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RE:Atlanta Radio Contributed and Put Many Alternative Rock Groups on the Map!

D

Dan6053

Guest
RE:Atlanta Radio Contributed and Put Many Alternative Rock Groups on the Map!

Back in the 90s when Atlanta had 99x, Atlanta contributed to the success and in some cases put many alternative rock groups on the map. Remember, the australian band, Silverchair? Atlanta was one of the first stations in America to play this group. Remember, Live, Creed, oh I could go on and on and on. This music is not dead it is just that corporate radio that runs this market decided it was dead. I remember living in Montgomery, Alabama in 1990 and wanted a rock station so bad but all the "radio experts" kept saying, "Oh, Rock and Roll, in Montgomery, Alabama would never work. Well 95.1 fm the Fox is there and has been ever since. Yes, I know they are a classic rock/active rock format but back then the "experts" kept talking about how it would never make it. So, are us folks in Atlanta supposed to be a bunch of ignorant idiots? I remember asking the program director at 97.1 FM the River why they did not have a deeper playlist. His email to me said that people that listen to radio are not music heads and only want to hear their favorite songs. But guess what station is playing deeper cuts now and whose ratings are not that bad? 97.1 FM the River. These songs that are AAA that the top 40 stations are playing now, guess who played the songs first? That is correct, the AAA stations. These are the stations that make the songs become hits, the stations that had balls to support new artists. I heard the Lumineers, Monsters and Men, 8 months before Star ever started playing these songs here. People in other cities laugh at us now. I used to go to Los Angeles back in the early 2000s and Chicago and would be wearing my 99x t-shirt and people in their 20s, 30s and 40s would come up to me and would know about 99x and talk about how great it was. Atlanta was known as a cool, music city. Now it is a joke with the exception of hip-hop. I am surprised Clear Channel, CBS and Cumulus have not destroyed hip hop music in this city the way they destroyed Rock Radio. Sure I can listen to East Villiage Radio but listening online is just not the same. I WANT MY ALTERNATIVE OR AAA BACK!! AND I WILL NOT STOP RANTING ABOUT IT!! YOU WILL HAVE TO BAN ME FROM THIS DISCUSSION BOARD :'(
 
You are correct regarding 99x but remember, this was during a time before Cumulus bought them out. Further more, I honestly believe that DAVE actually helped kill 99x. The biggest mistake 99x made was going more in the active direction after the creation of Dave. Because Dave would play stuff like Arcade Fire and Mumford and Sons, 99x was late in getting out the newer stuff from these artist UNTIL they made it to the alternative charts. Arcade Fire and Mumford and Sons may be AAA artist but they are also Alternative artist. Some of the best alternative stations in this country have playlists that play harder alternative, mellow alternative (some can call AAA artist), and 80s alternative (which started everything).

Frankly, an alternative station in Atlanta would be nice regardless of who starts it but if its to be done right, I would love to see 107.1, 94.1 or 88.5 try this format. These stations are not owned by one of the four c's. I have seen so many mentions to KROQ on this board and I'm sorry, KROQ sucks for alternative. You ask alternative enthusiasts about their opinion on KROQ in LA and you will hear people grip and complain about how "safe" the format is. They have a limited playlist and don't really like strolling too far from the Alt charts. CBS has ruined KROQ.

Compare KROQ playlist with other "real" alternative stations like WFNX in Boston (I know it's internet now) and CD 102.5 in Columbus, Ohio. Those are true alternative stations that are not afraid to reach outside of the box. After all, being different and reaching out of the box is what Alternative is all about.
 
^I don't think you guys need to justify all that - there is absolutely nothing un-Alternative about Atlanta except that CBS wanted to start up FM Sports (because it worked in Boston, a city where literally every guy walks around wearing a Red Sox hat)

Now their share plummeted from 2.5 to 0.7, and they're sending posters into the Altanta forum with a million excuses why FM Sports was a good decision, and why Alternative is a dying format (oh yeah, sorry - except for KROQ, which just happens to be owned by CBS ::))
 
1. Again, talk formats take time. I'd hardly call it an excuse when its been backed up by countless examples of facts. WXYT and WFAN didn't start with huge shares/revenue. Check back with me in a year and we will talk about The Game. I know you'll blow off the fact that talk formats take at least a year to build an audience and I know it's because you lost your precious rock station. I know you wouldn't have your attitude if it was Wild flipping to Sports.
2. You're also neglecting the fact that Dave was hovering around a 1.5 for awhile before CBS announced the flip. Then all of it's listeners came out of the woodwork and cried about how much they loved the station and actually listened to the station. Sorry, but a 3 book jump isn't changing anyone's minds after how poorly Dave was performing. Where were you doing Dave's 1.5 shares?
3. I don't work for CBS. I don't even work in radio. Try again :)
 
atlantaboy said:
chrocket87 said:
WXYT and WFAN didn't start with huge shares/revenue.
Click to expand...

I can guarantee you they didn't start out with a 0.7 share their first month
Click to expand...

WFAN has an interesting history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WFAN_(AM)

maybe someone on the NYC board can tell you the exact ratings were when they started but IIRC they were not great. The 6+ that we see does not count in sales. Sports talk bills an amazing amount verses ratings. 790 was rumored to bill over $600 K a month being "second" to 680 before 92.9 started.
 
