• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Star 94, Q100 & Ten Songs in a Row

R

RoddyFreeman

Q100 has played 10 songs in a row every hour almost from the day that Cumulus took over, which was around 2005.

The station dropped the promos for 10 in a row months ago, but the clock sounds the same to me. Meanwhile, PD Tony Lorino at Star 94 started playing 10 in a row and promoting it non-stop. Star even plays a "10 in a row" jingle.

The strategy seems to be working for Star. Their ratings have increased while Q100 has slid just a bit. What I'm not getting--and maybe I'm just missing something--is why Q100 doesn't defend their turf by telling listeners that they are Atlanta's original 10-in-a-row station, especially since they still seem to be playing 10 songs in a row.
 
This is a station i have generally included in my listen since the 94Q days. I remember Richard Warner doing a business report on channel 11 claiming they were going to become 94 Mix but in reality it became Star 94. I see entercom is really serious about Making money with Star but can a single station (the AM is a simlucast) make it in todays world. The rumor that they would trade with CBS is dead. Richard was right about one thing in the early 90s, one day we would be carrying little phones with us....that certainly came true.
 
I predict that 790 will eventually flip so that it can rebroadcast something onto its 101.1 translator. This simulcast is only temporary. W266BW 101.1 is obviously rebroadcasting whatever is on 790 even though it's simulcasting Star 94. My only thoughts on why it's taken so long to flip is they're probably figuring out how to improve the 101.1 signal. My suggestion is to go soft AC like 98.9 attempted to do for one week. From driving around, the signal really only stretches east to Loganville and south to Lithonia. Doesn't go very far west or north of the tower. I remember Star 94 being closest to top 40 in late 92 to early 94 but has stayed Adult CHR and Hot AC outside of that time.
 
I'd like to see soft AC or variety hits.

W266BW is currently on top of Stone Mountain on the Channel 8 tower (66' above ground level but 807' HAAT). They have a CP to move to the Channel 5 tower. It looks like they have to throw a null to the NW that excludes a lot of Cobb, Cherokee, and Bartow.
 
RadioDoogie said:
I remember Star 94 being closest to top 40 in late 92 to early 94 but has stayed Adult CHR and Hot AC outside of that time.
Click to expand...

I remember in mid-1989, after the ouster of Jan Jeffries ("Atlanta's Hit Music 94Q...10 hits in a row"), everyone at WQXI was nervous as a cat, wondering how big a shakeup was coming. "94 Mix" was mentioned, as was "Nuclear 94" (clearly a joke).

The original Star 94 was an attempt to lure back some of the male audience that had slipped away when 94Q was playing Top 40, but the ratings just got worse until Star brought in Steve & Vikki and dumped "Jazz Flavors." When 99.7 flipped to college goober rock, Star really began its recovery, acquiring Casey's Top 40, Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40 and Future Hits, and went in a mainstream CHR direction. Eventually, Star slid back into Hot AC territory and never looked back and by 1996 they were printing money over there.
 
Last edited:
From what I recall from an out-of-town vantage point, Star 94 was mainstream CHR even prior to the Power 99 flip to 99X, and had surpassed Power 99 in ratings. Mike Dana once told me that Steve McCoy had left Power 99 to take afternoons at then top-rated KVIL-FM in Dallas. Legendary KVIL morning man Ron Chapman had personally selected Steve as his eventual replacement. When Steve heard that 94.1 was about to change to CHR, he called the station and asked for a job, saying he and his family did not care for Dallas. He was hired on the spot.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
From what I recall from an out-of-town vantage point, Star 94 was mainstream CHR even prior to the Power 99 flip to 99X, and had surpassed Power 99 in ratings. Mike Dana once told me that Steve McCoy had left Power 99 to take afternoons at then top-rated KVIL-FM in Dallas. Legendary KVIL morning man Ron Chapman had personally selected Steve as his eventual replacement. When Steve heard that 94.1 was about to change to CHR, he called the station and asked for a job, saying he and his family did not care for Dallas. He was hired on the spot.
Click to expand...

Star was still struggling in early 1990 by not taking on a straight-CHR bent sooner. In fact, in the book after 99.7 flipped (Winter 1993), Star's ratings actually went down! It wasn't until the PD said to hell with it and added 75% of the current Top 40 that they really took off. Steve & Vikki were doing OK but Star was still heavy AC ("No heavy metal, no rap, and the music stops twice an hour"). Celine, Elton, Mariah and Rod. NO dance music either. And it took until August 1991 to finally kill Jazz Flavors completely off.
 
I'll answer Roddy's original question about "why isn't Q100 defending their 10 in a row position?" I'd guess they're either asleep at the switch, or too cocky and think they don't have to pay attention. Q100 isn't terrific as CHR goes. Power 96.1 has done a lot more damage to Q than anyone imagined they would when they signed on in 2012. Q100 still sounds like a really aggressive hot AC instead of a true CHR with boring generic jocks outside of morning drive. Some months it works, other months PPM isn't so forgiving. Competition is good for the consumer... bad for PDs who aren't paying attention.
 
Thanks, Doctor Radio. I appreciate your response but disagree on one point. Adam Bomb at night is not a boring generic jock. He's an excellent personality.

For awhile, Kevin Quinn from KRBE/Houston was VTing middays. I liked his sound, and he injected personality. I don't know who is VTing the shift now.

PD Rob Roberts is very smart and knows his stuff. That's why this surprises me.
 
Sorry I got off topic...my opinion of the ten songs in a row or 60 minutes non-stop may seem to work for Star and Power because they don't play sweepers and jingles. I've noticed Q100 is the only station that plays jingles and sweepers. I personally like these and think they make the station sound fun but maybe people don't like these. These probably take away from the amount of music they can play per hour. Look at the weekend countdown shows. There are no intros before AT40 from Seacrest on Power 96-1 (nor does he do this on any iHeart station). On Q100, Carson Daly introduces the Daly Download before every segment. I like this and loved it when Dees and Casey used to introduce every segment on our local station but here again we are in 2016 and it's all about money and I know they are trying to squeeze as much out of this lemon as possible. Just my thoughts.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom