DEC. PPMS........V-103 on Top again by a hair

[gregg75]

V returns to #1 by .1 point over WSB-News/Talk (down .9)

Kiss 104 is now #3 and just .9 behind V-103. Magic is down a bit. Is Kiss taking from both?

Christmas takes B-98 to #4 (aren't they usually higher) those deep cuts must have hurt them
and all the competition this year

Q100 up a bit and Star also

The Bull up .4 WKHX down .3

Y106 down again to 1.8 (that 3.0 in August.....sure looks good right about now)

Anything else?

 

[RoddyFreeman]

The B98.5 numbers were very low for Christmas music, the lowest I've seen for B98.5. Keep in mind, however, most of the Christmas music weeks will be part of next month's report. The so-called December report ended on December 7.

 

[wirelessfugu]

WUBL beat KIX

 

[carolinaradio]

Maybe this will quiet all of the speculation about 'GST going to 94.9. Bull is going nowhere.

WYAY has GOT to ditch a lot of those "true" 60s titles and focus more on 70s/80s with occasional late 60s. In other words, go back to the sound they had in August.

 

[jabba17]

Yes, Bull did beat Kicks. What about in the real numbers?

WGST down to a 1.2? They need a real FM, stat. With Bull doing great and Project holding its own, I'm guessing 105.3 unless CC wants to do the Big Move with Wild on 105.7. Then again, they may not want to mess with a good thing for Wild.

Meanwhile, Journey is up again to a 0.8...let's see how Rock 100.5's reboot does...they've essentially killed most of the classic rock and have gone to heavy measures of 90s alt and 80s hair/arena rock...

 

[TheMusicMan]

The December and Holiday monthlies tend to be throwaways, but I'll indulge and give my meaningless take on the 6+ numbers...

Star traditionally takes a hit during the holidays, most obviously at B98.5's expense, so I was pleasantly surprised that they almost hit a flat 5-share again. Year-to-year, they're up 2 full shares overall. That's a story if I've ever heard one. Now the question becomes how they B98.5 regularly like they did over the summer. One thing we know for certain is that with 2 1/2 weeks of B's Christmas music still unaccounted for, it won't happen next month. I'm very excited to see what Star has up its sleeve in 2012.

I've seldom minced words in my unfavorable comparisons of Q100 to other major market CHRs, but I have to hand it to them - despite facing a revitalized Star, a retooled B98.5 and competition from Wild, they've had a superb 2011. Props to Rob Roberts - there's certainly room for improvement, but the music is far better than it was two years ago, and the improvements have clearly paid dividends. They're so dominant that I can't help thinking CC or CBS needs to launch a full-on CHR attack.

JB has Wild sounding good, but their climb appears to have stagnated. It's clear they need a better signal, better jocks (ESPECIALLY AM Drive) and to move just slightly poppier if they hope to compete. Serious question: is there really more billing potential for a mid-range active rock that does really well in M18-34 than a straight CHR station? If not, Wild 96.1 and Project 105.3 might rings to them...

With the CHOA numbers out of the mix, Dave rose from embarrassing to abysmal. Are good qualitatives enough to save them? Has the change in mornings bought them a few more months? If their ratings are still this poor come spring, I have to imagine the station will be blown up. Shame, because I like the station...

Exactly five years after one of the most maligned format flips in Atlanta radio history...there's a new country champion in Market #9. Yeah, only in 6+. But I have to imagine that if Bull won the overall race, they are winning in at least some of the important demo breakdowns (especially since they've won 18-34 and 25-54 on various occasions before). Kicks is far from defeated, but Cumulus will have its hands full in 2012 as Q is currently its only clear winner. Rock is DEAD (the station, not the genre) and they need to call it a day. WYAY appears just as lost as they were a year ago. Either 100.5 or 106.7 needs to go straight AC NOW. River probably just needs to hold steady until Cumulus pulls the plug on one of those signals and sends what few listeners they have to 97.1.