^

Thanks for bringing up the revenue/ratings angle. With a few exceptions (like Boston's WEEI), sports radio is not a highly rated format, but is among the most revenue-generating (if not the top) formats on radio. While most non-rock music formats target women, sports target men, and men, traditionally, have the most disposable income.

Let's not be fooled into thinking that just because 92.9 doesn't have high ratings that it isn't succeeding.
 
the golden boy said:
^
While most non-rock music formats target women, sports target men, and men, traditionally, have the most disposable income.
Click to expand...

Inadvertently, you've just made the case for rock radio.

G
 
I'm an alternative rock fan and if I had the money, I would set up a true alternative rock station in the city of Atlanta. Regardless, I'm a proud capitalist so I support companies doing whats best in terms to profit. My issue is not so much with radio corps as much as the American people. Ryan Seacrest could come up this American Idol season and somehow convince the people that eating cat shit is somehow the new thing and people would follow suit. American's are followers (generally speaking). So if a trend develops, Americans follow suit because of the popularity of it.

My roommate is a huge pop music fan. Justin Bieber, Black Eye Peas, Katie Perry, Flo Rider, etc. I kidnapped him in going with me to a Naked and Famous concert in Athens and now he is a huge fan. Could not believe he never heard of him. The reason why he never heard of them is because his second hobby is to watch shows like X Factor, The Voice, American Idol and Glee. These shows are not all that friendly to ANY genre of music UNTIL a song reaches the top 40 charts.

I could take this theory a step further and insert politics into it. Out of the three 24 hour networks, FOX and MSNBC has much higher ratings than CNN. Why? In my opinion, Americans don't like to think for themselves. They go to FOX if they lean right or MSNBC if they lean left so someone can tell them how to think. What does Hannity think about that? What does Maddow think about that? Meanwhile, CNN, lags because with the exception of a couple shows, most are neutral (I'm aware Pierce Morgan is not neutral, hints, most).
 
the golden boy said:
With a few exceptions (like Boston's WEEI), sports radio is not a highly rated format, but is among the most revenue-generating (if not the top) formats on radio.
Click to expand...

When I said the exact same thing about AAA/Alternative, posters demanded to see facts

So let's see facts proving or even solidly verifying that Sports radio bills significantly higher than its share, in a consistent number of markets
 
atlantaboy said:
So let's see facts proving or even solidly verifying that Sports radio bills significantly higher than its share, in a consistent number of markets
Click to expand...

OK: WFAN ranks #5 in NYC in billing, #11 in ratings.
 
Interesting point considering if someone on the Seacrest level suddenly is in the position of playing it, it's not as though people hate the music..

Cases in point Michael Franti & Spearhead "Say Hey" and Muse "Uprising" - once it cracked AT40, there were lots of new fans..

Some people only know or like what they're fed. They don't go looking like most of the Alt/AAA enthusiasts do.
 
You hit the nail on the head.


stevensonair said:
Interesting point considering if someone on the Seacrest level suddenly is in the position of playing it, it's not as though people hate the music..

Cases in point Michael Franti & Spearhead "Say Hey" and Muse "Uprising" - once it cracked AT40, there were lots of new fans..

Some people only know or like what they're fed. They don't go looking like most of the Alt/AAA enthusiasts do.
Click to expand...
 
WTEM- Washington is 5th in billing, 20th in rating
WSCR-Chicago is 11th in billing, 17th in rating
WEEI- Boston is 3rd in billing, 13th in rating (usually 8th when the Saux are on)
KRLD and WQXI also bill well above their shares.
 
One reality in radio today is listeners to music stations hate commercials. Listeners to news, talk, and sports radio don't mind them as much. A station can sneak commercials into news, talk, and sports. Can't really do that with music. But music listeners, especially young male music listeners, absolutely hate commercials, and that's bad for billings. The money comes from those hated commercials.
 
Not that this means anything, but, all of the back and forth aside...

No company that owns properties in Atlanta has shown interest in the Alternative format in quite a while to my knowledge except for Cox, who has launched the format in Jacksonville and Greenville in recent years. Cox has no place to stick it unless they somehow get a translator. AAA? When was the last time a major company launched that format on a commercial signal?

The only way Alternative is coming back to Atlanta is if CC puts it on 105.7/96.7 or Cox gets a translator. AAA? No way. And, yes, I'm an Alternative fan, so I'm all in favor of the format coming back in Atlanta. I'm just trying to be realistic.
 
If you are in the Upstate of South Carolina, why are you even concerned with the Atlanta market? I am just curious. Is there nothing to do in Greenville? Yes, you are correct. From what I have discovered, over 90 percent of AAA stations are independently owned and not a part of the big three Cs. Oh, there is a commerical AAA station in Asheville. But yet, again we cannot have one here. http://www.theriverasheville.com/ is the link. Below are the songs they just played.
02:00am
Give Me One Reason
Chapman, Tracy
01:56am
Carry On
Fun.
01:50am
Zombie
Cranberries
01:44am
Every Little Bit
Patty Griffin
01:40am
Mountain Sound
Of Monsters And Men
 
Well, why don't you convince some small company to launch a AAA for you? Or start one yourself? And the reason out of staters visit is because these boards are for sharing information, regardless of location. Plus I visit Atlanta regularly, so I like to check up on what's going on in their radio. Why do you keep posting these rants? Is there nothing to do in Atlanta since the Thrashers (one of my favorite Atlanta hobbies) left?
 
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