This may turn out to be a long post:
94.1 has been a mess for eternity. When I first discovered 94.1, it was Hot AC as Mix. That went downhill, and ended up turning into a Rhythmic-AC leaning Hot AC with Whoopi in the morning. They dropped that and went "Radio" as a Hot-AC leaning AAA... that transitioned into "Frequency" which ended up becoming a full-fledge AAA. Obviously this market is not the right market for AAA. They were very aggressive, even playing stuff from the '80s. They would've been better off flipping it to Modern AC like Click did in Dayton. The line between Hot AC and Alternative... the results so far have been amazing!
As far as what's going to happen: Would CHR make sense? Yes. Cumulus is known for launching a CHR in a market where there is already a powerhouse.
In Nashville:
107.5 The River: 5.9 (420,000)
102.5 The Party: 2.2 (208,200)
i106: 2.0 (178,000)
In Penascola:
97.5 WABB: 4.5
i100: 2.2
In Indianapolis:
Z99.5: 4.6 (327,500)
Radio Now 100.9: 3.9 (311,700)
I94: 2.4 (242,000)
In Dallas:
106.1 KISS FM 6.1 (1,787,200)
i93: 2.7 (1,049,400)
What's my point? Cumulus does launch CHR's to go against powerhouse stations. They do take shares from stations, and I can easily see it happening in Cinci. Here's where they can win...
You put a Hot-AC leaning CHR (Adult CHR) like Hot 101 in Youngstown on 94.1 - it's gonna fail. It then becomes just like Q102 without the live and local talent and the music being programmed to the market.
You put a generic CHR like a few of the "i" stations - it will do better, but still will have a hard time competing with KISS at that point.
You put a fun CHR like some of the songs they've been playing in their CHR stunt, it will win. Songs that neither Q and KISS really spin enough like Wiz Khalifa and David Guetta. It can exist in this market but not with Kidd Kraddick in the morning, Rick Dees in the midday, and Billy Bush at night. Will have to be researched well, and providing live and local talent. Will they flip to CHR? More than likely... but I could also see another attempt at alternative or modern ac, since they love that so much over there at 94.1 -- I honestly thought 96.5 would be the one to flip first to CHR.
"CUMULUS SVP/Programming JAN JEFFRIES and CUMULUS Imaging Director ANDY WEST have been spotted in town, dining at NADA surrounded by staff, format clocks and ratings spreadsheets."
That has CHR written all over it.
What do you guys think?