the most listened to radio station in the area

[eyg2181]

what is it? if i had a guess i would say 94.5, but idk

 

[JerseyShor]

Arbitron rated #1 WADS-FM 105.3

 

[eatspaste]

what is it? if i had a guess i would say 94.5, but idk

Most listened to, how? Or where?

Where? 94.5 is, geographically speaking, "a Trenton station."

How? Highest cume? Highest TSL? Highest share? Highest rating?

 

[Herb999]

Most listened to, as in cume, the station that has the most people tuning into it during a week?


Easy, kyw, wdas-ha ha, they are about 11th or 12th in cume since they are not mass appeal. The last music station to ever cume over 1 million in Philly was 98 wcau, this was the best radio station this market has ever had, it was a station that every person could tune into, unlike the formats that are not mass appeal like urban ac and country.

 

[radioskeptic]

Interesting comment, Herb999. I trust you mean the "Solid Gold Radio" WCAU-FM of the Seventies.

Have you seen the thread, "I dont get it with ogl"?

 

[Herb999]

Nope, hot hits 98 cau, the best radio station Philly ever had, was the last music station to cume over a million. B comes close, but hot hits was the true meaning of mass appeal radio where the listener felt they were missing out on something if they didn't tune in. You would think q or wired would learn about how to do top 40 radio in Philly from this amazing station.

 

[radioskeptic]

Well, yes, FM penetration in cars was still very low in those days, and it wasn't even in every home. (I, myself, was briefly without FM, for about two or three months, in 1972!)

If FM had been as ubiquitous then as it was by the mid-Eighties, I think the Oldies WCAU-FM might have had the highest music cume ever because of its broad appeal. Remember, it was playing everything that remtely fit the definition of rock'n'roll, and a few things that didn't. The playlist ranged from a few sides from as early as 1949-50 to what were then currents, and the currents covered a lot of bases. (For example, you might hear bothGordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" and "Tell Me Somethin' Good" by Chaka Khan and Rufus in the same quarter-hour with "At My Front Door," "Peggy Sue," "These Eyes," "Judy in Disguise" and who-knows-what-else. And this omnium-gatherum of material from all eras really worked!)

 

[wesdev224]

Nope, hot hits 98 cau, the best radio station Philly ever had, but hot hits was the true meaning of mass appeal radio where the listener felt they were missing out on something if they didn't tune in.

I was 25 yrs. old when Hot Hits 98 WCAU hit the air. I guess I was in their demo. In the 5 years they were on the air, I never felt compelled to listen, and I never did. As such, I never felt I was missing anything. To say they were the best station that Philly ever had is non-quantifiable. I felt the same way about Q102 circa 1975-1980. I've even stated in print that THEY were the best radio station Philly ever had. But at the end of the day, I realized how silly this was to say, and all I was doing was championing my favorite station. We're all guilty of this. But to say emphatically that any station was/is the best station any city city ever had is pure conjecture.

 

[eyg2181]

whats arbitron?

Arbitron rated #1 WADS-FM 105.3

 

[crmc]

I think basing "most listened to" on cume is reasonable. The total number of different people over a week.However,rankers that are available in the industry trade publications are based on AQH, most listeners in a fifteen minute period, within specified time frame.But cume makes sense.
Hot hits was big.So simple, also.Truly the Top 40.When they started to try TSL tricks with longer rotations , recurrents and gold is when it slipped.I think most posters here would hate it,too tight for their ecclectic or radio elitist ear. Not enough depth.( depth =death?)The number one record played every 90 minutes.
It signed on with over one million 12+ cume. In it's first book, Fall 1981. I'll never forget it.

 

[rdcuffpa1]

To say they were the best station that Philly ever had is non-quantifiable. I felt the same way about Q102 circa 1975-1980. I've even stated in print that THEY were the best radio station Philly ever had. But at the end of the day, I realized how silly this was to say, and all I was doing was championing my favorite station. We're all guilty of this. But to say emphatically that any station was/is the best station any city city ever had is pure conjecture.

Perhaps the most sensible thing said here in a good while. I, too, was a Q102 fan in the late 1970s when I first moved to the region. I believe that's when "Harvey" (Jon Harvey) was morning drive. However, radio styles, like tastes, tend to be so personal that comparisons tend to be meaningless. Rather, it makes sense to look at radio stations whose innovations, at the time, were daring and successful in that they changed the hierarchy of the market or the industry.

I don't have enough of a sense of history for Philly radio to be a good judge of that myself. Perhaps WIBG in its WIBBAGE days best qualifies, given the lore of the station and the personalities who worked there.

Richard in Allentown

 

[Herb999]

If you truly love radio than 98 cau is the obvious choice for Philly's best station. The jocks, the imaging, those jingles, nothing has ever been as exciting and fun to listen to for a radio lover in this market. Still that is an opinion, the facts are what matter. No other music station has ever cumed over 1 million listeners other than hot hits 98 cau-fm, that says it all.