Maybe its not the best but its certainly not the worst. 4 Urban stations is a bit much but there is a large black population in DC proper, and PG county. WIHT has turned into a great TRUE CHR, imo. It didn't start out that way though, it was basically another urban station after the switch from Jammin to Hot in 2001. With Jeff Wyatt programming it, you could hear 1-2 pop songs per hour, an the rest was urban. Yet somehow they destroyed Z104, which used to be a great station. After Jeff's departure, their strong Rhythmic lean has gradually faded away. Sure they still play some urban stuff but so does Z100. Mix 107.3 has been Mix 107.3 since 1990, and I disagree about their signal. I used to be able to listen to them from Philadelpia(before Wilmington got that 107.1 station), all the way to King's Dominion. They've tweaked the format a few times but its still basically the same. 105.9 The Edge (RIP) was somewhat of a good rock station, it would of been better if they could of stayed w/ the harder stuff an dumped the classic rock, but for some reason, DC just doesn't like Rock. It has not done well in the ratings anytime someone has tried it, with the exception of WHFS before they got too commercial. DC101 has found a niche an they basically have no competition. There are a lot of signals to choose from up an down the radio dial here, including 102.7 Jack FM B'more which I like to listen to, it sure is better than say Tappahanock, VA (where you've got maybe 4 receivable stations).
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DC has the worst radio selection Ive ever heard
- Thread starter viper452
- Start date
Norfolk? a better market? They were without a CHR since the late 90s, till last year finally! And Hot 100.5 is a good station, I like them, better than Hot 100.9, allthough I hear they just revamped to mainstream CHR so I'll differ any more judgement on them till I hear em again. But they're not a better market than dc. They do have 96X which is a good station too, I'll give em props for that. I used to love the Norfolk market, back in the 80's. K94 was a good urban station w/ a CHR lean. Z104 used to be a great station, and the competition between them an 97 Star was awesome. I heard so many new songs out of those 2 stations, sometimes MONTHS in advance of any DC station. It was great. The Z morning zoo was kind of cookie cutter but I found it interesting, not like WAVA's morning zoo, which lets face it, it was the Don & Mike show w/ the "Morning zoo" moniker slapped on it. It wasn't a "morning zoo" show like all the others that swept accross the country. It should of just been Don & Mike in the morning, they made a great team, were funny, an had great ratings. Love the reverb. Z104 turned urban gradually, over several years, and I did enjoy listening to Club 104 in the late 90s, but until Hot 100.5 came into being, I havent had much interest in that market. Allthough I will say that WVHT needs to get a countdown show, I do enjoy listening to AT40 on WIHT, but thats not an option on any station in Norfolk. Even Z104 has dropped their syndicated urban countdown on sunday morning to produce their own show. I know "The point" has Seacrest's HOT AC show(or at least I think it does), but the chart movement on a HOTac show, especially one w/ no recurrent rule, is too slow.
Every market is different, every opinion is different. Bottom line, is 1 market better than another? who can really say as everyone will have a different opinion. Radio in general, is going downhill, accross the country. Kid's these days don't even know what a radio is. We grew up listening to radio an hearing songs on radio for the 1st time. Kids these days hear songs for the 1st time on itunes, or their friends ipod, an when they reach our age, radio may not even exist.
Every market is different, every opinion is different. Bottom line, is 1 market better than another? who can really say as everyone will have a different opinion. Radio in general, is going downhill, accross the country. Kid's these days don't even know what a radio is. We grew up listening to radio an hearing songs on radio for the 1st time. Kids these days hear songs for the 1st time on itunes, or their friends ipod, an when they reach our age, radio may not even exist.
Norfolk also had Comedy Radio 850 247radio.com / Americas Best Music 1230 WJOI with Barry Manilow type songs / 1350 Portsmouth with 70s R and B hits / WHOV 88.1 Hampton University with funky jazz and R and B WHOV.HAMPTONU.EDU / 107.7 WMOV and 92.1 Kiss with 80s and 90s R and B / plus rock, sports, country and other formats on other stations. Oldies on 102.5 The Shark from NC is listenable / AM signals from hundreds of miles up and down the coast are listenable in the day including WNAV 1430 Annapolis / Long Island NYC areas.
My complaint about Norfolk radio is that there are 4 stations with overlapping formats. 92.9 105.3 93.7 101.3 play the Billy Joel / Foreigner / Van Morrison / Eagles type music, although 101.3 plays newer songs but it is not easy to distinguish these stations and it is overload. Those songs have been played too much over the years but I guess younger people are not tired of them.
My complaint about Norfolk radio is that there are 4 stations with overlapping formats. 92.9 105.3 93.7 101.3 play the Billy Joel / Foreigner / Van Morrison / Eagles type music, although 101.3 plays newer songs but it is not easy to distinguish these stations and it is overload. Those songs have been played too much over the years but I guess younger people are not tired of them.
