The river

[CassChopper96]

Is the reason the river do so well is because they are basically Atlanta’s classic rock station. And that there is no actual classic hits station like WRBQ-FM from Tampa Bay in the Atlanta market

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Is the reason the river do so well is because they are basically Atlanta’s classic rock station. And that there is no actual classic hits station like WRBQ-FM from Tampa Bay in the Atlanta market

Good question and not one I know the answer to.

But I think one reason their ratings have been so good is the vast improvement of FM reception on car radios. It's hard to believe that station is about 40 miles from Atlanta. They sound like the stations transmitting from inside Atlanta just about anywhere in the market. When Fox 97 was on 97.1, their signal was noticeably inferior to most of the local stations on my old car radio.

Some of the improvement might have to do with the skill of Cox's radio engineering. Their signals and their stations' processing are excellent, and the processing fits the formats of the respective stations. Kiss, about 30 miles from Atlanta, is another example of the engineering quality at Cox. A Cox employee out of town messed up Kiss, and they lost significant antenna height. But the signal from the new tower comes into Atlanta perfectly clear.

Being the radio geek I am, I drove to the new Kiss tower on my way back from Birmingham last year. It's in the middle of nowhere; you wouldn't think it's an Urban station targeted to Atlanta.

 

[CassChopper96]

Good question and not one I know the answer to.

But I think one reason their ratings have been so good is the vast improvement of FM reception on car radios. It's hard to believe that station is about 40 miles from Atlanta. They sound like the stations transmitting from inside Atlanta just about anywhere in the market. When Fox 97 was on 97.1, their signal was noticeably inferior to most of the local stations on my old car radio.

Some of the improvement might have to do with the skill of Cox's radio engineering. Their signals and their stations' processing are excellent, and the processing fits the formats of the respective stations. Kiss, about 30 miles from Atlanta, is another example of the engineering quality at Cox. A Cox employee out of town messed up Kiss, and they lost significant antenna height. But the signal from the new tower comes into Atlanta perfectly clear.

Being the radio geek I am, I drove to the new Kiss tower on my way back from Birmingham last year. It's in the middle of nowhere; you wouldn't think it's an Urban station targeted to Atlanta.

Is the signal reception one of the reasons all of cox's atlanta stations are performing very well in the ratings

 

[BIGSTICK]

Is the reason the river do so well is because they are basically Atlanta’s classic rock station. And that there is no actual classic hits station like WRBQ-FM from Tampa Bay in the Atlanta market

YES and YES...That is why Atlanta needs some competition in this format. OH, but it does not bill well,,,LOL

 

[secondchoice]

Is the signal reception one of the reasons all of cox's atlanta stations are performing very well in the ratings

It does not hurt.

Cox has matched their two FM signals OTP (outside of I 285) to the demographics of each stations strongest signal. 97.1’s signal is strongest north of I-20 and east of I-75. https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WSRV&service=FM They tried Urban on 97.1 (97 Jamz) and it failed because a very large percentage of the Urban listeners live inside the perimeter (I 285). 97.1 is 98KW and V103 is 100KW not a big really a big difference. WSRV’s antenna is 568 feet higher (big advantage) but 39+ miles away (huge disadvantage) to the Vee’s downtown tower. Also the 96.7 signal (Union City) doesn’t help things either https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WRDG&service=FM. 97.1’s current format most likely has appeals to “non-urban” listeners who the majority live outside the perimeter. Kiss’s signal https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WALR&service=FM does well inside the perimeter (I 285) so a form of Urban make sense.

BTW: Many years ago when 106.7 was county, 104.1 was coupled to WYAY resulting in Y106.7 and Y104. I don’t have the ratings but I have been told they made a serious run and 101.5, and that Rhubarb Jones had very good numbers in the Mornings.

97.1’s (safe) classic rock format has survived 96 Rock (which IMHO relied too much on ”the Regular Guys) and Rock 100.5 which is a Cumulus station. Cumulus is rumored the be trying to sell all their top 10 market clusters. They are not doing that well in Atlanta (6+) rating wise and there might be some truth to that rumor.

 

[wavo]

It does not hurt.

Cox has matched their two FM signals OTP (outside of I 285) to the demographics of each stations strongest signal. 97.1’s signal is strongest north of I-20 and east of I-75. https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WSRV&service=FM They tried Urban on 97.1 (97 Jamz) and it failed because a very large percentage of the Urban listeners live inside the perimeter (I 285). 97.1 is 98KW and V103 is 100KW not a big really a big difference. WSRV’s antenna is 568 feet higher (big advantage) but 39+ miles away (huge disadvantage) to the Vee’s downtown tower. Also the 96.7 signal (Union City) doesn’t help things either https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WRDG&service=FM. 97.1’s current format most likely has appeals to “non-urban” listeners who the majority live outside the perimeter. Kiss’s signal https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WALR&service=FM does well inside the perimeter (I 285) so a form of Urban make sense.

BTW: Many years ago when 106.7 was county, 104.1 was coupled to WYAY resulting in Y106.7 and Y104. I don’t have the ratings but I have been told they made a serious run and 101.5, and that Rhubarb Jones had very good numbers in the Mornings.

97.1’s (safe) classic rock format has survived 96 Rock (which IMHO relied too much on ”the Regular Guys) and Rock 100.5 which is a Cumulus station. Cumulus is rumored the be trying to sell all their top 10 market clusters. They are not doing that well in Atlanta (6+) rating wise and there might be some truth to that rumor.

IIRC...106.7/104.1 had a number one 12+ book back when Bob Neil (later, of Cox Radio fame)ran the place. Bob had that station clicking on all cylinders...it was fast paced, exciting, and had personalities LIVE all day...good personalities who seemed to understand "showbiz."

106.7 was the first station in Atlanta to use aggressive audio processing. Johnny Bridges, longtime chief engineer, made that station twice as loud as any other Atlanta FM station, and it sounded really good! I will always remember one of the WKHX engineering staff lugging in a CP803 ( a popular composite "clipper" or processor back in the 80s and 90s)The audio wars had started!! No station ever was louder or cleaner than 106.7!!

 

[RoddyFreeman]

IIRC...106.7/104.1 had a number one 12+ book back when Bob Neil (later, of Cox Radio fame)ran the place. Bob had that station clicking on all cylinders...it was fast paced, exciting, and had personalities LIVE all day...good personalities who seemed to understand "showbiz."

106.7 was the first station in Atlanta to use aggressive audio processing. Johnny Bridges, longtime chief engineer, made that station twice as loud as any other Atlanta FM station, and it sounded really good! I will always remember one of the WKHX engineering staff lugging in a CP803 ( a popular composite "clipper" or processor back in the 80s and 90s)The audio wars had started!! No station ever was louder or cleaner than 106.7!!

I talked about Cox's processing but should mention that IMHO the Entercom and iHeart stations also have excellent processing.