WIBT 96.1 has went CHR/Pop and is now indistinguishable from its competitor 95.1 Kiss FM, so Charlotte is now without a true rhythmic. The urban here is very R&B leaning too so there is a huge void in the market for people who still like hip-hop and urban dance. Any idea why the station did this? In other markets I've lived in, when established rhythmics try to go mainstream it usually isn't long before it flips entirely.
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Charlotte's 96.1 The Beat goes mainstream
- Thread starter bchristi
- Start date
Now would be a great time for Radio One to blow up 92.7 and relaunch Hip-Hop, HOT 92.7. Too bad they blew it up not to long ago and relaunched as MY 92.7 with the same Urban AC format.
ShawtyBlack_ATL said:Now would be a great time for Radio One to blow up 92.7 and relaunch Hip-Hop, HOT 92.7. Too bad they blew it up not to long ago and relaunched as MY 92.7 with the same Urban AC format.
Completely agree...Charlotte already has one urban AC and an urban that leans heavily R&B (with a little hip hop thrown in), we don't need another urban AC. Flip it to rhythmic and make it sound something like KXHT Hot 107.1 in Memphis.
CHR is really doing well lately. I bet they did this in anticipation of the PPM's. They changed a while back.
I still say change the name to B96.1!
I still say change the name to B96.1!
M
musicman3355
Guest
Mike said:or RADIONOW 96.1
That's likely to happen...
carolinaradio said:CHR is really doing well lately. I bet they did this in anticipation of the PPM's. They changed a while back.
I still say change the name to B96.1!
Agree. Don't sound like Radio Disney with Justin Bieber every hour and call it "The Beat".
Are there any rhythmics doing well these days? It seems rhythmics all over are either going mainstream or flipping entirely. Maybe the days of hip-hop and urban club hits are actually coming to an end.
Maybe it's a sign of the times "Hits and Hip-Hop" don't match!
It IS a sign of the times. CHR is doing very well... especially in the cume-game of the PPM's.
Besides, Rhythmic CHR has always been a tough sell. AE's don't know if they should try to sell it as an Urban, or a Mainstream CHR. Both? Neither? Mainstreaming it is a smart move. Name change will be next week.
Besides, Rhythmic CHR has always been a tough sell. AE's don't know if they should try to sell it as an Urban, or a Mainstream CHR. Both? Neither? Mainstreaming it is a smart move. Name change will be next week.
Rhythmic is still doing very well - a lot of CHR/Pop stations lean very heavily on Rhythmic/Pop.
There are, however, some very Pop leaning Rhythmic CHRs, similar to what we've noticed with 96.1 The Beat Charlotte (which has been moved to the CHR/pop panel on Mediabase). You'll notice that 92.1 The Beat Tulsa has Adam Lambert's "If I Had You" in its Top 10, or that 104.3 Hit FM El Paso is playing Taylor Swift's "Mine", and even "Animal" by Neon Trees.
There are, however, some very Pop leaning Rhythmic CHRs, similar to what we've noticed with 96.1 The Beat Charlotte (which has been moved to the CHR/pop panel on Mediabase). You'll notice that 92.1 The Beat Tulsa has Adam Lambert's "If I Had You" in its Top 10, or that 104.3 Hit FM El Paso is playing Taylor Swift's "Mine", and even "Animal" by Neon Trees.
CRadioVO said:It IS a sign of the times. CHR is doing very well... especially in the cume-game of the PPM's.
Besides, Rhythmic CHR has always been a tough sell. AE's don't know if they should try to sell it as an Urban, or a Mainstream CHR. Both? Neither? Mainstreaming it is a smart move. Name change will be next week.
96.1 The Beat should just rebrand itself Radio Disney 96.1 because that's what it sounds like.
CHRles said:Rhythmic is still doing very well - a lot of CHR/Pop stations lean very heavily on Rhythmic/Pop.
There are, however, some very Pop leaning Rhythmic CHRs, similar to what we've noticed with 96.1 The Beat Charlotte (which has been moved to the CHR/pop panel on Mediabase). You'll notice that 92.1 The Beat Tulsa has Adam Lambert's "If I Had You" in its Top 10, or that 104.3 Hit FM El Paso is playing Taylor Swift's "Mine", and even "Animal" by Neon Trees.
At the rate its going, in a year or two rhythmic will no longer exist. Hip hop is no longer popular with the younger generation currently in their teens. While today's dance pop (Ke$ha, Gaga, etc) sounds fine along side Lil' Wayne and Ludacris, the far more popular Disney pop (Bieber, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, etc) does not. The hip-hop generation is fast approaching their mid-20s when they will no longer be targeted by CHR. Without hip-hop and assuming there will be no strong rock comeback in the immediate future, there is will be not enough difference between CHR/Pop and CHR/Rhythmic to warrant two separate formats. Unfortunately, within the next year or two we will likely see a time when hip hop hits can only be heard on an urban format. Even urban is starting to shift more towards r&b and old school hip-hop due to the lack of quality current hip hop out there right now.
