This is the main point. Strait CHR is declining pretty much all over the country and that is the main reason. Look at the Los Angeles and Boston Kiss/CHR stations. They used to be market leaders, now almost out of the top 10 in their markets. With hip hop/rap stations like WENZ, the audience wants to hear the "real" versions, not the heavily censored versions on broadcast radio. All other reasons are secondary regarding this subject.
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96.5 = dumpster fire
- Thread starter MarkW
- Start date
Not to mention TikTok and streaming have become places where younger listeners discover new music, not AM/FM.
By the way, just for the sake of accuracy, 106.1 is "Real 106", not "106 The Beat". 
The censoring isn't being done creatively anymore, either. Used to be the "naughty" words would get reversed, substituted with sound effects, etc. It made the clean version sound kind of creative and it kept the flow of the song going.
Now, it's just a very awkward and nasty cut-out or silence. I don't know if it's the radio groups that do this or the record companies....but whoever it is, it destroys the rhythm of a hip-hop song.
KIIS in LA does very well. Remember, it is part of the iHeart "Wall of Women" with KBIG and KOST, and the objective is to have the sum of the three remain constant.
There has also been the argument that Cleveland is an older market, and it shows with how the stations playing a lot of older music are always ratings winners.
The new music used to do better even ten years ago, but habits have changed, and new music, outside of current superstars including Beyonce and Taylor Swift, has struggled to connect with a lot of listeners.
The new music used to do better even ten years ago, but habits have changed, and new music, outside of current superstars including Beyonce and Taylor Swift, has struggled to connect with a lot of listeners.
When both KISS and STAR were on the air in Buffalo, the music was 80% identical. The 20% and the presentation was what made the difference.
I don’t think KISS has any significant signal issues. They share the tower with WZAK who has been a/the top station for a long time. ‘ZAK also does very well in Akron.
I think the issues KISS is facing locally is the music and programming. What 96.5 has to offer can be found elsewhere (especially 104.1 and 107.9), and it is not helping them.
I would love an adult urban on 96.5. Radio One has had it for itself for years. I listen to ZAK but am not a big fan of the syndicated shows. I listen for the music. Don’t know if this is Radio One that likes to do this or urban radio in general. Would be interesting to see what an all music urban would do to them. I think that’s what helped 107.3 attract an audience as an alternative to MMS (no pun intended).
I don't think iHeart going to flip anyways.
But why is iHeart is tweaking there playlist, but it's not working
But why is iHeart is tweaking there playlist, but it's not working
If KISS went to any sort of urban it might help WKDD in Akron. They have been sharing audience for years with KISS frequently beating them so this might give KDD a chance to grab more of it; maybe have more options to tweak their format.
Having competition would put a dent in WZAK. The other station would have to offer less syndication and a different music mix.
Urban One likes to have a lot of their syndicated shows on their stations a lot. Not all of them are good. The Morning Hustle has struggled and went through a lot of On-air changes.
WMMS has adjusted their music mix after 107.3 started to gain an audience. It does sound better.
WAKS is already "older" than the average CHR, playing 4 or 5 "Gold" tracks some hours, with the average year of all music on the station being 2018. Most CHR's are more in the 2021 range.
I've heard someone new is in charge of the music on Kiss, so they are making adjustments.
While an Urban AC on 96.5 is interesting, in theory, I think everyone here underestimates how well-entrenched WZAK is. They've been one of Cleveland's top-rated stations for over 30 years!
I've heard someone new is in charge of the music on Kiss, so they are making adjustments.
While an Urban AC on 96.5 is interesting, in theory, I think everyone here underestimates how well-entrenched WZAK is. They've been one of Cleveland's top-rated stations for over 30 years!
WMMS has adjusted their music mix after 107.3 started to gain an audience. It does sound better.
It does not matter. The only real numbers that WMMS pulls these days are the drive-time talk shows and the play-by-play broadcasts. Their music hours drop considerably in comparison.
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