Again, DC is where you go when you can't cut it in New York. When you can't cut it in your own backyard you go to DC, and when you can't make it there, you go to no man's land, steal copyrights from the big boys and girls and actually think that when you try to use the demos to get a job in a real market they aren't gonna know where you got the ideas. When the big boys and girls all have big league agents and attorneys who will put their tits and any other organ they can grab in a wringer they tend not to take the little d*&chebags who show how good they are at cutting throats, all the while claiming that the big boys and girls gave you the material and sat with you on their daytrips and showed you what to do - even putting the show together in advance for you to take to the little no man's land station where you can't even cut it..
The Silkie post sounds like it could be lyrics to a rap/hip-hop song if he could find some producer who could be bought and sold.
N
nocomradio
Guest
viper452 said:
"WXTR-LaPlata, Waldorf"
I can still hear those ID's in my sleep, and yes that was a great station in the early 80's.
R
RadioPhillyFan
Guest
Idk, most markets are bad - Philly's got a great market, same with Harrisburg and Boston.
Just be glad you have an alternative - People are putting too many urban formats on the air that just don't need to be there.
Just be glad you have an alternative - People are putting too many urban formats on the air that just don't need to be there.
DC like most areas probably has some good stations and bad ones. Here in the Hartford, Connecticut area:
Country 92.5 - They've been Country since 1988. Decent station, though not as good as their sister station in Springfield, Mass. (KIX in Springfield plays more older Country Music and some of their personalities including the morning show is better) I can't stand 92.5's Morning girl, but like Wendy who's on Middays, Lance who's on during PM Drive, and John "Caddy Man" Saville who does weekends and fill-ins. (CC)
Hot 93.7 Hip-hop - They're an excellent station. They're actually live and local Monday-Friday 6AM-2AM, Saturdays, 6AM-3AM, and Sundays 10AM-2AM. They only carry one syndicated show "Cannon's Countdown". On the air Since 2001. (CBS)
KISS 95.7 CHR - KISS has been Top 40 since 1984 and even has the calls WKSS. Typical Clear Channel Top 40 station with Seacrest. (Interestingly enough they were even called KISS during their last years as a Beautiful Music Station. KISS 96 it was called).
96.5 TIC-FM Hot AC - At times it seems they want to be CHR playing songs you'd hear on rival KISS 95.7 or sister station Hot 93.7, but other times some of the music they play is stuff you hear on sister station Lite 100.5 (CBS)
Bomba 97.1 Tropical - Decent station. Poor Signal. They're a translator (relaying 104.1 HD2) and while they're 100 watts their antenna is well East of Hartford and they're missing a large chunk of the market. (Independently owned by Red Wolf Broadcasting).
97.9 ESPN - Hartford's Newest radio station. Signed on 3 weeks ago. They're a lower-power Class A move-in from Springfield, Mass. Their tower is on the top of City Place in downtown Hartford, but due to their lower power I can not receive them in my apartment in Bristol due to a mountain, while FM reception isn't stellar I can get most of the other Hartford Stations (except Bomba see above). Sad. I was looking forward to hearing the Yankees on a Crystal Clear FM station this year too.
You also can not pick them up in Waterbury due to a Portugeese Translator on 97.9 in nearby Naugatuck. [CC]
Lite 100.5 - WRCH has been a Soft AC station since 1988. They are a great station and just got recognized for having the highest ratings of any Christmas Station in the Country. They are live Monday-Friday 530AM-12AM. They carry Delilah Midnite-5AM and Jim Brickman's syndicated show Saturday Mornings. The only bad thing about WRCH is as part of budget cutting a couple years back Delilah now airs 7PM-5AM on Both Saturdays and Sundays! Lite is also not at Lite as they used to be. [CBS]
102.9 DRC-FM The Big D - They've been Oldies since 1988. They've evolved into a more Oldies/Classic Hits hybrid over the last few years. This station has been majorly affected by budget cuts over the last few years carrying the syndicated Tom Kent 7PM-Midnight Monday-Friday and Charlie Tuna 6PM-11PM on Sundays. Overnights are automated. The Big D is known for their all-request Saturday Show hosting by Rockin' Ron Sedaile 7PM-Mdnight. They usually have reverb for his show. (Buckley Radio).
Radio 104.1 WMRQ Alternative Rock - This is the second coming of this radio station. Red Wolf bought it from Clear Channel (Aloha Trust) in 2009. Radio 104 originally aired October 1994-September 2003. I don't have much to say about it except they're playing some of the same music as they were playing back when I was in 8th Grade some 16 or 17 years ago. They play a Bob Marley song weekdays at 4:20. They also do a lot of remotes and promotions. On more than one occasion I've heard them play "Jump Jump" by Kris Kross. Yep. That was always my favorite Alternative Rock song.
