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B98.5 goes hot AC
- Thread starter jal41
- Start date
Your right, I consider them Hot AC but I don't think it was a recent change. The playlist looks like it has for a while now. I have been hearing Lady GaGa on there for months.
Star and B are at war. One of them will meet the end (I think B).
Star and B are at war. One of them will meet the end (I think B).
Guys, B98.5 isn't anywhere close to being Hot AC - their playlist is pretty similar to a lot of other mainstream ACs nowadays
They only have 3 Hot AC currents in their entire playlist (Rumor Has It, Stronger, and Part Of Me) - that's 3 titles out of 50 on the Hot AC chart...
They only have 3 Hot AC currents in their entire playlist (Rumor Has It, Stronger, and Part Of Me) - that's 3 titles out of 50 on the Hot AC chart...
There are many songs that are not played on AC stations though. I was looking at the AC charts and while I may not went back far enough, several songs on the AC charts are NOT on the playlist for B. Rhianna's little dance song was on B today and that is NOT on other AC stations unless I'm missing something. Check out the MIX 96 website out of Tulsa. This is also an AC station provided by COX. There is a clear difference in the song selection.
Some people seem to think that if a station plays a wider variety of currents on the AC chart and doesn't play 70s music, it's "Hot AC"...atlantaboy said:
acheron82 said:
Rihanna's #15 on the AC chart this week - sorry, man, but you gotta get with the times
Anyway, compare B98.5's playlist to the AC chart - it's pretty much spot on, even a little conservative as you get past the AC Top 10
http://www.allaccess.com/mediabase/q/report/playlist/station/WSB-FM
http://www.allaccess.com/mediabase/q/report/sevenDay/format/A1/panel/R/detail/C/reportType/R
I know I've been hard on B98.5, but their music mix is actually getting worse with today's latest changes. They're playing songs that are miles from the mainstream AC wheelhouse ("Pumped Up Kicks," "U + Ur Hand," "Born This Way," "Single Ladies"), blatantly cherry-picking recurrents that were specifically hits for Star 94, and awkwardly peppering them with Journey, Pat Benatar and The Police two or three times an hour.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, they're trying too damn hard to be Star 94 and since the imaging and most of their jocks lack hipness, they sound like followers. Their music absolutely needed to evolve, but they've taken it too far.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, they're trying too damn hard to be Star 94 and since the imaging and most of their jocks lack hipness, they sound like followers. Their music absolutely needed to evolve, but they've taken it too far.
Ok, well I need someone to school me on this. First off, personally, I like the format. I personally don't care for pansy soft rock or whatever they call. Regardless, @atlantaboy mentioned that Rihanna is number 15 on the AC charts. I see this comes from allaccess which, from what I can tell, combines AC and HotAC. I'm looking at this weeks AC charts on billboard and they show Lionel Richie/Shania Twain song at number 15. Is billboard no longer accurate? I'm a little confused.
http://www.billboard.com/charts/adu...ts/adult-contemporary?begin=11&order=position
http://www.billboard.com/charts/adu...ts/adult-contemporary?begin=11&order=position
Ok- After reviewing both charts, I see what you are saying now. Would it be safe to say that it's the AC format that has drastically evolved within the last year? I don't think its a mistake for so many people to notice the change. It's hard for me to tell a difference between AC and Hot AC.
There's been something of a paradigm shift across the board. CHR/Pop has moved to a more turbo-pop and rhythmic-based sound. In turn, Hot AC has shifted slightly towards CHR/Pop, and AC has shifted slightly towards more HAC/Pop material.
In Atlanta, Q100 and Star 94 have maintained their respective niches despite the broader national shifts. Despite AC's increased receptiveness to Pop material, B98.5's shift towards Hot AC has been excessive in my opinion.
I personally like a lot of the titles B has added, but I think they're entirely out of place on that particular station. Matchbox Twenty is my favorite band of all time, but I still found it bizarre and obnoxious when Q100 played their entire catalog until about three years ago. Great music, wrong formats. And by skewing to Hot AC, B98.5 begs a comparison to Star 94...and frankly, I feel Star does HAC better in every respect.
In Atlanta, Q100 and Star 94 have maintained their respective niches despite the broader national shifts. Despite AC's increased receptiveness to Pop material, B98.5's shift towards Hot AC has been excessive in my opinion.
I personally like a lot of the titles B has added, but I think they're entirely out of place on that particular station. Matchbox Twenty is my favorite band of all time, but I still found it bizarre and obnoxious when Q100 played their entire catalog until about three years ago. Great music, wrong formats. And by skewing to Hot AC, B98.5 begs a comparison to Star 94...and frankly, I feel Star does HAC better in every respect.
