On a scale, how boring is radio now??

[BIGSTICK]

On a scale of 1-10, how boring is radio in general these days? Especially big markets. There are better stations in smaller markets. In GA, Savannah, Macon, Augusta, and Columbus all have better stations that BIG A.

Obviously 1 being dreadful, and 10 being outstanding, I vote Atlanta to be a 2.

 

[wpb1999]

Better stations in smaller markets? Aren't all the cutbacks in smaller markets? But, back to your questions-- probably a 6. Stations like WSTR, WROQ, and KOST save us.

 

[atlantaboy]

There are better stations in smaller markets. In GA, Savannah, Macon, Augusta, and Columbus all have better stations that BIG A.

Those cities have terrible stations - for me, Atlanta radio is a million times better (We have Alternative, AAA, and Hot AC)

 

[IT_Guru]

Currently a 2 and after Memorial Day a 1. Atlanta used to be one of the best cities for great radio but CC, Cumulus and Cox have ruined it.

 

[taylorengineer]

I'm not sure why anyone would think Atlanta radio is better or worse than any other market.
It seems that all markets suffer from "cookie cutter" programming - stations, with minor variations, sound pretty much the same across the nation.
Radio has become tedious because there is a general lack of new ideas in the industry. The listening public seems to be happy, for the most part, with the current offerings and there is no incentive for any of this to change....at least for now.
What will create evolution in the industry are the other content delivery systems i.e. internet, satellite, etc. The internet, when wireless is widely available in automobiles, will change the whole game. And when radio receivers finally get smart (like our telephones) we will see a big change in the way people use radio (and radio uses people.)
Until then may I recommend a fine Scotch over ice to dull the pain........

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I've found that small markets are even more voice-tracked than large ones.

 

[thefirstgenesis]

Radio nowadays is what they, the bosses at these big media companies like CC and Cox Radio, want you to hear, and it depends on location, location, and location. Some cities have better sounding stations and genres than other cities, and some have a big cluster of one type of genre than other places...aka Atlanta being very big in the Urban AC/Urban variety. But I have to admit and be honest about it, Atlanta deserves a 2 or even lower. We do have a good news station in WSB AM, decent country stations, but NO AC or SOFT ROCK STATION and soon no oldies station. Had I been more of a big listener of Urban AC which I am not, I would rate it an 8.

 

[acheron1982]

With respect to Atlanta, it all depends on your style of music. V103 has been mentioned by many who enjoy urban music as being one of the best in the nation. I actually have a friend out of Durham, North Carolina who listens to V103 on his phone at work.
I don't think anyone would argue that Atlanta is doing well with different urban formats.

Country: I'm not a country fanatic so someone else would have to answer this.

Classic Hits (pop/oldies): I tend to believe the majority of folks on this board enjoy the 60's/70's pop and AC style stations. It's just an assumption considering some of the posts. Those same folks would give Atlanta a big "F". This is just an assumption and not fact.

CHR: Too many CHR wannabes but no true CHR stations. I think we are saturated with Hot AC.

Rock: From far away, we seemed covered but if you investigate closer, our rock stations in Atlanta are God awful. We have a classic rock station and classic hits station (rock leaning) that plays pretty much the same thing from a limited playlist. No deep cuts at all, just Dream On/Free Bird/Stairway to Heaven 24/7 (I'm over-stating that a little but you get the point). The modern rock stations also play repeats and lack risque moves (i.e. deeper stuff from early 2k and indie leaning alternative).

So- What do I give Atlanta on a scale from 1 to 10? I give it a 7 because Savannah would be a 3 and my hometown of Vidalia would be a 1. New York City is a close 2!

 

[kilamanjero]

I'm an urban and rhythmic crossover music listener, and when Atlanta is compared to most other Southern markets, it is much better in this area. Most others sucks like hell because of the splicing of the urban format into a thousand pieces has resulted in disastrous results in places like Birmingham and Memphis. In these place where monotonous stations that are part of a urban combo or cluster dominate (by default) in the vacuum, thus result in the rolling of the dial all the time finding what you like. V-103 does pretty damn well in the urban arena as an innovative, constantly evolving, full-service urban contemporary. Overall, I would have to give the Atlanta market a 7 or 8 because it does well with that urban and rhythmic area of formats like Washington DC.

 

[atlantaboy]

I think we are saturated with Hot AC.

A lot of major markets now have 2 Hot ACs, so even if you count Q100 as Hot AC, I wouldn't say we're any more "oversaturated" than New York City, Washington D.C., Detroit, or San Francisco.

