Comeback? Where it is best done, it does enormously well. Just look at LA!
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Can B-96 be saved
- Thread starter pumpin73
- Start date
You are a 25-44 woman? That is the main target of CHR.
31 year old male, but I do generally enjoy CHR and Hot AC. Which formats would ideally be targeting me? Also listen to classic/adult hits, classic rock, and occasionally alternative.
That would be awesome. 96.3 Jack-FM. Would even have the same ownership as the original 104.3 Jack-FM.
What formats that play current music target 25-44 men these days? Certainly not CHR, country or any shade of AC, including urban AC. Are men assumed to enjoy only aggressive guitar-heavy active rock, alternative or hip-hop, otherwise preferring old music, right-wing talk, "guy talk" or sports?
I saw where they changed their morning show. Why did the morning mess relocate from Phoenix to Chicago only to be let go months later. not fair
The Morning Mess moved to Chicago in 2022, which was almost two years ago. It looks like they signed a 2 year deal.
Live 101.5 Phoenix’s Morning Mess To Move To B96 Chicago
"The Morning Mess" is relocating from Audacy CHR "Live 101.5" KALV Phoenix to "B96" WBBM-FM Chicago. The show features Joey
radioinsight.com
Last summer, one of their members moved back to Phoenix.
Joey Boy Departs Chicago's 'Morning Mess' In Favor Of Phoenix - Radio Ink
Audacy Chicago's B96 (WBBM) is having an AM split as Morning Mess co-host "Joey Boy" Rodriguez returns to Phoenix.
radioink.com
Reminder that B96 hired a new PD last year.
Molly Cruz Moves To B96 As Brand Manager
Following yesterday's resignation of Todd Cavanah after 33 years, Audacy has appointed Molly Cruz as Brand Manager for CHR "B96"
radioinsight.com
That’s what I’d like to know. The most male-oriented music format playing new material that I can still find on the dial is active rock, and that format’s viability is very market specific.
Other than the formats you mention (alternative, rock, active rock, sports), I also see Adult Hits and Variety Hits leaning male. But those last two are on the upper edge of the demo (median age 44).
It's been my experience that 25-44 men are big streamers. They have their favorites, and that's what they listen to. Not a lot of interest in new music discovery, either. Big interest in hip-hop and music with lyrics that can't be heard on the radio. Fierce loyalty and pride in listening to music that's outside the mainstream for various reasons. They tend to listen to music alone in the car.
That probably won't happen in this market, they are probably going to go back to mainstream CHR. They had a halfway decent morning show 6-7 years ago . It was doing decently well in the ratings ,wasn't beating WKSC but hey...it was better than the two wrecks they just had.
Hip Hop / R&B formats, Regional Mexican, Reggaetón, the lower end of Urban AC, and (despite your comment), Country.
Remember, the US is now about 12% Black and closing in on 18% Hispanic (not counting undocumented persons) so you have a third of the nation in those two groups and another 10% to 15% in other ethnic/cultural groupings such as Asians and "Middle Eastern" folks. That is changing the flavor of the whole nation musically.
Country stations found, back in the early 90's, that the Garth Generation appealed to women as much as to men, so we have seen plenty of country stations with about the best male/female balance you can find. Huff might want to add to the demos and appeal of the format.
I know that rock seems to have lost a lot of its female appeal. I remember going to shows by the southern "Macon" rockers (Capricorn, anyone?) in the earlier 70's and the crowd was definitely half women and the ladies were as into it as the men... maybe more as they sang along with the lyrics of the songs!
The country story is very recent, driven by alternative sounding country artists such as Jelly Roll, Hardy, Chris Stapleton, and even some Morgan Wallen. A few years ago, a consultant wrote an article pointing out that all the mushy love songs on country radio had driven away a chunk of the men, and it led to a loss of share for country stations. So programmers sought out new artists who would appeal to the men, and that brought them back. New artists like Nate Smith or Warren Zeiters would easily fit in active rock playlists now, but they've found steady airplay on country radio, and it's helped attract some mid-30s men.
Meanwhile, CHR has a male problem now, and can't figure out what to do to get more of them to listen. All the Taylor and Olivia music is driving them away.
Bingo. Most men don’t want to hear Taylor and Olivia non stop all day every day. And, the format has been unsuccessful in recent years getting a lot of male artists in the top 10 or broken out vs female artists.
