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Now 3 Powerful Country Stations, What 2 Will Stay?

R

radiolives

So Charleston now has 3 powerful country stations. Can we see all 3 making out well in the market? I don't believe so. All 3 stations have different sounds with Kickin' playing more older country then The Wolf or WEZL. Today just before 8pm I heard Kickin' play Exile - Kiss You All Over which isn't even country, more on the lines of classic rock. This song is heard in the movie Happy Gilmore.

I know it is to soon to tell. As we still aren't sure whats in store for 96.9 The Wolf once Cumulus takes over. Also Kickin' hasn't hired any DJs yet or found a morning show and this is since being on 95.9 for a good 8 months.

Your thoughts and opinions....
 
96.9 will become more generic, more canned after Cumulus takes over. That will hurt them even more, that is why I say that Apex needs to pour everything they've got into Kickin' (moving frequencies is going to be kind of confusing, though) and focus on local. IMO, currently it is more of a battle between 92.5/96.9. 96.9 was never able to beat WEZL. If I were 92.5, I'd try to take 96.9 down then go after 103.5.

I've heard of some country stations playing classic rock-ish songs that fit with county. Exile was kinda country-like in the 80s. Perhaps they think it helps with their variety.

So, MY prediction: 92.5 and 103.5.
 
carolinaradio said:
I've heard of some country stations playing classic rock-ish songs that fit with county. Exile was kinda country-like in the 80s. Perhaps they think it helps with their variety.
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Exile WAS country in the 80's - the only connection they have to pop/rock is "Kiss You All Over" which of course hit #1. After no real follow-ups, they re-imaged themselves as a country band and had great success in the 80's with several #1 hits. They are much more a country band than anything else.
 
I still think that the change was a strange move money wise but I would like to know which of the three stations reaches best in which directions north, south, east, west ect... with east being a moot point.
 
I'm not an expert since I've never lived there, but I've always had the best luck with 96.9, by far. Their signal is extremely good (full class C).
 
carolinaradio said:
I'm not an expert since I've never lived there, but I've always had the best luck with 96.9, by far. Their signal is extremely good (full class C).
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Very strong signal which can be heard well past Pawleys Island heading north on 17 into Surfside Beach and into Myrtle Beach. Sometimes you could think its a local. Such a powerful signal but its sad they aren't ranked higher in the Charleston ratings book.
 
All 3 could stay, perhaps. Charleston is a huge country market, probably one of the biggest. Almost every major country music star has played in the Coliseum. They all have their own niches. WEZL is the more traditional country station with lots of community involvement, mostly the latest hits. 96.9 is a more energetic presentation.

92.5 plays a little more classic country. I do think 96.9 would be the first to go. News-talk would be huge there. You could run separate programming certain dayparts, and WTMA is the Gamecocks station, and you could get every Carolina game anywhere in the Charleston area.

Now, if you want to listen to the radio call of any night Gamecock game you can't north of Summerville. You're stuck with 93.7 out of Walterboro and a couple others, or a very weak 107.5 for baseball.

They could also make more money with their local shows, instead of the same 5 gutter companies and home remodelers that always advertise.

That 96.9 going country was a waste, but they had to. 107.5 was the heritage country, but the moves helped gain a full-signaled 101.7, 107.5 in Columbia which has revolutionized sports talk in the state, and 96.1 WKZQ.

I will always remember 96.9 as the big-signaled AC, though.
 
The latest book shows Kickin' much closer to The Wolf. These ratings just reflect Kickin' on 95.9 just to point out as 92.5 was still The Box.

As for 96.9 if they flip why place news/talk on such a strong signal? Could always move z93 Jamz to the strong 96.9 signal. I doubt it would hurt listeners at all. Then place News/Talk on 93.3 in mono.
 
Look at 102.1 in Savannah, an extremely strong signal in that market - they are sports talk. So it's not unheard of.

WTMA is my favorite talker in the state. Way better than WORD in Greenville (who even has Rush, etc.). I would love to see them on FM. Would make them more competitive with 94.3, too, and I think news/talk is eventually all going to be on FM.

I don't see how 3 country stations can last forever. Greenville/Spartanburg, where country dominates (ugh), likely more than Charleston, had 3 country stations in the mid-90s (92.5, 93.3, 100.5)....the ratings for 93.3 were terrible and they eventually went to new rock. That was 15 years ago, though.
 
carolinaradio said:
Look at 102.1 in Savannah, an extremely strong signal in that market - they are sports talk. So it's not unheard of.
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The strongest signal in the market in fact....and sports talk remains NOT the best use for a class C0 stick.

G
 
I could agree more, news talk what a glorious waste of a good signal. I think that going back to the classic hits on 95.9 would be the best way to go and maybe a Lite AC on 96.9 would work as well.
 
LHSH did you get the word that AC is not doing so well anymore?
I do however agree about classic hits for 95.9 or maybe put WSPO on that signal.
However I think if it was going to be WSPO it would have happened with out the month break.
 
AC may not be setting the woods on fire, but has its niche in the market and having only one that sorely needs competition in that market would not be a bad thing. If not AC then classic hits would be good because 95.9 sounded good with classic hits and who knows maybe the country stations will serve three distinct niches in market. If the urban format can have multiple stations ina market, then why not country?
 
If WTMA goes to FM, what about putting it on 107.3 (the weakest signal in the cluster) and moving Magic to 96.9?

I would love to see classic hits return to 95.9. It wouldn't be as good as it was when they had Bill and Kain, but if they let it grow, I think they would have success (98.9 is playing classic hits already, though....)

I don't know about 3 country stations....like I said, the format is very successful in Greenville but the 3rd country station on 93.3 in 1995 was a catastrophe. Maybe it was executed poorly or the times have changed.
 
Isn't Magic 107.3 in a trust still?

As for 96.9 if country doesn't do well. Would it be a good idea to move z93 Jamz to 96.9, as that would bring a high rated station to the strong 96.9 signal.
 
Ken said:
Isn't Magic 107.3 in a trust still?

As for 96.9 if country doesn't do well. Would it be a good idea to move z93 Jamz to 96.9, as that would bring a high rated station to the strong 96.9 signal.
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I was told a while back that it was removed from the trust. If it was, it's still controlled by Citadel, they really wouldn't have to sell it.....Last Bastion is legally considered a different company, I believe (but Citadel can still operate the station's programming, etc)
 
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