Atlanta Radio Ratings: June 2023

[RoddyFreeman]

I know absolutely zip but it would not surprise me if iHeart brought back 96 Rock on either 96.1 or 105.7.

I agree with you that if. . .The River's ratings stay sky high and Power's remain in the basement, 96.1 is a possibility for a challenge to The River.

I don't think 105.7 is a possibility, however. First, a full-power signal is necessary to challenge The River in ratings, which 96.1 is and 105.7 is not. Second, 105.7 does not need ratings to do well; it gets on virtually every Hispanic buy and is inexpensive to run. Third, its coverage area, though quite limited, is perfect for its target audience.

 

[acheron1982]

Mmmm... Z93 would have had to quit going so deep. Z93 was great for classic rock geeks but not for the general public, and they were also competing with 96 Rock at the time.

Agree! Z93 was more on lines of what KSHE in STL is today (minus the metal they mix in). They would play entire albums and wasn't afraid of prog rock. Not knocking The River because it's obviously working but their playlist is pretty predictable and stays away from deeper cuts and prog artist.

 

[RMarino]

I’m not suggesting that if you transplant the Z93 of 2004 and place it here today that it would be #1. I’m sure If they stayed, they would have made adjustments along the way. Even The River doesn’t sound today like it did in 2006. I’m just saying Z93 could have easily adjusted into The River’s position. But I know, this is all alternate universe fantasy stuff.

 

[101tm]

No new hit music. Arguably pop music is at its lowest point since the disco airship crashed and burned.

CHR is at an awful point right now. The “hits” don’t really flow well together, songs are taking forever to move up and down on the charts, the whole thing is off. True, some songs on the chart can’t be played due to censorship issues, but IMO the biggest factor is few big stars with high charting material (other than Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus seemed to have a one off), and a lot of the “big names” in the past few years have released so many songs that have been hits there may be a level of burnout starting to factor in. There are no new CHR sensations. A lot of what the format is playing is really just downtempo and depressing in some aspects.

Keep in mind — I’m a fan of new music. Not longing for the oldies or the old days of radio here. There’s just a serious content issue with CHR that’s being fueled by streaming. There’s good music out there but tastes have become too individualized. Taylor Swift broke out nationally on pop in 2008 which is to her advantage. Same for Miley and even The Weeknd in 2013-2014. A large consensus of the population was still listening to FM for new music back then. They didn’t become popular from TikTok videos. With stuff like TikTok now, I don’t know if they would have had the promotion or platform to be what they are in today’s radio environment.

Q99.7 has The Bert Show in their favor. Typically, CHR’s that have talent as a draw have held up better than those like Power where it’s more dependent on the music.