99 X Is Back

[PrezSquid]

You are failing to understand that current alternative rock is not a single format... it is at least 3 formats that don't overlap. The problem there is that none of the three (or more) varieties of current based music is big enough to sustain a station.

I'm not saying to play nothing BUT currents though, I just want stations to either

A: actually interact with the audience, let the audience know what tunes they're spinning that are new, if they like it, keep, if they don't, get rid of it
B: play some new music and blend it with the classics (A la 91X but maybe 10 times a week for each song)

Classics aren't going to sustain a station. Look at the drops of 91X and 99X already after the announcements.

 

[PrezSquid]

look lads we're just never gonna see eye to eye on this

I just want to see radio do better, be more cutting edge, be more interactive with the audience, embrace its past while looking forward to the future, adapt with the internet/streaming. or else the industry will be nonexistent in 10 years.

depends on the market, but 99X's constant drops, talking on social media about ozempic tiktoks, and promoting concerts for god damn John Mayer of all people isn't what alternative needs right now.

 

[PrezSquid]

actually feel sorry for the zoomer lads who were doing a 99x locals show last year before the format flip when the station was on a different channel, some of the local stuff was pretty good, you can see the djs having fun with it, and now currently they're not on the station because of the gen x appeal, aliening both a younger audience AND local audience who liked tuning in to that show every week. now currently 99x's only show is that more folksy/chill alternative show Organic X, and they've been telling people for MONTHS on socials that new music/local stuff will be coming? but when is it? it's been 7 months, hundreds of new stuff has come out that I've seen 91X in san diego AT LEAST PLAY once, giving it a platform at a good time, giving Planet Nu Nu some bit of audience, it could be more but hey at least 91X never left its roots of discovering and playing newer stuff. Which is why as much as I bickered about the new direction, I still appreciate them trying. 99X? Nope. just an oldies station with good tunes, but not ones I'd want to hear on the dial on the daily for the rest of my life.

 

[ksradiogeek]

actually feel sorry for the zoomer lads who were doing a 99x locals show last year before the format flip when the station was on a different channel, some of the local stuff was pretty good, you can see the djs having fun with it, and now currently they're not on the station because of the gen x appeal, aliening both a younger audience AND local audience who liked tuning in to that show every week. now currently 99x's only show is that more folksy/chill alternative show Organic X, and they've been telling people for MONTHS on socials that new music/local stuff will be coming? but when is it? it's been 7 months, hundreds of new stuff has come out that I've seen 91X in san diego AT LEAST PLAY once, giving it a platform at a good time, giving Planet Nu Nu some bit of audience, it could be more but hey at least 91X never left its roots of discovering and playing newer stuff. Which is why as much as I bickered about the new direction, I still appreciate them trying. 99X? Nope. just an oldies station with good tunes, but not ones I'd want to hear on the dial on the daily for the rest of my life.

‘Rome wasn’t built in a day.’ Literally heard Barnes say this from the time he signed on in January, talking about how the revived 99X was going to take awhile to flesh out.

Do you know why it’s taken so long to add personalities/features? Because of other jobs and commitments (some of which involve some legal aspect, as seen with Leslie Fram). In addition, Axel unexpectedly left, leaving the station without a formal PD until just last week.

(Also, I take it you didn’t listen to Steve Craig’s announcement where he said that Sunday School, the new music show on the original incarnation, is set to come back.)

 

[jabba17]

The fundamental issue is whether 99X wants to be a classic alt station, or a new-music station. They seem to have chosen the former. And that raises another issue: what time period do they want to cover?

This isn't unique to alternative. Country stations are forever fretting over whether to focus on currents or whether to include the stuff from the 90s when country did exceptionally well.

Classic AOR stations need a window; it pretty much centers on the late 70s through the 80s, with debate over what to include, if anything, from the late 60s (Doors, Hendrix) and early 70s. The answer seems to be "very little". And, a second debate on how much AOR-friendly stuff to include from the 90s; the answer there is "some, but be careful". And the testing of "new songs from classic artists" seems to be a perpetual failure for them. Just like when you see a legacy act on tour, they might play 1 or 2 songs from their more recent material. People come to hear the hits.

