Star 94 & Q100 Seem to Have Traded Demos

[RoddyFreeman]

I seem to remember when Star 94 was the 25-54 station and Q100 was the 18-34 station.

In the July PPM, Star beat Q in 18-34 in total week and in every daypart except mornings, where Q100 is way ahead. Star is way ahead on weekends.

Star 94's music philosophy is not that different than it was back when it was the 25-54 station. But Q100's horrendous music clock, except at night, has made Star the more-current CHR station. And Star's playlist is not exactly like a straight-ahead CHR.

 

[CHRFan]

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Q100 isn't a broader Top 40 station. Shouldn't they be just a little bit closer to The Beat and a little further away from Star? Seems to me that they had Star 94 on the ropes and they let up? Sure feels to me that a station with a morning show as big as Q100, was in a perfect position to drive Star out of the format.

What happened?

 

[TheMusicMan]

What happened?

Star breathed new life into the programming department with JR Ammons' hiring and the ensuing airstaff, musical and imaging changes, while Q100 remained the same old stale same old. Star's demo victory is well-deserved.

 

[whit979]

Star may have been able to do more programming tweaking when the stuff hit the fan, because they seem to have more local control than Cumulus stations. Driving around the Southeast you can hear the same Q100, from music to imaging (including the voice) to clocks to everything on all of their CHR stations. It's cruise control radio, and Star was able to capitalize on that when the chips were down.

 

[RadioFreeAtlanta]

Q100 missed a golden opportunity to pulverize Star 94. Instead they went the safe, easy route.

For the life of me, I don't understand why Atlanta is afraid of CHR. We blazed in the 1980s with great Top 40s...then the 90s hit and Power 99 dissolved and all we had was Falling Star 94... sleepy, afraid-to-move-the-needle Star 94.

We had a brief bit of excitement when 95.5 came on the air in 1999; it almost sounded like Power 99. Q100 was great when it signed on.... then Cumulus bought it and it has gone down hill ever since.

In my lifetime, I never thought that Star 94 would be the hotter sounding CHR.

Flip Dave FM to a true Top 40 and let the wars begin...

 

[RTibbs]

I also noticed something similiar with the two rock radio morning shows. In 18-34 TRG finished a solid 3 vs. Project's Giant Brian at 7th which is impressive. In the older demo of 25 - 54 Gian Brian moved up to 10th place and TRG fell out of the Top 10. Bottom Line Younger people prefer TRG over Giant Brian and older people prefer Giant Brian over TRG?

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

Does this mean the new board "in joke" will be "How does this affect Star 94?"

 

[caller10]

Does this mean the new board "in joke" will be "How does this affect Star 94?"

... or how will this affect the same Q100s all over the southeast?

So is whitfm saying that Cume-less is programming Q100 just like their CHR outlets say in market #150?

 

[jabba17]

Besides Quixie back in the day (before the late 1970s), Z-93 in the late 1970s and very early 1980s, and Power 99 from 1985 until 99X, has ATL even had a decent CHR station in the last 40 years?

 

[RoddyFreeman]

What happened?

Star breathed new life into the programming department with JR Ammons' hiring and the ensuing airstaff, musical and imaging changes, while Q100 remained the same old stale same old. Star's demo victory is well-deserved.

I have to agree with The Music Man. Q100 went ahead while Star 94 was having its identity crisis but stayed the same while Star made improvements.

I can't blame for Star staying with adult CHR. For years, it made them a tremendous biller, far more than they should have been based on their ratings. But I do agree it's sad that ATL had a true CHR station, Q100 in the Susquehanna years, but has one no longer.

 

[whit979]

Does this mean the new board "in joke" will be "How does this affect Star 94?"

... or how will this affect the same Q100s all over the southeast?

So is whitfm saying that Cume-less is programming Q100 just like their CHR outlets say in market #150?

While I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear a bunch of Cumulus CHR stations around the region. They all had the same voice, same positioners, same basic clock layout, similar processing, and of course similar music (right down to being heavy on Rob Thomas).

 

[bclark71.]

Has anyone been able to explain the chubby that Cumulus has for legendary performer Rob Thomas?

 

[jal41]

Speaking of Rob Thomas...he is coming to town in the next few weeks for a concert. Both stations have been promoting exclusive events with him like there was no tomorrow.

I suspect Q100 will be set up outside his concert treating him like he is the President or a member of the British royalty. I could imagine a marching band and a chorus on the sidewalk outside of the Fox Theatre, singing patrotic tunes with the words changed to promote their love of Rob Thomas.

Even B98.5, with their heavy rotation of Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry (the songs they do play), and picky as a child musical selection, has never been fixated on any one artist. I suspect the personal bias of Jan Jefferies is at hand.

One note...B95.1 Macon has a different imaging voice...but still has "All The Hits" and "10 in a row". Q100 in Pensacola is a hot AC, but shares the same imaging voice, jingles (sans "All The Hits") and "10 in a row" with the Atlanta Q100. WZYP/Huntsville...same voice, same liners. However, The new I106 in Nashville actually plays some hip-hop (althought the station just launched weeks ago...that could change once they get listeners to come over).

Clear Channel is now running satellite-fed national programming now on most of its stations. Their AC feed is on (weekends and overnights) in Birmingham, Augusta, Panama City, and other places. What everyone feared is actually happening now. At least Cumulus has local scheduling and DJ's 24/7. Could be worse.

Coming soon...Lite Favorites WLTA-FM 100 at 99.7! (They'll get the calls from Salem...they'll also have to get John Tesh from J93.3).

 

[IT_Guru]

Does this mean the new board "in joke" will be "How does this affect Star 94?"

... or how will this affect the same Q100s all over the southeast?

So is whitfm saying that Cume-less is programming Q100 just like their CHR outlets say in market #150?

While I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear a bunch of Cumulus CHR stations around the region. They all had the same voice, same positioners, same basic clock layout, similar processing, and of course similar music (right down to being heavy on Rob Thomas).

HOT 101 (WHOT 101.1) in Youngstown, OH also sounds identical to Q100 ... same voice, positioners, clock layout, processing and music so I would say yes that Cume-less programs all of their CHR's the same in all markets across the U.S. I loved Q100 when they first signed on but now I don't even have a preset for them.

At least when I'm in NE OH I have Kiss 95.9 WAKS (Clear Channel) to listen to when I'm in the mood for CHR.

Another thing that amazes me is how well the stations owned by CC do in the ratings in the Midwest compared to Atlanta in all formats.

 

[RadioDoogie]

So does KBEA "All the Hits" B100 in Quad Cities, IA and WZNS "Z96" in Fort Walton Beach, FL. I noticed almost all of the Cumulus stations have also dropped Ryan Seacrest for Billy Bush both on weeknights and weekends.

 

[Wildstyle K]

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Q100 isn't a broader Top 40 station. Shouldn't they be just a little bit closer to The Beat and a little further away from Star? Seems to me that they had Star 94 on the ropes and they let up? Sure feels to me that a station with a morning show as big as Q100, was in a perfect position to drive Star out of the format.

What happened?

Exactly what I was thinking, right before finding this exact post!

 

[Uriah]

Bert had close to a 5 year jump on Star's rebranding, building his younger base as S&V's run ended. Bert had no shot at S&V's 25-54 out of the box. Now Bert's audience is aging and staying, just like S&V's did in the 90's. The variable: C&R had an established demo coming into mornings. Let's see how that plays out in the next 2-3 years against Bert FM.