That was the old slogan for1410/98.1. Now it's "The Urban Heat".
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
97.7 format change for the 4th of July?
- Thread starter Tomgsinger
- Start date
That was the old slogan for1410/98.1. Now it's "The Urban Heat".
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/178352/97-7-the-beat-debuts-in-boston/
97.7 FM Boston is now "The Beat"
97.7 FM Boston is now "The Beat"
The change already occurred last weekend. 97.7 is now branded as The Beat of Boston.
The play list sounds awfully like 97.7 R&B, albeit with more soulful artists removed (Patti LaBelle, Keith Sweat) and a few Madonna and Gwen Stefani songs added, and 90s hip hop inserted like Doctor Dre. The rest of the mix is still the tired, heavy repetition of Bobby Brown and Lauren Hill like the station's predecessor.
I can't say the market was really itching for this change. Instead of distinguishing its place in the market 97.7 has moved closer to 96.9 audience, with a mix that doesn't necessarily flow well.
I won't necessarily miss 97.7 R&B. While I love urban AC iHeart did not manage the format well in Boston. Entercom gave us a good product when it premiered the format but the sale put an end to good Urban AC at least at that frequency. At least with iHeart out of the format it leaves room for others to add Urban AC elsewhere, or for Urban Heat to fine tune its product into something serious.
The play list sounds awfully like 97.7 R&B, albeit with more soulful artists removed (Patti LaBelle, Keith Sweat) and a few Madonna and Gwen Stefani songs added, and 90s hip hop inserted like Doctor Dre. The rest of the mix is still the tired, heavy repetition of Bobby Brown and Lauren Hill like the station's predecessor.
I can't say the market was really itching for this change. Instead of distinguishing its place in the market 97.7 has moved closer to 96.9 audience, with a mix that doesn't necessarily flow well.
I won't necessarily miss 97.7 R&B. While I love urban AC iHeart did not manage the format well in Boston. Entercom gave us a good product when it premiered the format but the sale put an end to good Urban AC at least at that frequency. At least with iHeart out of the format it leaves room for others to add Urban AC elsewhere, or for Urban Heat to fine tune its product into something serious.
I believe under iHeart (whom you don't think "managed the formant well"), they reached their highest ever ratings to date.
They were also right in the perfect female demo of W25-54.
Why even bother with a 96.9 clone? Are the two stations much different?
Looking at their recently played song lists, there's a lot of crossover between them, but there are more retro pop dance hits and artists from the '80s and '90s on 97.7 that aren't played on 96.9 like Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna (who really isn't even R&B), Whitney Houston, etc... and 96.9 is more strictly oriented toward somewhat more recent adult R&B and some light hip-hop from the past few decades to today without as much emphasis on all dance, and without the '80s dance pop hits.
So, why make the change then?
This playlist looks an awfully lot like the playlist featured on 106.7 in Detroit and 106.1 in Philadelphia about nine or ten years ago (two fellow iHeart / Clear Channel stations).
I agree with you that 97.7 seemed to be performing admirably as-is. I don't understand this move at all.
Got me! I'm perplexed!
I assume, that as well as it was doing (in ratings), it wasn't enough in billing.
I have to assume something bigger is going on strategically....To assist Jam'n? ...to protect the almight Kiss 108?
I feel sorry for you because you aren't familiar with good Urban AC stations. Think WBLS in NY, WDAS in Philly. Even WYBC in New Haven, a small New England market.
97.7 R&B paled both figuratively and literally in comparison to those stations. 97.7 was the Urban AC that was scared to be a real Urban AC. Its product was an oh so carefully audience tested mix as not to offend any white listeners in the burbs.
I'm sorry you don't have any understanding of ratings, and the job of getting the most people to listen for the longest period possible.
Doesn't matter what you "like" or what you think are "good" Urban AC Stations....what matters are results, ratings and revenues.
No, it was "oh so carefully tested" to attract the most audience possible, which is the job of a commercial radio station.
Again, I believe the station you are criticizing had the highest amount of listeners for the 97.7 frequency.
Now, please understand that your own ideas of "good", and "what I like" are indications of egocentric perspective
Here's a conversation starter for you Boston_Bloke: Do you think a station can survive in this day and age in Boston without any white listeners?
The only way a station could be successful in that scenario is if it formed a coalition of Blacks and Hispanics, which together make up 20% of the market population.
Of course, not all Black and Hispanics like the same music. And there are age-based preferences within the communities as well. So no matter what you do, you can not make everyone happy just based on the stereotypes of their skin colors.
Just guessing, it is probable that such an ethnic-based coalition might be capable of a 3 to 4 share depending on its focus.
On the other hand, stations that look to appeal to African Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites are looking at much larger coalitions and bigger ratings numbers.
