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MY SUGGESTION FOR STAR-94...........

E

electroboy73

Just go to a full-blown HOT-AC!

Now that Q-100 has a bigger signal, THE BERT SHOW, (which more and more, is getting even BETTER!) and a continuously flawless and pure top-40 playlist! Star should just take the higher road and go TOTALLY HOT-AC. I lived in New York City for years and it was almost the same scenario with two TOP-40 stations battling it out (those stations being, Z-100-WHTZ & 95.5-WPLJ). BOTH were head to head Top-40 stations, then finally WPLJ went HOT-AC and seems to be doing very well with that. And, of course Z-100 is the KING of all kings TOP-40 station in the whole freakin universe! Not to mention it's in the TOP 3 station ratings in all of New York City!

So, I just think that since STAR-94 here in Atlanta has ALWAYS seemed to lean more towards HOT-AC anyway. Instead of STAR TRYING to be something that they're not by pumping up the bass so loud, that it sounds like crap and playing FLO-RIDA/T-Pain at 10:15AM.....they should just get rid of that horrible morning show (which by the way sounds like some cheap bozo-the-clown kidz show), keep Cindy & Ray, go COMPLETELY HOT-AC and let Q-100 keep on doing what they APPARENTLY do best!

Any thoughts?
 
Not a bad suggestion. Plus, they wouldn't just willfully surrender the adults that have made Star such a brand to another station like B98.5.
 
LFM will outspend Cumulus and eventually win...(AGAIN)....count on it.
 
Q100's playlist is made up heavily of recurrents, a little too many for me. They did have a pure top-40 playlist when Susquehanna owned the station.
 
No.
Next format flip is to alt. how many F-n top 40 sh*t stations does 1 city need.
I call this next flip. make it alt.
 
I agree it is a little heavy on the recurrents, however we may be in the minority. The station also didn't have as good of ratings as it does now. They just beat Star in nearly every demographic in the last book, so I doubt they feel any need to make a change.
 
Somebody mentioned WPLJ, I think. The last time I looked at New York ratings, good ol' 'PLJ was in the ratings toilet. But, this may be just because New York is already saturated with AC-type stations.

The folks at Star have an uphill battle to climb but they'll get there. It may take a while to regain a decent lead but people won't just forget about Star 94 overnight. They'll be back sooner or later. Assuming they stay the course, of course. ;)

One other thing to consider, IMO. We talk about Star and how a move to Hot AC could be more beneficial to them. But what would the risk be for them in that situation? Right now Star keeps taking on Q100 in a good, even matchup. If Star goes to Hot AC, they essentially stop competing with Q100 and start taking on B98.5. A station darn nearly as old as radio itself and very well-established in the AC game. There are some potential risks that come along with a big move like that.

With B98.5 already playing some Hot AC gold, and also getting Steve & Vikki, it just seems risky. Just my two cents...
 
The "perfectly flawless" playlist, or whatever, made me actually laugh out loud. Almost spilt my beer.

I was in Atlanta a couple weeks ago, and Q100 was LAUGHABLE. I was in the car with a fellow radio nerd, and we couldn't believe how bad it sounded. The current regime there has done some pretty awful things to that playlist, and in particular, the scheduling.
 
I agree with whitfm that Hot AC would put them right in the crosshairs of B98.5. No contest there.

There is a soft AC hole in ATL that has existed since the demise of Peach/Lite, but I don't think that's what Star wants. B98.5 is smart to put that on their HD2 channel.

One problem with Star is that they have always vacillated between AC and CHR. You can go from CHR to AC easily (just ask the old 94Q folks), but going the other way entails shaking a "your mama's station" stigma that Q100 doesn't have to deal with when reaching out to teenyboppers.
 
These days Star 94 is closer to a true Top 40 than Q-100...
 
That explains why LFM spent $600,000.00 marketing it's new AM show. Star 94 carries no debt and is one of the highest billing CHR's in the country....Yeah, I'd be itching to get it out of my portfolio.
 
Star could have slowly migrated to Hot AC or Adult CHR just as easily as they've migrated to mainstream CHR. This would not have required blowing up Star. My guess is LF really thought the battle between Bert Show and The Morning Mess was going to be between 100.5 vs. 94.1 NOT 99.7 vs. 94.1. That said, if you were going to be Hot AC anyway, it would have made sense to keep your #1 asset .... Steve & Vikki. However, that's still an option as I think Cindy & Ray would be a fine fit for Hot AC or even more so as an Adult CHR. But as Bert Show's 25-54 numbers continue to get stronger, that becomes an even tougher hill for Star to climb.
 
If the bleeding persists, Cindy and Ray will be doing mornings by next spring. I don;t see any shange before then.
 
Why does anyone think they need to flip? If it sounds good and the ratings are following (give any even subtle change 90 days) then... WHY?
 
caller10 said:
Star could have slowly migrated to Hot AC or Adult CHR just as easily as they've migrated to mainstream CHR. This would not have required blowing up Star. My guess is LF really thought the battle between Bert Show and The Morning Mess was going to be between 100.5 vs. 94.1 NOT 99.7 vs. 94.1. That said, if you were going to be Hot AC anyway, it would have made sense to keep your #1 asset .... Steve & Vikki. However, that's still an option as I think Cindy & Ray would be a fine fit for Hot AC or even more so as an Adult CHR. But as Bert Show's 25-54 numbers continue to get stronger, that becomes an even tougher hill for Star to climb.
Click to expand...
Unless Star 94 wants to become the next Peach (soft AC), or flip to something totally different, they're stuck--they'll be up against Q100 if they go CHR/M, and Cox if they go AC with any degree of hardness or heat (B98.5/Kiss 104), although 104.1 doesn't have the 100kW signal.

Unless they can beat Q100 or B98.5 or Kiss at one of their games (not to say they can't), Star will be the odd man out. Unless someone sees a niche I don't, the only vacant niche I see is soft AC (from the departure of Peach/Lite).
 
If Star was going to go Hot AC, it would have made more sense 6 months ago when the Steve & Vikki audience was still there.

I agree that Star would hit as much competition trying to go Hot AC at this point as they are now with CHR. I don't know what this has to do with Kiss because Kiss targets African-Americans. Last time I looked though, Kiss did have 100,000 watts although the transmitter is pretty far out of town (Newnan).
 
Music’s only one issue. It may define our insider view of formats, however, content also drives brand impressions and relevancy. Content and music play varying roles.

Ex A: The River - They play Life’s Been Good, Do you Feel Like I Do and Dream Weaver almost EVERY Day and score Top 5 in demo. Keeping the content low risk and out of the way (little beyond time, traffic, wx, and safe recorded promos) is a key factor in their success.

Ex B: Rock 100.5 –TRG’s content is so right on, they don’t need music.

Ex C: Star 94 - C&R drop songs when a premise (like Dr. Blue) is rolling. It's time for TMM to back off their crutch bit, Pranks on the 20's, and come up with something fresh.

Slight changes in the rotation of a few songs or categories or even a 600 title music test can’t cover for a content relevancy issue. If a station ignores their contents’ impact and becomes perceived as stupid, silly, out of touch, etc. the writings on the wall – regardless of how many powers or re-currents are on the clock.
 
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