• 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

After The Red Sweaters Are Hung Back In The Closet...Then What?

Yeah, the 'fresh' factor is certainly wearing off. Every day I listen, nothing changes. No new adds like there should be. I'm hearing them say a lot "What does fresh mean to you?...then a comment that 'it's a mix of old and new'", or something along those lines. Kind of hard to understand how anything from the 80s can be considered "fresh", but whatever. Not that I mind the songs (as long as it's not something like "True" or "Father Figure"), but thought I'd point out that they are actively promoting that they play these older songs. Still wish during the day they sounded like they do late nights.

Now that Magic 98.9 is officially without a named PD, I wonder what's going to happen there. I still don't think they have anything to worry about in the long run, but it's rather stale as well.
 
I also noticed a promo (can't remember if they had it pre-Christmas/Chuck) where they claim to have the "biggest variety" in the Upstate. Well, first of all, they don't have the biggest variety. And second of all, if they're claiming to be "fresh" then they shouldn't be trying to take on a variety station when they shouldn't be playing a variety of music that isn't "fresh" to begin with.

I was able to listen today for like almost an hour straight without switching (only "older" song was INXS during that timeperiod). But that's only because they're playing songs that I can tolerate.
However, they're beginning to sound just as repetitive as stations like B93.7. I like that they shy away from the urban influence that the Top 40 has become (nothing wrong about that as far as playing "all the hits" is concerned, but not everyone has the same taste).

NEW music with some upbeat 80s and 90s is fresh enough for me. But as repetitive as B93.7 is, playing nothing new week after week is worse when it comes to keeping listeners coming back to MY.
 
awp69 said:
I also noticed a promo (can't remember if they had it pre-Christmas/Chuck) where they claim to have the "biggest variety" in the Upstate. Well, first of all, they don't have the biggest variety. And second of all, if they're claiming to be "fresh" then they shouldn't be trying to take on a variety station when they shouldn't be playing a variety of music that isn't "fresh" to begin with.

I was able to listen today for like almost an hour straight without switching (only "older" song was INXS during that timeperiod). But that's only because they're playing songs that I can tolerate.
However, they're beginning to sound just as repetitive as stations like B93.7. I like that they shy away from the urban influence that the Top 40 has become (nothing wrong about that as far as playing "all the hits" is concerned, but not everyone has the same taste).

NEW music with some upbeat 80s and 90s is fresh enough for me. But as repetitive as B93.7 is, playing nothing new week after week is worse when it comes to keeping listeners coming back to MY.
Click to expand...
No, they don't have the biggest variety (that goes to Magic 98.9, Chuck, or even 92.5 WESC), but they shouldn't have it. "Hot AC" is a very focused format. They FINALLY added something new today - Colbie Caillat's "Brighter Than The Sun"
B-93 actually plays some Hot AC/adult top 40 songs that MY could be playing, such as Gavin DeGraw, The Fray, Adele, etc. Unfortunately, non-rhythmic music just isn't a big part of "all the hits" right now, but props to B for playing the ones that are.

If you click this link, you can see all of the currents being played on 102.5. The majority of those are played on the national playlist, between 12am and 5/6am actually.

One thing, the more stale they sound, the more Delilah fits in...
 
carolinaradio said:
If you click this link, you can see all of the currents being played on 102.5. The majority of those are played on the national playlist, between 12am and 5/6am actually.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. Even with the few additional "currents" on there, it's still pretty depressing to look through the whole playlist. I mean they still have the Commodores and SIX Michael Jackson songs?!? That stings when you call yourself a "fresh" station.
 
Yeah, they play 6. Looking over and seeing ABBA is even worse. I saw that B-98.5 in Atlanta dropped Delilah, and they're even older sounding than MY.

In addition to "Brighter Than The Sun", they added "You & I" by Lady Gaga and "Just A Kiss" by Lad Antebellum. I also heard them play "The Remedy" by Jason Mraz, which I've never heard them play either (even though it's several years old).
 
Squeezed by 93.7 on one side, squeezed by 98.9 on the other. And now toss 97.7 into the mix to give their old fans someplace else to go. It's the reason Hot AC in a midsized Southern market is a slow death. Imagine how "unfresh" they'll be sounding a year from now. The first full book (Fall 11) may look ok because of the honeymoon, but watch it erode after that.
 
carolinaradio said:
as long as it's not something like "True" or "Father Figure"
Click to expand...
I like "True". I hate "Father Figure".

It's ironic. I read here that someone was accusing WFBC of being more rhythmic than Charlotte's Channel 96.1, which is still rhythmic. They may say it isn't, but I haven't heard anything that wasn't.
 
MarkSC said:
Squeezed by 93.7 on one side, squeezed by 98.9 on the other.  And now toss 97.7 into the mix to give their old fans someplace else to go.  It's the reason Hot AC in a midsized Southern market is a slow death.  Imagine how "unfresh" they'll be sounding a year from now.  The first full book (Fall 11) may look ok because of the honeymoon, but watch it erode after that.
Click to expand...