And then you have the actual "oldies" stations. Most oldies stations ran into big problems when first the 50s and then the 60s pop fans started aging out of the demo. Some steadfastly refused to play more 70s AM gold, leading to "good times and eight oldies" tight playlists and eventual failure. Some gave in to the march of time, and morphed into 70s oldies stations, which then raised the question of whether or not to include disco and, if so, how much. The 70s AM gold, 70s disco, 70s New Wave, 80s pop, 80s dance, and 80s New Wave camps have historically not played well together in the same sandbox. There are the Jack-type stations which do play some of a mix, but they tend to focus on hits over depth, and don't heavy-spin the more controversial stuff. They also test like hell and plan their playlists to avoid train wrecks.

B98.5 still says they play the "80s, 90s, and now", but if you look at their playlist it's mostly stuff from the 00s to now. Wasn't that way 20 years ago, but that was literally 20 years ago.

Radio remains a BROADcast medium. Microformats don't do well on terrestrial radio--they're better suited for the Internet. Charlie's 80s Attic is a great example of a microformat that does well--they focus on New Wave and pop from about 1978 until about 1986, and go deep. That would never fly on terrestrial radio.

 

[TheBigA]

Classics aren't going to sustain a station.

Yet playing classics hasn't hurt The River. It's #1 in Atlanta.

What you want is a different format that exists in other cities.

 

[TheBigA]

I just want to see radio do better, be more cutting edge, be more interactive with the audience, embrace its past while looking forward to the future, adapt with the internet/streaming. or else the industry will be nonexistent in 10 years.

A lot of that works best for streaming radio. So companies are offering those options on their streaming channels.

Here's one way new music is being handled:

Audacy's ‘Launch’ To Focus On New Music Discovery Across Formats And Platforms.

With a trio of artists aimed at its hot AC, country and CHR stations' listeners, Audacy kicks off its Launch program, designed to spotlight emerging artists on multiple platforms. The

www.insideradio.com

 

[PrezSquid]

Yet playing classics hasn't hurt The River. It's #1 in Atlanta.

What you want is a different format that exists in other cities.

So what you're saying is alternative should just focus on classics now because new music isn't alternative or good to the classics? And that I should clamor for a "NEW" format for new alternative music????

 

[PrezSquid]

A lot of that works best for streaming radio. So companies are offering those options on their streaming channels.

Here's one way new music is being handled:

Audacy's ‘Launch’ To Focus On New Music Discovery Across Formats And Platforms.

With a trio of artists aimed at its hot AC, country and CHR stations' listeners, Audacy kicks off its Launch program, designed to spotlight emerging artists on multiple platforms. The

www.insideradio.com

Why should new music focus only be on streaming or hd channels no one is listening to if we're talking radio companies? Why not the ol car FM? If people are streaming theyre not using audacy lol, they're using spotify.

this industrys on crack

 

[AceBiscuits]

So what you're saying is alternative should just focus on classics now because new music isn't alternative or good to the classics? And that I should clamor for a "NEW" format for new alternative music????

Not to be Captain Obvious, but commercial radio is programmed for mass appeal. Depending on the market, new Alternative/currents in the format may not be mass appeal.

99X is tapping into a nostalgia factor that has the potential of either driving people away from indirect competitors or bringing people back to radio that switched to satellite or streaming.

Don't discount the fact that a lot of the "classics" also resonate with a younger audience. I am curious to see the demos of 99X are like. I'm in my mid-20s, and me and a good number of people that I know in that age group (yes, that's a small sample size, but I can't imagine that's not indicative of a larger trend) enjoy the "classics" vs. the new stuff... in fact, I like both. A radio station like 99X allows younger audiences to go there for the music they know, and experience those they don't. Even if the song is over 20 years old, doesn't mean it's not music discovery.

Personally, I think that what you're looking for is best done by non-comms and college radio stations tbh.

 

[TheBigA]

Why should new music focus only be on streaming or hd channels

It depends on the specific music. If we're talking about new Taylor Swift music, it goes on the main channel. Same with new Morgan Wallen music.

So what you're saying is alternative should just focus on classics now because new music isn't alternative or good to the classics?

What I'm saying is that 99X is a classic alt station. You can focus on whatever you want.

 

[Kent]

Not to be Captain Obvious, but commercial radio is programmed for mass appeal. Depending on the market, new Alternative/currents in the format may not be mass appeal.

