Is it possible to pull this off

[Mid West Clubber]

Im trying to slowly transition the station to being more rock leaning since we dont have an Alternative here anymore and our AAA gets beat by us by 10 fold even though they have 100,000 watts at 1000 ft, we only have 1695 watts at 276 ft and they are closer to AC Classic Rock than Alternative... I dont want it to be like WIXX, and I dont wanna make the transition between genres as obvious as Z Rock 107.5 in Virgie Kentucky,,, yet I also want to play all the hits and remain Dance Friendly, and hopefully add more dance this spring and summer.... Can i do this if I schedule it right, or is this just gonna be a train wreck. with the declining interest in rap, and the absense of a rock station, i gotta do something to make us not sound like its a hot Ac..... Ive added some older proven Rock Golds,, just a few, but I need some new cross over material,, what would be a good modern rock station, or a Rock Leaning CHR to monitor, either on mediabase, or just their online playlist if not a monitored market.. Im thinking something like Channel X 94 in Vernal Utah, or Z-102.9 in Cedar Rapids... Also Ive had calls for Kings of Leon lately... Is it worth a test????

 

[CHRles]

I love Kings of Leon.
You already seem to know which CHRs lean Rock or Modern Rock. You might also want to look at the playlists of the "safer" Modern Rockers to see what might test well on a CHR as well. Check out Radio 98.7 in L.A., formerly a Modern AC but now (as you know) a direct competitor of the world famous 106.7 K-Rock. The playlist and rotations are designed to be more Hispanic and (possibly) female friendly.
Star 101.9 out of Honolulu is classified as a Modern Rocker, but one look at their playlist and you'll also see CHR/Hot AC artists such as Katy Perry, Jason Mraz, Metro Station, and Colbie Cailat.

See if these two stations help you out. All in all though don't add too many Rock records, but rather do what you do best - think outside the box. look for Pop, Dance, and R&B records that you think sound great but are being ignored by American CHRs.

Let me know if you need some Canadian or overseas CHRs to check out to give you some ideas.

 

[ilistentotheradio]

Is it possible? Perhaps. Look at each song demographically. Your goal, as a CHR, is to appeal to 18-34 Females. While it's true that some rock songs that don't get noticed by CHR fits into this genre, it's very touchy... being that rock is a male format.

 

[franksandhotdogs]

Like ilisten said, not everything on the rock charts will work on CHR.  There ARE females out there who listen to the Jonas Brothers but still like rocking out to Buckcherry's "Crazy Bitch."

There isn't an alternative nor a Hot AC station in my market either, though there is a mainstream AC and a mainstream rock station that plays currents.  My station airs an alternative rock show on Sunday nights, but we'll play rock product in regular rotation if it gets a good response.  We used to be more rock-leaning (similar to Z-Rock in KY...I was streaming it earlier today) but have gone a lot more balanced/mainstream since our sister station transitioned from classic to mainstream rock.

We started on Theory of a Deadman's "Bad Girlfriend" last August.  Weezer's "Pork and Beans", A7X's "Dear God" and Anberlin "Feel Good Drag" were hits on my station, but most CHRs never played them (I still play the Weezer as a recurrent).  I have Seether "Breakdown" and Shinedown "Second Chance" in B rotation, and we're the new MCR single (it's a Bob Dylan cover and on the end credits of Watchmen) and Offspring's "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay."  Ting Tings "That's Not My Name" is doing well here too.  It's catchy as hell and has a "Hey Mickey" vibe to it.

We tested "Sex on Fire" on the new music feature and they let it slide.  We're toying with testing "Use Somebody".  I never could get into KoL, but "Sex on Fire" is changing that.  They're one of those bands that has buzz and gets great reviews.  Those bands usually fall into bands I either also really like (GO! Team, Bright Eyes, Vampire Weekend) or can't really get into (Radiohead, Spoon).

Overall it comes down to listener feedback.  Songs here are tested on our "Tag It or Bag It" feature at night before being added, unless it gets a bit jump nationally.  I don't jump exclusively on rock records (we take chances on pop records and R&B as well), I was using them as examples.  If you're on a song early and it blows up on your station, it doesn't matter if it blows up nationally months later.  A song has a cycle on each station and isn't always in sync with everyone else.

I disagree that CHR stations must follow national music trends.  It's always going from urban to rock-leaning, to adult-friendly, and back and forth all the time...you can find your own hits and use recurrents to balance out your playlist to not alienate your listeners.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

We have just as many male listeners,, and we have a 25 to 54 and 12 plus.... Alot of Auto repairs shops have us blasting out the speakers all day...

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Actually,,,, As far as Europe,, what about a station like Studio brussels in Belgium, and also Power FM 100.2 in greece with its Adult Rock yet dance and Pop friendly sound... not everything has to be waited to be pused by the labels in the US, and we dont have to play everything they send us... Stations like Z1035 Toronto are good for us, but it has to be licensed for US play,,, but i can sometimes get permission from the labels,, they wont turn down exposure in the states.... What are some of the Rock, and or dance friendly Chrs in Canada??? I dont mean like Active rock, or pure dance,,, but maybe a station like the Energie network without the french music... I think Spiralling could have worked here... is the new Disturbed too hard for CHR,,, even at night...

 

[nightfly61]

Take the rock versions & have an intern or someone creative add some scratches & beats to that version of the track to spice it up. Maybe up the pitch a tad.

 

[bbbob]

What's wrong with being like WIXX? Great ratings/billing.

Rock leaning with Dance? Really? Why do you think ANYONE wants to hear dance? What's the last dance record to go top 10. Britney songs don't count.

Seriously, without a rock station, you can do really well. But don't go crazy. Just go a little early on crossover tracks and proven Top 40 artists like Nickelback, 3 Days Grace, Lifehouse, Hinder, Green Day, etc.

Plus make most of your golds the rock songs that you see other top 40's still playing that test well.

 

[CHRles]

Rock leaning with Dance? Really? Why do you think ANYONE wants to hear dance? What's the last dance record to go top 10. Britney songs don't count.

Do you like Dance music? Are you aware of the pure Dance and Dance leaning radio stations out there? Have you heard of Pulse 87 New York? Are you aware that they're expanding in the next 3 months to L.A., Chicago, and Washington DC?

 

[nightfly61]

Rock leaning with Dance? Really? Why do you think ANYONE wants to hear dance? What's the last dance record to go top 10. Britney songs don't count.

ummm, let's see...because for like, nearly every week from present to nearly 1991 dance songs have dominated the charts??? easy example:
...this week on Billboard...
#1. Boom Boom Pow- Black Eyed Peas
#2, Poker Face- Lady GaGa
#4. Blame It- Jamie Foxx/T-Pain
#5. Right Round- Flo Rida
#6. Kiss Me Through The Phone- Soulja Boy
#7. Sugar- Flo Rida
...and it's safe to say the other songs I omitted aren't dance songs, but VERY MUCH SO are NOT rock! (Miley Cyrus, Kid Cudi, Beyonce's ballad & T.I & Justin Timberlake. Some people with open minds would rather hear what's new on the charts than the same stale "Old Time Rock & Roll" 5 times a day, or the modern alternative rock where every band sounds like they need to blow their nose or they just swallowed a brillow pad. :