 

[wpb1999]

Exactly five years after one of the most maligned format flips in Atlanta radio history...there's a new country champion in Market #9. Yeah, only in 6+. But I have to imagine that if Bull won the overall race, they are winning in at least some of the important demo breakdowns (especially since they've won 18-34 and 25-54 on various occasions before). Kicks is far from defeated, but Cumulus will have its hands full in 2012 as Q is currently its only clear winner. Rock is DEAD (the station, not the genre) and they need to call it a day. WYAY appears just as lost as they were a year ago. Either 100.5 or 106.7 needs to go straight AC NOW. River probably just needs to hold steady until Cumulus pulls the plug on one of those signals and sends what few listeners they have to 97.1.

Rock 100.5 needs to simulcast WCNN...The Fan has higher ratings and would be a better signal out of these two to put spoken sports talk on. AC would not work on a 12,500 watt in town station that comes from college park.

AGH 106.7 We already have AC, and Hot AC. WYAY needs to be a REAL "Lite" Rock station. 70s, 80s, 90s, and Now. Bring back Steve McCoy, and keep Trip West and be just like the station in Detroit who has "MoTown's Soft Rock with DRAMATICALLY Less Talk"....so keep the 70s, 80s, 90s, and now. I have missed one thing on B...the 70s. If they played all those decades without much talking...it is just a recipe for success. And, go Christmas on NOV. 15th this year.

 

[jabba17]

I think Rock 100.5 has given up on competing with River...they may have better luck against Project...especially if Project gets demoted back to 105.3. Then again, I can imagine the folks at CC standing pat and hoping that Cumulus blinks first...kind of like Cox did with River. The ultimate question is whether or not there is a large enough niche between the classic rock of River and the active rock of Project. Cumulus may be giving 100.5 one more last chance...maybe until catchers and pitchers report. And sportstalk would work with TRG...maybe split the morning shows but simul the rest of the day.

Soft AC to 106.7? How has soft AC traditionally done in the PPM world? I think a 70s/80s pop oldies station can work...as long as they aren't so schizo as AGH has been and the music is mixed properly so as to avoid the trainwreck segues. Is there enough 00s-and-today soft AC product to work?

 

[wpb1999]

Soft AC to 106.7? How has soft AC traditionally done in the PPM world? I think a 70s/80s pop oldies station can work...as long as they aren't so schizo as AGH has been and the music is mixed properly so as to avoid the trainwreck segues. Is there enough 00s-and-today soft AC product to work?

Considering the success of KOST and WLIT, I think it could work.

 

[jabba17]

Soft AC to 106.7? How has soft AC traditionally done in the PPM world? I think a 70s/80s pop oldies station can work...as long as they aren't so schizo as AGH has been and the music is mixed properly so as to avoid the trainwreck segues. Is there enough 00s-and-today soft AC product to work?

Considering the success of KOST and WLIT, I think it could work.

What you are basically describing is B98.5 Classic.

 

[atlantaboy]

let's see how Rock 100.5's reboot does...they've essentially killed most of the classic rock and have gone to heavy measures of 90s alt and 80s hair/arena rock...

Yeah, they even have currents every once in a while (from the Rock chart) - 100.5 is now definitely what Mediabase classifies as "Rock" (i. e. Heritage Rock as opposed to Active Rock)

 

[kilamanjero]

V returns to #1 by .1 point over WSB-News/Talk (down .9)

Kiss 104 is now #3 and just .9 behind V-103. Magic is down a bit. Is Kiss taking from both?

Christmas takes B-98 to #4 (aren't they usually higher) those deep cuts must have hurt them
and all the competition this year

Q100 up a bit and Star also

The Bull up .4 WKHX down .3

Y106 down again to 1.8 (that 3.0 in August.....sure looks good right about now)

Anything else?

Gregg75, V is back #1 after you said they would stay #2. The whole Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich fiascos were the boost that WSB received during the November book, but those campaigns have bust.

On V versus Kiss, Kiss is stealing from Majic but the people migrating to them weren't listening to V in the first place because they are exclusively R&B music listeners. V-103 has a varied playlist which leads to fluid numbers (remember they do spin a lot of crossover music that most Southern urbans won't touch), so you can't assess that based on Kiss' #s. If you want to make a true analysis you have to assess the actual 25-34 year olds number breakdown between the two stations to know what is happening.

 

[gregg75]

No, I said there might be some back and forth, but eventually News WSB would wind up on
top. Look for WSB to be back on top next time...........with the election heating up.

