You know that listening to a station online and listening to it on FM sometimes just don't feel the same. Well, I'm in the Charlotte area right now, and even though I've always enjoyed WNKS-FM's stream I'm enjoying it even more now! The station is a truly great CHR that plays all the hits, is active on loads of great new music, and even plays more then just the same old Recurrents everyone else seems to play. I'll elaborate on the station more, but first I'm gonna give a quick rundown of my trip in general.
I decided to first stop in to the cities of Winston Salem and Greensboro. I enjoyed walking around the Arts district in downtown Winston Salem - I was quite surprised to see how developed it is. I then headed over to Greensboro, a city which is currently celebrating it's bi-centennial year, and is doing a great job of throwing free concerts and festivals all over downtown in honor of its 200th year. What's more, it was great to see that Elm Street, which is the main street downtown, is completely wired up for Wi-Fi, and it's free.
Now onto Charlotte - this town is booming like you wouldn't believe it. It's now the second largest financial/banking center in the country, and also has quite a few Fortune 500 companies based there. You've got to understand that this is a city that had a population of merely 20,000 people back in 1900. People have also told me that there's not a whole lot of activity other then business going on downtown, which is not true! Trade and Tryon streets had a lot to offer, especially a great selection of upscale restaurants, but also some good museums (I especially enjoyed the one that goes into detail about the New South, the period after the Civil War and up to today).
The whole time I'm here I've definitely enjoyed listening to the radio. I found out on my way, for example, that Q-100 out of Morristown, TN goes CHR at night - they played everything from the Foo Fighters to Usher.
In the Carolinas B-93.7 Greenville and Kiss 95.1 Charlotte top my list. I mean, 107.5 KZL Greensoboro ain't half bad for an adult friendly CHR, and G-105 Raleigh is a pretty cool Rock friendly CHR, but I felt that the best executed stations I'd heard were WFBC and especially WNKS. In fact, other then 106.1 Kiss FM Dallas I think that Kiss 95.1 is the best sounding CHR in the South. Every DJ was great, the night show, the weekend jocks, the jingles, and of course the music. They throw in recurrents like Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", and still play The Fray's "Over My Head" while at the same time Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" topped their nightly countdown. "Get Buck In Here" by Felli Fel is also in rotation, and they've added John Mayer's excellent "Say".
I also gotta mention rival 96.1 The Beat as an amazing Rhythmic CHR - fun mixshows on the weekends, fun DJs, and some good music. Interesting to note that 96.1 The Beat is all over Sara Bareilles "Love Song", and they're still playing the rhythmic remix to Colbie Caillat, but even without those songs the station is on point with the Rhythmic tracks it chooses to air.
102 Jams in Greensboro throws down a lot of Hip Hop records that a lot of other stations don't touch, and this can be seen with their Recurrents. For example, I heard Junior Mafia's "Playas Anthem", and had to crank it up ;D Also big props to B-93.7 Greenville for playing Smashing Pumpkins "1979".
Basically, I heard some great stations that didnt sound cookie cutter, that were live, where the music was great, and were a joy to listen to. Even the commercials were funny at times on Kiss 95.1, and I was shocked to hear both B-93.7 and Kiss 95.1 air commercials for gentleman's clubs in the 8 PM hour on a Saturday night. This area's definitely not as conservative as you'd think!
As for reception, I first picked up B-93.7 in the Asheville area, and even though the station garners some pretty good ratings in that market its signal is spotty in some areas. I started picking up Kiss 95.1 pretty well a bit east of there, as well as 96.1 The Beat. By the time you get to the town of Statesville you can pretty clearly pick up both the Charlotte and Winston Salem/Greensoboro stations. G-105's signal started coming in pretty clearly just east of downtown Winston Salem. Once in Charlotte I was able to pick up B-93.7 again pretty well (surprisingly enough). Now Greenville does also have a Rhythmic CHR called Hot 98.1, but its signal is not as good in Asheville as B's, and can't be picked up in Charlotte due to the legendary Urban Power 98 (at 97.9 FM). In fact, it's only once you reach Spartanburg that you can really listen to it clearly (if not further south).
