Notable Format Absences in Your Local Market's Radio Selection

[kp2780]

In Boston, we don’t have an Active or Alternative Rock station. Over the past 12 years, four stations that played Active/Alternative have switched formats and were not replaced. The market is saturated with female leaning pop music formats. It’s not just the usual CHR/Rhythmic/Hot AC/AC formats, but also two stations that play a slightly different variation of Rhythmic AC. One of the Rhythmic ACs has poor ratings, so it seems to be a candidate for a format change.

For Rock stations, we have Classic Rock and what is probably best described as “newer” Classic Rock. We also have an Adult Hits station that plays Classic Rock. Apparently radio programmers think Boston listeners don’t have any interest in new rock music.

 

[TheBigA]

Apparently radio programmers think Boston listeners don’t have any interest in new rock music.

It's not a matter of what "radio programmers think." It's a documented fact. Otherwise the four stations you mentioned would never have left the rock format. That's how one determines what music the people want.

Radio stations don't program for themselves. The whole point is to attract an audience that can be sold to advertisers. If that can't be done, they switch formats. What we've seen in Boston is the new rock audience is either served by several non-commercial stations in the market, or by other more targeted forms of media. It's a similar problem in New York.

 

[CTListener]

In Boston, we don’t have an Active or Alternative Rock station. Over the past 12 years, four stations that played Active/Alternative have switched formats and were not replaced. The market is saturated with female leaning pop music formats. It’s not just the usual CHR/Rhythmic/Hot AC/AC formats, but also two stations that play a slightly different variation of Rhythmic AC.

Also two country stations -- one a fringe player that exists only to add value to the cluster for advertisers, the other a consistent performer. If men in the Boston market are using commercial over-the-air radio at all, they seem to be doing so strictly for classic rock, sports and (in the 55 to dead demos) news and right-wing talk.

 

[kp2780]

It's not a matter of what "radio programmers think." It's a documented fact. Otherwise the four stations you mentioned would never have left the rock format. That's how one determines what music the people want.

Radio stations don't program for themselves. The whole point is to attract an audience that can be sold to advertisers. If that can't be done, they switch formats. What we've seen in Boston is the new rock audience is either served by several non-commercial stations in the market, or by other more targeted forms of media. It's a similar problem in New York.

Regardless of the reasons, it is still a format hole. I think “documented fact” is a bit of an overstatement. 104.1 definitely did great with the format change. Has 92.9 really performed much better? The other two stations were sold to new owners and have a completely different format, and 101.7 isn’t exactly setting the world on fire with ratings.

 

[TheBigA]

I think “documented fact” is a bit of an overstatement.

I was addressing your last sentence. The goal of owning a commercial radio station is about revenue. If you can't make enough money with the format, you switch. I doubt Entercom would have sold WAAF if the station was making money. There was talk of them moving the format to another signal, and that hasn't happened. So that leads me to believe they've determined there's not enough money in active or alternative rock. Apparently The Bull and WKAF are serving a purpose for iHeart.

 

[anotherguyTN]

CHR and classic country are missing in Jackson, TN because of Forever's obsession with forming an unnecessary news talk network where they didn't need any more than one station, and they've done this twice in recent years.

 

[Don CT]

In Boston, we don’t have an Active or Alternative Rock station. Over the past 12 years, four stations that played Active/Alternative have switched formats and were not replaced. The market is saturated with female leaning pop music formats. It’s not just the usual CHR/Rhythmic/Hot AC/AC formats, but also two stations that play a slightly different variation of Rhythmic AC. One of the Rhythmic ACs has poor ratings, so it seems to be a candidate for a format change.

For Rock stations, we have Classic Rock and what is probably best described as “newer” Classic Rock. We also have an Adult Hits station that plays Classic Rock. Apparently radio programmers think Boston listeners don’t have any interest in new rock music.

This is why I moved to SXM, everything you want is there. No having to hunt for a station to play what you want.

Sure rock is not considered mainstream anymore, but I'd rather year that then the same songs played over and over on 5 difference stations.

 

[davideduardo]

This is why I moved to SXM, everything you want is there. No having to hunt for a station to play what you want.

My issue with Sirius/XM is double.

First, the playlists are, on most of the channels playing music I like, are too deep with too many "variety" songs that are just weak and that I don't want to hear often... or ever.

Second , their music rotations are terrible. They have just miserable horizontal rotation protection, so if I drive with a routine, I hear the same songs too often and others nearly never. It's as if they just don't tune the software well enough to protect from repetitive patterns.

I already dropped them in one vehicle. This year I will decide whether the other two get axed, although I will miss the BBC channel the most.

 

[vchimpanzee]

This is why I moved to SXM, everything you want is there. No having to hunt for a station to play what you want.

Sure rock is not considered mainstream anymore, but I'd rather year that then the same songs played over and over on 5 difference stations.