Also, broadcasting companies, at their cores, are marketing operations. Even the most programming focused and programming invested radio companies where I've worked have really been sales and marketing organizations. After all, there was a reason they never programmed adult standards, at least while I worked for them.

About 15-20 years ago, Clear Channel was raked over the coals after one of the Mays family said its business wasn't radio but providing a product for its customers. What he really did was said the quiet part out loud. Radio stations don't have to be in the music promotion or artist exposure businesses if they don't want to be. Plenty of stations that don't participate in those areas are successful.

 

[TheBigA]

Radio stations don't have to be in the music promotion or artist exposure businesses if they don't want to be.

In point of fact, the record labels and concert promoters are in that business. Radio is merely one of their tools.

 

[davideduardo]

A: actually interact with the audience, let the audience know what tunes they're spinning that are new, if they like it, keep, if they don't, get rid of it

That is why stations do music tests for both currents and the gold / recurrent library.

B: play some new music and blend it with the classics (A la 91X but maybe 10 times a week for each song)

That is once every 20 hours, approximately. The average P1 to a music station listens 6 to 10 hours a week. It is possible that those core and heavy listeners will not hear the song even once in a month

Classics aren't going to sustain a station. Look at the drops of 91X and 99X already after the announcements.

The question, then, is whether the format is sustainable at all. Some established stations with heritage (whatever that is) seem to be able to maintain themselves, and a few exceptions exist... but the question is about the longer term viability of the format. Beyond that, there is the question of record label support for the entire genre.

 

[davideduardo]

Why should new music focus only be on streaming or hd channels no one is listening to if we're talking radio companies? Why not the ol car FM?

Because, first, more than half of radio listening is not in the car. Second, over a third of homes / residences don't even have a radio any more. Third, the concentration of radio-less homes is in younger ages... under 35. Fourth, over 35 the interest in new music declines significantly.

So the new music conundrum is about whether to play new music at all if the younger demos, particularly for non-Hispanic whites, is not using OTA radio or station streams.

If people are streaming theyre not using audacy lol, they're using spotify.

No, they are using a bunch of streaming providers. In particular, a huge percentage of streaming is done on the Amazon device which is independent of those brands.

this industrys on crack

No, it is still trying to find a way to make free commercially supported radio viable.

 

[davideduardo]

Radio remains a BROADcast medium. Microformats don't do well on terrestrial radio--they're better suited for the Internet. Charlie's 80s Attic is a great example of a microformat that does well--they focus on New Wave and pop from about 1978 until about 1986, and go deep. That would never fly on terrestrial radio.

And many of the format options suggested on these boards are two narrow. What some forget is that the money source for radio stations is local and local-only audiences for micro-formats are not large enough for advertisers to be interested in them.

 

[brokentuner]

my apologies for asking this on the Atlanta board. But, what does alt 98.7 do (other iHeart media alternatives) that kroq doesn’t?

This answer is pretty easy. It’s not what each of us thinks of a playlist or a song. Everyone has an opinion on what a good rock or alternative track is, no matter how many times someone repeats it. It’s the Woody Show that propels they. Until KROQ finds a competitive morning show, it will continue to be 25th place.

 

[brokentuner]

I'd probably scale that back by at least one-half and backfill those open slots with music from the 00s and 10s.

Depending on the market, those songs traditionally are the lowest testing eras of the format.

 

[brokentuner]

And many of the format options suggested on these boards are two narrow. What some forget is that the money source for radio stations is local and local-only audiences for micro-formats are not large enough for advertisers to be interested in them.

THIS!!

 

[BJSteigner]

RAMP reports:

"The Cumulus Format Elves were busy over the weekend in Atlanta preparing for an early Christmas gift to local Alternative fans – the return of the legendary 99X is set to become official at 6am ET today. That familiar brand, which will focus on Classic Alternative hits originally made famous by the original 99X, has been rebuilt on the foundation of Classic Rock WNNX (Rock 100.5), which went dark late Friday night, but had been streaming The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" in a loop since then. The new format will also stream on 98.9 (WWWQ-HD2)."

More at RAMP - Radio and Music Pros

I wonder what will happen to WWWQ?? It was still beating WWPW in the ratings.