@buckethead KPWR Power 106 is not an urban, it's a Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover that leans on Hip Hop & R&B but doesn't play certain R&B songs like it did in the 90's and Early 2000's. Power 106 sounded more urban from 1997-2002 when billboard listed them as an R&B station when they were going up against "The Beat". These days Power 106's Playlist is still filled with Hip Hop/R&B artist such as Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Drake, Far East Movement, Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj, Usher and Ray J,etc but these artist are using the electro pop sound now a days. Sucks but it is what it is though. Music styles come & go. In the 90's and Early 2000's R&B/Hip Hop artist such as Brandy, Donell Jones, Usher, Maxwell, B2K, Dru Hill, Tyrese, Jaheim, Jagged Edge, Erykah Badu, Ruff Endz, 2Pac, Ice Cube,etc all charted well on the Top 40. That was the pop sound but it had an urban sound it. It's time we move forward and accept the fact it'll be a dark day before we get a full service Urban Contemporary in Los Angeles. I agree that KJLH's music is a mess because it doesn't make since to play an Eric Benét tune! A Usher Tune! A Kirk Franklin Tune! A smooth jazz tune! An old school tune! Then turn around play hip hop titles by Wiz Kalifah, Nicki Minaj and Drake ???
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Urban Radio in Los Angeles
- Thread starter e-dawg
- Start date
Dang my car stereo needs an HD tuner so I can get the feel what a full service urban contemporary outlet in Los Angeles sounds like or I should get an HD for my iPhone's iheartradio app so I listen to KHHT HD-2. Wow Hip Hop & R&B has crept back to the 92.3 dial 'bout time. BTW wdb2003 KHHT HD-2 has been playing hip hop since July 2009. Mainstream Urbans owned by CC (except for KMEL in SF, WWPR Power 105.1 in NY and WUSL Power 99) sound watered down IMO. BTW when KDAY was focusing on currents it didn't sound L.A. centric until it turned back to a gold based(mainly 90's and early 2000's Hip Hop/R&B) hip hop station. What if we didn't have any Rhythmic or Urban out here in L.A. our market will be like Pittsburg because they don't have no urban or rhythmic outlet.wdb2003 said:
BJordan said:
I already know the year. Its funny how you repeat everything other memebers and myself told you on this board from past post. Pittsburg does have a urban station again. WAMO is back on. WPYT 660am (daytimer) and a translator at 100.1fm not that much coverage with the translator but 660am is stronger. The HD radio app is free but the HD Turner is extra. Its $40- $80 bucks and only available at Radio Shack. Maybe ebay but I perfer to buy a new one. Your better off with Tune In Radio app and Iheartradio app. When Mt. Wilson gets bad weather the HD channels sometimes go off for days.
H
Hamp
Guest
Even if the African-American population of Los Angeles is about 807,000 (I am assuming this is the Los Angeles metro area, not just city limits), that number is still just a drop in the bucket compared to the total metro of about 11 million. A traditional "Urban" format that may work in the Southeast or in certain midwestern markets, doesn't play well in markets such as L.A. You have to have a format that has "mass appeal" (i.e., Rhythmic) which attracts black, white, latino, asian, etc. listeners.e-dawg said:
In a market like Chicago where there are about a million African-Americans in the city limits alone, an Urban Contemporary format (i.e., WGCI and Power 92) can survive. Even Rhythmic Contemporary outlets like B-96 somewhat tend to lean a little more towards the Urban direction because of the population.
The key is the percentage, not the total number, of Blacks in a given market. NY and Chi are about 17% Black. LA is only 7%. That said, SF is also only about 7% Black so KMEL's success is remarkable, indeed. Its playlist and presentation surely seems urban even though its audience composition is probably less than 50% Black. That is probably the reason KMEL is labeled Rhythmic CHR by some trades but it is probably as Urban as a station can get west of the Rockies.
The ongoing exodus of African-Americans out of LA for points eastward thanks to the blockheads in Sacramento who've demolished the middle class in this state in too many ways to count has been well documented by the very sharp posters on this board.
Steve Harvey was repeatedly #1 in LA (at least among the English language stations) in morning drive at 100.3 The Beat during his stint there before the beancounters destroyed his show when they decided to syndicate it, which destroyed its compelling product which was live & local.
KJLH's putrid signal precludes its ever being more than a 1-1.5 share radio station, while KPWR's 4.0 share is their highest rating in ages, even if it's a far cry from those shares in the high 7s/low 8s they enjoyed in the late 1980s after replacing KIIS @ #1 in early 1987.
Steve Harvey was repeatedly #1 in LA (at least among the English language stations) in morning drive at 100.3 The Beat during his stint there before the beancounters destroyed his show when they decided to syndicate it, which destroyed its compelling product which was live & local.
KJLH's putrid signal precludes its ever being more than a 1-1.5 share radio station, while KPWR's 4.0 share is their highest rating in ages, even if it's a far cry from those shares in the high 7s/low 8s they enjoyed in the late 1980s after replacing KIIS @ #1 in early 1987.
Wouldn't things be easier if American urbans operated a bit more like London's BBC Radio 1xtra "Love Black Music, Love 1 Xtra" formatting? not only do they play and feature much more exclusive urban music, but they also have more variety than American urbans! In addition to reggae/dancehall specialty programming with their brand new r&b and hip hop specialty shows, they also play urban dance, urban drum & bass, ....etc. They also play things that are heavily urban influenced but aren't exactly classified as "urban" by American standards.
