If it's so irrelevant, why did they make the change to Q99-7. Which, IMO, sounds wayyy more clunky on the air than Q100
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99 X Is Back
- Thread starter davideduardo
- Start date
Yes, I meant NE. Thanks for the correction.
99X plays an interesting mix of music. On the station's playlist, I notice that it played "Fame" by David Bowie at 7:57 am. Released in 1975, "Fame" is probably the oldest song that has been played on 99X so far.
Per Mediabase, I’ve seen a few of those titles. Seems like a strategic attempt to chip at some 97.1 listeners.
There was a 1990 remix of the song, which might have been what was played.
"99X" is the brand and the image.... so much so I believe they have a trademark on it. Again, it doesn't matter what the frequency is. No one is writing down frequencies in diaries anymore so it really doesn't matter. There are plenty of TV stations today that don't refer to their channel numbers. In fact, some reference their cable channel number over their actual OTA digital or previous analog frequency.... and with re-mapping, most of the public don't even know what channel's they're actually on. When "Q100" was moved to 99.7, it was "Q100" for awhile because that's what they were known as... and yes, they did as you say, change the imaging to "Q99.7" HOWEVER, this was done before all the smart speakers and voice commands we live with now. So again, you can call a radio station whatever you want these days and get away with not having the local frequency as part of it's image.
Traffic and weather reports are most likely coming from iHeart's Total Traffic and are recorded. Cumulus has an agreement with Total Traffic for their stations nationwide. Most run 15 second reports with an ad within a spot break. So Cumulus is probably rolling with the current deal on this station just like the others.
Traffic and weather reports are most likely coming from iHeart's Total Traffic and are recorded. Cumulus has an agreement with Total Traffic for their stations nationwide. Most run 15 second reports with an ad within a spot break. So Cumulus is probably rolling with the current deal on this station just like the others.
And River was playing Pearl Jam on the way home this PM.
As someone who was just a couple months shy of 18 and a senior in high school when Power 99 became 99X, I find the playlist to be excellent. Funny thing is, I've had a hard time actually categorizing it. When it was the station that was "No Labels," it was obviously alternative to me, but, today, "no labels" would be accurate. I'm not entirely sure if it's a rock leaning classic hits station or if it's a AAA without currents. Probably 85% or more of the songs it's playing were hits, though quite-a-few might not have been top-10 hits, but it doesn't sound like any other classic hits station. It also sounds like my local AAA station, which is also owned by Cumulus, if you remove the new music.
We'll see next month if music makes a difference in the ratings.
I think they should have considered keeping the current focused alternative format on the 98.9 translator for the listeners who want to hear newer alternative music and they could cross-promote the two frequencies letting listeners tuned into 98.9 to listen to 100.5 for the classics and vice-versa on the 100.5 signal. This should maximize their ad revenues; and from what I understand, the 98.9 translator offers no improved coverage area for 99X.
It is a classic alternative format.
I suppose so. Problem is "modern alternative" hasn't done well in Atlanta...and nationally it's dying a painful death outside of a few select markets. As 98.9 isn't much of a value add in its current use, your idea may be worthy.
That's thanks to its height. It isn't much shorter than the 1000ft tall sticks a few miles away.
To overcome the Summetime tropo issues, I wonder if it's possible to lower antenna height and add power? Or would that make a difference?
That's what they're calling it, but it doesn't sound alternative to me. Maybe it's just because a lot of those songs, especially from the mid-90's, eventually became hits and are now familiar. If I were to rewind back to college, this iteration of 99X would sound a lot more like top-40 than alternative. A lot of songs the alternative station in my college town played aren't being touched by 99X, though one could likely make the case that those songs have long since burned with most people my age. Cumulus doesn't do much of anything haphazardly. So, I'm sure it was well-researched, and the songs that are no longer widely popular have been removed.
They can call it what they want, but, to me, it fits a lot better alongside classic hits and AAA than it does any of today's alternative or classic rock stations.
Whatever. People in radio aren't musicologists or historians. They just play music in the hope that enough people will listen that they can sell the audience to advertisers. Ultimately, this format is best for non-commercial radio.
I was mainly referring to it as how I would categorize it for my own enjoyment. I tend to listen to stations based on my mood, and I tend to listen to different formats on different days. From my standpoint, it seems to fit better when I'm in the mood for the familiarity of classic hits. I know several people have commented on the lean of the station, though. So, I don't think it was totally off topic or irrelevant.
Time will tell. Personally, I could see the playlist burning quickly. Might also be too small of a niche, though someone else mentioned Atlanta's not having a true classic hits station could also mean it gets a wider opening than a similar station in another market might have. That it hasn't started playing Christmas music means I'm likely to listen to it more than other stations over the next few weeks. Whether or not I'm listening a month or two down the road remains to be seen.
You do what works for best for you, and they'll do the same. They stuck with active rock for years, so they'll probably do the same this time.
All of it was played on Alternative stations at some point.
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