Charlotte's 96.1 The Beat goes mainstream

[bchristi]

urban dance.

What exactly do you mean by "urban dance"?

Hip-hop with a dance beat. Think Akon, T-Pain, Pitbull, Flo-Rida, Trey Songz, etc. WIBT 96.1 is starting to even drop these artists from its playlist which have some great stuff out right now. I really don't know what this station is thinking. If they want to primarily target a pre-teen audience, drop "The Beat" moniker and brand it a Radio Disney, Radio Now, or something.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Radio Now is a very Urban Dance, and Rhythmic leaned CHR Formular,,, All the now stations lean more rhythmic than some actual rhythmics.

 

[musicman3355]

Seriously, why in the world would they brand themselves as "Radio Disney 96.1?" You're just going to confuse listeners as 96.1 being a kids station. Disney doesn't even play any of the artists The Beat plays. Disney doesn't play any Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Enrique Iglesias, Rihanna, Flo-Rida, Usher, B.o.B, Pitbull, Eminem, Taio Cruz or Far East Movement, which is all what The Beat plays. Disney artists like Selena Gomez, Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus aren't even played on The Beat. "Radio Now" is more like it.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Radio Now is actually more like The Beat sounded the past year when they were a pop leaning Rhythmic... Radio Now type stations lean very rhythmic,, but they do play stuff like Taylor swift,, but only about one non Rhythmic song an hour.. I think you guys would actually like Radio Now,,, They are basically a Rhythmic themselves.. the only bad NOW station I have hear is the one in Winston Salem on 105.7,, they are very repetative and less Rhythmic leaning than the Radio Now in Indy, and Lousiville,,

 

[bchristi]

Seriously, why in the world would they brand themselves as "Radio Disney 96.1?" You're just going to confuse listeners as 96.1 being a kids station. Disney doesn't even play any of the artists The Beat plays. Disney doesn't play any Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Enrique Iglesias, Rihanna, Flo-Rida, Usher, B.o.B, Pitbull, Eminem, Taio Cruz or Far East Movement, which is all what The Beat plays. Disney artists like Selena Gomez, Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus aren't even played on The Beat. "Radio Now" is more like it.

Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus are played on the Beat, as well as Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. Ke$ha, Taio Cruz, and Katy Perry ARE played on Radio Disney, at least on satellite radio.

From what I've heard about Radio Now, even it would be refreshing compared to what is currently being played by The Beat. I can't quite put a finger on what it is, but their playlist sounds awful compared to competitor Kiss 95.1 as a CHR. Sometimes the station still sounds rhythmic like on Saturday nights when they have "In The Mix", other times they sound like a bad Hot AC when they try to throw in Nickelback and Daughtry next to something like Enrique Iglesias...and other times they sound like a Radio Disney. There is no consistency to the playlist at all. They should have never strayed from their pop-leaning-rhythmic format that worked and was one of the best sounding stations in Charlotte.

 

[Wildstyle K]

other times they sound like a bad Hot AC when they try to throw in Nickelback and Daughtry next to something like Enrique Iglesias...

I'd really like to know what you think of WWWQ...
Just wondering.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I know you wasnt asking me K... But when I sampled That station a few weeks ago for about an hour,, it was all current rhythmic/urban, with no golds,,, they played katty Perry teenage dream,, which isnt that unusual for a pop leaning rhythmic,, but they rest was all Urban,, of course this was during the over nights,, they may sound lighter during day parts,,,, WWWV even played the new Eminem and Weezy track,, which I havent heard on any other US Rhythmic yet.. They are definately not a Rhythmic AC anymore,, at least during the hour I sampled....

 

[Wildstyle K]

:-X

 

[Dkampy]

Radio Now is actually more like The Beat sounded the past year when they were a pop leaning Rhythmic... Radio Now type stations lean very rhythmic,, but they do play stuff like Taylor swift,, but only about one non Rhythmic song an hour.. I think you guys would actually like Radio Now,,, They are basically a Rhythmic themselves.. the only bad NOW station I have hear is the one in Winston Salem on 105.7,, they are very repetative and less Rhythmic leaning than the Radio Now in Indy, and Lousiville,,

The Radio Now station in Milwaukee does not lean Rythmic at all. It has a slightly more hot ac lean...although they do play all the hits and keep it current....They will never be 1st on urban product...need to protect v-100(their sister urban station) Actually I can see them evolving to a rock leaning chr...they already seem to be quicker on the more rock sounding hits. They however do not take to many chances yet...stick mainly with the hits.

 

[CHRles]

Both CHRs in Milwaukee sound great!

 

[Dkampy]

Both CHRs in Milwaukee sound great!

Agreed...Both serve their purpose here. WXSS has been leaning even more towards rythmic the last few weeks...as well they should...since radio Now will attract any chr hit music fans that don't want so much rythmic.

 

[CHRles]

Unlike some of the other CC owned CHRs, they are treating Radio Now 97.3 well with great jocks, imaging, and even artist drops. This is CHR dont right.
As for WXSS, they've always sounded great to me, and you're right - now's as good of a time as any for them to cement their Rhythmic/Pop lean all the way.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

In fact most the CHRs in the state of Wisconsin sound great,, like Z-104 and WIXX,,,, Off topic,, we now return you to regular Charllote beat bashing programming....

Even when the Beat was a Pop leaning Rhythmic, they still had that old Ryan Seacrest ON AIR on there, which to me ruined their street cred.

 

[only1moore]

Unlike some of the other CC owned CHRs, they are treating Radio Now 97.3 well with great jocks, imaging, and even artist drops. This is CHR dont right.
As for WXSS, they've always sounded great to me, and you're right - now's as good of a time as any for them to cement their Rhythmic/Pop lean all the way.

At this rate, WXSS should look to sister station WNVZ/Norfolk, which has done successfully well with its Rhythmic Top 40 format and beating WVHT and WOWI in the PPMs.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I agree with MR Moore...