Wow, B-98.5 is playing Fun. - "We Are Young", Gotye - "Somebody That I Used To Know", and The Wanted - "Glad You Came"....
Some of this stuff like "Rock Your Body", "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Where Is The Love" is also strange - I think they're taking it a bit too far. Some of that 80s stuff is really out of the left field. They sort of remind me of WLNK in Charlotte...
Some of this stuff like "Rock Your Body", "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Where Is The Love" is also strange - I think they're taking it a bit too far. Some of that 80s stuff is really out of the left field. They sort of remind me of WLNK in Charlotte...
carolinaradio said:
We Are Young, Somebody That I Used To Know, Glad You Came, and Pumped Up Kicks were all added yesterday, so I wonder if it's possible that by this time next week they actually might have a semi-Hot AC playlist
Still though, Gotye is #14 on the mainstream AC chart, Fun is #18 on mainstream AC, and The Wanted is #22 on mainstream AC, so I don't think we can call this a format change yet...
TheMusicMan said:
It's working though - B98.5 has the highest ratings it's had since Christmas
atlantaboy said:
I'm not from this market, but if you're playing Gotye, Fun., and The Wanted, you're a Hot AC... doesn't matter if it's top 25 on AC. AC stations don't add songs like that until they reach top 10, top 5.
R
Radio1360
Guest
Speaking of that, will B98.5 still have their Christmas songs format fromatlantaboy said:
Thanksgiving eve to Christmas Day?
lovejamminoldies said:
Lol are you seriously saying that AC stations can't add songs until they're top 10 on the AC chart :
If that were true, there wouldn't be an AC chart below #10 - you do realize that Hot AC has a separate chart, right?
You're right, atlantaboy, but one thing about the AC chart (and I admit my knowledge is less than of the CHR and Hot AC formats) is that there aren't really consensus hits below the Top 10 threshold, much like true CHR "hits" don't emerge until around the #20 mark, and HAC around #15-#20. For instance, "Glad You Came" is sitting at #22 on AC right now. Sounds reasonable, but with 149 spins, 146 of which are from a whopping SIX stations, what does that really mean?
I can excuse Gotye, that will probably be a legitimate AC hit. But some of the recurrents they've added are too extreme for AC, regardless of how the format's evolved. You're telling me that "Pumped Up Kicks," "Break Your Heart" and "U + Ur Hand" don't sound out of place on a Mainstream AC? Yes, ACs should be more current than B98.5 circa 2009, but at what point is the AC/Hot AC barrier finally breached?
They've moved their sonic core towards pure pop, and now Q100, Star 94 and B98.5 are basically fighting over the same material. There's very little differentiation, and that's one of my biggest frustrations. Remember how everyone was calling out Star 94 for copying Q100 in 2008? I'm getting eerie flashbacks to that era, just substitute B98.5 for Star. I just get a vibe of desperation listening to B98.5 nowadays. You're right that their ratings have risen after a rough Q1, although I haven't seen breakdowns in a few months. Let's see how things progress this summer.
I can excuse Gotye, that will probably be a legitimate AC hit. But some of the recurrents they've added are too extreme for AC, regardless of how the format's evolved. You're telling me that "Pumped Up Kicks," "Break Your Heart" and "U + Ur Hand" don't sound out of place on a Mainstream AC? Yes, ACs should be more current than B98.5 circa 2009, but at what point is the AC/Hot AC barrier finally breached?
They've moved their sonic core towards pure pop, and now Q100, Star 94 and B98.5 are basically fighting over the same material. There's very little differentiation, and that's one of my biggest frustrations. Remember how everyone was calling out Star 94 for copying Q100 in 2008? I'm getting eerie flashbacks to that era, just substitute B98.5 for Star. I just get a vibe of desperation listening to B98.5 nowadays. You're right that their ratings have risen after a rough Q1, although I haven't seen breakdowns in a few months. Let's see how things progress this summer.
TheMusicMan said:
That there are 6 AC stations playing it which lean Hot AC
Lovejamminoldies was essentially saying that all AC stations playing The Wanted, Gotye, and Fun need to be moved to the Hot AC panel, because they're playing tracks below the AC Top 10
It's like saying that all CHR stations playing Birthday Cake by Rihanna need to be moved to the Rhythmic panel, or that they're not really CHR stations, because they're playing a track below the CHR top 40 that's not a "consensus hit"
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