So anyways, if you're a fan of CHR radio do yourself a favor and check out http://www.kiss951.com/
I decided to first stop in to the cities of Winston Salem and Greensboro. I enjoyed walking around the Arts district in downtown Winston Salem - I was quite surprised to see how developed it is. I then headed over to Greensboro, a city which is currently celebrating it's bi-centennial year, and is doing a great job of throwing free concerts and festivals all over downtown in honor of its 200th year. What's more, it was great to see that Elm Street, which is the main street downtown, is completely wired up for Wi-Fi, and it's free.
Now onto Charlotte - this town is booming like you wouldn't believe it. It's now the second largest financial/banking center in the country, and also has quite a few Fortune 500 companies based there. You've got to understand that this is a city that had a population of merely 20,000 people back in 1900. People have also told me that there's not a whole lot of activity other then business going on downtown, which is not true! Trade and Tryon streets had a lot to offer, especially a great selection of upscale restaurants, but also some good museums (I especially enjoyed the one that goes into detail about the New South, the period after the Civil War and up to today).
The whole time I'm here I've definitely enjoyed listening to the radio. I found out on my way, for example, that Q-100 out of Morristown, TN goes CHR at night - they played everything from the Foo Fighters to Usher.
In the Carolinas B-93.7 Greenville and Kiss 95.1 Charlotte top my list. I mean, 107.5 KZL Greensoboro ain't half bad for an adult friendly CHR, and G-105 Raleigh is a pretty cool Rock friendly CHR, but I felt that the best executed stations I'd heard were WFBC and especially WNKS. In fact, other then 106.1 Kiss FM Dallas I think that Kiss 95.1 is the best sounding CHR in the South. Every DJ was great, the night show, the weekend jocks, the jingles, and of course the music. They throw in recurrents like Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", and still play The Fray's "Over My Head" while at the same time Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" topped their nightly countdown. "Get Buck In Here" by Felli Fel is also in rotation, and they've added John Mayer's excellent "Say".
I also gotta mention rival 96.1 The Beat as an amazing Rhythmic CHR - fun mixshows on the weekends, fun DJs, and some good music. Interesting to note that 96.1 The Beat is all over Sara Bareilles "Love Song", and they're still playing the rhythmic remix to Colbie Caillat, but even without those songs the station is on point with the Rhythmic tracks it chooses to air.
102 Jams in Greensboro throws down a lot of Hip Hop records that a lot of other stations don't touch, and this can be seen with their Recurrents. For example, I heard Junior Mafia's "Playas Anthem", and had to crank it up ;D Also big props to B-93.7 Greenville for playing Smashing Pumpkins "1979".
Basically, I heard some great stations that didnt sound cookie cutter, that were live, where the music was great, and were a joy to listen to. Even the commercials were funny at times on Kiss 95.1, and I was shocked to hear both B-93.7 and Kiss 95.1 air commercials for gentleman's clubs in the 8 PM hour on a Saturday night. This area's definitely not as conservative as you'd think!
As for reception, I first picked up B-93.7 in the Asheville area, and even though the station garners some pretty good ratings in that market its signal is spotty in some areas. I started picking up Kiss 95.1 pretty well a bit east of there, as well as 96.1 The Beat. By the time you get to the town of Statesville you can pretty clearly pick up both the Charlotte and Winston Salem/Greensoboro stations. G-105's signal started coming in pretty clearly just east of downtown Winston Salem. Once in Charlotte I was able to pick up B-93.7 again pretty well (surprisingly enough). Now Greenville does also have a Rhythmic CHR called Hot 98.1, but its signal is not as good in Asheville as B's, and can't be picked up in Charlotte due to the legendary Urban Power 98 (at 97.9 FM). In fact, it's only once you reach Spartanburg that you can really listen to it clearly (if not further south).
So anyways, if you're a fan of CHR radio do yourself a favor and check out http://www.kiss951.com/