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Rock 100.5 - "Quality Rock"
- Thread starter shadoobee
- Start date
LMAO! Last night, they played Jack Johnson during the 10PM hour.
It's a jumbled mess between AAA, heritage rock, and modern rock.
What a shock -- another Cumulus rock station with an identity crisis. They're following in the footsteps of The Bone in Dallas. Oh yeah, RQQ in Nashville is doing really well, too.
Ironically, the playlist in a way now resembles that of WRXP in New York. That station, of course, is programmed by Leslie "1 share" Framm.
We all know how well that station is doing! ;D
Atlanta, at best, is a three rock station market. For years, those stations were 99X, 96Rock, and Z93, and at any given point in time, 1 of those stations generally had mediocre ratings (usually Z93).
Rock 100.5 is the odd station out.
River, Project, and Dave are well-positioned. Classic Rock fans tune to The River. Upscale rock listeners tune to Dave. Hard Rock / New Rock listeners tune to Project. The new rock artists with youth appeal get played by Project. The new rock artists with adult appeal get played by Dave.
With a couple months of 99X leaving the air, Project scaled back its heritage rock selection and began adding an extra track or two an hour from modern rock categories. This has helped the station sound better, IMO.
Just about ANY rock-based format for 100.5 would be a tough go at this point. I think it's time to start over. My recommendation would be to go Sports Talk. Move / simulcast WCNN's programming on 100.5. The 12+ numbers might not grow much (compared to Rock 100.5), but in-demo numbers would almost certainly improve.
It's a jumbled mess between AAA, heritage rock, and modern rock.
What a shock -- another Cumulus rock station with an identity crisis. They're following in the footsteps of The Bone in Dallas. Oh yeah, RQQ in Nashville is doing really well, too.
Ironically, the playlist in a way now resembles that of WRXP in New York. That station, of course, is programmed by Leslie "1 share" Framm.
We all know how well that station is doing! ;D
Atlanta, at best, is a three rock station market. For years, those stations were 99X, 96Rock, and Z93, and at any given point in time, 1 of those stations generally had mediocre ratings (usually Z93).
Rock 100.5 is the odd station out.
River, Project, and Dave are well-positioned. Classic Rock fans tune to The River. Upscale rock listeners tune to Dave. Hard Rock / New Rock listeners tune to Project. The new rock artists with youth appeal get played by Project. The new rock artists with adult appeal get played by Dave.
With a couple months of 99X leaving the air, Project scaled back its heritage rock selection and began adding an extra track or two an hour from modern rock categories. This has helped the station sound better, IMO.
Just about ANY rock-based format for 100.5 would be a tough go at this point. I think it's time to start over. My recommendation would be to go Sports Talk. Move / simulcast WCNN's programming on 100.5. The 12+ numbers might not grow much (compared to Rock 100.5), but in-demo numbers would almost certainly improve.
MarkW said:
Doing FM sports talk might be an even smarter move than you think. When WJOX moved from AM to a 100,000 watt FM last summer, their numbers shot through the roof. They went from a 2.4 in the spring of '08 to a 6.0 (4th place) in the winter '09 part II trends. FM talk/sports talk is here and it's time to jump on board.
Doing FM sports talk might be an even smarter move than you think. When WJOX moved from AM to a 100,000 watt FM last summer, their numbers shot through the roof. They went from a 2.4 in the spring of '08 to a 6.0 (4th place) in the winter '09 part II trends. FM talk/sports talk is here and it's time to jump on board.
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I forgot to note that WJOX is in Birmingham.
[/quote]
I forgot to note that WJOX is in Birmingham.
Cant imagine that one Dickey brother is going to compete against another Dickey brother with sports talk.
There is a station that does "Quality Rock"...WRHQ/Savannah, which is a Rock AC (cross between AC, classic hits, and AAA).
Artist list: http://www.wrhq.com/main/featured-artists.html
WCNN (and WALR-AM and WFOM/Marietta) is not owned by Cumulus...but by John Dickey, Lew Dickey's brother. An LMA is feasable, similar to the WGST-FM arrangement in the 1990s (only without the nepotism).
When this sort of thing happens, where the playlist is changed dramatically...a flip is close. 96 Rock played classic hits in their last year, which caused them to sink when 97.1 The River came to town. Fox 97 also changed their playlist close to the end. Same with 99X, the station that was technically replaced by Rock 100.5 (thus the WNNX callsign on 100.5).