And V listeners must be going somewhere. This is their lowest book since August (as far
back as the ratings go on here).

 

[Wildstyle K]

I wonder; What exactly is hurting V103? I don't want to jump to conclusions and start posting things here only to regret it if someone happens to read and think "hmmmm.... maybe he's right - we should discontinue that feature from our station..." then take action based on something I say here, BUT... I must ask; Do certain things V103 play in some mixshows turn people off? I hate to admit that it wasn't until V103 started increasing electro-pop dance that they managed to get beaten. Before blaming any particular type of music or newer features of the station, I want to question a few different angles of the situation here:

I wonder if it could be that:

Electro-Pop and dance are scaring people away from V103 and I was wrong about ever suggesting it there in the first place,

OR

Are the times changing faster than V103 is evolving, causing them to no longer perform at their fullest potential with maximum listenership,

OR

Could it be that certain things they're doing or playing are scheduled with bad timing?

I mean...I'm not complaining, but I will admit - playing electro & dance on an URBAN station - in the DAY time is kind of risky! When I was suggesting that that be tried on an Atl. urban, I never actually thought it would happen during any point of the week before midnight on weekends....

But then again, WQHT Hot 97 in New York has recently begun to add in quite a bit of dance music as well (even playing some of it in regular rotation like WPGC in Washington, DC), so it couldn't be that much of a stretch for V to do it in a few mixshows if that sound is the (new) national trend. However, I could see how some of the electro songs chosen in V mixshows might... well, be "harmful." I would think urban sounding dance, or electro-hip hop would work much better than pop-rock remixes. In other words, I'd say more dance and electro from LMFAO, Usher, Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, Ne-yo, Flo Rida, Rihanna, or Nicki Minaj would probably work better than house remixes of "Pumped Up Kicks" and things like that that I've heard on V103 - ESPECIALLY if it's mixed in during the day time. I don't think they use LMFAO and Pitbull and similar sounding songs enough, but tend to overuse other poppier less urban sounding dance material and things that may scare off their main demographic target. I guess the Lady Gaga songs are safe to occasionally use in mixes since she's well known regardless of demographic.

I'm not complaining, but I'd program certain mixshow content a little differently, although I personally don't have a problem with them as they are. Electro-hip hop may be more acceptable to the V audience than CHR Pop dance remixes.



Some time ago, I remember talking about Hot 107.9 here when they were starting to mix dance music. Ever since I made those two postings here, it never happened again on Hot 107.9. Whether it was coincidence or something I said to bring it to attention and cause a stopping action to it, I'll never know.

 

[ShawtyBlack_ATL]

KDM, on December 21st HOT 107.9 did the 5pm Traffic Jam Mix with bass and pop/dance music. Emperor Searcy was the DJ and he had Twitter going nutz! I've noticed them mixing some Rhythmic songs in during the 5pm mixshow depending on the DJ. As for V103, I personally don't tune in as much now days. Frank Ski's show has turned into a snooze fest. All I hear about is his new restaurant over and over again. I've noticed more hip-hop during the workday with Ramona between 10am-2pm compared to the days when V103 was all R&B during that timeslot. Ryan Cameron Show needs a female sidekick because him and Crash D talk way too much about nothing. V103 may bounce back with the "Free Money Kitty" starting next week. After the departure of Joyce Littel, Miss Sophia and now Elle who's next?

 

[jimbo722]

Congratulations to the Bull, well deserved.

 

[Wildstyle K]

KDM, on December 21st HOT 107.9 did the 5pm Traffic Jam Mix with bass and pop/dance music. Emperor Searcy was the DJ and he had Twitter going nutz! I've noticed them mixing some Rhythmic songs in during the 5pm mixshow depending on the DJ. As for V103, I personally don't tune in as much now days. Frank Ski's show has turned into a snooze fest. All I hear about is his new restaurant over and over again. I've noticed more hip-hop during the workday with Ramona between 10am-2pm compared to the days when V103 was all R&B during that timeslot. Ryan Cameron Show needs a female sidekick because him and Crash D talk way too much about nothing. V103 may bounce back with the "Free Money Kitty" starting next week. After the departure of Joyce Littel, Miss Sophia and now Elle who's next?

