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Does AC/Hot AC Just NOT Work in Maine?

S

scottmckenzie

Guest
In Maine's 3 Markets - there is only one under-performing Hot AC station - and 2 AC stations...compared to 5 Classic Rock/Classic Hits; 6 Country Stations; and 4 CHR...Are Adult Contemporary/HAC just not viable formats in the state???

Having grown up there - I remember that its a Country/Classic Rock heavy state listener-wise...is 'MGX just not executing properly enough to pull the numbers on the Hot AC side, or are there simply not enough 18-49 y.o. soccer mom's to make the format work??? Or have the Doldrums of weak new Hot AC titles really in play?

Having been up recently - I scanned the dial, and I think there is a place for a high energy, 80's leaning Adult Top 40/HAC to break up the musical landscape...or maybe Maine needs to get "Jack"'ed up.

Thoughts?
 
> Having been up recently - I scanned the dial, and I think
> there is a place for a high energy, 80's leaning Adult Top
> 40/HAC to break up the musical landscape...or maybe Maine
> needs to get "Jack"'ed up.

How recently were you there? The Portland area has "Frank FM," WFNK-FM 107.5 of Lewiston/Portland. That station switched to that format before the Jacks, Mikes and Bens came to New York City (101.1), Boston (93.7) and Phialdelphia (95.7).
 
> > Having been up recently - I scanned the dial, and I think
> > there is a place for a high energy, 80's leaning Adult Top
>
> > 40/HAC to break up the musical landscape...or maybe Maine
> > needs to get "Jack"'ed up.
>
> How recently were you there? The Portland area has "Frank
> FM," WFNK-FM 107.5 of Lewiston/Portland. That station
> switched to that format before the Jacks, Mikes and Bens
> came to New York City (101.1), Boston (93.7) and
> Phialdelphia (95.7).
>
I listened to Frank quite a bit - and would not consider them even close to a Jack station - they do not play anything on the pop/funk/soul side of the 70's - the pop/new age 80's and do not go from 1990-Present...they are a true-blue classic hit station...Rolling Stones/Eagles/Aerosmith/Zeppelin/Pat Benatar/Mellencamp...

Nassau has them all over the place...107.5 & 105.5 out of the Midcoast...Frank would have to go a lot deeper/broader in its musical scope to be a Jack
 
> > Having been up recently - I scanned the dial, and I think
> > there is a place for a high energy, 80's leaning Adult Top
>
> > 40/HAC to break up the musical landscape...or maybe Maine
> > needs to get "Jack"'ed up.
>
> How recently were you there? The Portland area has "Frank
> FM," WFNK-FM 107.5 of Lewiston/Portland. That station
> switched to that format before the Jacks, Mikes and Bens
> came to New York City (101.1), Boston (93.7) and
> Phialdelphia (95.7).
>
Scott is right, Frank should not be confused in the least bit with the "Jack" format. Don't let the first name moniker fool you, "Frank" is a format that plays familiar ("female friendly") classic rock hits.

Nassau has replicated the format in southern NH at WFNQ (Frank FM 106.3). There, you can listen to it side-by-side with 93.7 Mike FM and they are literally different formats. Mike is much more like JACK.
 
A Kinder Gentler Northern NE Board????

> > > Having been up recently - I scanned the dial, and I
> think
> > > there is a place for a high energy, 80's leaning Adult
> Top
> >
> > > 40/HAC to break up the musical landscape...or maybe
> Maine
> > > needs to get "Jack"'ed up.
> >
> > How recently were you there? The Portland area has "Frank
> > FM," WFNK-FM 107.5 of Lewiston/Portland. That station
> > switched to that format before the Jacks, Mikes and Bens
> > came to New York City (101.1), Boston (93.7) and
> > Phialdelphia (95.7).
> >
> Scott is right, Frank should not be confused in the least
> bit with the "Jack" format. Don't let the first name
> moniker fool you, "Frank" is a format that plays familiar
> ("female friendly") classic rock hits.
>
> Nassau has replicated the format in southern NH at WFNQ
> (Frank FM 106.3). There, you can listen to it side-by-side
> with 93.7 Mike FM and they are literally different formats.
> Mike is much more like JACK.
>
Thanks!
 
> In Maine's 3 Markets - there is only one under-performing
> Hot AC station - and 2 AC stations...compared to 5 Classic
> Rock/Classic Hits; 6 Country Stations; and 4 CHR...Are Adult
> Contemporary/HAC just not viable formats in the state???
>
> Having grown up there - I remember that its a
> Country/Classic Rock heavy state listener-wise...is 'MGX
> just not executing properly enough to pull the numbers on
> the Hot AC side, or are there simply not enough 18-49 y.o.
> soccer mom's to make the format work??? Or have the Doldrums
> of weak new Hot AC titles really in play?

Well, both Bangor and Portland(+L/A) are very radio station rich markets. There's something for everyone... Let's use the soccer mom as an example. Younger "hip" mommies have CHR's(and in Portland a CHR/R, too). Some of the CHRs have a daytime Hot AC feel, Z107(trying not to offend, Dan) and 92 Moose for example. 70s/80s rocking mommies have several Classic Hits stations to choose from. The 30 and under rocker mommies have WCYY/WCYI in the Portland area, as well. And the boring soccer mommies have all the soft ACs to choose from...

