Viable Solution For The Mediabase CHR/Pop panel

[CHRles]

Viable Solution For The Mediabase CHR/Pop panel

I've noticed there's some concern on the boards with regards to the validity of the CHR/Pop chart, based on the current panel. I agree that there's room for improvement.
• Some of the stations reporting to the CHR/Pop panel currently have a playlist that's the spitting image of some of the CHR/Rhythmics.
• Cumulus CHRs all have 20-23 slots for Currents, and it's usually the same exact records on all stations regardless of market size or location
• Stations like 93.7 STW Wilmington, which is a better fit on the Hot A/C panel – it plays a lot of 80s and 90s records in all dayparts
• Some of the stations on the Hot A/C and CHR/Rhythmic panel are CHR/Pop outlets

I think in addition to all of the above another problem is that only stations in the Top 160 markets are on the panel (okay, there's 5 stations outside that realm). This raises the question as to why? A lot of the stations in the Top 300 markets are monitored in one way or another. We can all see this on yes.com, or tunegenie.com. What's more, back in the day Billboard's Hot 100 panel included plenty of small market reporters. Why not include America's great smaller market CHR/Pop stations?
Look at these numbers
Kee 100 in Huntington (market 160) is number 1 in its market with a 13.2 share.
Z-107.5 Wilmington, NC (market 161) got an 8.4 share, good for second
Star 104 in Erie (market 170) posted an incredible 19 share, good for first
106.3 KFRX Lincoln (market 172) is number one with a 12.7 share.
Power 99 in the Tri Cities area of Washington (market 190) is number one with a 9.9 share
Mix 100.7 Terre Haute (market 212) is second with a 16.4 share.
Power 94 in Bend (market 205) is second with a 9.5 share
Z-100 Eau Claire (market 241) is tied for first place with an 11.7 share
101.5 WBNQ Bloomington (market 238) is number one with a 15.3 share

There's loads of successful, locally-programmed CHRs in the smaller markets that should not be overlooked. These stations help break records, and help break the monotony of some of the corporate playlists dictated from Atlanta, New York, or San Antonio.
The major market CHRs will still carry a bigger weight under a revised panel as they've got the biggest cume, and are obviously the most influential when it comes to consumer purchase. In fact, most of the sales, whether digital or physical, have always come from the Top 10-20 markets.
The major markets are the most important, but that doesn't mean smaller markets can't play a part in the grand scheme of things.

As far as stations from the Hot A/C and CHR/Rhythmic panel, I'd consider adding the following to CHR/Pop stations (perhaps they can be dual reporters):
Star 100.7 Pittsburgh
92.1 Kiss FM Tulsa
Q-102 Cincinnati
Hot 103.5 Sacramento
Mix 106.5 Baltimore
104.3 Hit FM El Paso
95.1 WAYV Atlantic City
102.7/104.9 Jammin JJS Roanoke
Live 105 Oxnard-Ventura
Hot 107.9 Ft. Wayne
Q-98 Fayetteville, NC
KKUU 92.7 Palm Springs (they've just added Adele and Avril Lavigne)
Kelly 95.3 Bakersfield

 

[atlantaboy]

^Completely agree with everything there - for me, there's just too many miscategorized stations right now for the CHR chart to be valid

For me, these would be the priorities...

WXRK/New York, KAMP/Los Angeles, WDZH/Detroit, and KTFM/San Antonio need to be moved from CHR to Rhythmic

WWMX/Baltimore, WAYV/Atlantic City, KFYV/Oxnard-Ventura, and WKRQ/Cincinnati need to be moved from Hot AC to CHR

KHHM/Sacramento and KTBT/Tulsa need to be moved from Rhythmic to CHR

Here are the guidelines I used:
Stations on the CHR panel that didn't touch F***In Perfect by Pink (a #1 song), and are spinning all the big hits on the Rhythmic chart, are Rhythmic
Stations on the Hot AC panel that have Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor) by Pitbull in high rotation, focus on CHR currents rather than Hot AC currents, and have their power rotation set at 70-100x per week, are CHR
Stations on the Rhythmic panel that are giving solid airplay to What The Hell by Avril Lavigne are CHR

As far as the Cumulus stations, the corporate programming thing is completely ridiculous, but I'm not sure what anyone can do about it - not only does Cumulus require that its stations have similar playlists, the entire Cumulus panel adds songs all at one time

Agree that smaller stations should be included on the panel, but I think that's a compromise Mediabase reached with people in the industry that wanted them to use A. I. for their chart intead of straight spins

 

[carolinaradio]

I don't see why CBS won't play just a few pop songs on KAMP and WXRK so they won't be so rhythmic. They want them to be CHR stations so they need to play the hits on the chart they claim to program from. P!nk's "Perfect", Script's "For The First Time" come to mind....play those...but heck there aren't many songs on the top 40 chart that aren't rhythmic.

I mentioned a while back on the AC board that there are a lot of those stations that CBS calls AC which are actually Hot AC (the Fresh stations)

 

[atlantaboy]

but heck there aren't many songs on the top 40 chart that aren't rhythmic.

I feel like it's a Catch-22 - there are about 15 rock-leaning songs in the Top 40 of the pop chart, but they're squeezed below the Top 20 because so many stations reporting to the pop panel are targeting the same demographic that previously listened to the Rhythmic format, or feel like these songs don't "fit" with the rest of their playlist - programmers see the Top 20 void of rock-leaning songs, and then (many) use that to justify not adding them - and since so few people are exposed to these songs, they end up with low I-Tunes sales

A lot of rock-leaning songs that can't break Top 20 end up spending 25 weeks in the Top 50 (or more), meaning they're high testing songs that people like, but only so many pop stations are willing to play them

 

[only1moore]

Personally, I would like to see Mediabase and BDS create a new Top 40/CHR category featuring stations that focus primarily on Rhythmic pop/dance songs and avoid the Rock or Hip-Hop tracks (call it CHR/Dance Contemporary or something similar to it). This method of putting stations in panels that don't fit their format is getting ridiculous. Even the Urban reporters don't fit the panel they report to.

