I seem to remember reading in the Memphis thread (where I lived before 1994) years ago that they created a mainstream pop station Power 98 in 1990 which was supposed to offset the all powerful FM100 pop leader which was adult leaning pop in the 80s and has been hot AC since 1990. Power 98 lasted only a year but had ratings through the roof. Word was they flipped this station because it didn't bill enough. Hence we were stuck with hot AC for years similar to here in Atlanta in a similar market.
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Interesting - So based on that, why are they still on the air? Ratings are piss poor and the billing sucks as well. Is there any logical reason for keeping them? Still see it to be something we all can't see.
The obvious answer is that there will always be someone at the bottom of the stack.
And... stations don't just "go off the air". They change format or make adjustments. The license is too valuable to just abandon.
Beyond that, the news & talk station is likely going to have to make some kind of decision as to whether to stay in the format. With the top management changes at Cumulus, it's likely all the underperforming stations are under scrutiny now.
The signal of WNNX is not as good as the higher rated Atlanta FMs, The 70 dbu covers 2.6 million, while stations like WWWQ, WKHX, WWPW, WVEE, WSTR, WSB-FM, WUBL, WZGC all cover in excess of 4.2 million. So the expectations for the station may be lower based on about 40% less primary coverage. Or they may also be going under the Cumulus microscope as the stations that got dickeyed the most get rebuilt.
One of the comments made by Cumulus' new CEO has to do with staff turnover. If the Atlanta sales staff was constantly turning over, the sellers had no time to build relationships and create new sales opportunities. And if programming was neglected or done by executive order, listener relationships similarly suffered.
Would it kill Cumulus to put up some billboards around town advertising their stations? Haven't seen one for 100.5 in years. The last billboards for 106.7 were 4 years ago, and they were up for only about a month. Bert has a few, but that's only to counter Jeff & Jenn on 94.1.
When I said "on the air", I meant the format and not the actual frequency. Your reply did make sense though. I will say, the signal maps underestimate WNNX. I get down to 201 exit off 75 and the 100K stations just another 15 miles south. I also get it to Carrollton and ironically, the 100K stations go out just a few miles further west. I've listened to rock 100.5 off and on and noticed they seem to be "heritage rock" sounding. Similar to WIXV in Savannah. No deep cuts and only the most popular artists and songs for each.
Be interested if anyone else notices the impressive coverage from WNNX considering its power.
Be interested if anyone else notices the impressive coverage from WNNX considering its power.
True - WNNX is at a disadvantage (signal wise) compared to *those* stations. But how do you explain its underperformance relative to 97.1 The River, Radio 105.7, Hot 107.9, Majic 107.5, 104.7 The Fish and others??? Also, your analysis does not account for the (likely) fact that many people drive from the suburbs into the city daily for work. In downtown & midtown Atlanta, 100.5's signal is outstanding.
The reason WNNX is a severe underachiever is because the station has been misprogrammed for years. It's as simple as that.
The same severe lack of programming acumen is rearing its head with Newsradio 106.7 (which should've never dropped Classic Hits), the dumpster fire known as 99X, and now -- lo & behold -- Q100, which has been in ratings free-fall for the past several months!!
I mean, how funny is it that a placeholder temporary format on 98.9 FM during the holidays scored *FAR* better ratings than 99X??? Then, there's the incident of the semi-successful classic hits format being scrapped for the epic disaster known as 98-9 The Walk!
It's blaringly obvious that far too many programming/format decisions within Cumulus are supported by little to no market research. How the Dickeys kept their jobs for as long as they did is stunning; it shows complete neglect on the part of the Board of Directors.
"If you build it, they will come" and when Susquehanna built 100.5, they came.
"Would it kill Cumulus to put up some billboards?" Actually, it might. Their financial situation is so precarious that anything beyond the bare necessities at this point might well help them over the edge.
"Would it kill Cumulus to put up some billboards?" Actually, it might. Their financial situation is so precarious that anything beyond the bare necessities at this point might well help them over the edge.
IMHO they are doing better than can be expected doing Classic Rock. But you are correct it 100.5 has been miss programmed. It should be an "Urban Signal"
AS Dave stated 100.5’s signal is limited verses the other in town signals. They do have a good line of sight signal. The tower they are on use to have 94.1 and 92.9 in the 1970’s on it which at 100KW worked well. PPM units also tract indoor use. One of the factors in building penetration is power. 100.5 is at 4+ DB disadvantage to start with. *
100.5’s main completion is 97.1. The River has a huge signal in the north side of the market. The racial demographics north of the perimeter favor non Urban formats. 97.1 JAMZ was a huge failure. It would be interesting to see a breakout of where 100.5’s 70 dbu signal and 97.1’s 70 dbu signals overlap. If you doubled 100.5’s 2.0 you get 4.0 verses 97.1’s 4.5 (6+).