I guess we will be hearing Lite 100.5 soon...or 680/100.5 The Fan...or 100.5 The Fan 4 (to go with 680, 1230, and 1340).
Artist list: http://www.wrhq.com/main/featured-artists.html
WCNN (and WALR-AM and WFOM/Marietta) is not owned by Cumulus...but by John Dickey, Lew Dickey's brother. An LMA is feasable, similar to the WGST-FM arrangement in the 1990s (only without the nepotism).
When this sort of thing happens, where the playlist is changed dramatically...a flip is close. 96 Rock played classic hits in their last year, which caused them to sink when 97.1 The River came to town. Fox 97 also changed their playlist close to the end. Same with 99X, the station that was technically replaced by Rock 100.5 (thus the WNNX callsign on 100.5).
I guess we will be hearing Lite 100.5 soon...or 680/100.5 The Fan...or 100.5 The Fan 4 (to go with 680, 1230, and 1340).
jal41 said:
Eve3rytime I hear the prase Quailty Rock on the station is seems so forced and unnatural. I did google it and several station use it but to me it is lame. If TRG is 5th among 18 - 34 as I saw stated by Rodney in the last PPM's, this move on their playlist does not seem like a good mesh. Perhaps they are making ahift to an older demo where TRG finished 8th but overall the station seems adrift. I loved the initial playlist. Now it bores me most of the time.
Classic rock--I mean old 1960s/1970s classic rock--is a dead letter and River has what's left of that market well covered. They could exploit a niche of heritage rock (late 1970s/1980s AOR--harder stuff than what River will play), but if they venture too far towards new rock they will get killed by Project and maybe Dave.
I wouldn't get too excited about the return of 99X on 100.5...there's not enough there left there. 99X on 97.9 is a good idea.
I wouldn't get too excited about the return of 99X on 100.5...there's not enough there left there. 99X on 97.9 is a good idea.
I for one quite like the changes to Rock 100.5's playlist, but I'm simply not seeing how it's viable with Dave in the fold. Time will tell, but that's definitely a station I'd listen to if I were in-market.
If the station were to flip, would the Regular Guys stay??? I think they are the only glue keeping the station together. I personally believe you could have "shock jocks" on any format if they were popular. People don't listen to morning shows based on the music format because hardly any of that type of music is played on their shows. They listen to them because they are good and keep them entertained on the drive in to work in the morning. If lite rock were to play right after the Regular Guys were over at 10am, I really don't feel like it would have any effect on lowering their ratings. Any thoughts???
M
Mr_Winston-Salem
Guest
Atlanta is one of the worst sports markets and FM talk performed poorly in the past. Only the Bulldogs have a strong following. I would use 97.9 to experiment with this before investing too much money. The FM translator for sports talk idea is actually a better idea. Buying and upgrading the translator at 100.9 for Sports Radio 790/100.9 The Zone or 680/100.9 The Fan would minimize expenses and have the same impact. 100.5 could try a Christian Alternative or Christian Rock & Hip Hop format (Alive 100.5), but The Regular Guys won't work with it. Christian Rock is the only other rock format with the potential to do well. Atlanta has many young Christians and it is an easy sell, even if ratings are poor, but TRG won't work with this format. The same with AC. If you mix TRG with AC, you risk loosing listeners. You have to pick one or the other. I would keep TRG and make a few small adjustments, before making big, expensive changes. Adjustments to the play list and using 97.9 X to take listeners away from Project is a good and affordable move.
Mr_Winston-Salem said:
I really don't see Christian Rock working and I certainly don't see Cumulus doing it. I am also going to go out on a limb and say that Cumulus is not going to pick the Zone over the Fan. Also regarding FM Talk in this market I really can't consider Real Radio to be a good barometer of it's sustainability in the market. That was a horrible station. Scott Ferrall doing non-sports for 5 hours and as acting as the meat in the MJ/Todd Schnitt sandwich.
RTibbs said:
Atlanta NEEDS a Christian ROCK (not pop/AC like Fish) station, but that doesn't mean we would get one, although it would be an ideal HD2 format for The Fish. Frankly, I'm kind of surprised that Salem doesn't do any HD2 programming on it, first and foremost a simul of WGKA or the WNIV/WLTA twins.
