How do you think they should improve Channel's ratings? They're not doing so well. I think they should take an adult lean or a rock lean or something. Or just go full mainstream. hire new djs. commercial free hours? contests? more gold songs?
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Channel 95.5 Ratings
- Thread starter XCountry285
- Start date
Even though ratings have recently fallen. They are still beating AMP in cume and TSL. My guess is after awhile, people will get bored of AMP Radio and it's DJ's (whos presentations get old very quick) and tune back to 955. I think one of the main things that AMP doesn't have is good well known personalities. Sure they have Big Boy late nights (who VT from NYC), Buck Head and Shay. But not all made a huge impression on listeners. 955 has Mojo, Beau, Buda. All very talented and have gained a decent following over the last few years. You don't see people tuning to AMP for its DJ's. They'll say "oh they play more music, and there better cause they have commercial free mondays". 955 and AMP essentially play the same amount of music per hour....and as of last week, they have dropped Commercial Free Mondays.
Now what can 955 do to improve ratings? Good question. Over the last year, they have already invested a ton of money in sort of re-vamping the stations presentation from a, what I call "ghetto" presentation to a more traditional (and more professional) sounding top 40 station. The DJ's no longer are trying to sound like gangsters. In terms of imaging and overall sound, the station sounds the best it ever has. They added Scott Matthews for VO work, which sounds amazing by the way. They have also started doing 95 minutes of commercial free music weekdays at 4pm.
My guess is 955 will continue being the Top 40 leader in the market. After the hype of the new AMP station dies down, people will end up getting bored of it and make the switch back to 955. Just a guess, but it would not suprise me.
Now what can 955 do to improve ratings? Good question. Over the last year, they have already invested a ton of money in sort of re-vamping the stations presentation from a, what I call "ghetto" presentation to a more traditional (and more professional) sounding top 40 station. The DJ's no longer are trying to sound like gangsters. In terms of imaging and overall sound, the station sounds the best it ever has. They added Scott Matthews for VO work, which sounds amazing by the way. They have also started doing 95 minutes of commercial free music weekdays at 4pm.
My guess is 955 will continue being the Top 40 leader in the market. After the hype of the new AMP station dies down, people will end up getting bored of it and make the switch back to 955. Just a guess, but it would not suprise me.
Myself I never left 955. I really started listening to them from 2006 and I'd say they sounded the best from 2006 to 2008. Ever since AMP radio came out everything has been changing to compete. Channel 955s music used to contain more hip-hop/rap then it does today. I liked that because we really didn't have a station here in detroit that played mainstream rap with a mix of the best pop songs.
Also what makes them better is the Bomb Squad DJ's. I tune in the most friday nights,saturday nights, and sunday nights because of those mixes. In the mixes they play more of the mainstream rap which is probably a big reason I tune in nightly on weekends. Even know they are missing one of the best mixes they ever had(saturday night bomb) they are still the best.
When it comes to the On-Air talent, they beat AMP by a far shot. Mojo in the morning just seems to bring uniqueness that no other morning show has. Nick craig may not be well known but he is a 955 veteran, Beau is also well known around the detroit area because he has done radio here for awhile, Buda I don't really understand but people seem to like him.
I still say even know they have redone they're station, 955 has made the wrong choice. We have like 3-4 stations in detroit that play the same music. We need a station here again that plays more mainstream rap. Hot 1027 and wjlb don't fit into that category because they play straight any rap and r&b.
Also what makes them better is the Bomb Squad DJ's. I tune in the most friday nights,saturday nights, and sunday nights because of those mixes. In the mixes they play more of the mainstream rap which is probably a big reason I tune in nightly on weekends. Even know they are missing one of the best mixes they ever had(saturday night bomb) they are still the best.
When it comes to the On-Air talent, they beat AMP by a far shot. Mojo in the morning just seems to bring uniqueness that no other morning show has. Nick craig may not be well known but he is a 955 veteran, Beau is also well known around the detroit area because he has done radio here for awhile, Buda I don't really understand but people seem to like him.
I still say even know they have redone they're station, 955 has made the wrong choice. We have like 3-4 stations in detroit that play the same music. We need a station here again that plays more mainstream rap. Hot 1027 and wjlb don't fit into that category because they play straight any rap and r&b.