I feel if 100.5 had the same signal as 97.1 it would be very close.
If I was running the Atlanta cluster for Cumulus, I would move 100.5’s programming to the new Rock 106.7. 100.5 would get the news talk format in mono (better building penetration). If or when the news talk fails (billings verses expenses), Atlanta would get another Urban or Urban AC station on 100.5.
* I forgot the formula someone help please.
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I agree with the idea of moving 100.5 to 106.7 but they have got to either broaden out the playlist and include some deeper cuts to compete with 97.1 The River OR start adding modern rock and be either mainstream (everything that rocks) or active rock. Not going to win it on the top hits form AC/DC, Skynard, Def Leopard and Motley Crew 24/7.
When 97.1 brought down 96 Rock they did it with less than a 900 song playlist. Except for us radio geeks, very few folks care about the 4th cut of an album. After 10 pm you could get away with some obscure tracks it the artist is well known. With down loaded tracks, I wonder if there will even be albums in 20 or 30 years.
"Weird Al" Yankovic said that "Mandatory Fun" was going to be his last album. It was also his first #1 album.
I disagree with some of your remarks. In my opinion, you are overstating 97.1's signal advantage compared to 100.5. In much of Cobb County, for example, Rock 100.5's signal is as good or better than 97-1 The River's signal (I'm talking about actual performance, not theoretical maps like those on Radio-locator that fail to account for terrain).
I do agree with you that signal placement largely explains why Jamz was such a lousy ratings performer. The need to attract an entirely new audience compared to the previous format (Oldies), the existing glut of Urban & rhythmic stations in the market at the time, and the fact the station just didn't sound that hot were all factors, too.
96Rock ditched Classic Rock because the ratings stunk. Z93 ditched Classic Rock because the ratings stunk. It was silly of Cumulus to think they could make it work well on 100.5 when two massive blowtorches saw lackluster ratings with the format.
"The signal of WNNX is not as good as the higher rated Atlanta FMs, The 70 dbu covers 2.6 million, while stations like WWWQ, WKHX, WWPW, WVEE, WSTR, WSB-FM, WUBL, WZGC all cover in excess of 4.2 million. So the expectations for the station may be lower based on about 40% less primary coverage. Or they may also be going under the Cumulus microscope as the stations that got dickeyed the most get rebuilt."
We normally talk about the 60 dbu signal. WNNX's 60 dbu signal covers far more than 62% of the metro population. I estimate it, based on the coverage map, to be 85-90% of the metro. That signal has the potential to get higher ratings than it has gotten.
We normally talk about the 60 dbu signal. WNNX's 60 dbu signal covers far more than 62% of the metro population. I estimate it, based on the coverage map, to be 85-90% of the metro. That signal has the potential to get higher ratings than it has gotten.
100.5 can get hack-sawed by WSSL* at any point north and or east of 285 at almost any time. North and east of Canton it is annoying at times. I don't go to L'ville or Snellville much anymore but one day in March of 2012 in the Wal Mart parking lot when my car scan stopped on 100.5 the was country! The radio locator map (which I know is not super-accurate) even shows WSSL with a "Questionable" signal in Athens. North of Jimmy Cater on 285 100.5 can have "issues" too. The IIRC WNNX's signal was a move in from Gadsden AL. I uses to hear them in the 1970's in Rome GA. so the signal should be protected in the western part of the market.
96 Rock quite classic rock ( I personally liked the station) because 97.1 blew them out of the water. Especially after the regular Guys got fired for IMHO one the lamest radio bits ever) there was no revenue because 97.1 had established itself as a classic rock "jukebox" with few commercials.
IMHO 92.9's classic Rock experiment never stood a chance against 96 Rock. IMHO 92.9 has had a lot of formats that were not executed well too.
*http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WSSL-FM
100.5 was licensed to Anniston, AL. as a Class C FM, and was reasonably successful in the area. Susquehanna Radio purchased it and moved the signal to Atlanta at somewhat lower power, as a directional signal. Realize, 'somewhat lower power' in a top ten market is worth substantially more than a 100KW signal in Calhoun County AL.
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