Elliot in the Morning gone from Rock 100.5?

[Rusty Muck]

Would Cumulus put Christmas on the station with a permanent format coming after the holidays? Alternatively, what if 99X moved to 100.5 and Christmas went on to 98.9?

Cumulus hasn't exactly gotten traction with its various iterations of 99X on translators, nor have other players like Cox with classic alt on 107.1.

The 98.9 xltr has been an embarrassing merry-go-round of failed formats when they haven't used it for some iteration of 99X.

AllAccess agrees. They call it a "format adjustment" not a change, and it will begin Monday at 6AM:

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All Access offers the latest radio industry news and music news, music promotions for record companies new music, radio station song charts, and much more. AllAccess.com has been serving the radio and music industry since 1995, always bringing you the highest quality content with...

www.allaccess.com

Please let this not be another infamous poorly executed "format merger" stunt like when 98.9 The Bone "merged" into Rock 100.5, to no tangible effect.

 

[MarkW]

It would be embarrassing if that underachieving hack of a PD, Axel Lowe, were to keep his job in view of the fact most or all of the air staff has been fired or, if voicetracked, removed. During both of his stints at 100.5 (the latest as PD), the ratings have been consistently awful.

I predict a 90s and early 00s based Alternative format. A return to Classic Rock would be a decent move, too.

Given the recent hoopla surrounding the anniversary of 99X's birth, I suspect "99X at 100.5" will be the new brand. Lowe will probably keep his job, despite his terrible track record, since he was part of the original 99X.

 

[MarkW]

Going from butt rock laden Rock to a (mostly) Classic Alternative format or straight-up Alternative would be more than a mere "format adjustment."

Edit - I see the Rock 100.5 Facebook and Twitter pages have each been deleted.

Given the recent hoopla around Cumulus bringing back the Q101 brand to WKQX in Chicago, I definitely think an upgrade of the 99X brand to 100.5 is a serious possibility.

Of course, it bears mentioning 99X in its current incarnation earns anemic ratings at 98.9, and during the final five or so years of its run at 99.7 FM, the ratings stunk, too. In much more recent times, Radio 105.7 / Alt 105.7, after earning good ratings its first 12 to 18 months on the air, sputtered afterward.

Thus, I'm not so sure the demand in Atlanta truly exists for an FM alternative station. I'm also not so sure the general public would be as excited to see a bunch of retreads who are now well outside the demo target try to bring the 99X brand to 100.5 FM. A good chunk of the Metro Atlanta population either wasn't born yet or lived elsewhere during 99X's heyday, too.

The imaging voice on the TOH ID I just heard sure sounds like the same person Cumulus uses for its Alternative station in New Orleans, just with less synthetization and volume. (The read was delivered in a quiet voice as opposed to the typical boomy voice.)

 

[Rusty Muck]

Going from butt rock laden Rock to a (mostly) Classic Alternative format or straight-up Alternative would be more than a mere "format adjustment."

Edit - I see the Rock 100.5 Facebook and Twitter pages have each been deleted.

Given the recent hoopla around Cumulus bringing back the Q101 brand to WKQX in Chicago, I definitely think an upgrade of the 99X brand to 100.5 is a serious possibility.

Of course, it bears mentioning 99X in its current incarnation earns anemic ratings at 98.9, and during the final five or so years of its run at 99.7 FM, the ratings stunk, too. In much more recent times, Radio 105.7 / Alt 105.7, after earning good ratings its first 12 to 18 months on the air, sputtered afterward.

Thus, I'm not so sure the demand in Atlanta truly exists for an FM alternative station. I'm also not so sure the general public would be as excited to see a bunch of retreads who are now well outside the demo target try to bring the 99X brand to 100.5 FM. A good chunk of the Metro Atlanta population either wasn't born yet or lived elsewhere during 99X's heyday, too.

98.9’s signal is horrible and was reduced significantly in order to merely remain on the air in the first place. That it has ANY ratings is a miracle and is not reflective of the format.

 

[MarkW]

You're right. However, the fact Alternative performed poorly its final 18 to 24 months on 105.7 should not be ignored.

Indeed, the 98.9 translator's signal is best across eastern Fulton County and DeKalb County, which is heavily African American.

Other than radio people, the 99X brand and its legacy is not very meaningful to listeners under the age of 40 or 45. Those who are in their 30s and like rock / alternative music likely have fonder memories of Project 9-6-1 or perhaps even 92.9 Dave FM.

That said, I suspect Cumulus sees a lane for an Alternative format, rightly or wrongly. We'll see if I'm proven right on Monday.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Posters above have kind of been saying this, but I question whether Classic Alternative has the potential to get ratings and billings any greater than they've been. My guess is it does not.

 

[MarkW]

All of Axel's programming instincts have been wrong:
- Ditched the late 70's to early 00's classic rock playlist for a sorta active rock-leaning mainstream rock playlist, with a focus on established artists' new material instead of platinum selling legacy material. Also played Twenty One Pilots and Maneskin alongside the likes of Quiet Riot and Motley Crue. The ratings stunk.
- Mornings were actually in very good shape when he arrived. After the pivot to the sorta active rock-leaning mainstream rock playlist, decided to force the morning show to play 2 or 3 songs an hour. Audience got annoyed and the ratings began to drop. One of the morning show co-stars (Bailey) departed the radio station.
- Thought pairing Southside with himself in P.M. Drive with a lot of talk would be a recipe for ratings success. Ratings remained in the mud.
- Thought putting an ex-CHR jock from the Northeast in A.M. Drive who has little in common from a lifestyle standpoint with Rock 100.5's music daypart audience would be a good move. The ratings stunk.

