I know most people do not analyze things in this type of way, and it may not have a high level of importance when it comes to the business / revenue aspect of radio, but I'm almost 100% positive that Q100 has not only been as successful as a chr due to a lack of any direct chr competition - in addition to the fact that this adult chr style sound has pretty much been all that was bottle fed to Atl'iens for many years now, but (I'm also almost 100% positive that) if given time, a pop leaning rhythmic (or even a well programmed slightly urban leaning rhythmic) could also be just as successful as Q100. Just because it has never happened doesn't mean it couldn't work if tried. ...
Many people who have a strong to moderate dislike of hip hop or the urban format will, of course, choose Q100 or Star 94 to get as close to top 40 (or even rhythmic) as possible rather than tune in to the urbans that feature basically 1 to 2 types of music.
The only problem I see with WWVA or the format style suggestions I mentioned above in my first paragraph is that it will take people a while to discover, get used to, and even develop a like for the new format, especially if the format starts out as unstable and untrustworthy as WWVA's first few months of chr! Some of the things that could hold back a new Atlanta chr format from having faster success, are;
A lot of people may flip through, hear the new station, but if it's playing hip hop (or something they don't like), they'll just quickly assume "oh it's another rap station we don't need" and just pass it off without giving it further chance.
If an urban fanatic tunes in to hear one song, then the next song that comes on is "weird" to them, they, of course, will also not stick around.
Atlanta has had a long history of lacking hits, so imagine if people tune in, hear some extra stuff they are unfamiliar with, then tune out because the station is playing "weird music"...
And with the history and unstableness WWVA has had, I could see why people would not immediately "trust" the station enough to get hooked on it now that it's fixed up (hence, why the ratings are slowly rising) in addition to its weak signal and the other reasons I mentioned above.
So, just like what happened in the Phoenix section with KZON and all the rhythmic haters that used to talk a lot, I believe that WWVA can and will also be just as successful in Atlanta as KZON eventually became in Phoenix! Even with KZON's huge, powerful, clear signal, it still took it a while to "get recognized" and start charting well in ratings! WWVA, despite its signal, has been gaining steady success, and seems to (now) even be rising at a slightly faster rate than KZON did! (If I remember correctly, it took KZON about two years to surpass
being in the middle of the ratings sheet and actually look like a top performer on paper.)
I know, I could've explained all this with better wording, but... despite my laziness to put more effort into this post, I'm sure most of you understand what I'm trying to say. The current WWVA is actually the FIRST proper rhythmic pop chr to be tried since the early days of 95.5 The Beat. I'm sure it will find solid success in ATL and eventually give Q100 another thing to be worried about. If I don't die or get banned from the internet or something, I will be back in two years to post on whether or not I was right.