Channel 95.5 is a lot better than AMP in my opinion. AMP should have stayed smooth jazz.
AMP -- with the exception of mornings -- is basically the same crap Dom Theodore programmed on 955 three or four years ago. Nothing creative or innovative going on there.
When Q95-5 and DRQ were doing battle in the very late 90's to mid 00's, on a combined basis the two stations usually had about 7.5 - 8.0 shares. Bear in mind 96.3 was still The Planet back then, and the market lacked a Rhythmic Hot AC station. So if anything, the CHR audience was less splintered then than it is today.
As long as The Beat continues to play a lot of music amendable to the 25 - 34 demographic and WDVD toes the line between CHR/Pop and Hot AC, it is unlikely that 955 and AMP will both see big ratings at the same time.
Clear Channel has a huge advantage over CBS in terms of selling the CHR format locally. They've been doing it much, much longer and have two other stations with somewhat similar female-friendly demographics (WDTW-FM / WNIC) to bundle with it. A 955/Beat combo or WNIC/Beat combo is far more lucrative to advertisers trying to hypertarget females in the 25 - 44 demo than, say, AMP on a standalone basis.
AMP's biggest problem, in my view, is they haven't delivered on their promise to play "ALL The Hits." The playlist is air tight, extremely repetitious, and the imaging is rotten. (I agree -- Scott Matthews' stuff on 955 sounds great.) Also, they need to find someone better for middays than Shay-Shay.
There is no question, in my mind, that Dom will try to lure Mojo to 98-7 once his contract expires. If he is unsuccessful, then CBS might as well change the format again.
When Q95-5 and DRQ were doing battle in the very late 90's to mid 00's, on a combined basis the two stations usually had about 7.5 - 8.0 shares. Bear in mind 96.3 was still The Planet back then, and the market lacked a Rhythmic Hot AC station. So if anything, the CHR audience was less splintered then than it is today.
As long as The Beat continues to play a lot of music amendable to the 25 - 34 demographic and WDVD toes the line between CHR/Pop and Hot AC, it is unlikely that 955 and AMP will both see big ratings at the same time.
Clear Channel has a huge advantage over CBS in terms of selling the CHR format locally. They've been doing it much, much longer and have two other stations with somewhat similar female-friendly demographics (WDTW-FM / WNIC) to bundle with it. A 955/Beat combo or WNIC/Beat combo is far more lucrative to advertisers trying to hypertarget females in the 25 - 44 demo than, say, AMP on a standalone basis.
AMP's biggest problem, in my view, is they haven't delivered on their promise to play "ALL The Hits." The playlist is air tight, extremely repetitious, and the imaging is rotten. (I agree -- Scott Matthews' stuff on 955 sounds great.) Also, they need to find someone better for middays than Shay-Shay.
There is no question, in my mind, that Dom will try to lure Mojo to 98-7 once his contract expires. If he is unsuccessful, then CBS might as well change the format again.
Even though I personally do not like the fact that both stations speed up their music (which I think is the dumbest idea any radio station do) I still would listen to Channel 955 over the "new" 98-7 AMP Radio any day of the week simply because the overall presentation is solid compared to what AMP has to offer.
Never mind the fact that the ratings are lower......just look at the on-air talent 'KQI have over 'DZH (or whatever their call letters are). A line-up consisting of Mojo, Nick Craig, Beau Daniels, Buda (as annoying as he is) and Ace will easily trump the likes of Puddin, Shay Shay (who is garbage at mid-days), Buck Head (who at times don't know what he's doing), Grooves, and a voice-tracked Chunky from 92.3 NOW in New York any day of the week. Not only that, but the weekenders are better at KQI as well (my personal favorites being Ice and Stick). I can't even name who the weekenders are at AMP.....mainly because they're not that good or I just don't listen to them on the weekends.
