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Country Swap
- Thread starter jap_man
- Start date
Maybe a shift in the people meters?
Wow listened to WSOC-FM a couple days ago. I thought they had changed format. It sure didn’t sound like Country. Yikes!
How long has it been since you listened to country radio? That's how mainstream country has sounded for the past decade or so, although more traditional elements have crept into playlists in recent years.
Really? Whatever it was made it sound like an R&B station, not Country. I thought if not a format flip that maybe they got the feed mixed up with Power 98.
I always found Cat's signal slightly lacking in some areas, such as near Rock Hill, whereas WSOC's signal was more solid.
WKKT's city of license is Statesville and their transmitter is in Mooresville. WSOC's city of license and transmitter are both in Charlotte. WKKT isn't going to come in as strong in the south because their transmitter is farther north.
Country, like most formats, has definitely evolved over the years, and the format lines aren't as black and white. That being said, I don't think anybody would confuse WKKT with WPEG. I'm in my mid 30s and I prefer contemporary sounding country.
WSOC did some local research over the summer, and that is one reason for their rise. Another is WKKT's music has just been off. Both selection and flow, which were on point earlier last year. Over the last month or 2 WKKT has actually added more gold to their library. Their tagline is now "Charlotte's #1 for New Country and Your All Time Favorites". It doesn't make sense to me, as WKKT's audience has historically been about 10 years younger than WSOC's, and the fact that WKKT was the top country station in the top 25 markets last year.
I finally watched the People's Choice Awards. What in the name of Patsy Cline was that mess they played when Kane Brown's name was announced as a nominee?
Things weren't much better when Shania Twain sang and I skipped over most of it.
Didn't watch, but it was probably "Like I Love Country Music," which namedrops Brooks and Dunn, Johnny and June Carter Cash and other "legends." As a song, it's pretty awful, but that's the state of country music right now -- there's an audience for mindless dance tracks, thoughtful ballads and hardcore drinking songs, and all of them are testing well enough for country radio to play them.
Hardcore drinking songs are what I like. I don't drink but they sound good.
My favorite right now is Parker McCollum's "Handle on You," mainly for the lines "I tell myself I should quit, but I don't listen to drunks" and "After all this back and forth, a fifth won't do."
I don’t watch award shows, but “Like I Love Country Music” is a great song. It was #1 for several weeks last year, and still tests very well. I like Kane Brown’s new one to “Thank God”.
The reality is most of the people complaining about the current state of country music are out of the demo. If you’re not between 18 and 54, stations really don’t care about your opinion because they’re not trying to appeal to you.
New country stations get stronger shares than classic country stations.
Even Real Country!
There are two stations calling themselves that, one that reaches Charlotte (the worst songs I heard there were "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" and "The Thunder Rolls") and one that does not, though I only found out last week that station even still exists. The local newspaper said it went off the air and has never written about it again, but a co-owned station's Wikipedia "Listen live" link now sends you to the other station. So when the station I normally listen to was playing something bad, I switched, and even there, a beat that sounds more suited to rap than country. I wish I had made a note of what the lyrics were so I could find out what it was.
But Real Country, the satellite format, which is what that station used to have and apparently still does, was bad about playing garbage from today, such as Jason Aldean.
Jason Aldean is what people want
He sounds Country from what I've heard.....
I haven't heard it. The song "She's Country" isn't. That's my view.
Yeah, well, when I listen to country, "real country", not Real Country, is what I want.
Are you in their target demographic?
First, the ratings differences between the two stations aren't that sizable. WSOC is #4, WKKT is #7. I'm sure when it comes to sales and revenues, that's hardly noticeable. In October, they were just .4 apart. In November, it was a larger gap. Now, in December, it's a one-point difference. But in a market like Charlotte where WSOC and WKKT have often traded the lead, why is WSOC always ahead these days?
I checked to see if it might be about morning shows. But both stations have local morning shows. Most iHeart Country stations run the syndicated Bobby Bones Show in AM Drive. Good show but not local. However, WKKT delays Bobby Bones to 7pm. The Cat has its own local morning wake up show just like WSOC.
It would be interesting to see where the two stations do in demographics. When co-owned Country stations compete, one will go just a little more into the library and one will be a little more contemporary. But in this case, WSOC is owned by Beasley and WKKT is owned by iHeart. From what others have posted, the two stations seem to have flipped their demo targets.
I checked to see if it might be about morning shows. But both stations have local morning shows. Most iHeart Country stations run the syndicated Bobby Bones Show in AM Drive. Good show but not local. However, WKKT delays Bobby Bones to 7pm. The Cat has its own local morning wake up show just like WSOC.
It would be interesting to see where the two stations do in demographics. When co-owned Country stations compete, one will go just a little more into the library and one will be a little more contemporary. But in this case, WSOC is owned by Beasley and WKKT is owned by iHeart. From what others have posted, the two stations seem to have flipped their demo targets.
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