Entercom's alternative experiment not a success?

[TheBigA]

I never, ever said one country station in Dallas gets 10 shares. Don't twist my words please.

But there's only one country station in NYC. So it's unfair to add the shares of three stations and compare it to only one in NY.

Detroit has two country stations and they add up to a 7.5 share. Boston has two stations with an 8 share.

Those two cities have country ratings similar to the full signal stations in Dallas. Does that mean everyone in Detroit and Boston are as country as people in Dallas? I guess so. Ever been to the Downtown Hoedown?

 

[MarkW]

Does that mean everyone in Detroit and Boston are as country as people in Dallas? I guess so. Ever been to the Downtown Hoedown?

Adjusting your statement to remove your unnecessary "everyone" qualifier, I'd say without hesitation that Country music is about as popular in Metro Detroit (and much of Michigan in general) as DFW. Cannot speak for Boston. Some areas of Metro Detroit feel like Appalachia.

B93 Birthday Bash used to attract 60,000 (or more) concert goers annually in West Michigan. KCQFest near Saginaw allegedly attracted 90,000 regularly, although I certainly think station personnel and local Chamber of Commerce types inflated those figures judging from pics of the crowd I've seen.

The Faster Horses festival is a tremendously popular Country music festival held annually - other than last year, of course - at the Michigan International Speedway.

NYC was without a Country station on the dial for many, many years. That didn't happen by coincidence.

If NYC had two full market country signals, I think it is a safe bet Dallas would still have at least 2.5x the amount of country shares.

 

[MarkW]

Personality and artist connection is a big part of Country radio's success. Your buddy Tim Roberts would acknowledge that in a heartbeat, I suspect.

The now-deceased Linda Lee was a very popular personality on 99.5 WYCD in Detroit. Her style of radio would be a dud in many other places, though. She's a great example of how hand-crafting a station's sound to fit a local market can add value.

Alternative - other than a couple years where MTV Buzz Clips were largely steering music direction on most stations - has long been a format where curation of playlists on a local level was viewed as a strength. I agree with macattack that the seemingly anti-rock lean that Audacy-owned stations universally feature is harming appeal of those stations in some markets. That + uncompelling air talent is a recipe for mediocre ratings success.

 

[TheBigA]

If NYC had two full market country signals, I think it is a safe bet Dallas would still have at least 2.5x the amount of country shares.

To be fair (once again) WNSH is not really a NYC full market signal. It's licensed to Newark and its tower is 20 miles west of the city. It does well in the suburban areas of NJ as you would expect. There are several suburban country stations (WJVC in Long Island, WKMK in Asbury Park) that don't subscribe to the NYC book.

However, looking at the WNSH playlist it's not substantially different from KSCS (even though they have different owners). Which by the way is typical for country stations. There tends to be a lot of musical consensus in this format, which is not always the case in other formats. If it was up to me, I'd play more 90s gold at WNSH, given that was the last time there was a country station in the market. But that's not what they do.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Heck, on the actual SXM radio service, I have 4 or 5 different choices just for hard rock!

I thought with the merger they did away with anything that overlapped.

 

[tall_guy1]

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This thread's been dead for a few weeks, but look at the bottom of this playlist! Justin Bieber-Sorry got one spin. When did that happen?! That's bizarre that would be played on this station!! I wonder how that happened??

 

[TheBigA]

That's bizarre that would be played on this station!! I wonder how that happened??

Somebody with a sense of humor. I bet some listeners had no clue what it was.

I had a friend who would throw in an out of format song just to see if anyone was paying attention.

That Bieber song has 5 billion plays on YT. That's pretty amazing.

BTW that spin was unique to KC. It didn't show up at KROQ.

 

[davideduardo]

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This thread's been dead for a few weeks, but look at the bottom of this playlist! Justin Bieber-Sorry got one spin. When did that happen?! That's bizarre that would be played on this station!! I wonder how that happened??

It's also possible that it was played as part of a show "bit" regarding the number of new media plays it got (See BigA's message). I recall that Gagnum Style got played on a number of non-CHR stations due to the novelty of the song and the huge play total.

 

[TheBigA]

It's also possible that it was played as part of a show "bit"

For example, I can imagine a show using that song as punctuation after discussing the Royals.

Seriously, there are some connections between Post Malone and Bieber. Post gets airplay on some Audacy alt stations.

15 Little Known Facts About Post Malone And Justin Bieber's Friendship

Post, who is one of the most recognizable rappers in the world, surprised fans when he labeled Justin his "brother".

www.thethings.com

Someone even did a fan mix of Sorry and one of Post's songs (Wow) to show how similar they are.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Has The HFS Alternative Brand Met Its Final Demise? - RadioInsight

radioinsight.com

104.9 FM WHFS has been flipped to WJZ-AM's The Bet.

 

[AceBiscuits]

Has The HFS Alternative Brand Met Its Final Demise? - RadioInsight

radioinsight.com

104.9 FM WHFS has been flipped to WJZ-AM's The Bet.

As a translator it barely covered the market, and I'd argue not many other operators would jump to fill the Alt void in Baltimore due to the demographics.

