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I AM CONCERNED ABOUT 99X

R

RadioFreeAtlanta

No one was more surprised, shocked or happy than I was when 99X signed back on the air. Never in million years did I think a disposed format would come back to life, let alone on another frequency.

I love having 99X back. Having said that, I am concerned about its longevity. The 99X that rose from the ash heap of Atlanta radio history is the same station that was laid to rest January 25, 2008 - there have been no changes musically. The voice-overs are practically the same, the energy about the same... and, lest we forget, the music.

We are still served the same old Chili Peppers, Pumpkins and Dave Mathews Band tunes. It doesn't challenge us with new music. The golds and recurrents are the same ones we heard back in January 2008, the same music mix that killed it once. Can it survive a second lifetime using the same strategy?

I am not naive to think it will recapture the same energy and direction it had in 2001, 1998 or 1993. However, it would be nice if it had a blend of alt, progressive, techno and some pop.
 
99X at 97.9 is doing just fine. They definitely fill a gap and play stuff that no one else in Atlanta does, or rarely does.

I hear new bands and bands that came on the scene in the last few years that I don't hear any where else on the dial in Atlanta - Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Constellations, Anberlin, Silversun Pickups, Taking Back Sunday, AFI, Paramore, and Cage The Elephant's song- Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked. I guess the 99Xposure will be a way to bring new music in too.

Also new songs by artists that have been around a while - 21 Guns by Green Day and Wrong by Depeche Mode, The Killers' A Dustland Fairytale, new U2 etc.

And because Alternative has a history, we do get some Nirvana, REM, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, old U2 and other 80s/90s stuff thrown in.

I really like the mix of classic Alternative and newer Alt as long as it is Alt rock or close to it (there's not a hard wall on either side of Alternative - AAA or Active Rock, so there will always be some bleeding over). Other Alt sub-genres like Punk or New Wave Ok too, but please no Pop - we have enough of that mucking up the dial.

With the change in taste/popularity regarding Alternative, maybe 99X can never again hold forth on a 100,000 Watt stick, but I sure hope it works on a 250W translator. I missed 99X and now that's back I seldom listen to any other station, it'd hurt to lose it again.
 
What amazes me is the coverage they are getting with 250 watts.

I know it's at or above 1000 feet, and that means a lot, but come on... I recently carried it clear from Suwanee to Acworth, on a Ford factory stock radio.

What they accomplished with 100.5 coverage wise was impressive enough, but this is remarkable.

Any engineering types here got the skinny?
 
Height above average terrain is everything. With a good tower location the distance 250 watts can go is pretty amazing. The downside is the "Fill In" suffers as you are not blanketing the area with R.F.

I'm not in the market (Dallas is my base) but as long as you've got line of sight with a tower you can hear low power stations on tall sticks further than you would assume. I would "guess" that they are using a single bay with no beam tilt which would also help the coverage distance. But if your in a hole they are most likely gone......
 
I posted this on Rob Hamilton, 99X Project Director's Facebook Wall. Does anyone agree?

As a longtime faithful and loyal listener of 99X and the late Power 99, I ask can you please change the music lineup? I still feel it's AWESOME 99X has risen from the ashes and is now back on the air, but please change the music lineup it seems nothing has changed and its still the old lay out that killed it in the first place! I mean please play more new music and older music not the same old songs you continue to play, you're starting to wear the songs out. Its almost like you're playing them in a loop. So please change the song line ups as I'm sure others will agree, if you continue to play what you are currently playing you are gonna run 99X back in the the ground again. I mean if you have to look back in the history of 99X in the early years and use how they did things then as a model do it! Listen to US the LISTENERS not corporate, that's what ruined 99X in the later years of its FIRST LIFE, don't ruin the SECOND LIFE of 99X!
 
99X is playing what is on the Alternative charts including new artists, recurrents, along with the classic Alternative that seems to be popular with a lot of listeners. And they are even breaking some new songs/artists that have not charted, like Company of Thieves or The Constellations.

No radio station can search out and play only new emerging indie music and serve it in a semi-personalized playlist.

1st life 99X captured a special time when Alternative stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Now, 17 years later it is an established genre and some of the newness/excitement factor is gone, but 99X is back and it is what an Alternative station is in 2009.

Be happy Alternative is back in Atlanta!

BTW RFA or anyone else who knows - what are the initial ratings for the 99X at 97.9?
 
How many Project 9-6-1 listeners are making the switch to 99X at 97.9? 99X is safe if it does its job. I noticed the signal is strong in Gwinnett, but it is lost near Cumming. Try listening at the shopping centers around Northside Forsyth Hospital - Highway 20/400 Interchange in Forsyth. I would say the signal is three times stronger in Sugar Hill than at these shopping centers in Forsyth County. Not long after crossing the river, the signal almost fades-out.
 
See, I think that 99x is doing pretty good with the play lists...even when they were internet only, I think they were a lot better than they had been a couple of years prior to that. There may be a handful of songs that get regular rotation on 99x which can also be heard on p961, 100.5 or our local top 40 radio (late at night), but I 99x still plays quite that isn't even on the radar of those stations. Since 100.5 is under the same umbrella, we can assume that they're likely to play SOME of the same music as 99x, but not all of it.