Not true in my case. They used to have one, but now it would take jumping back and forth between six stations.

I once suggested they take over the music collection of one station I like which is back on the air for now just so it can be sold and change to something profitable, but I guess they think they have everything they need.

 

[firepoint525]

CHR and classic country are missing in Jackson, TN because of Forever's obsession with forming an unnecessary news talk network where they didn't need any more than one station, and they've done this twice in recent years.

Don't forget that in n.w. TN, they switched the old KF-99 to Froggy country, never mind that KYTN was already country, and the two stations have nearly identical coverage areas, despite different COLs. As if that weren't enough, Froggy is now carrying Union City h.s. sports, never mind that the Thunderbolt stations are already doing that. Seems like someone (presumably Froggy) would carry Fulton/South Fulton sports, given that Fulton is their COL. I know that the old WKZT/WFUL carried Fulton-area sports when I was there.

 

[DJboutit3]

Within 50 to 65 miles of Columbia MO no RnB Station or Rap station that plays 70s to mid 2000s. There are 2 top 40 stations that play newer trap swag but that really does not count. Just about everything else is covered here.

 

[seatownmedia]

My issue with Sirius/XM is double.

First, the playlists are, on most of the channels playing music I like, are too deep with too many "variety" songs that are just weak and that I don't want to hear often... or ever.

Second , their music rotations are terrible. They have just miserable horizontal rotation protection, so if I drive with a routine, I hear the same songs too often and others nearly never. It's as if they just don't tune the software well enough to protect from repetitive patterns.

I already dropped them in one vehicle. This year I will decide whether the other two get axed, although I will miss the BBC channel the most.

I am convinced Sirius tracks what songs I listen to and then offers them up again frequently. They probably track what songs I tune out as well!

I agree they tend to go deep with many of their formats, but I actually enjoy hearing songs that won’t be touched by terrestrial radio.

 

[Delete My Account]

My problem with SiriusXM is the exact opposite. For most of the music I like, I can find far better stations with more depth on FM. And if they're non commercial, I can support them and my dollars go directly to the station. I'd put WEQX up against Alt Nation and practically any non-comm Triple A against The Spectrum. XM had a great Americana channel programmed by Jessie Scott - and now I can hear her on WMOT. I do like XMU, but it's nowhere near KEXP. Maybe it's different for more mainstream formats but as an early adopter of XM, much of SiriusXM's programming just isn't that imaginative or deep. And David's spot on about the rotations.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Within 50 to 65 miles of Columbia MO no RnB Station or Rap station that plays 70s to mid 2000s. There are 2 top 40 stations that play newer trap swag but that really does not count. Just about everything else is covered here.

This reminds me that Myrtle Beach SC is missing several formats.

One oldies station has some, but not all the songs found in easy listening, standards and classic-leaning urban AC. And if any of those songs are not on that station you're out of luck. Soft AC evolved into mainstream and quite a few songs were lost, possibly not heard on any other stations. The one classic hits station is 80s-based.

No Hot AC but one of the CHRs seems to lean adult.

Active rock fans must jump between "classic rock that really rocks" and an alternative station that doesn't really rock but occasionally plays grunge-type music.

Urban AC can be found on distant stations if you're lucky, but in two of the three cases an adjacent frequency would block the signal in much of the market. The other station, more oldies based, reduced its signal, and there is a translator in one location on the exact frequency. Other than that, R&B is either hip hop leaning or very old with white DJs.

At least classic country is on AM and a translator.

 

[crainbebo]

The format hole is easy. It's adult contemporary in Yakima.
It makes no sense why a market with a quarter-million people can't have an 'at-work' station that does not play Cheap Trick or Outfield (I'm talking to you, Cherry FM), or one without teenybopper pop and rap music (Big 106.1, the Hot AC-Adult Top 40 station, or KFFM). It has been over 10 years since Yakima had an AC station, and that was the old KQMY 'My 99.3' before they flipped to a KIT simulcast, and eventually rhythmic oldies and classic hits. Other markets with the same Hispanic population, like Fresno, have long-time AC stations, like KSOF. Why not us? We desperately need a 'Warm'/'Mix' type station in the market, yet we have a station playing oldies from the '50s-early '70s which likely has a smaller audience.

In Tri-Cities, their AC has morphed so much into Hot AC that calling it an 'at-work' station is an insult. They play NO '80s. 75% of the music is the '00s and '10s. Some of the last 10 songs played were by: Sia, the new Jawsh 685 song, and Billie Eilish. Where's the Elton John, Prince, Madonna that usually hails the soft rock stations?
The only pure AC station in that area is a rimshot from Hermiston OR that uses the Westwood One AC feed.

There is also no classic country station in the area, outside of a very weak Hank FM 101.9 from Walla Walla. We used to have one on 980 AM. A country station with '80s-'90s-early '00s would get a lot of listeners, especially since Yakima is still a farming community and leans conservative.

