Thoughts On 102.5 The Party So Far

[CHRles]

Well, it's been back on the air for several months now so I figured a little analysis would be okay.
I think the station sounds pretty good. They're a mass appeal Top 40 station aimed directly at 107.5 The River. They carry the syndicated kidd Kraddick in the morning, which is very popular with adult females in the most of the markets where the show is carried. They also have a solid jock in afternoon drive, a live broadcast from a club on the weekend, and they air the cool new Itunes Download Chart show on Sunday mornings. The jingles are also pretty cool.
Problem? 107.5 The River is one of the best run CHRs in the country. The customized imaging and jingles are top notch, the music mix fits the market, and the jock lineup is very solid not to mention stable (everyone's been there for a few years). They also air, like most Clear Channel CHRs, the daily Ryan Seacrest show as well as American Top 40, Open House Party, and their own mixshow following OHP.
The other big problem is the signal. It can't be picked up clearly in major spots of the metro area.

When 102.5 The Party first debuted back in 97, 107.5 The River leaned very adult so The Party was an instant hit with its strong lean on Dance and Rhythmic hits alongside the big Pop/Rock titles. Nowadays The River is a straight ahead CHR/Pop station just like The Party.
I have noticed that of the two CHRs The Party and leans a bit more Rhythmic. They'll play some recurrents and older titles like 2 Pistols "She Got It", Bubba Sparxx "Ms. New Booty", and Young Joc "It's Goin Down". Newer titles like Flo-Rida's "In The Ayer" have also been hits only at The Party.
Yet The Party was also first on Jason Mraz "I'm Yours", Gavin Rossdale "Love Remains The Same", and other Modern AC titles that have since crossed over to The River.


So what do you think? Is The Party version 2.0 gonna work? Will it last?

 

[jetfli]

So what do you think? Is The Party version 2.0 gonna work? Will it last?

Hard to tell in today's market. The trends didn't bump up as much as I'd hoped.

In the days of my youth, there were three stations in the market where I grew up that played exactly the same top 40 songs. All three had special shows, both local and syndicated. All three saw some of the south's (and nation's) top DJs and PDs floating in and out of the market.

What was the difference? Community.

Each of the three stations offered a slightly different on-air sound. In junior high and high school, kids locked in on the station where they felt they "belonged". They discussed what they heard on the air that morning or the day before, and found others who identified with them through what the station they all had in common. And this became true not just for friends at school, but helped kids identify with kids at other schools in other parts of the listening area.

These stations accomplished this by creating a sense of community, the same kind of community developed today through Internet blogs, chats, groups, etc., but the medium was radio. If you went to your school's football game and met Susie from the opposing team's school, and you knew she listened to your station, you could reach out to her by dedicating a song to her on that station, and you knew she heard it.

While radio today is hardly the social currency it once was, I would dare to say that in order to set itself apart from the River, the Party should work on developing an on-air community that establishes an identity for itself and among its listeners. That's exactly what has made talk radio what it is today by bringing conservatives, or sports fans, or another targeted group together around their radio. And the concept definitely isn't lost on the WAY-FMs and Fish stations. And it needs to be recaptured for today's Top 40 stations.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Ive really been enjoying the new Party online,, Ive heard they upgraded their signal somewhat, but back in the late 90s when they leaned Dance-Hip Hop their signal was Horrible in Downtown and pretty much everywhere east of their, but the station sounded hot as fire.

Personally Music wise and stuff I like Party much better, but your right, The River has the Top Notch DJs and jingle Package and a flame thrower signal,,, I dont like Seacrest, so that puts The River below them.. I do like Kidd Dradick,, its a funny yet family friendly show, and he donates alot of money to Charities, like Kidds Kids for instance.

The Party has a flame thrower signal too, but its in the wrong direction, but it comes in perfect in Hopkinsville KY and goes all but about 40 miles south of Evansville.. On the other Hand, you used to be able to pick up THE RIVER at Elizabethtown before Star 107.3 signed on, but that didnt affect their primary coverge, and the River can sometimes Chew into Stars signal just 20 miles south of E-Town.

I doubt many people remember, but I think the old Y-107 was the best Dance Leaning CHR in Nashville,, it was basically alot like The Party of the late 90s,.... but toward the end of The Party V1 they got really conservative,,, not as good as they sound now.

