Except that she's on Audacy in her home town of Seattle.
The station doesn't have to flip formats. They have a version of the show where the station programs the music,
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iHM is getting ready to do what Entercom or Cumulus should've done YEARS ago...
- Thread starter MarkW
- Start date
Except that she's on Audacy in her home town of Seattle.
The station doesn't have to flip formats. They have a version of the show where the station programs the music,
Z105.7 and 105.3 The Beat are both underperforming from what I am able to see. But if 105.7 is doing well in some certain demographic and iHeart is hell bent on clearing The Breakfast Club in ATL, I don’t see anywhere an AC format could go. 94.9 and 96.1 aren’t going anywhere, and 96.7 has been tried as a stand-alone AC and it isn’t a good signal for that format at all.
iHeart could relegate The Beat back to 96.7 with The Breakfast Club to technically maintain clearance, but any AC format on either 105.3 or 105.7 is going to be a heavy lift against the 100kw WSB-FM. However, B98.5 is much closer to hot AC these days.
If there’s any truth to this, 105.7 is the better signal for AC and overall as far as market coverage. Perhaps we could see more musical chairs for the 105s and 96.7.
105.3 seems like a tough signal to monetize unless it has something else not heard in the market (Spanish was a good fit before 107.1). It hits a significant portion of the market where there are ears for an Urban format, but those listeners seem to be staying elsewhere. 104.1’s signal is only a little better than 105.3’s in the metro and they do well.
Some random comments...
1) ATL has a soft/mainstream AC hole. B98.5 is definitely hot AC at this point.
2) iHeart/Premiere will go for an iHeart station first with their syndication, but as we have seen with Rush and Hannity on WSB they will sell their shows elsewhere if it makes $en$e.
3) Could we see another virtual station like 96 Rock? Maybe one on an HD channel too? I wonder if iHeart has taken an interest in what Pretty Cool Media has done with The Peach.
4) 105.3 is going to be tough for good building penetration for the LWYW market, although with more people working from home this may be less of an issue.
1) ATL has a soft/mainstream AC hole. B98.5 is definitely hot AC at this point.
2) iHeart/Premiere will go for an iHeart station first with their syndication, but as we have seen with Rush and Hannity on WSB they will sell their shows elsewhere if it makes $en$e.
3) Could we see another virtual station like 96 Rock? Maybe one on an HD channel too? I wonder if iHeart has taken an interest in what Pretty Cool Media has done with The Peach.
4) 105.3 is going to be tough for good building penetration for the LWYW market, although with more people working from home this may be less of an issue.
105.7 isn't the best signal, but the Longley-Rice coverage map shows it having decent penetration in the areas with the highest concentration of "at work listening" and it's the best available option (were they to even flip anything) for a mainstream format. Despite being weaker that signal has much more potential (paired with 96.7) than 105.3 which has a lot of signal just wasted outside of the market. iHeart is limited with what they can do to monetize WRDG, so they may stick with urban on it because there aren't many more formats that can compete with that coverage, and it may help keep some of the urban stations down a little to help 94.9 and 96.1 place higher.
B98.5 isn't truly Hot AC by 2021 standards with the 90s material they play, but it's definitely a form of contemporary AC that's sort of in between. Cox is doing the same on their AC in Tampa and the one in San Antonio finally ended up moving back to full Hot AC. Cox either has the "Easy" type soft AC stations or the aggressive contemporary AC's. There's really no in between with them...Easy 102.9 in Jacksonville may be the closest they have to a traditional mainstream AC these days.
Do we have any idea how Z105.7 is doing? I know the numbers are low, but it's difficult to judge with the format. They are lower than they have generally been in the past, though.
B98.5 isn't truly Hot AC by 2021 standards with the 90s material they play, but it's definitely a form of contemporary AC that's sort of in between. Cox is doing the same on their AC in Tampa and the one in San Antonio finally ended up moving back to full Hot AC. Cox either has the "Easy" type soft AC stations or the aggressive contemporary AC's. There's really no in between with them...Easy 102.9 in Jacksonville may be the closest they have to a traditional mainstream AC these days.
Do we have any idea how Z105.7 is doing? I know the numbers are low, but it's difficult to judge with the format. They are lower than they have generally been in the past, though.
Wouldn't a Hip-Hop/R&B throwbacks station give 105.3 better ratings, if only by a little bit? Nationwide, urban and rhythmic stations are underperforming, and Atlanta isn't an exception to the rule as Hot 107.9 is having lower ratings, whereas they would usually be a Top 10 station in the past.
Granted, "classic hip-hop" may have been a "fad" format, but it perhaps has influenced the evolution of the Urban AC format, evident by the fact that the likes of KBLX and WAMJ have added more hip hop in their playlists. In addition, there are times when OG 97.9, a translator, would outperform C2 signal Rock 100.5, ratings-wise, and the likes of KHYL and KXQQ have received substantial ratings. WBMX isn't as strong in the ratings, but they do outperform heritage stations like WGCI and WBBM.
