Return of a classic rock station in Atlanta

[nativeatlanta]

I thought I would ask this question: Do you the readers of radio-info think that a classic rock station will return to Atlanta? It could be Project 96.1 flipping back to 96Rock or a new classic rock station.
Or is classic rock a dying format on commercial radio. Not just in Atlanta,but other major US cities as well.

 

[millhouse]

Hey as long as they have a Kegs and Eggs party like 99X and Project BOTH had I'll listen. Cuz that's great radio. Kegs and Eggs, get it? It rhymes. That's funny. And it's such a good idea that they both did one! Brilliant!

 

[f10]

Hey as long as they have a Kegs and Eggs party like 99X and Project BOTH had I'll listen. Cuz that's great radio. Kegs and Eggs, get it? It rhymes. That's funny. And it's such a good idea that they both did one! Brilliant!

Project didn't do a Kegs n Eggs, that was 99x. Project did their St. Patty's Party from Loafing Leprachaun on Saturday afternoon, not breakfast. 99x did a live broadcast with Axel and Jackyl playing live Friday night at Kegs n Eggs in the morning sponsored by Guiness all at Fado's in Buckhead. Only one station in the market can do the promotion, because it a a Guiness initiative and they pick the station. Project's event was a live Friday/Saturday afternoon broadcast tagged with Budweiser. I don't know if it was worth clarifying, but there it is...

 

[jal41]

I thought I would ask this question: Do you the readers of radio-info think that a classic rock station will return to Atlanta? It could be Project 96.1 flipping back to 96Rock or a new classic rock station.
Or is classic rock a dying format on commercial radio. Not just in Atlanta,but other major US cities as well.

Atlanta has a classic rock station...97.1 The River. It's actually doing very well.

 

[lilburncommunityradio]

The River may be doing well. But this is not a station that easy to listen to.. All those gawd awful stagers in between the songs... I wish cox would add some more rarely heard songs in the list...

 

[RTibbs]

97.1 the River is not Classic rock it is Classic Hits.

 

[lilburncommunityradio]

Thank you tibbs, thats the exact words I was in search of. Classic Hits.
Its by far not Classic Rock. But you know, I would be willing to bet something will occur on the FM dial in Atlanta, as far as Classic Rock goes. Too Many stations are not doing all that well, and it would not amaze me at all to see a station take this format and run with it. I know that Project was aimed at a younger audience,
thats very evident with the music they play.BUT us old folks need a station and it isnt being fulfilled in The Stagnant River, with its 300 Song playlist.

 

[BDBopper]

As long as there are big major radio conglomerates there will be no Classic Rock in Atlanta. Why? Cause they don't know what the listeners want in a Classic Rock Station. No 300-song claustrophobic-tight playlists. Classic Rock is supposed to be what several stations were doing when the FM dial started to be used: AOR-Album Oriented Rock. Same thing with Oldies. Oldies should be a mimic of classic Top 40 Pop with deep playlists.

 

[The danimal]

Guys, you had THREE classic rock stations a few years ago, and obviously it was time for a change. Yes, I'm surprised that Z93 and 96 Rock changed when they did, but seriously folks,di you really ned to hear so much Eagles or Elton John's 'Daniel' so many times on so many stations? From what i heard, 97.1 sounded pretty good when I was last down there, but I liked the variety Dave FM and Project 96.1 was playing better. At least you have some distinct choices now. Somebody come up to Charlotte and tell the programmers here to get on the ball.

 

[Frustrated Listener]

Speaking of Charlotte, there's a station there named 95.7 The Ride. It's sounds like a classic hits format similar to the River except with a deeper playlist.

There are 3 radio battles I'm watching with keen interest. I beleive the loser in each of these battles will change their format before the end of the year.

Q100
Star 94
B 98.5

Sooner than later, Star needs to realize that Q100 is the true hits station in town with young women. They're either going to have to play more hip hop to compete with Q100 or take more of a "Jack" approach and compete with B98.5. They've been riding the fence for too long and the ratings are finally beginning to show it.

Planet 96.1
99X
Dave FM

As it stands right now, Planet (I mean Project 96.1) (sorry,I can't help myself) and 99X are going head to head for the younger rock audience. Say what you will about Dave's ratings, but they have a nice niche going for themselves. (Although, they have no business being the flagship of the Falcons. Another topic for another day). Even though Clear Channel is involved, I have a feeling younger listeners are going to look at 99X as a "has been" and choose Project 96.1. This could open the door for 99X possibly going classic rock. Actually, I think they would go with a "classic alternative" type format and I bet could do fairly well with it.