Which brings me to another point...it might be time for a new type of AC format that doesn't shy away from rhythmic hits the way Hot AC does.
bchristi said:The hip-hop generation is fast approaching their mid-20s when they will no longer be targeted by CHR. Without hip-hop and assuming there will be no strong rock comeback in the immediate future, there is will be not enough difference between CHR/Pop and CHR/Rhythmic to warrant two separate formats. Unfortunately, within the next year or two we will likely see a time when hip hop hits can only be heard on an urban format.
CHR radio definitely cares about listeners in their mid 20s In fact, much moreso than teens between the ages of 12-17. You'll also notice that a growing number of Hot A/Cs are embracing crossover Hip Hop titles.
They couldn't touch a piece of Power 98 ratings so they want to go all in for KISS 95.1 which in my opinion sounds real good, Charlotte has a great CHR and thats KISS 95.1.
bchristi said:WIBT 96.1 has went CHR/Pop and is now indistinguishable from its competitor 95.1 Kiss FM, so Charlotte is now without a true rhythmic. The urban here is very R&B leaning too so there is a huge void in the market for people who still like hip-hop and urban dance. Any idea why the station did this? In other markets I've lived in, when established rhythmics try to go mainstream it usually isn't long before it flips entirely.
P, P, and M.
Ken said:They couldn't touch a piece of Power 98 ratings so they want to go all in for KISS 95.1 which in my opinion sounds real good, Charlotte has a great CHR and thats KISS 95.1.
Except Kiss 95.1 sounds MUCH, MUCH better than the new sound of 96.1 The Beat. Kiss has more variety and ironically is more rhythmic than 96.1. Every time I turn it on 96.1 these days I hear Bieber, Perry, Swift, or some other tweenybopper crap. This will not work for WIBT. The sooner 96.1 completely flips the better.
bchristi said:Ken said:They couldn't touch a piece of Power 98 ratings so they want to go all in for KISS 95.1 which in my opinion sounds real good, Charlotte has a great CHR and thats KISS 95.1.
Except Kiss 95.1 sounds MUCH, MUCH better than the new sound of 96.1 The Beat. Kiss has more variety and ironically is more rhythmic than 96.1. Every time I turn it on 96.1 these days I hear Bieber, Perry, Swift, or some other tweenybopper crap. This will not work for WIBT. The sooner 96.1 completely flips the better.
Agree KISS 95.1 sounds much better. They are a great sounding CHR in my opinion. Very good mix of music.
bchristi said:urban dance.
What exactly do you mean by "urban dance"?
bchristi said:Without hip-hop and assuming there will be no strong rock comeback in the immediate future,
Ahhhh - you said it! As of right now, rock is lacking... and I don't know why, but I have this crazy suspicion that it will come back strong. Any stations that are already leaning pop rock, well.... I don't think I have to mention what will happen if rock makes a resurgence. As far as Justin Bieber and all those people, I think this is a phase like the multiple boy and girl band pop groups were. Besides, Justin Bieber and all of those youngsters will get older as time passes.
I used to talk about the end of the hip hop era and generation (who are now the parents) back in 2009 and 2008, and got sick of much of it when it began to get silly around 2007 or so. Even the people in the UK are complaining about the current state of American hip hop. The best days, in my opinion, were late 90's through early to mid 00's, especially during the days of Timbaland, Missy Elliot, The Neptunes, and other similar producers ruling the hip hop sound for a while. Then in addition to this, the dirty south crunk sound... and of course the booty bass that preceded it. I knew it was pretty much all over when I checked Hot 107.9 in 2007 and even they "got soft" and started sounding somewhat like rhythmic KKFR (before KKFR added in pop and started playing heavier recurrent hip hop from mid 2000's like Mike Jones and Chamillionaire with the new material because they were lacking enough newer rhythmic hip hop hits..)
I don't think Rhythmic will die off too soon because there's always going to be urban leaning pop and some urban material. Also, if a lot of urbans are flipping, then rhythmics will be where people would have to turn for the most urban sound possible. I think (most) American rhythmics may become the new urban style, similar to London, where the urbans have a rhythmic programming style. They play hip hop and r&b, but their mixes specialize in reggae/dancehall, urban house, urban electro, grime, and...well, if I go any further I will lose everyone. I don't know why American urbans cannot operate the same way and feature ALL or a variety of the urban sounds - including the uptempo stuff in the form of a specialty show during the late nights of weekends.
Anyway.... whatever happens to come next, I wonder what it will be like, and will it be the last trend to fully unfold before a new technology becomes the "new radio"? And once a new technology (probably internet style broadcasting) starts dominating in cars, homes..etc, will owners rush in to control those and make it all about adverts as well?
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