As far as what 955 needs to do to improve ratings, I have a few suggestions. My main one is stop speeding up the music, because everything (to me) sounds better in its original form. My other opinion is get rid of some of the Premium Choice crap they have (particularly Saturday Night Online LIVE with Romeo because it makes no sense to have two countdown shows on one station, the other being AT 40) because it takes away from having a local presentation, and I'm heavily against voice-tracking seeing that I'm going to school for radio broadcasting myself. My third and final opinion is add more music to their playlist (particularly mainstream rap and maybe some more electronic dance music), because a more broader choice of music brings in more listeners who are tired of hearing the same 10-15 songs every two hours or so like AMP does (claiming they play "all the hits"......I seriously beg to differ).
Regardless of what they do to gain more listeners and improve ratings, I still would say that 955 will be better than AMP any day of the week.....maybe CBS need to re-think this format switch over because it's not working for the most part.
Never mind the fact that the ratings are lower......just look at the on-air talent 'KQI have over 'DZH (or whatever their call letters are). A line-up consisting of Mojo, Nick Craig, Beau Daniels, Buda (as annoying as he is) and Ace will easily trump the likes of Puddin, Shay Shay (who is garbage at mid-days), Buck Head (who at times don't know what he's doing), Grooves, and a voice-tracked Chunky from 92.3 NOW in New York any day of the week. Not only that, but the weekenders are better at KQI as well (my personal favorites being Ice and Stick). I can't even name who the weekenders are at AMP.....mainly because they're not that good or I just don't listen to them on the weekends.
As far as what 955 needs to do to improve ratings, I have a few suggestions. My main one is stop speeding up the music, because everything (to me) sounds better in its original form. My other opinion is get rid of some of the Premium Choice crap they have (particularly Saturday Night Online LIVE with Romeo because it makes no sense to have two countdown shows on one station, the other being AT 40) because it takes away from having a local presentation, and I'm heavily against voice-tracking seeing that I'm going to school for radio broadcasting myself. My third and final opinion is add more music to their playlist (particularly mainstream rap and maybe some more electronic dance music), because a more broader choice of music brings in more listeners who are tired of hearing the same 10-15 songs every two hours or so like AMP does (claiming they play "all the hits"......I seriously beg to differ).
Regardless of what they do to gain more listeners and improve ratings, I still would say that 955 will be better than AMP any day of the week.....maybe CBS need to re-think this format switch over because it's not working for the most part.
Mack Daddy...you say
"Now what can 955 do to improve ratings? Good question. Over the last year, they have already invested a ton of money in sort of re-vamping the stations presentation from a, what I call "ghetto" presentation to a more traditional (and more professional) sounding top 40 station. The DJ's no longer are trying to sound like gangsters. In terms of imaging and overall sound, the station sounds the best it ever has. They added Scott Matthews for VO work, which sounds amazing by the way. They have also started doing 95 minutes of commercial free music weekdays at 4pm. "
Not picking a fight so please don't take it that way...but when you use the term "ghetto" and say they "are no longer trying to sound like gangsters"; i have to pause and ask if there is a problem with a young leaning station to use the slang that the kids do. In general terms, ghetto and gangster are commonly synonymous with the word "niggardly". The top 40 format has a different definition of professionalism than a news talker. I'm not sure how long it's been since you worked as a jock in the format or were considered young but what is taught to jocks in 2011 is to be themselves not to sound like the boss jocks or overly sanitized Seacrest. Let's be clear on one thing though, 99% of the time, radio geeks aren't gangsters no matter what dialect they pick up. On a higher note, Amp sounds like they have more fun and less contrived than Channel, but Channel has been around for a long time and sounds pretty good.
"Now what can 955 do to improve ratings? Good question. Over the last year, they have already invested a ton of money in sort of re-vamping the stations presentation from a, what I call "ghetto" presentation to a more traditional (and more professional) sounding top 40 station. The DJ's no longer are trying to sound like gangsters. In terms of imaging and overall sound, the station sounds the best it ever has. They added Scott Matthews for VO work, which sounds amazing by the way. They have also started doing 95 minutes of commercial free music weekdays at 4pm. "
Not picking a fight so please don't take it that way...but when you use the term "ghetto" and say they "are no longer trying to sound like gangsters"; i have to pause and ask if there is a problem with a young leaning station to use the slang that the kids do. In general terms, ghetto and gangster are commonly synonymous with the word "niggardly". The top 40 format has a different definition of professionalism than a news talker. I'm not sure how long it's been since you worked as a jock in the format or were considered young but what is taught to jocks in 2011 is to be themselves not to sound like the boss jocks or overly sanitized Seacrest. Let's be clear on one thing though, 99% of the time, radio geeks aren't gangsters no matter what dialect they pick up. On a higher note, Amp sounds like they have more fun and less contrived than Channel, but Channel has been around for a long time and sounds pretty good.
I do understand what you are saying; Maybe the word ghetto wasen't the best word. I thought 955 sounded great a few years back. The way the station presented themselves worked out great and was one the main reasons DRQ flipped to Doug. I just feel that when you have that type of sound to a station, you better have the right jocks to do it. Channel had just that. AMP, not so much. Although both stations have/had the same concept, there is a fine line between the two regarding talent and overall sound. AMP simply lacks the talent whereas 955 did not when Dom Theodore was programming.
955 to me sounded the best from 2005-2009... Once 2010 hit I don't even know what happened... I don't know if the music got worse or what... But amp kind of made 955 change and I don't like that change. I agree that they do need more mainstream rap. That would put them back into the right place. And also another suggestion is to maybe play some older hits once and awhile, like ones played in 2006-2009. Thats when I really was into music and I think the best songs were out. ESPECIALLY for the mainstream rap.
Rjs725 said:
Maybe I'm the only one that thinks this, but I disagree. I don't think 955 sounded good in this era (2005-09) because their jocks at the time were either trying too hard to sound like they were into what they were doing (case in point, Deveidah, who's now doing the same thing at AMP on weekends) or just didn't fit the CHR/Rhythmic Top 40 format (another cases in point, morning co-host Kyra and midday host Michelle Taylor). I think they sound better now than they did back then because of the broader selection of music, even though they need to stop speeding it up (but that's a different argument); better voice-over work by Scott Matthews (arguably one of the best voices in the Detroit market besides the WJLB guy); and on-air talent that everybody recognizes when they hear his or her voice on-air (if anybody can tell me where the hell Kenny Valentine came from that would be great).
The main thing that doesn't sit well with me is the fact that you said AMP made 955 change. I really don't believe that one station can drastically change another station's direction in format; all AMP did, if anything, was brought its presentation of the overcrowded format to the table and launched it in a different way (although it failed miserably because Commercial Free Mondays don't even exist anymore). I mean, sure, there's not as much mainstream rap on 955 as there were a few years back, but then again, AMP Radio's not offering more of it there as well. If anything CHANGED, it's the ratings that both stations are pulling, and if you're not willing to experiment with different styles in order to better those ratings, then what's the point of even being a Top 40 radio station?
Listen to this mix I taped from 955 back on Feburary 20th 2009... The saturday night bomb mix. You will notice that more hip-hop was played than what is played now. I mean now on 955 were starting to heard more pop/techno type of music in the mixes. Don't get me wrong, I like the pop but when it comes to 3/4 of the mixes being techno remixes I can get a little annoyed. I mean even shortstop only does 1 segment of his friday night mixtape all hip-hop now. Compare that to shortstops mix below...
http://www61.zippyshare.com/v/50021122/file.html
http://www61.zippyshare.com/v/50021122/file.html
J
jt1120
Guest
Yes, AMP should have stayed Smooth Jazz, but you can thank a guy named Allen Kepler for that. He is the self-proclaimed guru of all things smooth jazz. He says he invented the format, and thanks to his inept programming philosophies, smooth jazz has been dumped in several major markets. I listen to smoothjazznow.com, which plays the variety of SJ that the old V should have been playing.
And, for the record, NO ONE should be allowed to call themselves Mojo except the originator, the Electrfying Mojo. The idiot on Channel is nothing but a double whammy woah!
And, for the record, NO ONE should be allowed to call themselves Mojo except the originator, the Electrfying Mojo. The idiot on Channel is nothing but a double whammy woah!
jt1120 said:
The "idiot" you're referring to happens to have one of the top three rated morning shows in the #11 market in the United States. I honestly don't understand why you would blast Mojo like that; obviously if the guy is running a top-rated morning show (that is also SYNDICATED in another Top 20 market in Phoenix/Tuscon), then he has every right to call himself "Mojo"....