I'm also looking at stations that have seem to shift away from their primary focus, most notably XHTZ/San Diego (which just added Alexandra Stan's "Mr. Saxobeat" and had Edward Maya's "Stereo Love" at number 1 on their playlist, an indication that Z90 is about to shedd their Hip-Hop past) and KPHW/Honolulu (a Cox-owned station that been acting more like a Top 40/CHR than Rhythmic lately since KQMQ join "Da Paina" back in February). Even new Rhythmic KZHZ/Des Moines (whose sister station is WRTS/Erie) seem to be a copy-cat of KTFM with a Dance-influenced playlist (i.e. Dance versions of "Grenade" and "No Hands" are heavily played).

 

[Dkampy]

I think the real test will be Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"...this is the it song of the moment...if these so called CHR/mainstream station don't at least add this...they should be on the Rhythmic panel.

 

[CHRles]

Quick update: Live 105.5 Oxnard has been moved from the Hot A/C to the CHR/Pop panel

 

[atlantaboy]

Quick update: Live 105.5 Oxnard has been moved from the Hot A/C to the CHR/Pop panel

Wow! One day after both of us suggested they move it! ;D

 

[CHRles]

BTW, I meant to type 92.1 The Beat Tulsa, not Kiss FM (its former name)

 

[saradio1]

I think the real test will be Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"...this is the it song of the moment...if these so called CHR/mainstream station don't at least add this...they should be on the Rhythmic panel.

KTFM has been playing the Dance version for few weeks now.

 

[atlantaboy]

I think the real test will be Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"...this is the it song of the moment...if these so called CHR/mainstream station don't at least add this...they should be on the Rhythmic panel.

KTFM has been playing the Dance version for few weeks now.

Yeah I was actually gonna post that too - Rolling In The Deep has a really popular dance remix, so I don't think you can use that as a "test" for Rhythmic vs. CHR

 

[the golden boy]

I think the real test will be Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"...this is the it song of the moment...if these so called CHR/mainstream station don't at least add this...they should be on the Rhythmic panel.

So one song will be the end-all-be-all to determine if a song should be on the mainstream or rhythmic panel? What's wrong with looking at the overall body of work/

 

[Wildstyle K]

I think the real test will be Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"...this is the it song of the moment...if these so called CHR/mainstream station don't at least add this...they should be on the Rhythmic panel.

KTFM has been playing the Dance version for few weeks now.

There's a DANCE version of this? Not that I've even heard any version of it yet, but... really?

I probably should start listening to KZZP more often... but I just can't get off of KZON!

 

[CHRles]

Hot 103.5 Sacramento has also been moved to the CHR/Pop panel

 

[atlantaboy]

Hot 103.5 Sacramento has also been moved to the CHR/Pop panel

Yeah they were on the Rhythmic panel playing The Script/For The First Time

Still seems like they're only moving independently owned stations though, and not touching anything owned by CBS or Clear Channel

 

[only1moore]

Hot 103.5 Sacramento has also been moved to the CHR/Pop panel

Yeah they were on the Rhythmic panel playing The Script/For The First Time

Still seems like they're only moving independently owned stations though, and not touching anything owned by CBS or Clear Channel

It looks like they'll be in good company: they're the second Entravision outlet to join the Mediabase CHR/Pop panel this year, joining KVLY.

 

[anthonydt06]

I think the real test will be Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"...this is the it song of the moment...if these so called CHR/mainstream station don't at least add this...they should be on the Rhythmic panel.

KTFM has been playing the Dance version for few weeks now.

There's a DANCE version of this? Not that I've even heard any version of it yet, but... really?

I probably should start listening to KZZP more often... but I just can't get off of KZON!

Here's the version KTFM plays... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGew5cxjhS8

 

[J. Rob]

^^^I like that remix.....it has a very strong early 90s feel to it

 

[justpassingthough]

Is this radio programming and marketing for the insane? Play Adele or get moved to the rhythmic panel. Its laughable.

I personally love the song, but it doesn't fit with the majority of the music on CHR today. It sounds great on Hot AC and alternative stations (I've now heard it on KYSR).

We are back to the same argument, chicken or the egg. I maintain that a TRUE CHR chart would be determined by compiling songs that are receiving airplay on "Pop" stations. "Pop" stations shouldn't be FORCED to play Adele or Pink. That is completely asanine- its poor business and sloppy programming, and it shows a lack of regard for one's audience to play what either isn't testing well in your market or on your station.

 

[carolinaradio]

Is this radio programming and marketing for the insane? Play Adele or get moved to the rhythmic panel. Its laughable.

I personally love the song, but it doesn't fit with the majority of the music on CHR today. It sounds great on Hot AC and alternative stations (I've now heard it on KYSR).

We are back to the same argument, chicken or the egg. I maintain that a TRUE CHR chart would be determined by compiling songs that are receiving airplay on "Pop" stations. "Pop" stations shouldn't be FORCED to play Adele or Pink. That is completely asanine- its poor business and sloppy programming, and it shows a lack of regard for one's audience to play what either isn't testing well in your market or on your station.

Agreed.

I don't care for the Adele song. I heard it on a CHR the other day and it made me change the station...seemed out of place between Ke$ha and Enrique Iglesias...