Some thoughts on V-103

[nativeatlanta]

I probaly get some people stirred up about this.But,I don't care. I have a co-worker who listens to V-103 everyday.
As my user name says Native Atlanta,I have lived here all my life & I old enough to remember what V-103 use to be like.

Somewhere in the past,I recall V-103 being the only station in Atlanta area that played R & B,Funk,Soul. It was an enjoyable station to listen to.

But,somewhere over time,V-103 has turned into an annoying Hip-Hop station.
There is loudmouth Frank Ski in the mornings,taglines like: The Peoples Station & Everyone knows where are #1 in the ATL.
They even brought Ryan Cameron back & he is painful to listen to at times.
I am like What The ????

Being a white male making these comments,I am sure somebody will call me racist. Yes,I do what I can to drown out V-103 by listening to other stations via Internet streaming. I not talking about other Atlanta radio stations either

 

[SalesWeasel]

I probaly get some people stirred up about this.But,I don't care. I have a co-worker who listens to V-103 everyday.
As my user name says Native Atlanta,I have lived here all my life & I old enough to remember what V-103 use to be like.

Somewhere in the past,I recall V-103 being the only station in Atlanta area that played R & B,Funk,Soul. It was an enjoyable station to listen to.

But,somewhere over time,V-103 has turned into an annoying Hip-Hop station.
There is loudmouth Frank Ski in the mornings,taglines like: The Peoples Station & Everyone knows where are #1 in the ATL.
They even brought Ryan Cameron back & he is painful to listen to at times.
I am like What The ????

Being a white male making these comments,I am sure somebody will call me racist. Yes,I do what I can to drown out V-103 by listening to other stations via Internet streaming. I not talking about other Atlanta radio stations either

Racist. Just kidding...V103 does a good job of keeping up with the times. Music always changes and V stays with the trends. Who's better?

 

[knowsnews1]

V-103 may be #1 in ratings, but I doubt they are anywhere close to the top in terms of respect.

Frank Ski is, perhaps, the biggest racist on local radio (I just loved it when he blamed Michael Vick's troubles on the white people). The station even went so far as to set up a tent and play hip-hop music at the King Tomb the morning Coretta died. How classy was that? People are coming by to lay flowers at King's grave and there's V-103 playing music over their loudspeakers.

Bottom line: ratings do not equal class.

 

[taylorengineer]

Soda cracker #2 here to opine about V103.
First....you can't argue with success! V103 has been the top station....well, one of the top two, for over a decade. They have been #1 for the last several books, 12+. The appeal is more broad than just African-Americans.....the gay male numbers would be high double digits.....they do well with white females all ages, and most white kids know who they are!
I remember when Radio One came to town. Radio One is managed by some very smart black folk! In Atlanta, they have 4 FM signals, all black oriented. And against this assault, V103 stood/stands strong. I would have bet my last dime that Alfred Liggins and MC Sneed would take V103 down....they didn't.
You mentioned Ryan....he is one of two personalities who have ever hurt V.(The other is Tom Joyner)Ryan actually beat Frank Ski 18-34 consistantly....that's why Ryan is at V now. And if you don't like Ryan, allow yourself to enjoy the lovely Elle Duncan in the theater of your mind.....
All us ol' school white folk like the ol' school soul better than hip hop.(many older black folks share your opinion.) But as weasel said....you gotta go with the flow. The times.....they are a changin'.
P.S. to KnowsNews:
Your comments are off base. Frank and Wanda play to the audience.
Should they have played bluegrass at Ms. King's funeral?

 

[nativeatlanta]

So,is it just me. I am a 40 year white straight male who doesnot get it when it comes to V-103.

I enjoy hearing music from 70s,80s & 90s. Mostly classic rock with some classic pop,dance,country,R & B thrown in.

But,I just dont get the hip-hop dominance. I also dont get what is passed off as Pop,Alternative & Hard Rock/Heavy Metal nowadays. But,that is another topic.