Rjs725 said:
My theory on that-- and I may be wrong-- after hearing this mix is this; somewhere from after that date (2/20/2009) to present date the Music Director (currently Beau Daniels) decided to add more mainstream pop music to the overall play list, changing the format from rhythmic contemporary (which included heavy mainstream rap) to Mainstream Top 40 (which minimizes how much rap is played according to what's on the Billboard Hot 100 list or whatever list is used to determine airplay), which therefore changed the overall style of most of the mix show DJ's. The fact that the format change has impacted what gets airplay and what doesn't may have altered the DJs there to play more dance/techno remixes of what's currently out instead of mixing what they wanna mix, hence DJ Shortstop's mixes from '09 to his mixes today.
(Again, I may be wrong on this theory, but I personally think this is the reason why there's barely any hip-hop mixes on 9-5-5 anymore.)
^ Ya I agree. I have recorded many other mixes on 955 since early 2008, some being the friday night mixtape & club 955 during friday nights... And others being the saturday night bomb. None were mostly pop, they were all some type of rap with the occasional pop songs.
I would upload more but the site has a 200 mb max. I might upload this past saturdays "saturday night bomb" and you will see the difference.
I would upload more but the site has a 200 mb max. I might upload this past saturdays "saturday night bomb" and you will see the difference.
Just one question; what happened to The Pulse on 9-5-5? It used to come on from 3-5 am on Friday nights (early Saturday morning) and they played the best electronic/techno music I've ever heard........
Is that now the Ministry of House with DJ David B? Or what's the case there?
Is that now the Ministry of House with DJ David B? Or what's the case there?
MattHollidaye OnAir said:
Ya I remember this mix, I loved it but didn't listen much due to the timing.
Well they used to have a guest DJ do the pulse but canceled the mix(along with a few others) and replaced it with premium choice(boy toy jessy or something) crap for about a year. Then 955 became aware of the complaints about the masses of mixes being removed so they replaced it with a new mix called "spin cycle" which features a few DJ's from Columbus. Spin cycle also happens to be the new HD2 station. So if you have an HD radio you can listen to mixes all day.
But other than that all I can say is they removed the mix and said nothing about it. The ministry of house has been on 955 for awhile. It used to have a different name a few years ago though.
Channel 95.5 is up in ratings (3.5-3.9), so I'm not sure I'd change anything - Amp radio is heading Rhythmic (even if it's still on the pop panel for some reason), but WDTW is heading onto the Mainstream CHR panel, so it looks like WDTW is going to be its new competition
I don't think a rock or HAC lean would be a good idea, since that would put it up against WDVD, and I don't think a HAC-leaning CHR could beat out a well-established HAC, especially in a heavily working-class city like Detroit
I don't think a rock or HAC lean would be a good idea, since that would put it up against WDVD, and I don't think a HAC-leaning CHR could beat out a well-established HAC, especially in a heavily working-class city like Detroit
Rjs725 said:
I'm sorry, but mainstream rap does NOT belong on a CHR station. It didn't belong on Channel 9-5-5 in the mid '00s, and it doesn't belong there now. If you want mainstream rap, I think you'd need to switch to WJLB or Hot 102.7. Yes?
new_friends_gr said:
If you want Mainstream Rap, you go to WJLB....NOT Hot 102-7. EVER! Why? Because JLB's ratings are consistently in the Top 10 and their overall presentation (along with a strong presence in the community....a great LOCAL morning show....the list goes on and on) is a lot more solid than the choppy presentation, the predictable play list, and the less-than-stellar signal coverage of WHTD.
I don't seem to understand why Rap (while we're on the subject), in your opinion, doesn't belong on a CHR station, especially in a market where a good majority of its population are made up of African-American residents in and around the Metro Detroit area. If anything, it's all about what your target audience 18-34 (and also 25-54) wants; if Rap is the hottest thing and everyone wants to hear the latest from artists such as Lil' Wayne and Jay-Z, then as a station, you would want to give the listening audience what it (virtually) ask for.
Would you rather have a station that caters to the audience's tastes or a centralized play list where the top five songs on the charts receive NO airplay whatsoever (in other words, would you have Clear Channel or Cumulus' approach to CHR)?
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