I'm not sure why we're still not counting Q100 as a "real CHR", though - look at its playlist outside of workdays, and it's pretty close to most other CHRs nationwide - more conservative on new music, but not really any more "Hot AC" than most other pop stations, especially in terms of new music

Here's the current Q100 playlist (C/RC) - I don't see what's that "Hot AC-ish" about it...

6 1 FLO RIDA Wild Ones f/Sia 101 66 35 1.5025
11 2 NICKI MINAJ Starships 100 43 57 1.5237
3 3 ONE DIRECTION What Makes You Beautiful 96 98 -2 1.5375
1 4 KATY PERRY Part Of Me 96 101 -5 1.4962
2 5 THE WANTED Glad You Came 96 100 -4 1.4698
8 6 GOTYE Somebody That I Used To Know 62 58 4 0.9992
12 7 MAROON 5 Payphone f/Wiz Khalifa 55 38 17 0.9178
7 8 TRAIN Drive By 55 63 -8 0.8791
5 9 KELLY CLARKSON Stronger (What Doesn't Kill .. 52 93 -41 0.8243
9 10 GYM CLASS HEROES Ass Back Home f/Neon Hitch 52 58 -6 0.8346
17 11 FUN. We Are Young f/Janelle Monae 41 33 8 0.5914
15 12 JUSTIN BIEBER Boyfriend 39 35 4 0.5518
4 13 CALVIN HARRIS Feel So Close 37 97 -60 0.517
23 14 USHER Scream 36 23 13 0.5284
14 15 CARLY RAE JEPSEN Call Me Maybe 35 36 -1 0.5501
13 16 KARMIN Broken Hearted 35 37 -2 0.5011
10 17 ADELE Rumour Has It 34 52 -18 0.4764
16 18 COLDPLAY Paradise 31 33 -2 0.4951
22 19 RIHANNA Where Have You Been 29 23 6 0.3841
25 20 PITBULL Back In Time 27 20 7 0.3829
18 21 RIHANNA We Found Love f/Calvin Harris 27 29 -2 0.3969
30 22 GAVIN DEGRAW Not Over You 22 16 6 0.3379
26 23 SELENA GOMEZ & THE SCENE Love You Like A Love Song 20 19 1 0.2969
68 24 GYM CLASS HEROES The Fighter f/Ryan Tedder 20 3 17 0.3188
31 25 ONEREPUBLIC Good Life 20 16 4 0.2899
24 26 DRAKE Take Care f/Rihanna 19 22 -3 0.2769
27 27 HOT CHELLE RAE Tonight Tonight 18 18 0 0.2938
29 28 LMFAO Sexy And I Know It 18 17 1 0.243
36 29 JESSIE J Domino 15 10 5 0.2068
21 30 ADELE Set Fire To The Rain 12 24 -12 0.1626
35 31 MAROON 5 F/CHRISTINA AGUILERA Moves Like Jagger 12 12 0 0.156
34 32 DAVID GUETTA Turn Me On f/Nicki Minaj 11 14 -3 0.1609
33 33 GYM CLASS HEROES Stereo Hearts f/Adam Levine 11 15 -4 0.1514
53 34 KELLY CLARKSON Mr. Know It All 10 5 5 0.1343
42 35 ENRIQUE IGLESIAS Tonight f/Ludacris 10 7 3 0.1596
37 36 TAIO CRUZ Dynamite 9 8 1 0.1257
19 37 FLO RIDA Good Feeling 9 27 -18 0.1187
28 38 DAVID GUETTA Without You f/Usher 9 17 -8 0.129
58 39 LMFAO Party Rock Anthem 9 5 4 0.1206
61 40 THE SCRIPT For The First Time 9 5 4 0.1089
50 41 MIKE POSNER Cooler Than Me 8 6 2 0.1518
38 42 FAR EAST MOVEMENT Rocketeer f/Ryan Tedder 7 8 -1 0.1439
32 43 FOSTER THE PEOPLE Pumped Up Kicks 7 15 -8 0.1406
81 44 ELLIE GOULDING Lights 7 1 6 0.104
39 45 ENRIQUE IGLESIAS I Like It f/Pitbull 7 8 -1 0.1278
49 46 BRUNO MARS Lazy Song 7 6 1 0.1227
41 47 PITBULL Give Me Everything f/Ne-Yo 7 8 -1 0.0949
52 48 USHER F/PITBULL DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love 7 6 1 0.111
44 49 CHRIS BROWN Yeah 3x 6 6 0 0.0742
54 50 COBRA STARSHIP You Make Me Feel... f/Sabi 6 5 1 0.0961

 

[electroboy73]

There are better stations in smaller markets.  In GA, Savannah, Macon, Augusta, and Columbus all have better stations that BIG A. 

