BORING ATLANTA RADIO CONTINUES ON

[BIGSTICK]

Radio in this town just plain sucks. Why can't some station's get the balls to do something totally different?

 

[bobbybeth]

Radio in this town just plain sucks. Why can't some station's get the balls to do something totally different?

What would you suggest?

 

[DashRiprock]

Radio in this town just plain sucks. Why can't some station's get the balls to do something totally different?

What would you suggest?

You know, something different... lol

The fact is "totally different" usually fails. You know what works and brings in the cash? Crap like "The New New New River", that's what. Sad but true.

 

[secondchoice]

Atlanta has to have the fewest market covering signals (AM or FM) of almost any major market outside of the Washington DC to Boston mega city. I am sure some of the problems can be attributed to the urban sprawl of a market that has almost doubled in population in the last 40 years. The limited number of full coverage facilities means there is very little completion. The only two radio “wars” to the death for “core” audience is Country 94.9 taking on 101.5 and the two sports stations 790 & 680 (with the FM translator). Radio One and Cox both have made runs at V103 but both have found it more profitable to program around them since neither has an extra 100KW in town signal to effectively compete against the V. Cox even is using 95.5 to "cover" 750. 95.5 does not have a huge signal south of I 20 but it could be a viable outlet if programed correctly.

 

[BIGSTICK]

Atlanta has to have the fewest market covering signals (AM or FM) of almost any major market outside of the Washington DC to Boston mega city. I am sure some of the problems can be attributed to the urban sprawl of a market that has almost doubled in population in the last 40 years. The limited number of full coverage facilities means there is very little completion. The only two radio “wars” to the death for “core” audience is Country 94.9 taking on 101.5 and the two sports stations 790 & 680 (with the FM translator). Radio One and Cox both have made runs at V103 but both have found it more profitable to program around them since neither has an extra 100KW in town signal to effectively compete against the V. Cox even is using 95.5 to "cover" 750. 95.5 does not have a huge signal south of I 20 but it could be a viable outlet if programed correctly.

Very true, good answer...

 

[jabba17]

Atlanta has to have the fewest market covering signals (AM or FM) of almost any major market outside of the Washington DC to Boston mega city. I am sure some of the problems can be attributed to the urban sprawl of a market that has almost doubled in population in the last 40 years.

It also doesn't help that frequency allocations were handed out when the ATL metro was MUCH smaller. Why did ATL only get 4 VHF stations allocated instead of the theoretical max of 7 like NYC and other large cities? Why does ATL only have one class A clear, vs. NYC, Chicago, etc.?

 

[BIGSTICK]

Atlanta got totally screwed by the FCC when they were doling out power and frequencies, especially on AM.

 

[charlestondxman]

Atlanta's AM radio was allocated in the 1930s, when the area had less than a million people. That's why the area only has one clear.

 

[OgOgglby]

If Atlanta wanted to listen to something totally different, there would be a bigger audience for the college stations.

 

[atlantaboy]

I feel like Dave-FM is definitely "different", and it's got really solid ratings

 

[jabba17]

I feel like Dave-FM is definitely "different", and it's got really solid ratings

Dave FM was different when it first flipped from Z93 and the AAA format was still coming together, but now AAA isn't anything special. Ditto with 99X and the alt rock format right after the Power 99 flip.

 

[upstate29651]

Why did ATL only get 4 VHF stations allocated instead of the theoretical max of 7 like NYC and other large cities?

This matters not in the world of DTV.

G

 

[jabba17]

Why did ATL only get 4 VHF stations allocated instead of the theoretical max of 7 like NYC and other large cities? 

This matters not in the world of DTV.

G

It doesn't, since we really only have 2 VHF stations today (WGTV on channel 8 and WXIA on channel 10), and nobody wants to do DTV on channels 2-6.  WSB-TV and WAGA are on UHF 39 and 27, respectively.  I was making a point about how ATL has outgrown its mid-20th-century small-town allocations on all broadcast services, just using the old analog TV allocations as another example even though they don't matter today. 