I should have added this to my orginal post. Are their listeners out there who use to listen to V-103,but quit listening because of the change in programming?

Frank Ski is a reverse racist. He has defended Michael Vick,Bobby Brown,Bill Campbell & Wayne Williams & blamed white people for their problems.
Does the station management not get tired of that?

I stop here for now.

 

[knowsnews1]

Soda cracker #2 here to opine about V103.
First....you can't argue with success! V103 has been the top station....well, one of the top two, for over a decade. They have been #1 for the last several books, 12+. The appeal is more broad than just African-Americans.....the gay male numbers would be high double digits.....they do well with white females all ages, and most white kids know who they are!
I remember when Radio One came to town. Radio One is managed by some very smart black folk! In Atlanta, they have 4 FM signals, all black oriented. And against this assault, V103 stood/stands strong. I would have bet my last dime that Alfred Liggins and MC Sneed would take V103 down....they didn't.
You mentioned Ryan....he is one of two personalities who have ever hurt V.(The other is Tom Joyner)Ryan actually beat Frank Ski 18-34 consistantly....that's why Ryan is at V now. And if you don't like Ryan, allow yourself to enjoy the lovely Elle Duncan in the theater of your mind.....
All us ol' school white folk like the ol' school soul better than hip hop.(many older black folks share your opinion.) But as weasel said....you gotta go with the flow. The times.....they are a changin'.
P.S. to KnowsNews:
Your comments are off base. Frank and Wanda play to the audience.
Should they have played bluegrass at Ms. King's funeral?

They shouldn't have played any music. It was at Dr. King's gravesite, with mourners showing up. It wasn't a street party. They showed ZERO respect to Dr. King, Mrs. King and those who came to pay their respects.

As for playing to the audience, that makes racism acceptable? I truly hope you don't believe that.

 

[seabass]

I probaly get some people stirred up about this.But,I don't care. I have a co-worker who listens to V-103 everyday.
As my user name says Native Atlanta,I have lived here all my life & I old enough to remember what V-103 use to be like.

Somewhere in the past,I recall V-103 being the only station in Atlanta area that played R & B,Funk,Soul. It was an enjoyable station to listen to.

But,somewhere over time,V-103 has turned into an annoying Hip-Hop station.
There is loudmouth Frank Ski in the mornings,taglines like: The Peoples Station & Everyone knows where are #1 in the ATL.
They even brought Ryan Cameron back & he is painful to listen to at times.
I am like What The ????

Being a white male making these comments,I am sure somebody will call me racist. Yes,I do what I can to drown out V-103 by listening to other stations via Internet streaming. I not talking about other Atlanta radio stations either

Frank Ski's numbers have rarely outperformed the station, and when they do, it's not by a significant amount. That problem has been masked by the station's billing and overall Arbitron numbers. I think PPM is going to sharply decrease the station's status, as they are currently the beneficiary of the voting effect, and Frank Ski's show will take a signifaicant tumble. His numbers are already eroding due to Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner, and PPM will only accelerate that.

 

[taylorengineer]

Knowsnewz-
Maybe not "respect" in an Anglican sense...... the staff was not in coat and tie and playing "Danny Boy."
But there are different ways to define "respect." Not all Hip Hop music is about gangstas and slappin' bitches and stealin' rims. There is actually a significant amount of Hip Hop music which is positive and inspiring. Even at it's worst, many black people feel like it is the story of their struggle as a people.
Hip Hop isn't my cup of tea because I grew up in the suburbs as a lilly white, segregated kid. I can't relate to the black struggle....I can only empathize.
I agree that the new PPM is not going to be pretty for V103 if the other rollout market experience holds true. Urban has taken a beating......
But....not to worry....Littlejohn and countless other engineers(including myself)are busy figuring out ways to cheat.
Both my dogs will be wearing PPMs.....and so will that damned cat from next door.