Those cities have terrible stations - for me, Atlanta radio is a million times better (We have Alternative, AAA, and Hot AC)

Sorry...but when it comes to CHR/Pop stations, those smaller markets have us beat hands down. Just listen to Q100, here. Then compare that to:

IN GEORGIA:
WHHD/Augusta (Beasley)
WZNY/Augusta (Clear Channel)
WPUP/Athens (Cox)
WAEV/Savannah (Clear Channel)
WCGQ/Columbus (PMB)

REGIONAL:
WDOD/Chattanooga (Bahakel)
WKXJ/Chattanooga (Clear Channel)
WQNQ/Asheville (Clear Channel)
WNOK/Columbia (Clear Channel)
WFBC/Greenville (Entercom)
WAPE/Jacksonville (Cox)
WNKS/Charlotte (CBS)
WHQC/Charlotte (Clear Channel)

BTW: Q100 has not once played:

HAVANNA BROWN/We Run The Night
GROUP LOVE/Tongue Tied
RITA ORA/How We Do
ELLIE GOULDING/Lights
CHRIS RENE/Young Homie

(all these other stations play these)

 

[atlantaboy]

There are better stations in smaller markets. In GA, Savannah, Macon, Augusta, and Columbus all have better stations that BIG A.

Those cities have terrible stations - for me, Atlanta radio is a million times better (We have Alternative, AAA, and Hot AC)

Sorry...but when it comes to CHR/Pop stations, those smaller markets have us beat hands down. Just listen to Q100, here.

CHRs in smaller markets have broader playlists, because most small markets don't have Alternative, AAA, Hot AC, and/or Rhythmic stations

In a lot of the markets you mentioned, you can't hear 3/4 of the songs on the Hot AC chart, Alternative chart, and AAA chart, anywhere on the dial

 

[TheMusicMan]

Atlanta radio is far and away superior to that of the smaller markets you guys are mentioning. Aside from a few individual stations, there's not even a comparison. If nothing else, the stations' presentations far outstrip those in the Savannahs and Macons of the world.

I think it's a stretch to deny that Q100 is a CHR/Pop station, but they certainly still harbor some conservatism and Hot AC functionalities. I consider Channel 961/Charlotte and 107.5 The River/Nashville straight-ahead CHRs, and Q100 is perched somewhat to the right of those two with respect to music, imaging and jocks. Q is an unexciting CHR, but they're listenable (except the new night show, which is a total trainwreck).

Dave is confused and probably not long for the world, but I still enjoy them somewhat; they keep things interesting and I like having alternative-based rock on a full-market FM signal. For the most part, I think Star is the market's best-executed music station and although it's the radio equivalent of junk food, I find myself liking Wild for what it is. Project's a solid enough active rocker and River has improved, but B98.5 is a mess. WSB is legendary, and watching WYAY develop should be very exciting. Overall, if I were to ascribe a rating for Atlanta, I'd say...about a 6.

 

[wpb1999]

Atlanta radio is far and away superior to that of the smaller markets you guys are mentioning. Aside from a few individual stations, there's not even a comparison. If nothing else, the stations' presentations far outstrip those in the Savannahs and Macons of the world.

I think it's a stretch to deny that Q100 is a CHR/Pop station, but they certainly still harbor some conservatism and Hot AC functionalities. I consider Channel 961/Charlotte and 107.5 The River/Nashville straight-ahead CHRs, and Q100 is perched somewhat to the right of those two with respect to music, imaging and jocks. Q is an unexciting CHR, but they're listenable (except the new night show, which is a total trainwreck).

Dave is confused and probably not long for the world, but I still enjoy them somewhat; they keep things interesting and I like having alternative-based rock on a full-market FM signal. For the most part, I think Star is the market's best-executed music station and although it's the radio equivalent of junk food, I find myself liking Wild for what it is. Project's a solid enough active rocker and River has improved, but B98.5 is a mess. WSB is legendary, and watching WYAY develop should be very exciting. Overall, if I were to ascribe a rating for Atlanta, I'd say...about a 6.

Well, then we agree.