Of course, Urban AC tends to be consumed upwards of 90% only by African Americans unless the format is adjusted to create a coalition, such as WHQT in Miami which crosses color lines and appeals to Miami's rhythmic Urban AC heritage. On the other hand, the WBLS version of the format would bomb in Miami.
So what we have is an effort to build a format that takes into account the composition of the Boston market, not Philly or NYC.
WYBC (only the AM is Urban AC) is a bad example. It averages a 0.2 share 12+ in a market that is over 30% Hispanic and African American. Unless you are putting up examples of failed formats, WYBC does not belong on any list.
That’s a load of BS and you know it. Plenty of Caucasian listeners tuned into it (myself included).
But it's "good"! ;-)
WYBC-FM 94.3 has been Urban AC for years -- owned by Yale University but programmed by Connoisseur Media (and Cox previously) as a commercial station. It has been right up there with WPLR in the New Haven 12+ ratings as long as I can remember. It works in New Haven because the market has such a large black component -- by percentage nearly twice that of Boston's. The AM (1340) is a public radio news/talker also owned by Yale but programmed by Sacred Heart University in nearby Fairfield. Its urban days (as WNHC) are long, long behind it. Check your sources on this, please. I'm up here in Connecticut and have actually listened to both stations.
Last edited:
WYBC-FM has been submitted to Nielsen as Urban. But the station has not updated its SIP for recently. When looking at formats, I go to what the station itself submits to Nielsen. In this case, the station itself has not been updating the data.
My error on the AM... one of the industry directory sources lists it still as Urban AC.
For the sake of accuracy, the Boston Black population is 13%, and New Haven's is 8.5% (both MSA numbers). What makes Boston a bit different is the considerable number of Blacks there that are not African American and thus less likely to be appealed to by an Urban or Urban AC station.
Last edited:
All I can surmise is this format change appears to be an attempt to position the station for combo ad sales with Kiss 108.
Reaction to the change on 97.7's Facebook page is overwhelmingly negative.
Is 94.5 performing well enough revenue wise to justify its existence? IMO, 97.7's format should've been left alone, and this format (or one similar) should've been placed on 94.5 instead. The new format sounds nothing like a typical Urban AC; this new station is definitely designed for a predominant Caucasian audience.
Reaction to the change on 97.7's Facebook page is overwhelmingly negative.
Is 94.5 performing well enough revenue wise to justify its existence? IMO, 97.7's format should've been left alone, and this format (or one similar) should've been placed on 94.5 instead. The new format sounds nothing like a typical Urban AC; this new station is definitely designed for a predominant Caucasian audience.
That doesn't speak well for whatever source that is; maybe the industry should eye its data with a degree of suspicion going forward. To the best of my knowledge, WYBC(AM) has never been urban under Yale's ownership. For a while it was a Yale student playground with undergrads spinning obscure rock, but ever since SHU took over its programming, it has carried WSHU's news/talk programming. WSHU's main signal, at 91.1, is mainly classical and jazz with NPR morning and afternoon shows along with local news on the hour. (Why put the news and talk on a puny AM? Because Connecticut's statewide FM public radio network is the city's primary source for the other public radio talk programming.) All you have to do is listen to WYBC-FM online to realize that it's an urban AC; it is largely rap-free and even has elements of Quiet Storm programming, along with "classic slow jams" on weekends.
As for the black percentage, the US Census info I referenced were for the cities themselves, not their market area. New Haven shows 35 percent African American, Boston 24 percent, so my "nearly twice" was an exaggeration. I apologize, although if, as you say, many of Boston's statistical African-Americans are Hispanic, then "twice" may be more accurate than you think.
Re:
I should add - if Entercom or another company were to launch a true Urban AC / R&B station in town, they'd gain a sizable audience immediately, and it would likely dwarf the audience of 97.7. The only question is whether or not such a station on FM would be viable from a sales standpoint.
Will be interesting to see if iHeart rolls out this format to other markets. As I stated earlier, this really is a reappearance of a format the company programmed in Detroit, Philly, Norfolk and other markets close to a decade ago. The burn out factor on most of the songs 97.7 is playing has always been high, not unlike many of the songs that represent the bread & butter of the classic hip-hop format.
I should add - if Entercom or another company were to launch a true Urban AC / R&B station in town, they'd gain a sizable audience immediately, and it would likely dwarf the audience of 97.7. The only question is whether or not such a station on FM would be viable from a sales standpoint.
Will be interesting to see if iHeart rolls out this format to other markets. As I stated earlier, this really is a reappearance of a format the company programmed in Detroit, Philly, Norfolk and other markets close to a decade ago. The burn out factor on most of the songs 97.7 is playing has always been high, not unlike many of the songs that represent the bread & butter of the classic hip-hop format.
Last edited:
You mean like Touch 106.1?
- Status