Top 40 in DC

[RadioPhillyFan]

Seems like DC could never sustain a long running Top 40 with full metro coverage.

WIHT has been Top 40 for almost 11 years now. Is that long-running enough?

I've visited DC many times, for many reasons. In my experience, 99.5 (WiHT?) is a pretty decent CHR - It was Kiss 99.5 once, then rebranded to Hot 99.5 (I believe)

Also, PGC can be heard in Southern Chester County (southern tip edge of the Philly Market) - I picked it up on 95.5 - It was pretty clear, lost it fast however. (via heading to Longwood)

And isn't Z104.3 in DC's market?

99.5 was an AC format. Then it flipped to Jammin' Oldies in the late 90s. After that failed, it flipped to "Survivor Radio" and then CHR. I remember listening to that "Survivor Radio" stunt when I visited DC for the first time, at the time I didn't know what a radio stunt was and I just found it to be an interesting format.
WPGC can't be heard reliably in the Philly market. Maybe there was tropo that day.

There was tropo, I must have been high when I posted that, thinking it was normal, I also picked up three Pittsburgh's AM radio stations pretty well! I know I can pick up 106.5 on a daily basis in Longwood and Kennet other then that there's nothing else from Baltimore that reaches!

And isn't Z104.3 in DC's market?

Z104.3 is in the Baltimore market.

It used to be an alternative, so my point is irrelevent, I was asking how well it is heard in DC.

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Quick question, 94.7 - What's the history? It's a great Hot AC!

 

[puddingpop]

And isn't Z104.3 in DC's market?

Z104.3 is in the Baltimore market.

It used to be an alternative, so my point is irrelevent, I was asking how well it is heard in DC.

Z104.3 is a non-factor in DC. That signal has even had some challenges in the Baltimore market, although I believe it underwent a bit of improvement after the flip to CHR.

Quick question, 94.7 - What's the history? It's a great Hot AC!

Fresh 94.7 was originally launched in April of 2009 as a DC version of Baltimore's WLIF, but soon became more of an attempt to duplicate the format and success of Mix 106.5, particularly since WLIF has a strong signal in DC. (They even use the same jingle package as Mix, and Mix midday jock Maria Dennis does weekends on Fresh.) Ratings weren't great at first, but the adjustments seem to have helped.

Previous formats at 94.7 had pretty bleak ratings. It was a classic rock station using CBS' "The Arrow" branding for most of the 1990's and 2000's, and was usually one of the lowest-rated FM stations in the market. In 2007, they flipped it to a AAA station called "The Globe" that attempted to continue what Georgetown's WGTB was in the '70s, and what WHFS was in the '70s and '80s. The ratings never improved; it shifted back to a classic rock format for its last several months before finally flipping to Fresh.

 

[klutch00]

Half right on the MD suburbs. WLMD was also a daytimer, as was WDON in Wheaton. WINX was fulltime, but they had a lousy signal, though they did benefit by being just two clicks up from 'PGC-AM.

Very right about WRC. They came along late in the game for AM rock. But they did have a great TSA signal, and they were a good station. Willard Scott did afternoon drive until about 1976.

WWDC at 1260 was very listenable in Montgomery County and it bears mentioning that the Washington market was really all about the District and the four surrounding counties: Montgomery (white upscale liberal), Prince Georges (Blue collar and black), Arlington (old established and diverse) and Fairfax (upscale but very conservative).

WEEL and WEAM were ineffective at night, too. WWDC was 24 hour but their signal had holes in it, too. Stations sold better in some counties than in others and the County Breakouts were used by the sales departments and the buyers a lot.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't WWDC-AM have a relatively decent signal until the late '70s when one of their towers was removed? Also, weren't they, like WMAL, WTOP (until about 1966) and WRC (until '72), MOR until about the mid-70s or so? Wasn't WLMD more of an AC in the mid-70s? What was WDON like before the late '70s when they were all-disco? Didn't WINX segue to AC by the late '70s? Didn't WRC go all-news in 1975 (specifically that summer)?

 

[stevewillett]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't WWDC-AM have a relatively decent signal until the late '70s when one of their towers was removed? Also, weren't they, like WMAL, WTOP (until about 1966) and WRC (until '72), MOR until about the mid-70s or so? Wasn't WLMD more of an AC in the mid-70s? What was WDON like before the late '70s when they were all-disco? Didn't WINX segue to AC by the late '70s? Didn't WRC go all-news in 1975 (specifically that summer)?

WWDC-AM was top 40 but became MOR in late 1966. WPGC's tribute site, amandfmmorningside.com, has the Washington Star playlists and it's interesting to see WWDC's top ten playlists for the week of 10/8/66 and 10/15/66. For the week of 10/8 their top 10 consists of The Monkees, 4 Tops and the Count 5's "Psychotic Reaction". The playlist for the following week shows them playing Roger Williams, Margaret Whiting and the hippest song in their top 10, "Cherish" by The Association. WLMD was an AC until the early 80s. They were still AC when I worked there in 1982. WDON was country before they became "Disco D-O-N". As for WINX, they segued to AC, then oldies, then Nostalgia, then Adult Top 40, then "The Station of the Stars." And most of that happened while I worked there on-and-off between 1980 and 1985. And finally according to Wikipedia, NBC debuted N-I-S on WRC, June 18th, 1975.