However, if you leave the Maine "metroplexes"(insert hint of sarcasm here) there are tonnes of Hot ACs. WHOU(depending on the time period) in Houlton, Q96.1 WQHR in Presque Isle, WHQO in Skowhegan, WCRQ in Calais, etc. It is a safe format and works well in those one radio station towns.
 
>

> is 'MGX
> just not executing properly enough to pull the numbers on
> the Hot AC side,

"MGX isn't a Hot AC .They list themselves that way,but in my opion they're a Soft Rock station.The most recent Hot AC we've had in Portland is the former KISS 99.9.I think they sounded pretty good.They played a lot of 80's.'MGX needs to do something,but there are Saga employees that will tell you everything is just fine and that they are the #1 billing station in the market.So why change.They've added some different music recently but it's still 'MGX music.
 
> However, if you leave the Maine "metroplexes"(insert hint of
> sarcasm here) there are tonnes of Hot ACs. WHOU(depending
> on the time period) in Houlton, Q96.1 WQHR in Presque Isle,
> WHQO in Skowhegan, WCRQ in Calais, etc. It is a safe format
> and works well in those one radio station towns.
>
Had a chance to listen to Mix 107.9 WHQO The music "MIX" is pretty good. The retro 80's lunch on 92 Moose is good too.
 
> Had a chance to listen to Mix 107.9 WHQO The music "MIX" is
> pretty good. The retro 80's lunch on 92 Moose is good too.
>

It's actually the former GM for Citadel Presque Isle(Rick Davis??) and former Kiss 94-5 employee Jay Hanson that are running that operation.

The last time I listened to that station it was a part of CCU's News/talk network. I loved it back in 2001 when it was The Party 108. It ran for months, as far as I know, as a screaming non-commercial CHR/M. Too bad that never worked out.
 
> > Had a chance to listen to Mix 107.9 WHQO The music "MIX"
> is
> > pretty good. The retro 80's lunch on 92 Moose is good too.
>
> >
>
> It's actually the former GM for Citadel Presque Isle(Rick
> Davis??) and former Kiss 94-5 employee Jay Hanson that are
> running that operation.
>
> The last time I listened to that station it was a part of
> CCU's News/talk network. I loved it back in 2001 when it
> was The Party 108. It ran for months, as far as I know, as
> a screaming non-commercial CHR/M. Too bad that never worked
> out.
>
Tough to have a non-commercial station work out when it's owned by people trying to make money. Plus, that station was jockless - a CHR jockless station is worthless. People in the CHR demo know how to purchase iPOD and make them work. If they wanted just music, they would go the iPOD route - which many have already done.

As far as the Hot AC/AC debate - it's true that there's lots of over-saturation in the 3 markets in Maine. Everyone has their specialty stations. Hot ACs tend to blend ACs, AAAs, country and a little bit of CHR all into one station. If the markets have all of those stations available, the Hot AC station becomes a great second choice for both listeners and advertisers alike.

The last one I heard around Maine was Kiss 99.9/96.9 in Portland/Lewiston/Auburn. It didn't really have a whole lot of focus or originality...must be why Nassau saw it as such a hot property!

BF
 
> Tough to have a non-commercial station work out when it's
> owned by people trying to make money. Plus, that station
> was jockless - a CHR jockless station is worthless. People
> in the CHR demo know how to purchase iPOD and make them
> work. If they wanted just music, they would go the iPOD
> route - which many have already done.

Remember, though, this was 4 and a half years ago. A lot has changed since then. Technology-wise, that is.... iPods/MP3 players were not as available as they are now. And, the hype around the iPod, like giving buzzwords to stuff that some people have been doing for years("podcasting"), has really pushed it.

>
> The last one I heard around Maine was Kiss 99.9/96.9 in
> Portland/Lewiston/Auburn. It didn't really have a whole lot
> of focus or originality...must be why Nassau saw it as such
> a hot property!

Kiss was good when Ron Frizzell and Company owned it. Went downhill after that. What can ya say, most TV people can't run radio stations.
 
> Kiss was good when Ron Frizzell and Company owned it. Went
> downhill after that. What can ya say, most TV people can't
> run radio stations.
>
Does your boss read this board?
 
> What can ya say, most TV people can't
> run radio stations.

FRANKly, I'm not sure that Harron Communications could run anything.

WMTW-FM 106.7/870/1470 was pretty much a disaster, despite continuous plugs on WMTW-TV and a local news team. To think that the top-rating WLAM (despite unattractive demos) was killed for that station is crazy. I'm surprised that they never received a C&D by Clear Channel for "Kiss 99.9"; their music choices and jocks were horrible at the beginning, though by the end the station had improved significantly. 107.5 The Wolf was the only thing worthwhile in that cluster seeing how popular country is in Portland.

Nassau woke up the market and put a huge hole in WBLM 102.9 with the big 107.5 signal, canned the awful WMTW-FM and mediocre WMEK, and is finally modernizing the market. And if you look at the changes made to WMTW-TV, Hearst-Argyle has made that stations appearance astoundingly better.
 
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