Prior to Audacy's nationalization of the Alt format, they left it as what CBS left it as, a jockless jukebox. I'd be surprised if anyone noticed it got actual airstaff by the end.

 

[macattack]

As a translator it barely covered the market, and I'd argue not many other operators would jump to fill the Alt void in Baltimore due to the demographics.

Prior to Audacy's nationalization of the Alt format, they left it as what CBS left it as, a jockless jukebox. I'd be surprised if anyone noticed it got actual airstaff by the end.

Part of it is also due to WIYY being a very strong Active rocker that leans Alt. WIYY is playing the latest Imagine Dragons song "Wrecked" for example. Not only that but WIYY has a formidable airstaff that brings in the ratings too. It's difficult to go up against them.

 

[chrocket87]

Another part of it is that DC101 covers the market pretty well, much better than HFS did.

With a very solid WIYY and DC101 coming in clearly, why would anyone put up with the lousy signal and even worse playlist that was on HFS?

 

[macattack]

The Show Killer's chronicles continue: Italian glam-rock band Maneskin has two singles blowing up - their 2017 cover of "Beggin'" and a 2021 original known as "I Wanna Be Your Slave". The latter song has been pushed to Alternative and the former has been pushed to pop - and Audacy's stations announced their adding of "Beggin'" today instead of the pushed Alt single.

I have to imagine the label is livid.

 

[CTListener]

The Show Killer's chronicles continue: Italian glam-rock band Maneskin has two singles blowing up - their 2017 cover of "Beggin'" and a 2021 original known as "I Wanna Be Your Slave". The latter song has been pushed to Alternative and the former has been pushed to pop - and Audacy's stations announced their adding of "Beggin'" today instead of the pushed Alt single.

I have to imagine the label is livid.

What label wouldn't prefer having a song being played on alternative and pop radio (assuming pop stations pick it up) over one being played on alt only? The label is probably overjoyed; your "Show Killer" has just saved them the work and expense of pushing "Beggin'" to alt and now they can pull the plug on that other song completely -- unless it has a chance of catching on at pop radio and pop radio doesn't bite on "Beggin'," that is. Labels and artists always make more money on pop and pop/alt crossover hits than on pure alt hits.

 

[chrocket87]

Why would their label be livid? “Beggin” reached the top 40 on the Hot 100. Not a lot of rock/Alt artists doing that these days, except for the rap songs that Audacy passes off as Alt. Might as well test this one and if takes off, they can re-add “Slave” later.

I’m kinda surprised a song with “Slave” in the title would get any spins nowadays.

 

[macattack]

What label wouldn't prefer having a song being played on alternative and pop radio (assuming pop stations pick it up) over one being played on alt only? The label is probably overjoyed; your "Show Killer" has just saved them the work and expense of pushing "Beggin'" to alt and now they can pull the plug on that other song completely -- unless it has a chance of catching on at pop radio and pop radio doesn't bite on "Beggin'," that is. Labels and artists always make more money on pop and pop/alt crossover hits than on pure alt hits.

From what I've been told, the plan was for "Beggin'" to get all that it can on pop (and it is building on pop radio currently) while "I Wanna Be Your Slave" builds on Alternative and then crosses over to pop after "Beggin'" is done. What Audacy just did was put that plan in jeopardy - Arista wanted two hits, and now they're facing the possibility of just having one. Or perhaps zero if the singles cannibalize each other.

Why would their label be livid? “Beggin” reached the top 40 on the Hot 100. Not a lot of rock/Alt artists doing that these days, except for the rap songs that Audacy passes off as Alt. Might as well test this one and if takes off, they can re-add “Slave” later.

I’m kinda surprised a song with “Slave” in the title would get any spins nowadays.

The presentation at Audacy during the week "Slave" was Audacy's Pick of the Week left the impression that the DJs REALLY did not want to play the song. It doesn't surprise me that Audacy did this, but I am disappointed as someone who would like to see artists grow and not be used as short-term salves.

 

[Kelly A]

I thought with the merger they did away with anything that overlapped.

Absolutely not. They thinned the herd, but ultimately combined the two lineups with programming like seasonal.

 

[tall_guy1]

The past few days have been better in choice of selection. I've heard the new Foo Fighters song, they played "Walk" as a gold title, and I even heard them mix in "The Cave" by Mumford and Sons! It sounds more and more like an alternative rock station.

 

[kp2780]

It’s crazy if KROQ still hasn’t added “I Wanna Be Your Slave.” Open your ears. The song is a hit for Alternative.

Even my wife and kids who don’t like most Alternative like the song. That’s because it’s basically a pop song with a rock sound. Just play it and stop overthinking things.