From around 2008-2017, CHR had a very good mix of hits and it showed in the ratings. There were alternative crossovers (especially from 2012-2014), EDM tracks, and even some pop-alt artists as well as pop rhythmic fare which opened up the format’s appeal. Around the end of that time, a lot of good content just hasn’t charted well. It feels like all of the hits have been from the same handful of artists since the beginning of the decade.
The males I know around my age that listen to the radio regularly listen to country, active and classic rock, variety hits, sports, alt, maybe Hot AC surprisingly but that’s about it.
From around 2008-2017, CHR had a very good mix of hits and it showed in the ratings. There were alternative crossovers (especially from 2012-2014), EDM tracks, and even some pop-alt artists as well as pop rhythmic fare which opened up the format’s appeal. Around the end of that time, a lot of good content just hasn’t charted well. It feels like all of the hits have been from the same handful of artists since the beginning of the decade.
The males I know around my age that listen to the radio regularly listen to country, active and classic rock, variety hits, sports, alt, maybe Hot AC surprisingly but that’s about it.
As evidenced by the Grammy awards. It really was on full display there. It struck me that some of the women, such as Sza and Megan Thee Stallion and even Miley Cyrus come off as ANTI-male. As a guy, I felt a little uncomfortable watching them. It's portrayed as empowering, and I get that women need to feel empowered. But it's chasing away some of the men who retreat to their cars or man cave and listen to their own jam. Somehow CHR radio has to navigate this.
I was almost going to add the “attitude” of the songs charting well, in general, are very hostile to males. Sure, songs about girls being done wrong by guys have been staples of CHR for decades, since the beginning. But now there’s a sense of entitlement and arrogance in too many of the songs that I find disturbing.
I’m all for equal representation also, but if CHR can’t right this, It’s not going to survive on just 25-44 females, at least not in its current state.
Alternative seems to aim at Men in their 30s and 40s but females also listen. These are people who go to concerts. There is a very strong concert crowd in this format.
AAA seems to be aimed at the same age demo, maybe slightly older, but the demographic is more specific. They might be more artsy, more deep into music itself.
Urban, pretty much all ages, races but as people age out of the mumble rap demo they might not listen as much. Urban radio relies too much on the modern mumble rap that people are streaming
Active Rock is more toward the bar and motorcycle crowds.
Country. Similar as Active Rock. There is a very certain type of person who listens to Country and Active Rock. They are at bars, they drink, they like extreme sports, they like a good time. Some artists have actually had songs on both formats recently. The lyrics in a lot of these songs describe it.
Obviously this is limiting to certain types of people. Anybody can listen to anything. But from my experience, this is who is frequently listening to these formats.
I could also add Contemporary Christian into the list. These formats are aimed almost entirely at 40 something females. But they get a lot of men, many of them are former addicts or alcoholics. They might have turned to Christianity. Others are just Christian men. There was a period when Air1 specifically targeted college aged men but that was long ago. RadioU I think still aims at a male demographic but it's rare.
And the Hispanic formats as David mentioned above.
AAA seems to be aimed at the same age demo, maybe slightly older, but the demographic is more specific. They might be more artsy, more deep into music itself.
Urban, pretty much all ages, races but as people age out of the mumble rap demo they might not listen as much. Urban radio relies too much on the modern mumble rap that people are streaming
Active Rock is more toward the bar and motorcycle crowds.
Country. Similar as Active Rock. There is a very certain type of person who listens to Country and Active Rock. They are at bars, they drink, they like extreme sports, they like a good time. Some artists have actually had songs on both formats recently. The lyrics in a lot of these songs describe it.
Obviously this is limiting to certain types of people. Anybody can listen to anything. But from my experience, this is who is frequently listening to these formats.
I could also add Contemporary Christian into the list. These formats are aimed almost entirely at 40 something females. But they get a lot of men, many of them are former addicts or alcoholics. They might have turned to Christianity. Others are just Christian men. There was a period when Air1 specifically targeted college aged men but that was long ago. RadioU I think still aims at a male demographic but it's rare.
And the Hispanic formats as David mentioned above.
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I agree with the characterization of alternative, but AAA is a LOT older. Median age is 51, with 25% of it's audience between 55 and 64. That's not good. AAA is also 95% white, while alternative is a bit more diverse. From what I can see, both genres attract very passionate fans who attend live music.
Well, at least they did a turnaround at sister station WNVZ Norfolk and their ratings improved after returning to Rhythmic after underperforming as a Mainstream for nearly nine years. Guess what works in markets like Norfolk doesn’t translate to success in places like Chicago.
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