 

[jal41]

I agree that the new PPM is not going to be pretty for V103 if the other rollout market experience holds true. Urban has taken a beating......
But....not to worry....Littlejohn and countless other engineers(including myself)are busy figuring out ways to cheat.
Both my dogs will be wearing PPMs.....and so will that damned cat from next door.

Don't forget the pet cockatoo! ;D

V103 at one point was a classy station - and it was #1. Then they added that rap crap. I can't stand that station. For those who do like urban music but not the garbage V103 puts out, they have a plethoria of options:

Old School R&B - Kiss 104.1
Black Talk - 102.5 and WAOK 1380
Black Gospel - Praise 97.5
New Hip-Hop - 95.5 the Beat and Hot 107.9
Smooth Jazz - 107.5 WJZZ
Soft Rock - B98.5 (oddly enough, a local magazine named B98.5 top R&B station a few years back)
Top 40 hits - Q100 and Star 94

Don't forget V103 (and sister WAOK) did not broadcast the funeral of Coretta Scott King live...they broadcast it on tape (althoght V103 did discontinue normal programming for the first five hours and played a eulogy on a loop). 102.5, Kiss 104.1, Praise 97.5, and WSB-AM broadcast all six hours of the funeral live and commercial free (along with all four TV news outlets...commercial free for six hours straight).

I remember when Radio One came to town. Radio One is managed by some very smart black folk! In Atlanta, they have 4 FM signals, all black oriented. And against this assault, V103 stood/stands strong. I would have bet my last dime that Alfred Liggins and MC Sneed would take V103 down....they didn't.

WJZZ is oriented toward both whites and blacks...and it beat both B98.5 and the former 94.9 Lite FM 12+ at times.

V103 is CBS Radio's highest rated station - and the only station in a top 10 market that gets a 10+ share constantly. As long as that continues, there will be no incentive to change.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

The first post was about V-103's music so I'll comment on that. Actually, I fully agree with Sales Weasel's comment. When Hot (then Hot 97-5) went on the air in 1995 with hip hop, that kind of music was a niche in the urban market. But I thought former V-103 PD Tony Brown showed he had a lot of foresight when he changed V's format to hip hop at night shortly after Hot came on, and he hired Greg Street to do the show. Over the course of the next several years, urban music evolved, and hip hop became mainstream. Virtually all urban contemporary stations still in the format evolved along with the music to hip hop & R&B. What V-103 did echoes what young-oriented urban stations are doing in all markets.

And to Knows News, speaking of disrespectful, did you happen to catch Chris Krok last week immediately following the newscast that reported Pavarotti's death? What he did was extremely distasteful. But I have to admit, I was laughing.

 

[ShawtyBlack_ATL]

V103 will always be the #1 Urban in ATL for the simple fact that they have a 100,000 watt power stick! Im not a fan of V103 nowadays because many of the jocks over there have huge egos and all of them are up in age. I've noticed over the years that during the workday they've increased hip-hop spins compared to a mojority R&B playlist a couple of years ago. HOT 107.9 plays fresh hip-hop all day and so does 95.5 THE BEAT nowadays, so V103 has to keep up. Like may people have stated, the rollout of the PPM will stab V103 big time. The majority of people that grew up listening to V103 back in the day probaly listens to KISS 104.1, GROWN FOLKS 102.5 and PRAISE 97.5. At the same time, none of those stations play 80s/90s R&B and old school hip-hop 24/7. Remember, Cox launched 97.1 JAMZ to fill that void, but what a tacky job they did and we all know what happened with that.

 

[inthecity]

The bottom line is that while V-103 is not a favorite station of all it has been doing a stellar job of keeping its audience even with little innovation. There's nothing wrong with that at all.

If we wanted, we could start a thread for all the ATL stations and talk about why we dislike them so much. Everyone has different musical tastes and listening habits. Same for television. That's why there are so many cable television channels.

