In this unique case of 99X, I offer that you might want to reconsider that observation. In the long term it might work, it might not, but as of this writing I have spent the greater part of the past four days listening to the stream and it sounds like some really smart hands are curating that playlist. I wish those hands well.
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99 X Is Back
- Thread starter davideduardo
- Start date
I agree. I believe Brian Philips himself has had a hand in this. 99X was his baby and part of his legacy.
If Cumulus is smart they will pull a Cox and take the "turn and burn" approach that has worked well for B98.5 and River. Do a music test, make a playlist, and test it again and again and again. Cox will burn a playlist but turn it over as soon as it gets the least bit charred. I know everyone does it but Cox has raised it to an art form. Cumulus can do this much more easily with classic alt than a currents-based format.
Exactly this. I’ve heard some songs repeated but then I’ll get that “Oh, wow..” factor and hear something like “Heartbreak Beat” by The Psychedelic Furs or “Girlfriend” by Matthew Sweet” or “Down by the Water” by PJ Harvey.
As I told someone else the other day, THIS is the kind of Classic Alternative playlist I’ve always wanted, with this type of curation. I hope Cumulus makes 99X merch. I grew up in Savannah, and always admired 99X from afar. I may live in Alaska now but I’m digging the station and will rep the hell out of it up here!
That's only because a current based format does current testing and there is no way to test a song until it has been on the air at least about 100 plays. You can't assume that binge fan listening on streams indicates playability on your station, so you play, wait and test as well as following trending online. And you still test recurrent and gold in the "old fashioned way" but with a higher turnover percentage.
Gold based formats simply test the library each time plus a big list of possibilities. The possible songs may be newer one that you think are "ready now" as well as songs that have been marginal but may retest higher after a long rest and even songs that got exposure in a hit movie or TV show.
Playlists don't "burn", but individual songs can decline in "like" scores as they age. Often, as the station researches people who were too young last year and others who are now too old this year are cut out, some very old songs die and newer ones suddenly fit. So it is an ongoing process if the age target remains the same while the songs get older and older and older...
I've studied hundreds of station playlists in Mediabase including the two you mentioned, and I can tell you that most of them rotate songs in and out of their active playlists on a weekly basis. Even gold based stations operate their music as if they were currents based stations. Its not unusual for as many as a couple hundred songs a week to be either removed or cycled to different spots in the playlist. They don't just play the same songs week after week at the same time.
This was launched in the middle of the Christmas book and talent won’t show up until the January book gets underway. So any sort of verdict might have to wait until February. But if Elliot in the Morning was as bad a ratings disaster for WNNX as Rodney Ho was alluding to, then there’s nowhere to go but up.
Anyway around the ajc.com pay wall, for those of us residing out of state?
The renewed 99X sounds a lot like The Other Side of The River. I have long thought Cox should have put TOSOTR on a stronger signal, but wondered if Cox was afraid it would cannibalize The River. If 99X is successful it might highlight a missed opportunity for Cox and TOSOTR.
I also think 99X has a good playlist but TOSOTR has had an awesome playlist for a long time, I assume due to Steve Craig's magic. At this point, to me 99X sounds more like more familiar alternative hits and songs and TOSOTR is deeper, but I know that could change and evolve.
I also think 99X has a good playlist but TOSOTR has had an awesome playlist for a long time, I assume due to Steve Craig's magic. At this point, to me 99X sounds more like more familiar alternative hits and songs and TOSOTR is deeper, but I know that could change and evolve.
What signal could Cox put TOSOTR on? The only one that comes to mind is 103.7 WXKT Chuck FM.
Also, while TOSOTR plays quite a bit of 80s alt (more than 99X did back in the day), the new 99X plays significantly more. But yeah, the new 99X sounds closer to TOSOTR than the old 99X.
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Cox had alternative for a while - on 107.1 WTSH and the 107.1 translator in Atlanta (which I believe actually translated either 95.5 HD2 or 98.5 HD2). For whatever reason, the playlist was nowhere nearly as compelling as TOSOTR.