Nationally, urban AC’s have been doing quite well overall while their hip hop counterparts are suffering, especially in larger markets. There’s also Urban One’s Classix 102.9 translator.
iHeart picked a bad time to expand the hip hop format unless this was only about getting more ears for The Breakfast Club which wouldn’t really fit on a “throwback” station.
Yes
When did IHeart even launch the last “Breeze” station? The soft AC format has stalled since 2018.
Also, soft AC as the “Breeze” stations as well as the Cox ones in FL initially were seem to have been a mixed bag.
WISX/Philadelphia is reducing the softer material and adding in newer material, trying to lower the demos without alienating the initial core audience. It sounds good, but I think they’re still in the process of tweaking it.
WDUV in Tampa which was once a model for the format is basically a soft classic hits station now presented as an AC focusing on 80s pop.
WEZI in Jacksonville has evolved to mainstream AC.
WFEZ in Miami has found the sweetest spot it seems, remaining softer than the average AC but following the general AC blueprint. It was initially a very soft AC copying WDUV in 2010.
Unsure about WLIT/Chicago, KISQ/San Francisco, etc. Also, note that the Atlanta market on average is younger than all of the above mentioned.
Also, soft AC as the “Breeze” stations as well as the Cox ones in FL initially were seem to have been a mixed bag.
WISX/Philadelphia is reducing the softer material and adding in newer material, trying to lower the demos without alienating the initial core audience. It sounds good, but I think they’re still in the process of tweaking it.
WDUV in Tampa which was once a model for the format is basically a soft classic hits station now presented as an AC focusing on 80s pop.
WEZI in Jacksonville has evolved to mainstream AC.
WFEZ in Miami has found the sweetest spot it seems, remaining softer than the average AC but following the general AC blueprint. It was initially a very soft AC copying WDUV in 2010.
Unsure about WLIT/Chicago, KISQ/San Francisco, etc. Also, note that the Atlanta market on average is younger than all of the above mentioned.
WLIT is doing well.
KISQ is the number one music station in the San Francisco market, with KISQ being softer than WFEZ even. (And KISQ even managed to get substantial 18-34 numbers. I kind of wonder how KISQ managed to be that successful by being a softer AC, considering that the Bay Area isn't exactly a retiree market. )
I believe KPOI in Honolulu flipped from Alternative to Soft AC in May 2020, so maybe the soft AC format isn't dying down yet.
With that said, I'm not sure if radio owners in Atlanta are willing to go the true Classic Hits route, let alone a Soft AC one. WSRV and WALR are both successful, but they serve different clientele within the upper 25-54 bracket. It's evident by the fact that WSRV plays zero non-rock tracks, and WALR focuses on R&B and some hip-hop. The classic hits demo seems fragmented in Atlanta.
And there aren’t any sticks in metro ATL that are going to flip. You can argue that 94.1, 105.3, and 105.7 are underperforming, but I feel Audacy is committed to the first one for a while and we don’t know the true picture with the last two even though both have low numbers. 100.5 and 101.5 don’t get great numbers but it’s obvious by now Cumulus is sticking with those formats on both signals.
And by doing that "model" format they were #1 in 12+ but 15th in billing. The format was too old, even for the Tampa Bay market.
Didn’t they still play standards 15 years ago? At least to an extent?
I know I’m the vocal minorities on this board, and certainly not WDUV’s target, but I love their current direction personally (29 y/o male).
The classic hits format can be too heavy on the likes of Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, Joan Jett, and Def Leppard. WDUV is a nice counteract to that approach, being likened to a pop-leaning classic hits station.
Speaking of soft stations shifting approach, even WAVV in Naples sounds more uptempo and distinct from their previous Easy Listening/Beautiful Music format. And Naples skews very old. Also, WCVU in Punta Gorda may not be as soft sounding in the past, though still a unique listen even though it's an iHeart station.
Get out of Atlanta and go towards Carrollton, Macon, Dublin, Statesboro, Savannah.... Ton of true classic hit (pop) stations. In Dublin, there is a group of translators all with different names but all producing classic hits. I think there is like four between Vidalia, Dublin and Swainsboro. So is classic hits (pop) just a format that performs better in more rural areas? Maybe I'm wrong but if you end up around Macon, Dublin Statesboro down 16, it's either Country, Fire/Brimstone, or Classic Hits (pop).
I don't know why the Atlanta market is allergic to variety/adult hits. The closest is WXKT 103.7 Chuck FM out of Maysville (Gainesville).
Again, River is really a classic rock station.
Variety/adult hits is also very rock heavy. So in that way, The River is already playing that music.
WBBQ in Augusta is an AC which sounds great as well. The signal breaks up around MM 120 on I-20 as you approach Atlanta.
They are called 'format holes' for a reason!
They are called 'format holes' for a reason!
WBBQ is a standard iHeart premium choice mainstream AC, exactly what is missing from Atlanta for whatever reason. B98.5 is what I would call a “warm” AC considering they still play some 90s which most Hot AC’s don't and are still recurrent heavy.
Sometimes I used to be able to pick up WBBQ in Atlanta back in the 80s, when there weren't any move-ins in the 104.x section of the dial and the DXing was good.
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