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Clear Channel AC stations

C

carolinaradio

I know a lot of people here dislike Clear Channel, but I think they have the best AC stations. They are typically well balanced (heavy on 70s and 80s with newer songs too but not too aggressive), they have the edge musically, IMO. I wonder what it is with them that their stations are so much better musically? More resources?

CBS has some decent AC stations (KEZK/St. Louis is very good, as is WLIF Baltimore). I don't like Entercom's attempt, too modern and not much variety.

Clear Channel has KOST/LA, WLTW/NYC, KSNE/Vegas, WASH/DC, KESZ/Phoenix, WLYT/Charlotte, and many more. Any one with me?
 
Are they all using the I Heart Radio service on the weekends? I know the Birmingham AC does and I want to say the same for Biloxi-Gulfport's AC station.
 
the golden boy said:
Are they all using the I Heart Radio service on the weekends? I know the Birmingham AC does and I want to say the same for Biloxi-Gulfport's AC station.
Click to expand...

The iheartradio service? You clearly don't quite have that correct. Iheartradio is the app with which listeners can listen on their iPhones, BlackBerrys, and Droids.

They're running commercials for iheartradio, as most are. But that has nothing to do with the music being programmed.
 
I think he may have it confused with Premium Choice, the programming service Clear Channel offers (none of the stations I listed use it outside of late nights or maybe parts of weekends).
 
I'm in Las Vegas and what you say about CC ACs fits KSNE. They have a good balance of decades from 70s to currents. I also like that they are not too hard like so many ACs are these days. They used to run Premium Choice on the weekend and it sounded like a different station to me with harder music than they normally play. Now they are back to local programming on the weekend and it sounds more consistent.
 
carolinaradio said:
I know a lot of people here dislike Clear Channel, but I think they have the best AC stations. They are typically well balanced (heavy on 70s and 80s with newer songs too but not too aggressive), they have the edge musically, IMO. I wonder what it is with them that their stations are so much better musically? More resources?

CBS has some decent AC stations (KEZK/St. Louis is very good, as is WLIF Baltimore). I don't like Entercom's attempt, too modern and not much variety.

Clear Channel has KOST/LA, WLTW/NYC, KSNE/Vegas, WASH/DC, KESZ/Phoenix, WLYT/Charlotte, and many more. Any one with me?
Click to expand...
A agree with your assessment of Clear Channel A/C stations. They do seem to be balanced musically with personalities who understand how to entertain in a more music environment. CBS has some good ones as well like WLIF.
 
I tend to agree. In Grand Rapids, we have Clear Channel's 105.7 WOOD FM. It sounds really good and does have a good mix of old stuff and current hits. For instance, during today's evening rush hour they went from playing "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga (from 2008) to "Dance With Me" by Orleans (from 1975).

100.3 WNIC in Detroit is another good Clear Channel AC station. Their music mix is pretty similar to that of 105.7 in Grand Rapids. (In a fairly recent post in the Detroit board, I mentioned my surprise at how WNIC is now playing music by the Black Eyed Peas - namely, "I Gotta Feeling".)

Good stuff!
 
Seltzer said:
A agree with your assessment of Clear Channel A/C stations. They do seem to be balanced musically with personalities who understand how to entertain in a more music environment. CBS has some good ones as well like WLIF.
Click to expand...
Yeah, CBS is definitely second best. WLIF is good, as well as my personal favorite (that I just recently stumbled upon and have been listening to a lot), KEZK/St Louis...just how I would do the format.
Then there are the small-corp/ind. AC stations which are great, such as WLYF, WBEB, WSNY, etc.

I still think Entercom is second worst to Cox - their AC stations normally don't play enough older stuff but aren't aggressive enough with the newer to make up for that loss.

Clear Channel just has it down. Their music mix and presentation is great most of the time. KODA/Houston is another good one they have. CC usually follows the 3 70s/3 80s/1 current etc formula that I like and usually treats currents properly...just the right amount.
 
new_friends_gr said:
I tend to agree. In Grand Rapids, we have Clear Channel's 105.7 WOOD FM. It sounds really good and does have a good mix of old stuff and current hits. For instance, during today's evening rush hour they went from playing "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga (from 2008) to "Dance With Me" by Orleans (from 1975).

100.3 WNIC in Detroit is another good Clear Channel AC station. Their music mix is pretty similar to that of 105.7 in Grand Rapids. (In a fairly recent post in the Detroit board, I mentioned my surprise at how WNIC is now playing music by the Black Eyed Peas - namely, "I Gotta Feeling".)

That song si pretty much mainstream now. Doesn't mean A/C's should all of a sudden be playing the Peas other material.

Good stuff!
Click to expand...

Grand Rapids A/C stations are a mess other than WOOD. WLHT is a real mess and I think moving the River more mainstream was a mistake as well.
 
Seltzer said:
Grand Rapids A/C stations are a mess other than WOOD. WLHT is a real mess and I think moving the River more mainstream was a mistake as well.
Click to expand...

Would mind elaborating on that? I'm very curious to hear why you think this way since I live in metro Grand Rapids and listen to those stations often.

WLHT 95.7 has evolved into more of a Hot AC format (despite its obsession with '80s music), and WTRV 100.5 simply had to move away from MOR-type artists (the Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, etc.) to keep up with WOOD and WLHT.

Stations do what they need to do to keep advertisers and stay in business. However, I do REALLY miss what The River used to sound like.
 
I'm stuck with one of the not-so-great Clear Channel AC's, WMYI. They are extreme with older songs, not enough currents/recurrents to balance. Sometimes running 5 70s songs an hour and going hours without playing a current. "Havent Met You Yet", "Smile", "Need You Now", and "Hey Soul Sister" are being played, but I bet the most played one only got 11 or 12 spins last week. Not to mention they are horrendously slow with adding new songs and sound stale.

You can see their log and top songs at http://www.yes.com/#WMYI - would love to hear opinions, maybe it's just me. They need to get a current in every hour, though. IMO.
 
new_friends_gr said:
Seltzer said:
Grand Rapids A/C stations are a mess other than WOOD. WLHT is a real mess and I think moving the River more mainstream was a mistake as well.
Click to expand...
From a ratings perspective, WOOD doubles both of those stations, at least 12 plus, which is all that gets posted. Another set of #s just posted. The River is really just another version of WOOD now. And W-Lite, although I hope they don't use Lite in their positioning, may be trying to fill too small a hole in the market. It seems that Townsquare would be smart to blow one of them up and get out of the female based AS/C format. To what? I don't know.

Would mind elaborating on that? I'm very curious to hear why you think this way since I live in metro Grand Rapids and listen to those stations often.

WLHT 95.7 has evolved into more of a Hot AC format (despite its obsession with '80s music), and WTRV 100.5 simply had to move away from MOR-type artists (the Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, etc.) to keep up with WOOD and WLHT.

Stations do what they need to do to keep advertisers and stay in business. However, I do REALLY miss what The River used to sound like.
Click to expand...
 
Seltzer said:
And W-Lite, although I hope they don't use Lite in their positioning, may be trying to fill too small a hole in the market.
Click to expand...

In 2006 or so, WLHT brightened up their playlist a bit and made a conscious effort to omit the "W-Lite" moniker from their logos. It changed from "95.7 W-Lite" to "Lite Rock 95.7". However, the deejays still casually say "W-Lite" from time to time. I don't really understand why they don't want to let that go.

The station now calls itself "95.7 LHT". Here's a Wikipedia article that explains more of the station's history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WLHT
 
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