Yes, we're used to the way things are done now and may not accept the change if it were to happen, but I'm sure if American urbans as a whole changed up their formatting structure a bit, it would "catch on" and people would "get used to it". Not sure why American urbans are so limited to one sound. Why can't we try the urban format structures that other countries (African / European...etc.) use with more variety? Some may reject it at first, but I surely bet the urban lean rhythmic sound could work in the U.S. (but without all the news stops and talking that BBC tends to offer). If you're not familiar with how BBC Radio 1xtra in London operates, imagine combining certain elements of WVEE, WQHT, and WPOW into one and adding the KPWR Power Tools show on a weekend night and scheduling everything in such a way that it works as "the new sound of American urban radio".
Yes, we're used to the way things are done now and may not accept the change if it were to happen, but I'm sure if American urbans as a whole changed up their formatting structure a bit, it would "catch on" and people would "get used to it". Not sure why American urbans are so limited to one sound. Why can't we try the urban format structures that other countries (African / European...etc.) use with more variety? Some may reject it at first, but I surely bet the urban lean rhythmic sound could work in the U.S. (but without all the news stops and talking that BBC tends to offer). If you're not familiar with how BBC Radio 1xtra in London operates, imagine combining certain elements of WVEE, WQHT, and WPOW into one and adding the KPWR Power Tools show on a weekend night and scheduling everything in such a way that it works as "the new sound of American urban radio".
KDM 7000 said:
I'm quite sure why the playlists are tighter in the US.
- The Bebe is principally financed by a specific radio tax.
- They don't have the PPM.
Marv-L.A. said:
Your right his show was #1 a few times during that era when he was going against KOST (Mark and Kim) KIIS (Rick Dees & Ellen K) KBIG (Charile Tuna & Lee Ann) KLOS (Mark & Brian) KYSR (Jamie White & Danny Bonaduce) KHHT (Jamz Session) KROQ (Kevin & Bean) and KPWR (Big Boy). When Steve left it did cause the ratings to drop by hiring John Salley as a replacement. First day on the air only thing he can talk about was Shaq. Radio One tried to syndicate his show but only got 1 other station to sign on KBFB in Dallas which meant Steve being on the air longer and waking up eariler. Whoever was hired at Radio One during 2005- 2007 really destroyed KKBT legacy. The new verison now only caters to people in the midwest, south, and east of the U.S just like Tom Joyners show. Now being back in LA on KJLH the show lost its oringal fan base and its not live anymore.
wdb2003 said:
Sorry I didn't reply sooner. There is a link for mobile streaming on the home page. There will also soon be an app specifically for the iPhone and Android devices available soon.
By the way, tonight will be mainly urban-oriented club/dance; typically the the sound is R&B except for Saturday nights and Sunday mornings/afternoon. Check out our website for programming information. You can also make suggestions for the type of music you'd like to hear: http://www.vibe109.com/music.html
IMO KJLH has been in pits since they picked up Steve Harvey. They really drove away longtime listeners by adding rap songs to it's playlist, picking up Steve Harvey. At lease KJLH is not syndicated all day like the rest of the Urban AC stations in the United States. But IMO Cliff Winston was their best morning man and very comical. In late 2005 to Early 2006 KKBT took a nose dive because their music was a mess. At that time they were spinning Dem Francize Boyz's I Think They Like Me, Yung Joc's It's Going Down, Lil' Jon's Snap Yo Fingers and D4L's Laffy Taffy. Yuck. The only song that sounded good on KKBT in 2005-06 Keyshia Cole's I Should've Cheated.wdb2003 said:
Marv-L.A. said:
It's not really appropriate to compare shares in the diary with shares in the PPM.
The PPM shows the average person listening to radio around 12 hours. The diary showed, back in 1988, that the national weekly TSL peaked at its historical maximum of around 21 hours. So an 1987 share of 8 is actually reasonably equivalent to a 4 share today with a different measurement that shows that recall is not as precise as passive measurement.
BJordan said:
You mean that stations like WVAZ, WBHK, WHUR, WHQT and WMJQ are "syndicated all day like the rest of the Urban AC stations in the United States?"
BJordan said:
Actually they always been in the pits since the early 90's til now when other full power stations signed on. Management is the blame for Cliff's departure and the stations ratings not Steve Harvey or Stevie Wonder. His show works in other markets because it caters to whole new audience vs here in Los Angeles. Most syndicated Urban AC's are in small markets not large markets.
AM FM listener said:
KMEL's audience composition is like 35% black, 40% Hispanic/Latino, and 25% Asian. Ironically, although KMEL's playlist is very much 'urban contemporary', but the majority of its audience is Hispanic and Latino.
kilamanjero said:
Six month average shows KMEL at around 38% Black, 22% Hispanic and 39% "Other." Arbitron does not break out Asian, and "other" means everyone who is neither black nor Hispanic (Arbitron does not contemplate Hispanic Blacks as the question is 'one of the following.").
In the US, Hispanic and Latino have approximately the same meaning save for nit-pickers like myself who will point out that Brazilians are Latinos but not Hispanics. Arbitron uses the term "Hispanic" exclusively, while the Census offers many alternitives ranging from Latino and Hispanic and even the dated "Spanish" to Chicano and national origin based choices like "Mexican" or "Cuban."
In general, unless not mainstreamed, Urban Contemporary formats tend to have very low Hispanic usage, while pure Urbans may get a significant share from that group.
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