Didn't sound a whole lot different than Radio 105.7 at the time.
Given the technical limitations of those signals and the existence of a direct competitor, its ratings weren't horrible. Usually just under a 1 share.
Didn't sound a whole lot different than Radio 105.7 at the time.
Given the technical limitations of those signals and the existence of a direct competitor, its ratings weren't horrible. Usually just under a 1 share.
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Yeah, X107.1 had a terrible playlist.
Also, Cox tried and failed to keep the two 107.1 signals in sync, which resulted in listenability issues which sounded like multipath from hell.
Davis is now using WTSH 107.1 for La Raza (not sure if Davis bought it outright or is just LMAing it), and there's another 107.1 translator that is translating WJBB (the old WIMO) out of Winder. I have a preset in the car for 107.1 to listen to WJBB, and the WJBB translator and WTSH fight each other hard. Not sure how someone could shoehorn another translator intown in there.
Cox could put TOSOTR back on the W228CA 93.5 Suwanee translator (they're still IDing for it on TOSOTR), which like the 97.7 Duluth translator and WSRV transmits from the Chateau Elan tower, but it's a lot less directional than the 97.7 translator and 250W vs 75W. Last time I checked, Cox was still using 93.5 for WSB, perhaps as a fill-in after WSBB moved intown from the Chateau Elan tower.
Wasn’t Cox at one time trying to put TOSOTR on a potential translator on that very tall cell tower located at Sugarloaf Parkway and I-85 in Duluth?
Yes--that used to be the location of the Suwanee 93.5 translator. According to Radio-Locator it's now on the Chateau Elan tower. If Cox is trying to use it as a fill-in for WSBB, that makes more sense.
Since nobody's going to punch a hole in an office building with 250 or fewer watts, coverage (meaning HAAT) has been the name of the game for translators. And unlike regular Class Cx or A signals, there's no HAAT limit for translators. That's why so many of them are at the tops of TV towers and other tall sticks.
250 watts can penetrate building, but the radius for the needed signal to do so is more limited.
My first FM, which I built in 1966, had a 250 watt transmitter and at first had a single bay vertical only antenna at about 80 feet HAAT. It covered almost all of a market of over 1 million. The first upgrade was to a location that was about 800 feet above the city center and about 10,600' above sea level, sitill with 250 watts but a 4 bay antenna. We got into buildings in the adjoining but lower valley area. The final site was at about 13,000 feet above sea level and around 3000 feet above the central core of the city. And still at 250 watts with a 4 bay vertical only antenna. In upper income listeners, our target, the station was #2 out of over 30 stations and second only to my AM Top 40 station.
Despite never increasing power, we never got complaints on building penetration, and almost all commercial buildings, apartments and single family homes were concrete with rebar and metal mesh columns and walls.
In the US, the limit on height is the protection of other stations required of each facility.
I have had it on all morning…I’m loving it. I feel like a kid again in my 20s Have been listening online for years off and on but really liking this give or take 1979-2009 focus with a huge helping of 80s --90s modern/alternative rock. Have driven through Atlanta several times and always had 99X on cranked up.
It’s interesting to me how Atlanta seems to attract pretty interesting variations of formats. Classic alternative isn’t something new with 99X but it’s rare. Star 94 is one of its kind, Dave FM was very unique. B98.5 is very different for an AC (bordering on hot AC), and 97.1 The River is a bit unique for a classic hits station with its extensive rock lean.
And Star 94 is a whole other subject.
I don't think the River is all that different from the Eagle in either Jacksonville or Tampa.
And, for the record, I love Star.
Looks like they fixed the station title on the HD feed today to show “99X - the Original.” I have noticed that the RBDS has only been working on analog this whole time. The HD signal hasn’t been broadcasting the song name and title yet. Today they have been experimenting with it. It appears to be one to two songs behind. But they keep flipping back to the RBDS text. So hopefully they fix this. The tuner in my VW shows the RBDS from analog in HD mode.
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