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MarkW

Holy smokes - has Country radio ever commanded such a low percentage of listening in Metro Atlanta?

Only 4.3 shares between Bull and New Country 101-Five. The latter station is at or near an all-time record low in the history of the Country format on that frequency.

I was skeptical of the changes made about a year ago at Star 94. Still am skeptical regarding long-term longevity of the Rhythmic AC format found there. However, for the time being, the station seems to have some wind in its sails. Impressive cume! TSL needs some work.
 
Strange that WABE isn’t subscribing now. Given the boost that NPR stations have seen nationwide, I’d be willing to bet they’re in, or just outside of, the top five 6+. I know that doesn’t mean much, but would still be interested in seeing.
 
My guess is that it just isn't worth the fees with NPR station budgets as tight as they are. With the most educated and highest income of any audience in radio, do they need numbers when they have the qualitative data?
 
MarkW said:
Holy smokes - has Country radio ever commanded such a low percentage of listening in Metro Atlanta?
Click to expand...

You can see that in some other southern states, such as Houston, where there were once two country stations in the Top 5. Not any more. Why? Changing demographics. Same with Atlanta.

But at the same time, country as a format nationally is at a low point. Nationally country ratings are down about 4% (according to Country Aircheck). So that's why you see both country stations in Atlanta where they are.

https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb047

chrocket87 said:
Strange that WABE isn’t subscribing now.
Click to expand...

Most NPR stations will pick and choose what months they'll subscribe. Same with EMF. If you notice, they subscribed in December, not in January or February.
 
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MarkW said:
Holy smokes - has Country radio ever commanded such a low percentage of listening in Metro Atlanta?

Only 4.3 shares between Bull and New Country 101-Five. The latter station is at or near an all-time record low in the history of the Country format on that frequency.

I was skeptical of the changes made about a year ago at Star 94. Still am skeptical regarding long-term longevity of the Rhythmic AC format found there. However, for the time being, the station seems to have some wind in its sails. Impressive cume! TSL needs some work.
Click to expand...
Country has been on 101.5 since 1968 (longest-lasting format on a frequency in ATL), so that's a long time. You'd probably have to go back to the WBIE-FM days when WPLO 590 (and AM in general) dominated country listening.

One thing I have noticed--there seems to be a cycle where country gets hot (usually by adding edgier/harder music), and then it tries to broaden its market with softer, AC-sounding material, and that kills the format and sends it into the doldrums, and then it repeats. Thoughts?
 
jabba17 said:
One thing I have noticed--there seems to be a cycle where country gets hot (usually by adding edgier/harder music), and then it tries to broaden its market with softer, AC-sounding material, and that kills the format and sends it into the doldrums, and then it repeats. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Agreed. Country has its ups and downs.

What amazes me is the total lack of traction that 101.5 has gotten since the format modification. Their personalities are top notch. Their evening show is syndicated, but so is The Bull's. The Bull has a Bobby Bones nighttime show that sounds more local than Nights with Elaina on 101-5, but I doubt that's an issue.

Hard to believe that in 1995, Kicks was #1 with over a 10 share.

One thing I do question is Cumulus/Atlanta's engineering. Q99-7's processing sounds horrendous IMHO. New County 101-5 does not have great processing, but it's hard to believe Jason Pullman's audio has sounded distorted for several weeks (which is a shame since Jason otherwise is sounding great). Does anyone at the station listen? I told my sales rep about it 2 weeks ago, and he said he would tell the PD.
 
Apparently, non-subscribing stations are still listed in respondent level data - but no longer in summary data.

"N/A" is bound to proliferate if media buyers have the data they need.
 
MarkW said:
Holy smokes - has Country radio ever commanded such a low percentage of listening in Metro Atlanta?
Click to expand...
No. It is the all-time lowest total for the format since Arbitron started measuring the market in 1966.
Furthermore, WKHX's 1.8 is the smallest share for the 101.5 frequency since 1976, when it was WBIE.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
The 1970 Broadcasting Yearbook has 101.5 as 3,500 watts at 200 feet. Their antenna probably was on one of the 1080 AM towers near Kennesaw.
Click to expand...
The FCC History Card shows the xmtr site at 112 1/2 Atlanta St., Marietta until March 1970, when it moved to Briarcliff Rd. & Shephard Lane in North Druid Hills
 
jabba17 said:
One thing I have noticed--there seems to be a cycle where country gets hot (usually by adding edgier/harder music), and then it tries to broaden its market with softer, AC-sounding material, and that kills the format and sends it into the doldrums, and then it repeats. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Right now there's a lot of rhythmic stuff and a lot of pop. It may be alienating the older side of the demo, people who prefer 90s country. Kicks thought they'd win over the market by focusing on Georgia music, but that strategy isn't working. Perhaps too many imports who've moved in to town from other states.
 
TheBigA said:
Right now there's a lot of rhythmic stuff and a lot of pop. It may be alienating the older side of the demo, people who prefer 90s country. Kicks thought they'd win over the market by focusing on Georgia music, but that strategy isn't working. Perhaps too many imports who've moved in to town from other states.
Click to expand...
New Country 101-5 does have a theme of "made in Georgia, loved around the world." But I don't think their playlist is markedly different from The Bull's or other Country stations around the U.S.

One thing I've questioned is the New Country positioning when for years The Bull has positioned itself as "Atlanta's #1 for new country."
 
No. It is the all-time lowest total for the format since Arbitron started measuring the market in 1966.
Furthermore, WKHX's 1.8 is the smallest share for the 101.5 frequency since 1976, when it was WBIE.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the info!

Perhaps 101.5 made a mistake by positioning itself more closely to 94.9? The shift to a "New Country" motto came at a poor time; the current material coming out of Nashville has been pretty weak for a while now.

Maybe the hire of Brian Phillips wasn't a very wise move in hindsight? His Country station in Detroit has quickly turned into a dumpster fire. Two big names on that station have departed, and of course, we all know what happened to the Director of FM Programming.
 
MarkW said:
Perhaps 101.5 made a mistake by positioning itself more closely to 94.9? The shift to a "New Country" motto came at a poor time; the current material coming out of Nashville has been pretty weak for a while now.
Click to expand...

They're both playing a lot of new country, and they're both playing heavies about 70 spins a week. The Bull has heavies at 76, while 101.5 is at 70. For my taste, they're both playing a lot of songs between 30 and 50. In fact, if I were to generalize, I don't see much different in the music.

Others here have said (and I agree) that 101's mistake was giving up on their heritage name and staff.
 
WCDukenfield said:
Because Country is supposed to be more "real"...less fake...less Hollywood...more relatable to the common people.
Click to expand...

You're assuming that the country radio audience is "common people." Country fans seemed to like Dolly Parton, and she will be the first to tell you how fake she is. From her hair to to other assets.
 
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