I should probably pay more attention to Hot 107.9 mixes because I haven't been looking at those particular time slots lately. Looks like Hot 107.9 received the same positive response that V103 did when they went electro-pop & house a few Saturday's ago. That also caused twitter to go crazy as well. I deleted my twitter account a few weeks ago, but that was where I used to receive certain messages in regard to the [positive] comments I leave on radio-info regarding certain topics...

I wonder if V103 increasing their hip hop has anything to do with the amount of new mainstream hip hop releases that have been successful lately. I did notice V103 also using local hip hop acts as well. I did notice that there is an incredible amount of talking on V103, but figured that if it's not affecting their ratings, then they must know what they're doing. After all, BBC Radio 1Xtra in London also has a bunch of talking and news, so maybe V103 is the U.S./Atlanta urban version of that style of radio when it comes to on air personality small talk and news delivery.

I always wonder about WALR beating WAMJ because personally, I think WAMJ is better, although they're both pretty well done. I like the fact that they still play bass hits in the mix during their mixshows.

I guess I can't assume that it's the dance is hurting V because last year at this time when they actually had certain uptempo songs in regular rotation, they were thriving in ratings. But then again, they weren't going as deep into electronica in their mixes as they do now, especially on Saturdays and Saturday nights. Now they have deeper dance mixes, but none of those uptempo songs are in the actual regular playlist. I must also say that sometimes I get stuck with my old mentality of how things were and forget that things change. The younger listeners today may not be scared off by dance being played on an urban the same way kids were back in the 90's and early 00's. I tend to forget that people no longer expect everything uptempo to sound like 2 Live Crew or be straight up booty bass for it to be considered 'cool' nowadays. Today's pop/dance/electro-hip hop IS the new booty bass to the younger generation, and it's an all new sound and experience to them. I tend to still judge based on "who or what sounds / goes harder" in the hip hop community like we did in high school, so it's shocking to me when I hear vocal dance songs without rap in them on an urban station and people loving it!

I'll talk about Star*94 later.

 

[amlover]

Exactly five years after one of the most maligned format flips in Atlanta radio history...there's a new country champion in Market #9. Yeah, only in 6+. But I have to imagine that if Bull won the overall race, they are winning in at least some of the important demo breakdowns (especially since they've won 18-34 and 25-54 on various occasions before). Kicks is far from defeated, but Cumulus will have its hands full in 2012 as Q is currently its only clear winner. Rock is DEAD (the station, not the genre) and they need to call it a day. WYAY appears just as lost as they were a year ago. Either 100.5 or 106.7 needs to go straight AC NOW. River probably just needs to hold steady until Cumulus pulls the plug on one of those signals and sends what few listeners they have to 97.1.

Rock 100.5 needs to simulcast WCNN...The Fan has higher ratings and would be a better signal out of these two to put spoken sports talk on. AC would not work on a 12,500 watt in town station that comes from college park.

AGH 106.7 We already have AC, and Hot AC. WYAY needs to be a REAL "Lite" Rock station. 70s, 80s, 90s, and Now. Bring back Steve McCoy, and keep Trip West and be just like the station in Detroit who has "MoTown's Soft Rock with DRAMATICALLY Less Talk"....so keep the 70s, 80s, 90s, and now. I have missed one thing on B...the 70s. If they played all those decades without much talking...it is just a recipe for success. And, go Christmas on NOV. 15th this year.

It's the Scott Shannon curse on 106.7 They have never done well since they killed True Oldies and took the fun out of listening to it PERIOD.

 

[carolinaradio]

Soft AC to 106.7? How has soft AC traditionally done in the PPM world? I think a 70s/80s pop oldies station can work...as long as they aren't so schizo as AGH has been and the music is mixed properly so as to avoid the trainwreck segues. Is there enough 00s-and-today soft AC product to work?

Considering the success of KOST and WLIT, I think it could work.

WLIT? Success? Most of the year they only get around a 3 share. The only time they're successful is at Christmas, really. And, actually, they seem a lot more like a "fresh" AC (like B98.5) IMO.

 

[secondchoice]

Should Rock 100.5 go away, would Cumulus put True Oldies on 100.5 then do a late 70's 80' and some 90's on 106.7? The True Oldies Channel is "cheap" to run. It would be a good "throw in" for 106.7 rate card.