. Myers today is the exact same playlist as 93.9 MIA, just different sweepers & ID's. "Premium Choice" by Clear Channel. Their research was nationalized.

 

[davideduardo]

Z100.1 in Ft. Myers today is the exact same playlist as 93.9 MIA, just different sweepers & ID's. "Premium Choice" by Clear Channel. Their research was nationalized.

More likely is that Ft. Myers approaches the market size where the current economy does not allow stations billing perhaps $600 k a year to spend $40 k to $60 k a year on research, so they use the study from an adjacent or nearby market.

In the late 80's while supervising a station in Tallahassee, we could not afford two annual AMTs so we teamed with statins in two adjacent markets, and rotated tests. We got up to date research on the region, and it was good enough even though only one of every three tests was in our market. The end result was that we did ask the listeners what they wanted, and we did play their choices, not ours.

 

[CHRles]

I am indeed aware of the aforementioned non-commercial Dance station that Ft. Myers once had in the late 80s/early 90s. Wasnt Noel Sanger a DJ there at one time?
Anyways, that still doesnt explain Z-100 playing Modjo's "Lady". A nice Dance record from 9 years ago that got airplay on Power 96 and later Party 93.1 Miami. It might have also gotten some clubplay in Ft. Myers, but I dont remember B-103.9 ever supporting it.

 

[JayR]

Ft. Myers had a radio station in the late-80's to early-90's called "91.5 The Spark/Power 89.5". The station had Saturday night events broadcasted live with performers from South Florida coming every week. They played the Booty Bass, Freestyle, & Top-40. My favorite station, EVER!

I went to "Sparklers" (where "The Spark" broadcasted from) one Saturday night for an MC Shy D concert.
There will never be a station like it again.

Anyways, that still doesnt explain Z-100 playing Modjo's "Lady". A nice Dance record from 9 years ago that got airplay on Power 96 and later Party 93.1 Miami. It might have also gotten some clubplay in Ft. Myers, but I dont remember B-103.9 ever supporting it.

B-103.9...dance...in the same sentence???

What passes as dance on the B is embarrassing. It's a Top-40 station.

 

[radiosanchez]

Z100.1 in Ft. Myers today is the exact same playlist as 93.9 MIA, just different sweepers & ID's. "Premium Choice" by Clear Channel. Their research was nationalized.

The morning after Michael Jackson died (or was it the morning after that), MIA and ZJZ had *slight* differences in the playlists, particularly in what MJ songs they played, and what non-MJ songs Z-100 was removing. It struck me as pretty ironic that ZJZ was doing a better job 'weeding out' songs that had not been "big Miami hits" than MIA was..I can't remember exactly which ones they were, but ZJZ had more of a "Miami Sound" that morning.

 

[Grk_ScorpioInTheMIA]

Z100.1 in Ft. Myers today is the exact same playlist as 93.9 MIA, just different sweepers & ID's. "Premium Choice" by Clear Channel. Their research was nationalized.

The morning after Michael Jackson died (or was it the morning after that), MIA and ZJZ had *slight* differences in the playlists, particularly in what MJ songs they played, and what non-MJ songs Z-100 was removing. It struck me as pretty ironic that ZJZ was doing a better job 'weeding out' songs that had not been "big Miami hits" than MIA was..I can't remember exactly which ones they were, but ZJZ had more of a "Miami Sound" that morning.

So far, 93.9 MIA hasn't done too well in weeding out the Hot ACish Coast type of songs. This station would sound great if it were to copy the classic Power 96 sound of the late 80's, early 90's, which were the glory years of classic freestyle dance in Miami. If 93.9 MIA were really serious in reaching out to the demos of this era, they need to adjust their playlist more, and not sound like "Anywhere U.S.A". CC thinks this is the sound of Miami, well think again. It still isn't there in totally sounding like its tailored for Miami. Do some real listener research in Miami, not listener research in New York.

 

[davideduardo]

So far, 93.9 MIA hasn't done too well in weeding out the Hot ACish Coast type of songs. This station would sound great if it were to copy the classic Power 96 sound of the late 80's, early 90's, which were the glory years of classic freestyle dance in Miami. If 93.9 MIA were really serious in reaching out to the demos of this era, they need to adjust their playlist more, and not sound like "Anywhere U.S.A". CC thinks this is the sound of Miami, well think again. It still isn't there in totally sounding like its tailored for Miami. Do some real listener research in Miami, not listener research in New York.

Given the recent PPM "official" ratings published here, and the 25-54 that was reported elsewhere, why in the would would Clear... or anyone... think there was anything wrong with this station? It is 7th 12+ and in the top 5 in 25-54. I'd say, "don't change a thing... this is the right sound for Miami today."

 

[Grk_ScorpioInTheMIA]

So far, 93.9 MIA hasn't done too well in weeding out the Hot ACish Coast type of songs. This station would sound great if it were to copy the classic Power 96 sound of the late 80's, early 90's, which were the glory years of classic freestyle dance in Miami. If 93.9 MIA were really serious in reaching out to the demos of this era, they need to adjust their playlist more, and not sound like "Anywhere U.S.A". CC thinks this is the sound of Miami, well think again. It still isn't there in totally sounding like its tailored for Miami. Do some real listener research in Miami, not listener research in New York.

Given the recent PPM "official" ratings published here, and the 25-54 that was reported elsewhere, why in the would would Clear... or anyone... think there was anything wrong with this station? It is 7th 12+ and in the top 5 in 25-54. I'd say, "don't change a thing... this is the right sound for Miami today."

Yes, they have improved in the ratings. But also remember, there is always room for improvement. Why be #7 if you can be #1.Lately, 93.9 has added more songs to its playlist. Hopefully, they will add some more over time. Another thing thats irritating is that 93.9 has a habit at times of being repetitive. This is not a top-40 station, its Rhythmic AC. It shoudn't be repetitive. It should be able to play the songs it has in its library from the 70's throught today.