What is up with Top 40/CHR in Atlanta?!

[musicman3355]

Has anyone heard KMVQ's Club 99.7 and The Electro-Hip Hop & House mix shows? ;D
KYLD might have been my dream station growing up, but KMVQ is "the new KYLD" to me now.

I don't think KYLD is even a party station anymore. They changed to a "hit music" positioner.

Does anyone think a CHURBAN or even a Latin Rhythm format like KXOL would work in Atl? http://www.yes.com/#KXOL?chart
Would it work better than Viva did?

I frequently listen to "Club 997", I've been a listener of DJ E-Rock since last year when he was on Club 949. Even though I like WiLD 94.9 I wish they kept DJ Trevor Simpson and DJ Scotty Boy on there

I think Viva was more Spanish pop oriented than hurban. I'm sure something exactly like KXOL (with English/Spanish music mixed together)
might work in ATL.

 

[musicman3355]

I have to admit, even though I don't like the sound of Q100 they do have a good mixshow... they're playing Wynter Gordon's Dirty Talk (Laidback Luke remix) as I speak... FIST PUMP! ;D

 

[atlantaboy]

I do find it rather silly how Detroit has that outstanding Channel 95.5 WKQI, yet still felt the need to erect MORE chr's (that are all much less interesting than the original WKQI) and they are all BELOW WKQI in ratings. (I think WKQI even plays a higher variety of dance hits in mixshows than XHTO does - in addition to already sounding great, yet somehow, they still remain on top of the chr chain in Detroit...)

Just checked, and WKQI is 9th in its market, and it's getting beaten by its Hot AC station WDVD (which is 5th)

In Chicago, Hot AC WTMX is 5th, and their Clear Channel pop/rhythmic CHR WKSC is 14TH

Looking at these two markets, it's almost like Cumulus should be teaching Clear Channel how to program CHRs - if WKQI and WKSC were bought out by Cumulus and programmed like Q100, it looks like their ratings would INCREASE

 

[Wildstyle K]

I do find it rather silly how Detroit has that outstanding Channel 95.5 WKQI, yet still felt the need to erect MORE chr's (that are all much less interesting than the original WKQI) and they are all BELOW WKQI in ratings. (I think WKQI even plays a higher variety of dance hits in mixshows than XHTO does - in addition to already sounding great, yet somehow, they still remain on top of the chr chain in Detroit...)

Just checked, and WKQI is 9th in its market, and it's getting beaten by its Hot AC station WDVD (which is 5th)

In Chicago, Hot AC WTMX is 5th, and their Clear Channel pop/rhythmic CHR WKSC is 14TH

Looking at these two markets, it's almost like Cumulus should be teaching Clear Channel how to program CHRs - if WKQI and WKSC were bought out by Cumulus and programmed like Q100, it looks like their ratings would INCREASE

But that's Hot AC. WKQI is (still) the leader in today's top 40 hit music in Detroit, even with the new, more direct competition. ClearChannel has a quite a bit of leading or high billing top 40 chr's.

If anything, Cumulus should buy KMVA because they look like they're trying to do the adult top 40 sound (with rhythmic ac hits thrown in...).

 

[musicman3355]

Hot AC and CHR have different listeners. CC is not going to care if hot AC is beating their station. The only way they'll care is if another CHR is beating them, which is the situation in Chicago (B96 is beating 103.5).

In Detroit, CBS' 98.7 AMP Radio is the competitor for 9-5-5. Since AMP hasn't gotten up to them yet, 9-5-5 is still the winner when it comes to CHR.

 

[mike7586]

So it looks like 96.1 The Beat (a Clear Channel station) in Charlotte plays Michael Jackson/Akon - Hold My Hand, Edward Maya - Stereo Love (this really surprises me!), David Guetta/Kid Cudi - Memories, Rihanna - S&M, Black Eyed Peas - The Time (The Dirty Bit) which Q100 barely plays outside of the syndicated Billy Bush Show or American Top 40 countdown on Sunday mornings. In addition, Kiss 95.1 (CBS station) in Charlotte plays Sean Kingston/Nicki Minaj - No Letting Go (Dutty Wine) and Flo-rida - Who Dat Girl.

It's pretty sad that stations in a much smaller market like Charlotte (not even a top 20 market) are willing to take "risks" with songs. None of these songs are played in Atlanta except for Black Eyed Peas - The Time which, like I said before, is barely played. I'm really curious as to WHY so many songs get ignored here. How is it possible, in an area of over 5 million people and being the #7 radio market in the country, that no station here will play any of those songs.

And Nyte Rider, you can get mad if you want because I'm nitpicking songs but it's the only way to illustrate what I'm trying to say. Most of these songs are not "out of the box" - they are played in pretty much all the large markets similar in size to Atlanta. Why do we get constantly get shafted?

 

[mike7586]

Also, both 96.1 The Beat and Kiss 95.1 let their listeners rate songs and pick what they would like to hear. I think Q100, Wild, and Star94 should do something like this...

http://www.961thebeat.com/pages/radiotraks.html

http://www.listener-power.com/ot/reg/wnks

 

[Nyte Ryder]

First off Mike, if you think those stations really "let the listeners pick the music" you are on drugs.

