That stinks. It's such a great format. It's got a big piece of 99X history on it.
Sorry 99X is not coming back. Neither is 96 Rock, Peach / Lite 94.9, Dave, or Fox 97. They Failed. Whether it was poor execution of the format, or bad corporate decisions which would have allowed some else to jump in, no one did. Demographically the old 99X should be attractive (potentially large sub 25) in a lot of markets, but Atlanta's lack of full market FM signals:
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bi...p=Y&format=&dx=0&radius=&freq=&sort=freq&sid=
Contrasted to Phoenix:
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bi...p=Y&format=&dx=0&radius=&freq=&sort=freq&sid=
plus racial make up according to Nielsen:
"#9 Atlanta
January 2015 Portable People Meter 6+ Mon-Sun, 6a-12mid (Updated: 02-17-15)
12+ Population: 4,487,600 (Black: 1,469,100) (Hispanic: 461,500) Surveyed: Continuously"
It is going to make it hard for anyone with the huge investment or value of a good Atlanta FM signal to take a chance on a format that failed in this market except on translators.
It just sucks for the listener but, unless someone wins a really huge Lottery or needs a tax write off, the sponsors and their agencies will control what we hear.