This is a thread that can only go in circles. What was the point, to rile people up over your music taste??

Fortunately, Atlanta Radio is hot right now and old people are not. Times are changing, people are changing and for a market to move up two levels we're only seeing a fresh beginning. What I'd like to see next is more syndication from Atlanta. I don't think this is the market for Tom Joyner, Imus, Whoopi, Steve Harvey, Russ Par, etc... we hold down the southeast and we have to continue to represent that power.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I also want to point out that V-103 understands the concept of spending money to make money. The staff is the NY Yankees of Atlanta radio. We all complain about voicetracking and getting rid of more experienced jocks to save money. V-103 does the opposite of that. And I don't think radio has too many success stories like the ratings dominance of V-103 for all these years.

 

[nativeatlanta]

I will give thumbs up to V-103 for using local talent then syndicated talent. Atlanta is major city which deserves local djs not syndicated from all parts of the USA.

But,I the bottom line,I think I missing someting. Could V-103 be successful without the ego driven djs,a playlist that is hip-hop heavy & a morning dj who is a reverse racist? (Once again this morning,Frankie pulled the race card out)

What happens when hip-hop is no longer popular?

 

[trusty]

What happens when hip-hop is no longer popular?

Assuming that V-103 will not adjust like it didn't when hip-hop became popular? I guess we all have the right to ask stupid questions; I exercise that right all the time.

 

[urban]

V103 reminds me of WGCI in Chicago. They don't have to be trendsetters if you're already #1. You just need to make tweeks here and there as your competition makes changes. V103 may not be innovative or cutting edge when it comes to playing hip hop, but as it stands now, they are the ones being chased, not the ones doing the chasing.

I remember in the early '90s when WALR had a VERY sleepy Urban AC sound under the Love 104 (104.7) moniker where they played ALL slow jams. V103 slowed their sound down as well, not as slow, but they were slow. They protect their turf.

 

[nativeatlanta]

I will add one more comment about V-103 & that will be it for now. What is with yelling/loud voices in the promos by the djs?
You can tell us that you will at Club Whatever,The Falcons Game,The Mall,etc.without being obnixous about it.

 

[inthecity]

I personally like the hype.. makes me want to be at the party. but that's just me.

 

[FloydB]

Evidently, most of us who posted on this thread are not the target audience for V-103, and that's why they're so successful. When I first moved to the market in '99, I mostly listened to V-103. Now, I don't listen at all for various reasons, mostly already stated. But, I'm a 31 yr-old caucasian male who has a lean more towards old-school R&B, jam bands, classic rock, and a bunch of others mixed in between.

As others have also mentioned, the music has changed with the trends, as have Star, Q and The Beat. Rap (not real hip-hop) is very mainstream right now. When it's fire fizzles out, those stations, along with Hot, will catch the next mainstream wave that hits their target demo. Until then, Rap dominates.

Nativeatlanta, Urban and a few others also pointed out that V-103 changes very little, which has also kept it successful. Exactly. Why fix it if it isn't broke? Well, tell that to CC. They've also proved that you can have local talent live 24hrs with part-timers NOT voice-tracking on the weekends and be very successful. Now, only if the other clusters (well, stations including the rest in the CBS cluster) would play "follow the leader", then Atlanta could be the industry leader as opposed to the "major-market syndicator" who syndicates shows from smaller markets.

 

[Jay F]

Through most of the 90s they played little hip hop, missing out on some of the biggest national urban hits. They were too late on the hip hop trend, but they could get way with it.

When HOT came on playing mostly hip hop, V had to adjust and change with the times or they would lose to WHTA.

WVEE has the right mix for their needs. Enough hip hop so they don't sound too old. Yet they also play the big R&B hits to help them stay dominant 25-54.

Also, as others have mentioned, the fact that they are live 24/7 in this day and age is amazing. Whether you like or dislike their music or air talent, you have to have appreciation for the fact that they are always live and local.