The Party is similar to Electric 94.9 in Tri Cities, and Electric 96.9 in Paducah.

 

[CHRles]

Y-107's glory days were in the late 80s when they had Coyote in the morning, and one of the best PDs in America. It was known as the outrageous FM, and that PD then went on to launch The Power Pig in Tampa (which was even more outrageous).
Y-107 was Dance friendly in the early 90s since at the time it was heavily influenced by Power 99 Atlanta (which was even more Dance friendly).
Around 1993 Y-107 was playing more Modern Rock hits, though it was still a pure CHR/Pop. Very similar to what Z-100 New York was sounding like that year. When Z-100 and KRBE Houston went further into Modern Rock territory, Y-107 moved back towards a balanced sounding CHR/Pop until the mid 90s when they went Adult CHR as The River.
It was in 95-96 that a number of prominent CHRs that had stayed the course as CHR/Pop in the early 90s (while many were flipping formats) all of a sudden went Adult CHR. Kiss 108 Boston and Mix 93.3 Kansas City were prime examples, while G-105 Raleigh went Modern AC.
Then again, 106.9 K-Hits in Tulsa and 104.5 SNX Grand Rapids sounded hotter then ever, and some CHRs such as KJ 103 Oklahoma City never forgot what a CHR/Pop station should sound like.

 

[jharmon]

for the few hundred people in the demo that don't have an Ipod, mp3, satellite radio or internet, I guess The party fills the need.

 

[w9wi]

Ive really been enjoying the new Party online,, Ive heard they upgraded their signal somewhat, but back in the late 90s when they leaned Dance-Hip Hop their signal was Horrible in Downtown and pretty much everywhere east of their, but the station sounded hot as fire.

There have been no technical changes to the signal in several years. Their second transmitter (on 102.1 on the Channel 4 TV tower) has a permit to *reduce* power - not sure why. (maybe they intend to move the antenna higher on the tower?)

 

[spew]

boringand lousy signal

the morning show out of Texas...too old for the Party
and better morning shows have been done here locally

local sells!

 

[Davy D]

I just saw the latest trend, and it doesn't look like The Party has made much, if any, of an impact yet. I doubt it will. I had a great idea for this market and shared the idea with Bud, but he didn't seem interested. The best thing about it was the market is wide open for the idea. So in the meantime, Cromwell continues to play a game that they have no business being in. When they changed to The Party, they let some good people go. Dean, Lisa, Temple - talent who'd been in this market for a long time and understand it. Some may differ in opinion on the level of talent they were in, but each has proven him/herself at some point in their career.

Radio greed starts at the top. Owners/managers don't appreciate talent, so they fire the talent that made them money, the ratings drop, then they can't afford the cheap talent they hired, so they cut that body loose and hire someone yet cheaper or just downsize, the ratings continue to fall, and the people who made these decisions sit behind their desks and scratch their heads, not being able to figure out what happened. This scenerio does not included the companies who buy more stations than they can afford, and then get so far into debt to pad their own pockets, that they create the same scenerio that played out on Wall Street last quarter.

I've said it before, so I apologize for getting on the soap box again.

 

[firepoint525]

Screw "the Party"! I just want V-102.5 back again!

 

[roadrunner]

Not to be a Party Pooper but this station suc/ks bigtime! Kid Krap in the morning
is the WORST morning show out there. I tried to give it a chance..I listened for
about five minutes this morning. They had the stupidest bit on about
how a pro dj was to say "Power 105.7" with outtake after outtake...totally
stupid. They sound like they're from another planet. And that sorry signal of
theirs. Can't even pick it up on a regular radio in the house or at work. I don't mind
some of the music...some of it is actually better than The River
(more variety).......But V-102.5 was a far superior station both with music and air personalities (towards the end when they ditched satellite programming).

 

[LouP]

Around 1993 Y-107 was playing more Modern Rock hits, though it was still a pure CHR/Pop.

Y-107 was amazing in the summer of 1993. It was almost more Modern AC than anything, or maybe CHR/Rock if such a category existed, and the slow R&B songs were mostly put to the side. That was some great radio.