I think if any brand other than 99X were about to appear at 100.5, RadioInsight likely would've found new domain registrations by now.

I suspect the existing 99X web site will simply be updated come Monday morning to reflect a frequency change from 98.9 to 100.5.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Posters above have kind of been saying this, but I question whether Classic Alternative has the potential to get ratings and billings any greater than they've been. My guess is it does not.

Active rock is in such a dire position that they have nothing to lose by trying.

 

[MVB13]

All of Axel's programming instincts have been wrong:
- Ditched the late 70's to early 00's classic rock playlist for a sorta active rock-leaning mainstream rock playlist, with a focus on established artists' new material instead of platinum selling legacy material. Also played Twenty One Pilots and Maneskin alongside the likes of Quiet Riot and Motley Crue. The ratings stunk.
- Mornings were actually in very good shape when he arrived. After the pivot to the sorta active rock-leaning mainstream rock playlist, decided to force the morning show to play 2 or 3 songs an hour. Audience got annoyed and the ratings began to drop. One of the morning show co-stars (Bailey) departed the radio station.
- Thought pairing Southside with himself in P.M. Drive with a lot of talk would be a recipe for ratings success. Ratings remained in the mud.
- Thought putting an ex-CHR jock from the Northeast in A.M. Drive who has little in common from a lifestyle standpoint with Rock 100.5's music daypart audience would be a good move. The ratings stunk.

I think if any brand other than 99X were about to appear at 100.5, RadioInsight likely would've found new domain registrations by now.

I suspect the existing 99X web site will simply be updated come Monday morning to reflect a frequency change from 98.9 to 100.5.

They had his show on Alt 92.3 in NYC his show sucked. He was not funny at all.

 

[MarkW]

Elliot was cancelled in both markets, what, maybe 45 days apart? Not a good look for his syndication effort for sure.

His flagship station's numbers have also begun to tank in recent months. I am unsure if his daypart is part of the problem there or not.

 

[chrocket87]

Ratings have also crashed at KRBZ/Kansas City since putting EITM on air.

As to Mark’s mention of DC 101’s ratings drop, I haven’t listened to his show since I was last in DC in March. But if his show has dropped its DC focus since expanding into several other markets, that could explain the drop.

 

[RadioDoogie]

I wonder what will happen to all the existing DJs? TOSOTR is pretty much classic alternative. I like the music here but not sure if anyone else does. Would be nice to hear that format on a better signal. Already have the heritage call letters of WNNX on 100.5 now. Although the smart move I would think now would be classic hits or soft AC since these are format holes in the ATL right now and the HD subchannels seems to be running after these formats right now.

 

[jabba17]

I wonder what will happen to all the existing DJs? TOSOTR is pretty much classic alternative. I like the music here but not sure if anyone else does. Would be nice to hear that format on a better signal. Already have the heritage call letters of WNNX on 100.5 now. Although the smart move I would think now would be classic hits or soft AC since these are format holes in the ATL right now and the HD subchannels seems to be running after these formats right now.

TOSOTR is on a horrid analog signal. Basically, just covers North Gwinnett, North Fulton, and south Forsyth. W249CK-FM Radio Station Coverage Map

Of course, the HD signal is on the full class C WSRV.

98.9 is OK, but there are better translators in the city. Looks like it peters out west of 400 on the north side and west of I-75 on the south side. I didn't realize that power has now been ratcheted down to 144W. W255CJ-FM Radio Station Coverage Map

If alt goes to 100.5, we might see Christmas (again) on 98.9.

 

[AceBiscuits]

AllAccess agrees. They call it a "format adjustment" not a change, and it will begin Monday at 6AM:

Radio Industry News, New Music, Music Promotion, Radio Station Song Charts

All Access offers the latest radio industry news and music news, music promotions for record companies new music, radio station song charts, and much more. AllAccess.com has been serving the radio and music industry since 1995, always bringing you the highest quality content with...

www.allaccess.com

That leaves a massive hole in the morning show theory.

 

[AceBiscuits]

Would Cumulus put Christmas on the station with a permanent format coming after the holidays?

The current stunt would indicate no.

 

[MarkW]

It's going to be 99X at 100.5, per RadioInsight.

Some people who are now old farts who were part of the 99.7 iteration are supposedly coming back.

A similar strategy was tried in the late 00s, I believe, and was a flop. Hardly anyone younger than 40 will remember any of these people, either.

 

[TheBigA]

A reminder that Brian Philips, who was PD of 99X during the glory years, is now chief content officer at Cumulus.

 

[MarkW]

Very true, but I still think this will be a flop if all the air talent will consist of folks who are almost old enough to take 401K withdrawals.

I will say the playlist almost assuredly will be better than the garbage Rock 100.5 had been playing, so there's at least one item to put in the positive column.

 

[ksradiogeek]

It's going to be 99X at 100.5, per RadioInsight.

Some people who are now old farts who were part of the 99.7 iteration are supposedly coming back.

A similar strategy was tried in the late 00s, I believe, and was a flop. Hardly anyone younger than 40 will remember any of these people, either.

If this were to happen Monday, what will happen with the current iteration on the translator? A combo with new/re-current alt on the trslr, 90s/2K alt on ‘NNX? I can’t think of too many scenarios, given the limitations.

 

[ksradiogeek]

A reminder that Brian Philips, who was PD of 99X during the glory years, is now chief content officer at Cumulus.

Any guesses on which members of the original 99X staff will appear (besides Lowe)? Fram’s still with CMT, Barron’s in real estate, Barnes is doing his own thing, Steve Craig’s at Cox, and Demery passed away a few years back (RIP).