I agree, Real Radio was a joke of an FM talker on a flaky signal. Remember, this was right after the "wardrobe malfunction" (2/04) and nobody was willing to put any kind of hot talk on the air, particularly CC, and particularly on a new format.
Frankly, if I were Cumulus I would try out alt on 97.9 and if it gets traction, upgrade it to 100.5. And I hate alt. Maybe IYH was right all along. Although, nobody should expect better ratings than 99X got in its last days, and also keep in mind that a reborn 99X will have to compete with Dave and Project, something 99X didn't have to do in its glory days. As much as I would hate to see Rock 100.5 go bye-bye, if they can't consistently and intelligently program it there's no point in its existence.
Good thing about alt is that you could keep TRG as the morning show on both stations (97.9 and 100.5) until things settle down.
I don't think that using 97.9 for sportstalk is a good idea. The problem with Fan and Zone is night coverage of the suburbs, not intown coverage. The translator wouldn't get them anything they don't already have.
Now, maybe Dickey 1 could talk to Dickey 2 and put 680 on a HD2 signal (either 99.7 or 100.5). That would get the additional night coverage, although nobody would have a radio to pick it up.
I assume by 100.9 you mean the 7-watt Woodstock translator W265BD. That would require a major upgrade to be worthwhile.
Rock 100.5 had the bitter middle aged white male demographic wrapped up with TRG and the 60s/70s hard rock/AOR by old or dead white guys. This was great for advertisers of beer, hair replacement, viagria (sp?), and saggy old southside strip joints.
The Quality Rock mix of 3 types of classic (rock, hits and alt) is interesting, and should have a wider appeal BUT:
1. might be too late to the party to get any traction against Dave, Project and River
2. Is saddled with TRG which appeals mostly to the original Rock 100.5 demo. Can't imagine a sophisticated Dave listener tuning in TRG.
As far as Christian radio, Bible Belt buckle Atlanta is a town that could easily support a Christian Rock/Urban/CHR that appealed to whites and blacks 12-30s that don't listen to the snores on Fish or Praise. Cumulus probably isn't the one to do it - J93.3 is the one missing the boat, content to play "me too" boring safe predictable 2nd fiddle, missing an opportunity to stand out and increase ratings.
And I do think 97.9X as alternative could do pretty well if it has a decent playlist that catches the new alt music gap between Dave's new adult alternative and Projects new extreme/active.
The Quality Rock mix of 3 types of classic (rock, hits and alt) is interesting, and should have a wider appeal BUT:
1. might be too late to the party to get any traction against Dave, Project and River
2. Is saddled with TRG which appeals mostly to the original Rock 100.5 demo. Can't imagine a sophisticated Dave listener tuning in TRG.
As far as Christian radio, Bible Belt buckle Atlanta is a town that could easily support a Christian Rock/Urban/CHR that appealed to whites and blacks 12-30s that don't listen to the snores on Fish or Praise. Cumulus probably isn't the one to do it - J93.3 is the one missing the boat, content to play "me too" boring safe predictable 2nd fiddle, missing an opportunity to stand out and increase ratings.
And I do think 97.9X as alternative could do pretty well if it has a decent playlist that catches the new alt music gap between Dave's new adult alternative and Projects new extreme/active.
To a degree, I don't mind the playlist....but I just hear The Ramones (awesome!!) which seems very much out of character compared to what they've done for the past year. It's kind of been all over the place in the past hour that I've listened to it. Though I'm glad they've finally upped the quality of the web stream...always hated that it sounded like AM radio...it's probably still 96kbps but it's better than 45kbps.
I'm even more interested to see what 97.9 FM will actually turn out to be now that 100.5 is running with a big change up
I'm even more interested to see what 97.9 FM will actually turn out to be now that 100.5 is running with a big change up
StoneGT said:
"Bitter middle aged white male"? Hey, I resemble that remark ;D
Now you could turn that argument about getting traction against Dave/Project/River on its head...maybe they could appeal to someone who likes ALL those stations, and the regular Rock 100.5 stuff...and steal listeners and share from each of them...especially among the "set it and forget it", non-button-pusher types.
Similarly, maybe they are trying to grow beyond the BMAWM market by getting more diverse, and not being afraid of losing the BMAWM's because there's no other place for them to go.
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