POWER 96.1's SUPER-TIGHT PLAYLIST: SOMETHING'S GOTTA CHANGE....

[Wildstyle K]

I can only imagine what this board would be like if Q100 refused to play a #1 song :

Probably almost the same as it is now with Power 96.1 missing a few hits :

 

[electroboy73]

I can only imagine what this board would be like if Q100 refused to play a #1 song :

Hmmm, let's see. Q100 refusing to play a number one song....How about:

Empire State Of Mind by Jay-Z
Right Round by Flo Rida
Low by Flo Rida

.....just for starters!

 

[TheMusicMan]

Rick Vaughn's strategy with this station is obvious. Power 96.1 is being positioned vis-a-vis Q100 as younger and hipper by de-emphasizing any borderline Hot AC material, with the exceptions of the biggest smashes (currently, that's Maroon 5, Pink and Taylor Swift). Flip to Q100 and you might hear Rihanna, or you might hear "Breakeven" or another Hot AC gold title...flip to Power and you'll hear Flo Rida or Katy Perry, no questions asked.

In an ideal world, I'd love for Power to sound like sister stations Channel 96.1/Charlotte or 107.5 The River/Nashville, taking chances on Alternative crossovers, playing a slightly deeper recurrent/gold library while staying current, varied, and true to the CHR chart. That's not likely under almost any foreseeable circumstances. Moving towards a playlist resembling Tampa's 93-3 FLZ seems like a more reasonable middle ground, but I don't see that happening in the immediate future. It would dull the purpose of their mission.

Both Power 96.1 and Q100 are somewhat conservative in their respective ways, but you cannot reasonably argue that either one isn't a CHR. Your preference is completely a function of personal taste.

Regarding "Some Nights" on Power - I thought they bailed on it too, but then I heard it after 9pm last night. I have no idea why (callout?), but Power has been dumping or severely reducing rotations on certain semi-HAC smashes only to re-add them a week or two later. "Blow Me One Last Kiss" and "Everybody Talks" each received this treatment.

 

[atlantaboy]

I can only imagine what this board would be like if Q100 refused to play a #1 song :

Hmmm, let's see. Q100 refusing to play a number one song....How about:

Empire State Of Mind by Jay-Z
Right Round by Flo Rida
Low by Flo Rida

.....just for starters!

Empire State Of Mind wasn't a #1 song - it peaked at #5

Q100 played both Low and Right Round

 

[atlantaboy]

Power 96.1 is being positioned vis-a-vis Q100 as younger and hipper by de-emphasizing any borderline Hot AC material, with the exceptions of the biggest smashes (currently, that's Maroon 5, Pink and Taylor Swift).

As of this week, "Some Nights" by Fun is a "bigger smash" than either Taylor Swift or Pink

http://www.allaccess.com/mediabase/q/report/sevenDay/format/H1/panel/R/detail/C/reportType/R

 

[Wildstyle K]

I just find it strange how every CHR in Atlanta goes array musically. Either it doesn't exist or something ALWAYS happens to mess everything up. Ever since the demise of Susquehanna, everything went downhill (although it is definitely a lot better now than the chr radio dial was in the 90's!) It's better to have two and a half chr's playing selected hits than no chr at all.

Well... maybe 2013 will be the year things are finally fixed. WiLD was just about to become a good full chr - then, out of nowhere, Power is put on 96.1 and WiLD is flipped back to rhythmic. I must give it up to WiLD for at least being a true rhythmic, but what good is that if they are not going to last? They could've just moved the previous already successful rhythmic/mainstream pop WiLD format to 96.1 instead of starting a completely new station with a somewhat weirdly operated format. I guess as long as Power is having a quick rise in ratings, it doesn't matter that they did everything the way they did.

But the pop WiLD format definitely would've been successful if it were moved to 96.1 |

 

[Wildstyle K]

So I looked up the rhythmic charts and I think once Power 96.1 starts adding

Miguel - Adorn
Kanye West - Clique
Trey Songz - Two Reasons (also a TOP 40 hit)
French Montana - Pop that
Kendrick Lamar - Swimming pools
(and this is just for starters)

THEN they should consider moving to the rhythmic panel. But not just because they don't play a sufficient amount of pop rock for one person. ;D They should fit the label they are closest to.

 

[atlantaboy]

But not just because they don't play a sufficient amount of pop rock for one person. ;D

Exactly - Fun is about to hit #1 on the CHR chart because of me ;D I didn't realize how influential my musical taste was...

 

[atlantaboy]

Within the next few months, they're going to have to decide on a direction - either be open to adding all popular tracks from the top of the CHR chart, or start adding tracks from the Rhythmic chart like Miguel, Kanye, Trey Songz, etc. (which would also mean flipping Wild) - otherwise, the station's gonna get really old really fast

My guess is they're still deciding on a direction...

 

[Wildstyle K]

But not just because they don't play a sufficient amount of pop rock for one person. ;D

Exactly - Fun is about to hit #1 on the CHR chart because of me ;D I didn't realize how influential my musical taste was...

You missed my point. My point is you want every CHR station that doesn't play a sufficient Pop/Rock material to be moved to the rhythmic panel. At first I used to think you had a point - until you mentioned Power 96.1 and I checked and saw how far Power was from the real rhythmic sound. In this case, you want Power on the rhythmic panel based purely on the fact they dropped a lot of the Pop/Rock they used to play. I'm sure that even if they readd FUN. you'll still consider them rhythmic because they don't play a lot of the rest of the Pop/Rock that are currently in the Top 40 charts. I can understand you wanting KAMP and even KZON to be labeled "rhythmic," but suggesting Power 96.1 at this point is going a little too far. They still follow the mainstream top 40 chart more than the rhythmic chart.

 

[atlantaboy]

Well, they re-added Fun and Neon Trees today, so I'm good...

 

[Wildstyle K]

Well, they re-added Fun and Neon Trees today, so I'm good...

LOL I saw that. I think the station is doing ok overall. But they seem to be doing the same thing WiLD did when they messed themselves up BIG time the first time around - which is removing and readding songs that are undisputedly charting hits. I don't understand why or how these things happen... but like everyone says, the people doing the job behind the scenes know what they're doing. I guess there was also a reason behind it when WiLD first switched to rhythmic and they hired someone from the old 95.5 The Beat to program the station and after they severely messed up the station and brought it down to a 1.9 from a 3.7, they decided to keep him for almost a year more before finally replacing him.

 

[atlantaboy]

^I think they were probably toying with the idea of going Rhythmic, but yesterday they made up their mind to stay CHR

I can see how it was an important decision, as adding Fun and Neon Trees probably means losing some crossovers from Wild - but it also probably means more crossovers from Q100

 

[atlantaboy]

In an ideal world, I'd love for Power to sound like sister stations Channel 96.1/Charlotte or 107.5 The River/Nashville

I think Star's pretty much blocking Clear Channel from doing that, especially since they get such high 18-34 numbers for a Hot AC

 

[Wildstyle K]

In an ideal world, I'd love for Power to sound like sister stations Channel 96.1/Charlotte or 107.5 The River/Nashville

I think Star's pretty much blocking Clear Channel from doing that, especially since they get such high 18-34 numbers for a Hot AC

But that could eventually change now that the chr radio landscape has changed and there is now a chr station on a full power station providing people with another option. As people get used to Power, some of the 18-34 may stray away from the Star 94 sound they've been pummeled with for ages.