 

[seatownmedia]

I think smaller markets like Tri Cities, Yakima, or comparable markets of about 300k usually have huge format holes. Tri Cities has no oldies/greatest hits station and no true soft rock station. Plus no real alternative station. It is a radio wasteland which is why most of my listening is now SXM. I am amazed these locals stay in business these days.

 

[david]

First, the playlists are, on most of the channels playing music I like, are too deep with too many "variety" songs that are just weak and that I don't want to hear often... or ever.

Second, their music rotations are terrible. They have just miserable horizontal rotation protection, so if I drive with a routine, I hear the same songs too often and others nearly never. It's as if they just don't tune the software well enough to protect from repetitive patterns.

...I will miss the BBC channel the most.

Disagree on the first point - the shallowness of terrestrial radio playlists is thankfully not emulated on SXM. The "weak" variety songs are appreciated due to the rarity of their being heard on legacy radio. Of course, the key is to cycle them gently and not burn those "weak" songs.

Interesting note about horizontal rotation as indeed many listeners tune in during routine timeframes (such as their regular commute time) so a program director (or software) should make sure any hour's playlist not resemble too closely what was heard in that same hour the previous day(s).

I presume you are referring to BBC World Service on channel 120. Which programs there do you listen for? I miss when SXM had BBC Radio One (which aired on the satellite service from 2005 to 2011). In 2011 it sadly shifted to SXM's expanded channels (available through the app and the website) only to be completely removed from the SXM online platform a couple years later. Why couldn't they have at least left it on the Internet side of the product, especially as their lovely app allows for lots of on-demand listening options from many of its stations.

 

[crainbebo]

I think smaller markets like Tri Cities, Yakima, or comparable markets of about 300k usually have huge format holes. Tri Cities has no oldies/greatest hits station and no true soft rock station. Plus no real alternative station. It is a radio wasteland which is why most of my listening is now SXM. I am amazed these locals stay in business these days.

But if your format is country or top 40, the money pours in. I'd even say the same for most of the Spanish stations in town. Not counting the non-comm Christian stations in Spanish, there are about 7 listenable stations in Tri-Cities with (mostly) Regional Mexican, albeit there is the 104.9 with Spanish hits and upbeat music.
No classic hits station in Tri-Cities either, you are right. 92.1 Pendleton is the closest, with a listenable signal in most of the Cities. I noticed 100.9 KARY put in a good signal into south Kennewick last time I was there. The transmitter is quite a ways east of Yakima however, on the big ridge north of Sunnyside. The last classic hits station licensed to the Tri-Cities was 97.5, which has since flipped to Rhythmic and now Top 40.

As for niche format holes, we'll likely never get another station with those formats again, but I sure do miss the old Mega 99.3 Yakima when they were Rhythmic Oldies. It was one of the best things to happen to the Yakima FM dial since I moved into the market in late 2013. Nowhere else on the dial could I find a similar mix of music. It was fun listening to Barry White, Bobby Brown, Teena Marie, Pebbles, lesser-known Whitney Houston and Prince, Smokey Robinson, TLC, and Earth, Wind and Fire. Then they went to classic hits and lost me as a listener.
Tri-Cities' 102.3 used to be smooth jazz before flipping to Tri-Country in June 2019. In Yakima, 38 watts was too weak to reach me even with a weak signal. Thanks to that online stream, I enjoyed their format and it wasn't just the greatest Kenny G hits. There were lots of smooth vocals and instrumentals mixed in. Incognito, Walter Beasley, Richard Elliot, Randy Crawford, Chris Botti, Lindsey Webster...lots more.

 

[seatownmedia]

92.1 does indeed get into the Tri but they are awful IMO. Way too safe titles. Need to expand the library for atleast some “oh wow” titles. I have programmed oldies stations before and I could fix this station very quickly. But that is just my experienced opinion. Let them linger I guess...

 

[E-Cam]

Dallas-Fort Worth: My guess would be a true CHR/Rhythmic format. Sure we have KBFB/97.9 The Beat as our de facto Rhythmic station but that tends to lean more Urban, and our CHR/Top-40 formats on KHKS/106.1 Kiss FM and KLIF/Hot 93.3 that do tend to lean more Rhythmic on occasion but more staying true to CHR/Top-40. CHR/Rhythmic has been tried so many times in this market by other competitors (KRBV/Hot-Wild 100.3, KKDL/106.7, and KESS/Hot 107.9, also KLIF/93.3 has tried Rhythmic before but changed back to Top-40).

Also, we are missing a Soft AC format on a main channel. There is KEGL HD3 which broadcasts a "Breeze" format, and previously had KMEO/Memories 96.7 before flipping to country, news/talk, and now sports as a rebroadcast of "1310 The Ticket." Also no classic country format at all.