 

[secondchoice]

Atlanta's AM radio was allocated in the 1930s, when the area had less than a million people. That's why the area only has one clear.

How did Nashville get 2 A's 650 & 1510? Was is more money, (both where owned buy Insurance Co.s) or politics?

 

[Who wants to know]

You have FM, AM, your own music on iPod, CD, etc, online listening, mobile devices, etc, etc etc. If you still can't find what you want, the problem is you.

 

[BIGSTICK]

Atlanta's AM radio was allocated in the 1930s, when the area had less than a million people. That's why the area only has one clear.

How did Nashville get 2 A's 650 & 1510? Was is more money, (both where owned buy Insurance Co.s) or politics?

Totally agree on that one,,,,,

 

[kilamanjero]

Atlanta has to have the fewest market covering signals (AM or FM) of almost any major market outside of the Washington DC to Boston mega city. I am sure some of the problems can be attributed to the urban sprawl of a market that has almost doubled in population in the last 40 years. The limited number of full coverage facilities means there is very little completion. The only two radio “wars” to the death for “core” audience is Country 94.9 taking on 101.5 and the two sports stations 790 & 680 (with the FM translator). Radio One and Cox both have made runs at V103 but both have found it more profitable to program around them since neither has an extra 100KW in town signal to effectively compete against the V. Cox even is using 95.5 to "cover" 750. 95.5 does not have a huge signal south of I 20 but it could be a viable outlet if programed correctly.

Well, funny thing is V-103 is on the only urban formatted flamethrower FM in the South that survived Cox. Birmingham like Atlanta had a heritage urban on a flamethrower signal FM, WENN-FM @ 107.7, but defeated to 2 rimshots owned by Cox (whom later moved-in to that market with full coverage in present day). It was later was swallowed by that very corporation and now on the AM dial with only a class A simulcast. V-103's survival has more to do with its luck of being purchased by Infinity (now CBS), and quite proactive musical programming in response to competition. Otherwise, V would have been succumbed to Cox and Radio One's attempts to beat them at the urban format.

On FM allocation, a great chunk of the market's FM stations are "move-ins" in the market like Q100 (100.5), which used to be Anniston, AL but moved to the Atlanta market in 2001. It's also the only on of the move-ins that lucked up on a centralized location for a tower with full market coverage. However, 104.1, 107.9, and 95.5 are all move-in signals as well, but are still only viable to a portion of the market (mainly the locales where the core audience resides). Very few of the market's class C signals were originally assigned to the region, thus a huge market with a plethora of rimshots.

 

[atlantaboy]

I feel like Dave-FM is definitely "different", and it's got really solid ratings

Dave FM was different when it first flipped from Z93 and the AAA format was still coming together, but now AAA isn't anything special. Ditto with 99X and the alt rock format right after the Power 99 flip.

If Dave-FM and 99X are "boring", I'm not sure what you guys want in terms of "exciting" radio...a new experimental format like the Click Modern AC stations? Or some type of a dance format?

 

[Wildstyle K]

I feel like Dave-FM is definitely "different", and it's got really solid ratings

Dave FM was different when it first flipped from Z93 and the AAA format was still coming together, but now AAA isn't anything special. Ditto with 99X and the alt rock format right after the Power 99 flip.

If Dave-FM and 99X are "boring", I'm not sure what you guys want in terms of "exciting" radio...a new experimental format like the Click Modern AC stations? Or some type of a dance format?

No that's just me. I'm the 1 crazy person in the United States that loves dance, but for some reason, talks about rhythmic top 40 instead.

 

[whit979]

On FM allocation, a great chunk of the market's FM stations are "move-ins" in the market like Q100 (100.5), which used to be Anniston, AL but moved to the Atlanta market in 2001.

I would imagine that Anniston continues to be a thorn in Atlanta's side as several frequencies (95.5, 97.9) are being used there as well, thus preventing some Atlanta stations from having better signals.