96.1 THE BEAT
Finally we see some upward trends. Hopefully they can stay steady in an over saturated Urban market.
When did The Beat get a new PD? Dj Louie Vee has been the PD since Summer of 2020. Did I miss a press release saying he was out?
Things to take into consideration:
• 96.1 The Beat was the official station for the Atlanta version of iHeart Jingle Ball. Atlanta was the only city that had a Hip Hop lineup vs the nationwide lineup along with the only city that an Urban station host Jingle Ball. The fact that they didn’t give POWER 105.3 hosting rights is another indication that POWER is just to have an iHM CHR in town for national buys.
• Afternoons have been hosted locally by Ferrari Simmons a little over a year ago and most recently added co host BT. Both have been heard on the competing urban stations in the past. Both also host a nationally know podcast called The Baller Alert Show.
• Music wise, there has been an obvious shift. Lots of “Throwback” songs are now heard more frequently especially those on the R&B side. This change, maybe the draw that was needed perhaps…. However, will it be enough?
• Mornings, Middays and some parts of the weekends are still syndicated/voicetracked. While many of the competing stations have mornings syndicated, the rest of the day parts are local. IMO any major market station that voice tracks/syndicate day parts outside of mornings is already a nail in the coffin, especially when there is competing stations in the same format.