Kicks 101.5
Eagle 106.7
94.9 The Bulls&#t

It appears Bull is going after Eagle 106.7's older skewing country audience. This would make sense considering it carries Braves Baseball and we all know baseball's core audience is the oldest of all of the 4 major team sports. I'm not a big listener of Eagle 106.7, but from what I understand, they're already beginning to test the waters with classic rock. I think Eagle 106.7 is your best candidate to go classic rock. Steve Mitchell, Southside Steve, and AJ Cannon have all worked the format before. With any programming creatvity at all, they could destroy the River. By default, Kick 101.5 will kick the Bull's ass because Clear Channel runs the Bull.

 

[RTibbs]

Speaking of Charlotte, there's a station there named 95.7 The Ride. It's sounds like a classic hits format similar to the River except with a deeper playlist.

Planet 96.1
99X
Dave FM

As it stands right now, Planet (I mean Project 96.1) (sorry,I can't help myself) and 99X are going head to head for the younger rock audience. Say what you will about Dave's ratings, but they have a nice niche going for themselves. (Although, they have no business being the flagship of the Falcons. Another topic for another day). Even though Clear Channel is involved, I have a feeling younger listeners are going to look at 99X as a "has been" and choose Project 96.1. This could open the door for 99X possibly going classic rock. Actually, I think they would go with a "classic alternative" type format and I bet could do fairly well with it.

Kicks 101.5
Eagle 106.7
94.9 The Bulls&#t

It appears Bull is going after Eagle 106.7's older skewing country audience. This would make sense considering it carries Braves Baseball and we all know baseball's core audience is the oldest of all of the 4 major team sports. I'm not a big listener of Eagle 106.7, but from what I understand, they're already beginning to test the waters with classic rock. I think Eagle 106.7 is your best candidate to go classic rock. Steve Mitchell, Southside Steve, and AJ Cannon have all worked the format before. With any programming creatvity at all, they could destroy the River. By default, Kick 101.5 will kick the Bull's ass because Clear Channel runs the Bull.

If 99x would go in that direction I think they might consider swapping signals with q100. It gives the new station more of a clean break from the 99x moniker(pro and cons to that) and let's their rising station q100 get an even better signal.

 

[livingfruitvirus]

At the beginning of the year Eagle going classic rock upon the Citadel takeover was one of my predictions. I'm still holding on.

 

[atlantainrearviewmirror]

I agree...Eagle doing what there doing - and making NO money wont continue...that station needs to do something that generates a cash flow. Eagle getting tossed in on Kicks buys (leverage) wont continue w Citadel...

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I agree...Eagle doing what there doing - and making NO money wont continue...that station needs to do something that generates a cash flow. Eagle getting tossed in on Kicks buys (leverage) wont continue w Citadel...

That's not really correct. When they sell Kicks and Eagle as a combo, some of the dollars are credited to Eagle. For example, if they charge $725 for a morning drive spot, approximately $550 goes to Kicks and $175 is credited to Eagle. If you beg them, they might let you buy just one of the stations for less dollars (although I've had more luck getting them to sell Eagle only than Kicks only). They also sell a Kicks/Radio Disney combo for less per spot than the Kicks/Eagle combo.

As far as Citadel flipping the format of Eagle, that's not as obvious as it seems. When Disney sells the Kicks/Eagle combo, it's referred to as simply "country" on the Tapscan. If The Bull came close to or even edged out Kicks, Citadel would need Eagle's numbers in order to say, "Our country is higher-rated than Clear Channel's country."

 

[FloydB]

In addition: A lot of praise has gone to the River for having strong numbers and such. Okay, great, finally a station people are defending. What I've noticed, though, is that their 12+ number continues to slide. So, with that being said:

1) Obvious question: Would the River continue to show strong numbers if they had some real competition with another classic rock station disguised as "Classic Hits", or a full-on real classic rock station? (I know, "duh", but it had to be asked anyway)

2) If a competing format station entered the market (or even if one didn't enter the marker), could The River save it's numbers (or slow the slide) by just expanding the playlist?

3) Would The River continue to slide if it added personalities?

 

[cleavo]

More importantly...

di[d] you really ned to hear so much Eagles or Elton John's 'Daniel' so many times on so many stations?

You will NEVER convince me that "Elton John's 'Daniel'" is Classic Rock!!! My wife and I have the same argument about Paull McCartney's "Silly Love Songs".