The thing is that 99x has it's cornerstone artists that will always be played and stations like 100.5 or DAVE will likely play those artists too..but there will always be that one song by one of those artists that 99x will play but the other's won't. I can't be exact on the songs but as an example, you may hear "Closer" on 100.5, but you'll rarely hear "The Perfect Drug" or "March of the Pigs"...more than likely because they didn't sell as many singles or didn't hit as high on the charts...but they're still standard alt station play list fare. Again, just an example that I can't really verify so you "experts" can just chill. Make's me wonder, is there a website that documents how many times any one song is played by any given station?

99x has still made itself by being the station to break the artists that nobody else would touch until they actually started showing up on the charts...311, Green Day, Dave Matthews Band, STP, Blink 182, Kings of Leon...hell, even Nickelback...they all got their Atlanta debut on 99x.
 
Most people agree: the signal coverage is amazing. I headed down to Macon recently and was able to pick up their signal quite a ways on I-75.

To view their coverage area, visit http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=W250BC&service=FX&status=L&hours=U

As far as the music, I'd like to see the percentage of currents, recurrents and golds. It sounds awful gold heavy. While it was an Internet only station, it was OK. As a terrestial signal, shouldn't we expect more?
 
StoneGT said:
99X is playing what is on the Alternative charts including new artists, recurrents, along with the classic Alternative that seems to be popular with a lot of listeners. And they are even breaking some new songs/artists that have not charted, like Company of Thieves or The Constellations.

No radio station can search out and play only new emerging indie music and serve it in a semi-personalized playlist.

1st life 99X captured a special time when Alternative stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Now, 17 years later it is an established genre and some of the newness/excitement factor is gone, but 99X is back and it is what an Alternative station is in 2009.

Be happy Alternative is back in Atlanta!

BTW RFA or anyone else who knows - what are the initial ratings for the 99X at 97.9?
Click to expand...

For April, 99X came in 35th, behind 88.5 WRAS, which Arbitron listed as "Alternative".

What's that you said about searching out and playing only new emerging indie music and serving it in a semi-personalized playlist? ;-)
 
How long do you give Cumulus before it switches this frequency to another format?

Will 99X stay around for awhile on 97.9?
 
RadioFreeAtlanta said:
How long do you give Cumulus before it switches this frequency to another format?

Will 99X stay around for awhile on 97.9?
Click to expand...

If the current incarnation of 100.5 tanks, I'd say watch it move there...and Atl's quality rock would become an HD2 station. I'd say it's very possible.

Many of you may not like what you hear on 97.9, but as someone else said, be glad it's back, and be glad it's somewhat "cutting edge" when compared to other alt stations.

G
 
upstate29651 said:
RadioFreeAtlanta said:
How long do you give Cumulus before it switches this frequency to another format?

Will 99X stay around for awhile on 97.9?
Click to expand...

If the current incarnation of 100.5 tanks, I'd say watch it move there...and Atl's quality rock would become an HD2 station. I'd say it's very possible.

Many of you may not like what you hear on 97.9, but as someone else said, be glad it's back, and be glad it's somewhat "cutting edge" when compared to other alt stations.

G
Click to expand...

How much of a drop do you think it would take for them to make the switch? Rock 100.5 changed in April, and the ratings went from 1.9 in March to 1.7 in April and 1.6 in May. Those numbers would seem to indicate adopting the Quality Rock theme did not help, and may have hurt them. Meanwhile 99X went from 0.1 in April to 0.6 in May, and will probably keep rising.
 
AbsurdHero said:
upstate29651 said:
RadioFreeAtlanta said:
How long do you give Cumulus before it switches this frequency to another format?

Will 99X stay around for awhile on 97.9?
Click to expand...

If the current incarnation of 100.5 tanks, I'd say watch it move there...and Atl's quality rock would become an HD2 station. I'd say it's very possible.

Many of you may not like what you hear on 97.9, but as someone else said, be glad it's back, and be glad it's somewhat "cutting edge" when compared to other alt stations.

G
Click to expand...

How much of a drop do you think it would take for them to make the switch? Rock 100.5 changed in April, and the ratings went from 1.9 in March to 1.7 in April and 1.6 in May. Those numbers would seem to indicate adopting the Quality Rock theme did not help, and may have hurt them. Meanwhile 99X went from 0.1 in April to 0.6 in May, and will probably keep rising.
Click to expand...

I could see how QR would have hurt Rock 100.5. Before they had their own niche--the one vacated by 96 Rock. Now they compete with Dave, 99X (whose bright idea was that?), and River.
 
Even if Dave and River listeners know about the Quality Rock on 100.5, I don't think they are likely to switch, due to the Regular Guys. Reg Guy's Palin masturbatory fantasies appeal to Rock 100.5's old Dead Neck format audience, not much others. If 99X moves to 100.5, I don't think the Reg Guys would match well with the Alternative crowd either.

River, 99X and to a large extent Dave, have a focused format playlist. Rock 100.5 has a legacy name and morning show associated with Dead Neck format, with decidely non-Dead Neck rock, a jarring disconnect.

The funny thing is that the Quality rock playlist isn't bad, and could probably do pretty well as a fresh launch or as a re-do for Dave.
 
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