RE:98.9 FM THE BONE

[Dan6053]

RE:98.9 FM THE BONE

Does anyone know what the ratings were for 98.9 FM THE BONE in the last Arbitron report? This is an active rock station and I realize they were meant to pick up the listeners that once tuned in to Project 96.1 FM? I work out in the Conyers area and alot of the guys I work with love this station but said they cannot pick it up at their house. I went to gay pride this past October in downtown Atlanta and Power 96.1 FM had a float in the Gay Pride Parade. There was a young lady there about 17 years old that started screaming, "You killed my radio station!!" I told her about 98.9 FM and she said she already tried but could not really pick it up on Atlanta's southside. So, if the ratings for this station are terrible will this format be taken away, too? This signal does not reach 70% of it's target audience due to low wattage. Most of the people that listen to the Bone are heterosexual white males. The Atlanta Metropolitan Area is much more than inside the perimeter. Atlanta, itself, only has about 450,000 people. The remaining 5 million are in the suburbs. And man, that signal will not reach out much further than 8 miles outside 285. In fact, I was listening to The Bone on my way to work on Wednesday and instead of hearing The Bone, I was picking up WSPA 98.9 FM out of Asheville, North Carolina and was even locking in the HD Signal. This city is over 120 miles away.

 

[atlantaboy]

Does anyone know what the ratings were for 98.9 FM THE BONE in the last Arbitron report?

Cumulus isn't subscribing its translator stations, so we can't tell how poorly they're doing - the signal is extremely weak, though, just like 99X and Journey were

 

[danman425]

989 The Bone is a poorly executed Active Rock station in mt opinion. Its just a few songs from the charts, then an over played 90s alternative song. Occasionally, they'll throw in some godsmack or other hard rock bands, but its pretty rare.

 

[acheron1982]

98.9 The Bone is no different from any other cumulus active rock station. Cumulus, while they do play some harder stuff, they also play more fast pace alternative where clear channel sticks to the hard aggressive stuff. Many may think I'm nuts but I still see The Bone moving over to 100.5 and "if" cumulus gives the station music directors their flexibility, I think you will see a active/alternative rock hybrid.

Again, much like Top 40, nearly all Cumulus active rock stations all sound the same and they stay away with hard core rock 100% of the time just like they keep their top 40 stations away from hard core dance as the clear channels do. The only positive thing about this is a more interesting playlist vs the 40 top active rock songs on the radio. Personally, if you like active rock, nothing touches Rock 1061 in Savannah whuch is owned by a smaller corp.

 

[top16]

Personally, if you like active rock, nothing touches Rock 1061 in Savannah whuch is owned by a smaller corp.

I'll listen to Rock 106.1 online, especially between 11pm-midnight weekdays when they offer "You Heard It First", which are songs no more than a year old. 98.9 the Bone needs to offer a show similar to this on their station.

 

[danman425]

Rock 94.5 spokane is also a good one. They keep their playlist very recent.

 

[acheron1982]

What I like about Rock 106.1 is that they have flexibility. Recently, on their facebook, Rock 106.1 posted a survey asking simple question regarding certain artist. Rock 106.1 use to be alternative and then went active but from what I could read on the survey, it seems like they want to play both which could work in a town with no other modern rock choice.

See, I don't understand why cities like Atlanta don't do an alternative/active rock hybrid. 105.7 The Point in St. Louis is doing this and it does two things:

1- The playlist stays interesting. You will hear Staind, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, along with Silversun Pickups, Passion Pit and yes, even Mumford and Sons. They do this by playing more of the active (harder) stuff at night.

2- This blocks the need for another modern rock station when you already have a station that covers both alternative and active rock.

 

[awp69]

In fact, I was listening to The Bone on my way to work on Wednesday and instead of hearing The Bone, I was picking up WSPA 98.9 FM out of Asheville, North Carolina and was even locking in the HD Signal.  This city is over 120 miles away. 

Actually, WSPA is out of Spartanburg, SC (tower as well in Landrum, SC), but similcast on 97.7 in Asheville (from what I understand). But that's pretty dang impressive that you can hear it that far away.

But, yes, although I'm not entire sure how much I'd like The Bone, that's the problem with translators. We've got several in Greenville, SC, including an Alternative at 98.5, but go more than I'd say 20 or 25 miles at most from Greenville and you lose it. For a market that's supposed to include Spartanburg and Anderson (both 30 or so miles from Greenville), that hurts. It's only six months old though with no sign of an Arbitron rating (not sure if Cox subscribed to it yet for the station). It's year+ old sister station Chuck FM still pulls in around a 2 share with just the same amount of coverage so it can still be fairly effective in a mid-sized market like GSP.

Atlanta's a different story though since, as you say, the vast majority of the population is outside of I-285. Don't know what the translator/tower landscape is outside the loop, but I wonder if any Atlanta-based station could use translators in multiple locations for more coverage.

It's funny you mention WSPA though. I remember living in Anderson, SC and if the conditions were just right, I could sometimes get 99X before it's demise (on it's original signal). Now that I'm in Greenville, I'm glad to have an alt rock station after always longing for a market like Atlanta (having also lived there for 10 or so years split during the early '90s and late 90s/early '00s). Strange how things turn out.

 

[carolinaradio]

WSPA-FM is a force to be reckoned with many times. I've gotten it clearly 125+ miles away in Augusta at times. That signal is a monster, and IMO is the best in the state, definitely in the market. I always wondered about 98.9 in Atlanta having interference issues with it.

@awp: I've gotten the 97.7 frequency around 40 miles down 385 to I-26, so that's around 45 miles or so. It was breaking up badly, but was audible. That's a pretty clear frequency, also, so that helped.

 

[secondchoice]

IIRC Translators can "accept" interference in their "coverage", they just can not "create it" with in the protected contour of an existing class A, B (in heavily populated areas of the US), or C. here is the FCC's table:

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/fm-broadcast-station-classes-and-service-contours

of course the "skip" of FM signals does not count.

 

[rho01]

The Bone is pulling about a 1 share, twice as much as 99X was getting but of course, the Bone has far less competition now.

 

[jabba17]

The Bone is pulling about a 1 share, twice as much as 99X was getting but of course, the Bone has far less competition now.

A 1 share is good for a translator, at least in this market. What competition has gone away for Bone? Project was already gone.

Speaking of translators, how is Q100 Top 20 97.9 doing in the ratings?

 

[top16]

Speaking of translators, how is Q100 Top 20 97.9 doing in the ratings?
[/quote]

I was wondering the same thing. Also, they should at least have their own website with a link to listen live online. It can be found through the Cumulus link, but offer up something supporting 97.9. Even Journey had their own website!