I hope this isn't true. If they stick to genuine Hot AC and not try to milk the older market by still playing the softer 70s stuff, I do think they have a place. I find it hard to believe that there isn't a 30-50 age group in particular that doesn't like a lot of the rhythmic stuff on B93.7 and that 98.9 is too old/slow for them. There's gotta be a said "Gen X" group that wants something in the middle there.

I think the problem is that they really do need to stay "fresh". If they don't, it's just sad. With that kind of format, you can't cater to everyone. But I still think you can thrive if you stick with what Hot AC really means. Jumping back too far (ie. Commodores, Michael Jackson, Abba...) from your core audience isn't going to help. They have to go whole hog if they want to do it right.


I think Chuck is a well-programmed station, but the more I listen, the more I feel they're a threat to Rock 101 more than any other station. Chuck has got to be close to being at least half 70s rock with some 80s, a few 90s and a few 60s mixed in. But definately older leaning than the Generation X crowd grew up with.
 
carolinaradio said:
They also added "Stereo Hearts", so they added 4 new songs
Click to expand...

Wow, 4 songs. Probably a record since the format flip. I had thought they were playing "You and I" prior to Christmas though. I'm probably wrong.

In any case, I hope they continue. I feel like just abusing that link you provided with "requests" for new songs they haven't added during the day just to give them a hint.
 
awp69 said:
MarkSC said:
Squeezed by 93.7 on one side, squeezed by 98.9 on the other. And now toss 97.7 into the mix to give their old fans someplace else to go. It's the reason Hot AC in a midsized Southern market is a slow death. Imagine how "unfresh" they'll be sounding a year from now. The first full book (Fall 11) may look ok because of the honeymoon, but watch it erode after that.
Click to expand...

I hope this isn't true. If they stick to genuine Hot AC and not try to milk the older market by still playing the softer 70s stuff, I do think they have a place. I find it hard to believe that there isn't a 30-50 age group in particular that doesn't like a lot of the rhythmic stuff on B93.7 and that 98.9 is too old/slow for them. There's gotta be a said "Gen X" group that wants something in the middle there.

I think the problem is that they really do need to stay "fresh". If they don't, it's just sad. With that kind of format, you can't cater to everyone. But I still think you can thrive if you stick with what Hot AC really means. Jumping back too far (ie. Commodores, Michael Jackson, Abba...) from your core audience isn't going to help. They have to go whole hog if they want to do it right.


I think Chuck is a well-programmed station, but the more I listen, the more I feel they're a threat to Rock 101 more than any other station. Chuck has got to be close to being at least half 70s rock with some 80s, a few 90s and a few 60s mixed in. But definately older leaning than the Generation X crowd grew up with.
Click to expand...
Mark may have a point about 97.7 - if MY was trying to include the older 70s/80s songs to hold on to their old audience, that audience (that can receive it) may now go to Chuck, if they haven't already defected to Magic. Typically, a variety hits station like Chuck caters to the Gen-X audience, but 97.7 is an exception for that format.

I agree that it will erode if they don't stay 'fresh' like Hot AC should be - regular Hot AC struggles badly or is (in most cases) non-existent in the south except for large markets or in Florida - if someone could tell me why, I'd appreciate it, but it just doesn't do great. If they don't go 'whole hog', which I question, it could just be a memory in a year or so. To make it work, they really need to know what they're doing.
 
did someone forget their meds? i think that you will see 98.9 try to closer align themselves with 102.5 after christmas. the past couple of trends have favored 102.5. christmas might save the book for 98.9 and prop up a 4 book average but at some point the mainstream ac will need to evolve as the current artists become irrelevent.
Click to expand...
 
Think I jinxed myself by reading that playlist with six Michael Jackson songs on it. Hadn't heard a single one of them since the switch back from Christmas music, but then heard two already today. Yuck.
 
By the way, take a look at the Holiday PPM ratings coming in from around the country this week, and tell me again that Christmas music doesnt work for AC stations.
 
MarkSC said:
By the way, take a look at the Holiday PPM ratings coming in from around the country this week, and tell me again that Christmas music doesnt work for AC stations.
Click to expand...

Don't disagree that it may work. Just didn't feel that it fit MY's new image. And Magic seems to do a better job at it anyway. Haven't seen GSP ratings yet.
 
GSP doesn't have PPM ratings yet. So you don't get the isolated "Holiday" month. But in Top 50 markets where you do, that month is through the roof for AC Christmas stations. Here the book ends a couple of weeks before Christmas, which lessens the impact, but it is also true that WMYI and WSPA haven't been doing as well with Christmas music in recent years. Probably has a lot to do with the program director, or lack of one.
 
WMYI uses the national Christmas feed from Clear Channel, so it's pretty hard to mess up. Other Clear Channel stations use it with much success. Seems like their fault would be on a local level. It did terribly for them last year, as well, even when they were traditional AC and it fit their format.

WSPA doesn't do extremely well with Christmas, but I believe they've been ahead of WMYI for the past couple of years. Their execution is better, no question.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom