Surprised nobody's mentioned this...June Ratings

[Wildstyle K]

WiLD still managed to do better a few times during their highest points, even with the silly syndicated morning show. Maybe Ryan Seacrest is a problem as well, but I don't know about all that. I've witnessed other stations still manage to win even with boring Seacrest.

 

[RadioDoogie]

Seacrest sure has come a long way since being on Star 94 20 years ago. I agree that Power needs to go with more local talent and broaden the playlist. They seem to be steering away from anything outside the top 10. Q100 sounds almost like Star 94 during the daytime, but sounds incredible at night musically during the Adam Bomb show. Large playlist and covers almost the entire chart. Plus Q100 and Star 94 have the best audio quality in my opinion. Power still needs to fix their audio quality. I like Radio 105.7 but it sounds very similar to Power audio wise. Q and Star have this huge stereo sound with rich bass. Q has this echo effect in their sound. Maybe the folks at CC will listen to us and make the necessary changes at Power.

 

[jabba17]

I will say that when I mention AN106.7 to my friends, most don't know what I am talking about.

I have had the same experience. No one talks about the station. When WGST was heavy news in the mid to late 1970's, people talking about, and listened to, the station. WSB-AM was still the dominant AM station then, but 'GST took away listeners. Interestingly enough, in the early 1980's, the most listened to station for awhile was WPCH-FM 94.9, when they were a "beautiful music" station.

In the mid-late 70s WSB-AM was MOR/full service, and not a "news" station per se. WGST had the "all news" format pretty much to themselves, as the rest of the big hitters on the AM dial (WPLO, Quixie, WIIN/WKLS-AM, etc.) were music or, in the case of WRNG, all talk.

If Peach was getting big numbers with BM in the early 80s, it was probably because they were the last man standing in the format, with WSB-FM and WLTA (99.7) having recently flipped out of the format to AC.

 

[electroboy73]

Seacrest sure has come a long way since being on Star 94 20 years ago. I agree that Power needs to go with more local talent and broaden the playlist. They seem to be steering away from anything outside the top 10. Q100 sounds almost like Star 94 during the daytime, but sounds incredible at night musically during the Adam Bomb show. Large playlist and covers almost the entire chart. Plus Q100 and Star 94 have the best audio quality in my opinion. Power still needs to fix their audio quality. I like Radio 105.7 but it sounds very similar to Power audio wise. Q and Star have this huge stereo sound with rich bass. Q has this echo effect in their sound. Maybe the folks at CC will listen to us and make the necessary changes at Power.

Not just that but, Q100 is REALLY pushing out new rhythmic music way ahead of Power! I had no idea that Q100 is now playing the new Macklemore - "Same Love" as well as the new Austin Mahone, Anna Kendrick and Emblem3! (All of these are rhythmic/rhythmic-pop). So crazy that a Cumulus CHR is def ahead of CC's Power with even the rhythmic adds. ???

 

[kilamanjero]

Wow, look at the Urban war! I saw this coming as far as V103 being knocked out of #1, but how long will it last? Moving SiMan to afternoons on MAJIC 107.5/97.5 was a good look after Michael Baisden departed because Skip Murphy was horrible. Does anyone have a breakdown amongs MAJIC, V and KISS?

I'm hedging my bets, not long at all. The old school midday mix has been extended as of last week to an hour. The place where V-103 is weak is middays, but they might "extend" their "Throwback Thursdays" format to everyday from 10am to 2pm. It's going to be interesting indeed. Musical programming will be tweaked and the contemporary hip-hop will be toned down during middays and early afternoons unless it's a power song.

To the others when was the last time V-103 wasn't #1, Holiday 2011 and prior to that was Fall book 2008 (pre-PPM). However, their 25-54, 18-34, and 18-49 numbers are still their usual range and it is still #1 in all those breakdowns.

 

[bringbackradio]

Wow, look at the Urban war! I saw this coming as far as V103 being knocked out of #1, but how long will it last? Moving SiMan to afternoons on MAJIC 107.5/97.5 was a good look after Michael Baisden departed because Skip Murphy was horrible. Does anyone have a breakdown amongs MAJIC, V and KISS?

I'm hedging my bets, not long at all. The old school midday mix has been extended as of last week to an hour. The place where V-103 is weak is middays, but they might "extend" their "Throwback Thursdays" format to everyday from 10am to 2pm. It's going to be interesting indeed. Musical programming will be tweaked and the contemporary hip-hop will be toned down during middays and early afternoons unless it's a power song.

To the others when was the last time V-103 wasn't #1, Holiday 2011 and prior to that was Fall book 2008 (pre-PPM). However, their 25-54, 18-34, and 18-49 numbers are still their usual range and it is still #1 in all those breakdowns.

I had a hunch about this happening since December that V-103 was gonna get topped for the first time by one of its competitors. Both WALR and WAMJ have rotated second place so far this year vying for that coveted spot due to its share points getting narrower.

It is not uncommon for a full service urban to get surpassed in ratings by its urban ac, mainstream or rhythmic (for better or worse) but it's a first for Atlanta.

 

[kilamanjero]

It's no surprise at all. Consider Kansas City as an example, where full-service KPRS is #1 most of the time but has played the tango with Cumulus-owned UAC competitor KMJK over the past 3 years since PPM has come to their market. However, minor tweaks in programming and going back to the original strategy of being R&B oriented during the middays allowed KPRS to sustain its dominance over KMJK. Reggie Rouse has allowed too much hip-hop slide into the midday playlist and it has come at a cost. WPGC did something similar but was effing up with the Donnie Simpson situation at the same time thus cost them their overall dominance.

Fortunately for V-103, it has the solid numbers with their key demo breakdowns but has to take down the UACs in middays by expanding their R&B selection beyond the contemporary novelties. In other words, they need to bring back the B-side R&B golds and songs they spun in the past (when those particular songs were hits) to bring an uniqueness back to that particular daypart. It would allow them to standout from Kiss and Majic particulary with 25-34 year olds.

 

[yup]

V-103 is going to have to mix things up soon. Egypt in the mid-days is just not doing it. Now Kiss has added Sasha the Diva to mid-days which means even more competition.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblog...-diva-gets-permanent-slot-mid-days-kiss-1041/

 

[NightFlyer]

I think Powers problems have a whole lot less to do with music and everything to do with voice talent. I have said from day one that Power would not succeed in Atlanta with a syndicated morning show. They need to ditch Elvis Duran and Ryan Seacrest and bring in somebody local.

But Roddy makes a good point. CC may not be able to remove those shows because they may need the Atlanta market to legitimize those shows. But if they don't add local drive time talent, I don't think it makes any difference what they do as far as tweaking the music, Power will fall further and further behind Q100 and Star 94 until they are irrelevant.

Agreed on voice talent, and I don't even listen to the 45 song ipod shuffle playlist with VT that is Power. Radio 105.7 has great personalities that engage with the audience and talk a lot about local events, local venues and local artists. They listen to the audience through calls, texts and social networks and tailor the playlist based on common threads. I am hearing them reach a little deeper into the playlist. For CC, WRDA might simply be some numbers on a spreadsheet, but the people there are doing a lot of the right things. Their growing share on the limited signal shows that.

I spend at least two hours on the road each day and while I listen to a variety of things both online and on the radio, it's nice to have that "go to" preset when I don't want to deal with fumbling for the cable and pulling up the app/station I want on my smartphone.

When on the road, it's nice to be able to simply press one button and enjoy what I hear.

 

[kilamanjero]

V-103 is going to have to mix things up soon. Egypt in the mid-days is just not doing it. Now Kiss has added Sasha the Diva to mid-days which means even more competition.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblog...-diva-gets-permanent-slot-mid-days-kiss-1041/

All Cox did is restore Sasha back to the spot they removed her from about 5 years. Their reasons for ending her contract was she was asking to for too much in pay. V-103's parent,

CBS, doesn't have much to worry about with WALR because Cox is too cheap to fully staff their station. Ultimately, CBS is more concerned about the key money demos in the case of versus WALR and Majic. They are still beating them both in the 25-54 and overall 18-49 groups.

 

[bringbackradio]

It's no surprise at all. Consider Kansas City as an example, where full-service KPRS is #1 most of the time but has played the tango with Cumulus-owned UAC competitor KMJK over the past 3 years since PPM has come to their market. However, minor tweaks in programming and going back to the original strategy of being R&B oriented during the middays allowed KPRS to sustain its dominance over KMJK. Reggie Rouse has allowed too much hip-hop slide into the midday playlist and it has come at a cost. WPGC did something similar but was effing up with the Donnie Simpson situation at the same time thus cost them their overall dominance.

Another example we can use is San Francisco. Back in 2009 and a bit of 2010 KMEL ranked behind KBLX in the urban segment there for the first time and it usually trades places with KYLD at the most. But it wasn't so much as KMEL's audience that KBLX was after back then. KBLX ranked as high as #3 overall (and it historically ranked in the mid-to-lower top ten), but this was by default for another reason: KKSF dropped its 22-year smooth jazz format that year and the former "Quiet Storm" picked up the listenership remnants for a boost due to its inclusion of a jazz track or two intertwined with its R&B and soul sound.

 

[ShawtyBlack_ATL]

V-103 is going to have to mix things up soon. Egypt in the mid-days is just not doing it. Now Kiss has added Sasha the Diva to mid-days which means even more competition.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblog...-diva-gets-permanent-slot-mid-days-kiss-1041/

All Cox did is restore Sasha back to the spot they removed her from about 5 years. Their reasons for ending her contract was she was asking to for too much in pay. V-103's parent,

CBS, doesn't have much to worry about with WALR because Cox is too cheap to fully staff their station. Ultimately, CBS is more concerned about the key money demos in the case of versus WALR and Majic. They are still beating them both in the 25-54 and overall 18-49 groups.

Interesting Sasha was moved back to middays, but what really happened to Cynthia Young? I said a couple of months ago that V-103 was playing way too much Hip-Hop between 10am-2pm. Will V103 ever staff the Quiet Storm? I haven't heard much about the show since Joyce was let go. I really think Ryan Cameron should've stayed in afternoon drive. Something about Big Tigger (IMO) doesn't fit well.

 

[pjc1961]

Kilamanjero has mentioned this in his posts...

AllAccess June 2013 PPM Ratings Analysis including top 5 stations in 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49 (scroll down for atlanta):

http://www.allaccess.com/arbitron-p.../june-ppm-analysis-for-houston-washington-d-c

 

[RoddyFreeman]

V-103 is going to have to mix things up soon. Egypt in the mid-days is just not doing it. Now Kiss has added Sasha the Diva to mid-days which means even more competition.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblog...-diva-gets-permanent-slot-mid-days-kiss-1041/

All Cox did is restore Sasha back to the spot they removed her from about 5 years. Their reasons for ending her contract was she was asking to for too much in pay. V-103's parent,

CBS, doesn't have much to worry about with WALR because Cox is too cheap to fully staff their station. Ultimately, CBS is more concerned about the key money demos in the case of versus WALR and Majic. They are still beating them both in the 25-54 and overall 18-49 groups.

Interesting Sasha was moved back to middays, but what really happened to Cynthia Young? I said a couple of months ago that V-103 was playing way too much Hip-Hop between 10am-2pm. Will V103 ever staff the Quiet Storm? I haven't heard much about the show since Joyce was let go. I really think Ryan Cameron should've stayed in afternoon drive. Something about Big Tigger (IMO) doesn't fit well.

I also do not care for Big Tigger in afternoons. He somehow sounds like he doesn't quite fit on V-103. Kenny Burns, who left, wanted that slot, and I think he would have been better for it than Big.

 

[kilamanjero]

V-103 is going to have to mix things up soon. Egypt in the mid-days is just not doing it. Now Kiss has added Sasha the Diva to mid-days which means even more competition.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblog...-diva-gets-permanent-slot-mid-days-kiss-1041/

All Cox did is restore Sasha back to the spot they removed her from about 5 years. Their reasons for ending her contract was she was asking to for too much in pay. V-103's parent,

CBS, doesn't have much to worry about with WALR because Cox is too cheap to fully staff their station. Ultimately, CBS is more concerned about the key money demos in the case of versus WALR and Majic. They are still beating them both in the 25-54 and overall 18-49 groups.

Interesting Sasha was moved back to middays, but what really happened to Cynthia Young? I said a couple of months ago that V-103 was playing way too much Hip-Hop between 10am-2pm. Will V103 ever staff the Quiet Storm? I haven't heard much about the show since Joyce was let go. I really think Ryan Cameron should've stayed in afternoon drive. Something about Big Tigger (IMO) doesn't fit well.

I can tell you what happened...Cox wasn't going to pay for Sasha and Cythnia both. Cox is cheap as hell and they will toss good talent out the door before they will keep them on staff for other things (unlike CBS does). The likely thing that occurred was they didn't want to move Cythnia to late nights or weekends thus they just opted not to renew her contract. It's one of the fatal flaws of Cox when it comes to urban radio, they never want to full support a quality product even when they have the revenue.

Now with V-103...Ryan's migration to mornings was written into his contractual agreement with CBS from moment one upon his return to V. Tigger doesn’t know much about Atlanta and still learning things about the city, and it is obvious. That is one of the main reasons why his presence at the station is such an anomaly. Reggie is all about favorites so you guys know the outcome.

The Quiet Storm will remain jockless because it has remained so for the past 3 years now. They have the talent to staff the slot, Terry Bello, but for whatever reason neither Reggie nor Rick Caffey will move him up to full-time status.

ShawtyblackATL, I wholeheartedly agree V-103 needs to leave full-time rotation of hip-hop during the middays to Hot and Streets. V’s main competition during this time of the day is Kiss and Majic. Additionally, more than 2 hip-hop songs per hour just don’t fit their musical programming for that daypart. They ought to only spin the hip-hop “power songs” that charting in the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Top 5 during middays. If they really want to spin some additional hip-hop that badly in the midday then they need to stick to the urban gold and classics from the late 90s and 00s.

I do agree with Roddy Freeman, Kenny Burns would have been the reasonable replacement for Ryan in the afternoons rather than Tigger. (You guys see how Kenny quietly exited from the station with his contract ending back in January and returned to being a full-time event promoter.) Tigger would have been a better fit for nights replacing Greg Street, whom will eventually retire because he is up there in age.

 

[atlantaboy]

UUUURRRGGH.... So, annoyed! If Power would take their top 5 or 6 songs down from playing at 130-140 times a week to about 95 or 100, people would hear SLIGHTLY more of the variety of songs that they actually play...(average listeners just don't hear them)!

I don't think it's just the rotation numbers - Q100, for instance, is leading right now on "Same Love" (which is rap), and played it a week earlier than Power, which still only spins it once a day - Q also has "Get Lucky" in power rotation, while Power doesn't - Power is supposed to be the more rhythmic-leaning station, yet they let Q100 lead on key new tracks

And, again, Power had "Safe And Sound" in medium rotation for a week, and then just completely pulled it (despite the fact that it's racing up the pop charts) - Q is also leading on Beautiful and Cups, and they play Lego House from beginning to end, not just a snippet of it

Power still has Mirrors in power rotation, and I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift (which charted half a year ago) in medium rotation 43 x a week

Sorry, but the PD is just awful - there's just no rhyme or reason to the music decisions

 

[ShawtyBlack_ATL]

UUUURRRGGH.... So, annoyed! If Power would take their top 5 or 6 songs down from playing at 130-140 times a week to about 95 or 100, people would hear SLIGHTLY more of the variety of songs that they actually play...(average listeners just don't hear them)!

I don't think it's just the rotation numbers - Q100, for instance, is leading right now on "Same Love" (which is rap), and played it a week earlier than Power, which still only spins it once a day - Q also has "Get Lucky" in power rotation, while Power doesn't - Power is supposed to be the more rhythmic-leaning station, yet they let Q100 lead on key new tracks

And, again, Power had "Safe And Sound" in medium rotation for a week, and then just completely pulled it (despite the fact that it's racing up the pop charts) - Q is also leading on Beautiful and Cups, and they play Lego House from beginning to end, not just a snippet of it

Power still has Mirrors in power rotation, and I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift (which charted half a year ago) in medium rotation 43 x a week

Sorry, but the PD is just awful - there's just no rhyme or reason to the music decisions

I saw a picture of POWER 96.1's interns with POWER t-shirts on taking pictures holding up STREETZ 94.5 flyers at the Beyonce concert.

 

[BarryATL]

Rodney did his take on the ratings yesterday.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblog...briefs-majic-ousts-v-103-june-ratings-river-/

From what Rodney wrote, we can assume that 680 The Fan had a 2.0 rating compared to both 790 The Zone and 92.9 The Game with 0.5. Interesting.

With WSB-AM having the #1 morning show, it is going to be tough for AN106.7 to gain more traction. Everybody still considers WSB-AM the place to turn for news.

I was at a gathering last night of 13 people in the 40-60 year old range. None of them had heard of AN106.7. It came up because of the weather affecting the rush hour. They all said they turned in to WSB-AM to hear traffic and storm updates while driving to the event.

 

[electroboy73]

UUUURRRGGH.... So, annoyed! If Power would take their top 5 or 6 songs down from playing at 130-140 times a week to about 95 or 100, people would hear SLIGHTLY more of the variety of songs that they actually play...(average listeners just don't hear them)!

I don't think it's just the rotation numbers - Q100, for instance, is leading right now on "Same Love" (which is rap), and played it a week earlier than Power, which still only spins it once a day - Q also has "Get Lucky" in power rotation, while Power doesn't - Power is supposed to be the more rhythmic-leaning station, yet they let Q100 lead on key new tracks

And, again, Power had "Safe And Sound" in medium rotation for a week, and then just completely pulled it (despite the fact that it's racing up the pop charts) - Q is also leading on Beautiful and Cups, and they play Lego House from beginning to end, not just a snippet of it

Power still has Mirrors in power rotation, and I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift (which charted half a year ago) in medium rotation 43 x a week

Sorry, but the PD is just awful - there's just no rhyme or reason to the music decisions

But, funny things is...Rick Vaughn is also the PD at WKSC/Chicago. And that station beating long-time CHR, WBBM!

POWER is not a bad sounding station...at all! Their imaging is superb...IMO. Afternoons with Sonic (local) has a good energy. The Maddox show at night sounds great with a live local Countdown....etc. I just want this one chance we have for a solid CC CHR to finally do well here....(call it OCD or whatevez) Lol. The lack of live, local morning and (early)-afternoon programming can't be the ONLY reason....right?

 

[secondchoice]

Every city / market is unique. Some are a little bit more "unique". For a "southern" city Atlanta's demo's are not that different, but Atlanta has a huge transplant percentage (500 miles +) than say Birmingham, Memphis, or even Charlotte.* Sometimes the cookie cutter formats that the national operators tend to use sometimes will not work as well in the ATL as in other cities. Hybrids like 97.1, Q 100, and Star can react better than a "national" format which has to take in account multible cities and market. From what little i have heard of 96.1, it would work in NYC, LA or Chicago.

*IMHO Charlotte is a market like Atalanta, not quite fitting into what national trends.