The River 105.9 - They've been on the air since 2002, replacing Classic Rock Formatted WHCN. They're a cheaply run CC station. Lots of VTing. The plus side is they dumped The John Tesh Show. They're more like a Classic Hits station these days.
106.9 The Rock - I don't typically listen to this station, but I will tell you they've gotten worse over the past year. Adding quite a bit of Classic Rock to their music mix and becoming the flagship of the Connecticut Whale AHL Hockey Team. It wasn't bad pre-empting music programing for sports every Sunday for 9 hours with the Patriots,but now with the hockey music is getting pre-empted more often than 9 hours/week for 16 weeks. [MARLIN BROADCASTING]
The AM Band pretty much sucks in Hartford except for CBS's WTIC 1080. Local and National Talk. Giants Football, Redsux Baseball, UCONN Basketball and Football. Rush, Hannity, Coast-to-Coast AM, and Clark Howard. Quiet a bit of local talk truthfully.
Country 92.5 - They've been Country since 1988. Decent station, though not as good as their sister station in Springfield, Mass. (KIX in Springfield plays more older Country Music and some of their personalities including the morning show is better) I can't stand 92.5's Morning girl, but like Wendy who's on Middays, Lance who's on during PM Drive, and John "Caddy Man" Saville who does weekends and fill-ins. (CC)
Hot 93.7 Hip-hop - They're an excellent station. They're actually live and local Monday-Friday 6AM-2AM, Saturdays, 6AM-3AM, and Sundays 10AM-2AM. They only carry one syndicated show "Cannon's Countdown". On the air Since 2001. (CBS)
KISS 95.7 CHR - KISS has been Top 40 since 1984 and even has the calls WKSS. Typical Clear Channel Top 40 station with Seacrest. (Interestingly enough they were even called KISS during their last years as a Beautiful Music Station. KISS 96 it was called).
96.5 TIC-FM Hot AC - At times it seems they want to be CHR playing songs you'd hear on rival KISS 95.7 or sister station Hot 93.7, but other times some of the music they play is stuff you hear on sister station Lite 100.5 (CBS)
Bomba 97.1 Tropical - Decent station. Poor Signal. They're a translator (relaying 104.1 HD2) and while they're 100 watts their antenna is well East of Hartford and they're missing a large chunk of the market. (Independently owned by Red Wolf Broadcasting).
97.9 ESPN - Hartford's Newest radio station. Signed on 3 weeks ago. They're a lower-power Class A move-in from Springfield, Mass. Their tower is on the top of City Place in downtown Hartford, but due to their lower power I can not receive them in my apartment in Bristol due to a mountain, while FM reception isn't stellar I can get most of the other Hartford Stations (except Bomba see above). Sad. I was looking forward to hearing the Yankees on a Crystal Clear FM station this year too.
You also can not pick them up in Waterbury due to a Portugeese Translator on 97.9 in nearby Naugatuck. [CC]Lite 100.5 - WRCH has been a Soft AC station since 1988. They are a great station and just got recognized for having the highest ratings of any Christmas Station in the Country. They are live Monday-Friday 530AM-12AM. They carry Delilah Midnite-5AM and Jim Brickman's syndicated show Saturday Mornings. The only bad thing about WRCH is as part of budget cutting a couple years back Delilah now airs 7PM-5AM on Both Saturdays and Sundays! Lite is also not at Lite as they used to be. [CBS]
102.9 DRC-FM The Big D - They've been Oldies since 1988. They've evolved into a more Oldies/Classic Hits hybrid over the last few years. This station has been majorly affected by budget cuts over the last few years carrying the syndicated Tom Kent 7PM-Midnight Monday-Friday and Charlie Tuna 6PM-11PM on Sundays. Overnights are automated. The Big D is known for their all-request Saturday Show hosting by Rockin' Ron Sedaile 7PM-Mdnight. They usually have reverb for his show. (Buckley Radio).
Radio 104.1 WMRQ Alternative Rock - This is the second coming of this radio station. Red Wolf bought it from Clear Channel (Aloha Trust) in 2009. Radio 104 originally aired October 1994-September 2003. I don't have much to say about it except they're playing some of the same music as they were playing back when I was in 8th Grade some 16 or 17 years ago. They play a Bob Marley song weekdays at 4:20. They also do a lot of remotes and promotions. On more than one occasion I've heard them play "Jump Jump" by Kris Kross. Yep. That was always my favorite Alternative Rock song.
The River 105.9 - They've been on the air since 2002, replacing Classic Rock Formatted WHCN. They're a cheaply run CC station. Lots of VTing. The plus side is they dumped The John Tesh Show. They're more like a Classic Hits station these days.
106.9 The Rock - I don't typically listen to this station, but I will tell you they've gotten worse over the past year. Adding quite a bit of Classic Rock to their music mix and becoming the flagship of the Connecticut Whale AHL Hockey Team. It wasn't bad pre-empting music programing for sports every Sunday for 9 hours with the Patriots,but now with the hockey music is getting pre-empted more often than 9 hours/week for 16 weeks. [MARLIN BROADCASTING]
The AM Band pretty much sucks in Hartford except for CBS's WTIC 1080. Local and National Talk. Giants Football, Redsux Baseball, UCONN Basketball and Football. Rush, Hannity, Coast-to-Coast AM, and Clark Howard. Quiet a bit of local talk truthfully.
R
RadioPhillyFan
Guest
Welp, here's philly! (what i listen too)
92.5 XTU - This is a great country station, gets better too!
93.3 WMMR - Active Rock, more towards classic rock, but still decent.
93.7 WSTW - Wilmington, CHR station with an amazingly strong signal, great air staff, and it also tosses in some Active Rock new songs!
94.5 PST - Top 40 Hot AC/CHR - seems like your average one
Wired 96.5 - WRDW has a very well layered morning show, but it's very repetitive - at least the songs are good
Q102 - This CHR is really good, but has the worst morning shoq
Radio 104.5 - The most listened to Alternative Rock station in the country; Plays brand new alt rock, some great older rock - Stream it online sometime (WRFF 104.5 FM Philadelphia$
Mix 106.1 - WISX is an AMAZING Hot AC, it has the CHR taste, however. They play rock, rap and pop - It asks for user input, too.
Hot 107.9 - New station in Philly, strong Class A Fm that plays mostly Rythmytic Hits, all around great station.
I left out 88.5, 91.3, 94.1, 95.1 Z95 (Generic Clear Channel Active Rock copying Nikki's Sixx Sense), 97.5, 98.1, 98.9, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 102.5, 102.9, 103.3, 103.9, 104.9, 105.3, 106.9 and 107.5
92.5 XTU - This is a great country station, gets better too!
93.3 WMMR - Active Rock, more towards classic rock, but still decent.
93.7 WSTW - Wilmington, CHR station with an amazingly strong signal, great air staff, and it also tosses in some Active Rock new songs!
94.5 PST - Top 40 Hot AC/CHR - seems like your average one
Wired 96.5 - WRDW has a very well layered morning show, but it's very repetitive - at least the songs are good
Q102 - This CHR is really good, but has the worst morning shoq
Radio 104.5 - The most listened to Alternative Rock station in the country; Plays brand new alt rock, some great older rock - Stream it online sometime (WRFF 104.5 FM Philadelphia$
Mix 106.1 - WISX is an AMAZING Hot AC, it has the CHR taste, however. They play rock, rap and pop - It asks for user input, too.
Hot 107.9 - New station in Philly, strong Class A Fm that plays mostly Rythmytic Hits, all around great station.
I left out 88.5, 91.3, 94.1, 95.1 Z95 (Generic Clear Channel Active Rock copying Nikki's Sixx Sense), 97.5, 98.1, 98.9, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 102.5, 102.9, 103.3, 103.9, 104.9, 105.3, 106.9 and 107.5
RadioPhillyFan said:
Decent station (leans too female for my tastes...not too much of fan of their AC/AAA presentation)...but is that what they're claiming? Each of the alternative stations in L.A. have about twice the cume.
R
RadioPhillyFan
Guest
puddingpop said:
They do claim that, and it is pretty soft; but sometimes it gets quite a bit of good songs in a row, which is why it's on my presets.
RadioPhillyFan said:
I'm perplexed and annoyed at how there are 'too many urban formats on the air that just don't need to be there" valid for DC when over a quarter of the metropolitan area population is black. There are only 3 urbans and one CHRurban hybrid (WPGC) station that is on FM dial in the market. It's not like Atlanta where there are 5 FM stations that are actual variations of the urban music over-the-air.
R
RadioPhillyFan
Guest
kilamanjero said:
I was talking about Philly... We have five formats that are Urban - WPHI is the lowest rated in the market, and it's not like DC/Baltimore is a big city like Philly; four formats is more of your market then five of ours. We also have WUSL, which is one of the lowest cuming stations in our market (Urban as well) - We only need WDAS-FM and WUSL-FM (WRNB, WPPZ, WPHI and WJKS shouls flip formats)
I think DC needs a Country format, firstly; it isn't even in your market, secondly, DC signals cover VA and MD's country towns, get a strong FM with a country signal and you're golden.
Also, Philadelphia doesn't have as high a black population as DC; us having those stations is a waste.
R
RadioPhillyFan
Guest
TheBigA said:
Just looked at ratings - Active Rock, Classic Rock are missing. But still... DC seems to have the formats, just not quality - and I can say that for philly too.
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