Every station in Atlanta does research in controlled situations to find out what should be played. Also, the fact that you are a male excludes you from the music screeners on Q, Star and WiLD. Sorry, but they all do 100 percent women.

Feel free to nitpick. First you talk about Z100 playing all the songs you say Atlanta should be playing, then you go to smaller markets when I point out that Z isn't playing most of those. The rule of thumb for radio is smaller markets are supposed to take the risks on songs. Even baby PD's know that.

When Q, Star or Beat take a risk with a song you don't like though, you throw a hissy fit. Hey, maybe you could fit into that demo for Star.

Dude, we really disagree about 80 percent on everything. Neither of us are going to change the others mind so I'll let you have the last work and step back.

I will add though that I think you should come up with some new catch phrases. If the worst thing in your life is there are a few songs not being played on radio in Atlanta that you feel you have a right to hear, you must have a pretty awesome world surrounding you.

Rock on man.

 

[atlantaboy]

I do find it rather silly how Detroit has that outstanding Channel 95.5 WKQI, yet still felt the need to erect MORE chr's (that are all much less interesting than the original WKQI) and they are all BELOW WKQI in ratings. (I think WKQI even plays a higher variety of dance hits in mixshows than XHTO does - in addition to already sounding great, yet somehow, they still remain on top of the chr chain in Detroit...)

Just checked, and WKQI is 9th in its market, and it's getting beaten by its Hot AC station WDVD (which is 5th)

In Chicago, Hot AC WTMX is 5th, and their Clear Channel pop/rhythmic CHR WKSC is 14TH

Looking at these two markets, it's almost like Cumulus should be teaching Clear Channel how to program CHRs - if WKQI and WKSC were bought out by Cumulus and programmed like Q100, it looks like their ratings would INCREASE

But that's Hot AC. WKQI is (still) the leader in today's top 40 hit music in Detroit, even with the new, more direct competition.

WKQI is leading in Detroit, but it still has lower ratings than Q100 does in Atlanta - so IMO saying that Q100 should be more like WKQI wouldn't make any sense

Pop/rhythmic CHRs have different listeners than Hot AC, but mainstream CHRs and pop-leaning Hot ACs compete for a shared demographic (not the entire demographic, but part of it) - - that's why Q100 is always watching Star 94 (otherwise, they wouldn't care)

In Detroit, many listeners who like mainstream pop are turning to WDVD (even though it's a Hot AC), and in Chicago, many mainstream pop listeners are turning to WTMX - to me, that says really clearly that if either station were programmed as a mainstream CHR, they'd take listeners from the pop-leaning Hot AC stations that are beating them in ratings

For years, when I lived there, Kiss 95.1/Charlotte competed with 107.9 The Link (Hot AC), until 96.1 The Beat came along and started to take their younger demo numbers

But it's definitely not true IMO that CHR as a format doesn't care about the Hot AC stations in their markets

 

[mike7586]

First off Mike, if you think those stations really "let the listeners pick the music" you are on drugs.

Every station in Atlanta does research in controlled situations to find out what should be played. Also, the fact that you are a male excludes you from the music screeners on Q, Star and WiLD. Sorry, but they all do 100 percent women.

Feel free to nitpick. First you talk about Z100 playing all the songs you say Atlanta should be playing, then you go to smaller markets when I point out that Z isn't playing most of those. The rule of thumb for radio is smaller markets are supposed to take the risks on songs. Even baby PD's know that.

When Q, Star or Beat take a risk with a song you don't like though, you throw a hissy fit. Hey, maybe you could fit into that demo for Star.

Dude, we really disagree about 80 percent on everything. Neither of us are going to change the others mind so I'll let you have the last work and step back.

I will add though that I think you should come up with some new catch phrases. If the worst thing in your life is there are a few songs not being played on radio in Atlanta that you feel you have a right to hear, you must have a pretty awesome world surrounding you.

Rock on man.

Z100 does play several of those songs. I never said any station in Atlanta has to be exactly like Z100, 96.1 The Beat, Kiss 95.1, Y100, Kiss in LA, etc nor does any station here have to play every single one of those songs. I'm questioning why NONE of those songs get any play time here, yet they do in other markets, both big and small.

And what are Q, Star, and Wild taking a risk with, especially Q? Absolutely nothing except for old songs that don't fit any current CHR like Smashing Pumpkins.

I don't know why you get so offended... it's clear that for such a large market, Atlanta radio is on the conservative side and I can't quite figure out why. Even smaller markets in the same region (Southeast) are much less conservative, and that was the point of looking at Charlotte radio stations.

 

[atlantaboy]

And what are Q, Star, and Wild taking a risk with, especially Q? Absolutely nothing except for old songs that don't fit any current CHR like Smashing Pumpkins.

Why isn't Q100 "taking risks" by adding Sick Puppies/Maybe and Maroon 5/Give A Little More?

It doesn't just sound like you want them to "take risks", it sounds like you want them to play more dance music

 

[Nyte Ryder]

Thank you Atlantaboy. You said what I was trying to say in half the words.

 

[mike7586]

And what are Q, Star, and Wild taking a risk with, especially Q? Absolutely nothing except for old songs that don't fit any current CHR like Smashing Pumpkins.

Why isn't Q100 "taking risks" by adding Sick Puppies/Maybe and Maroon 5/Give A Little More?

It doesn't just sound like you want them to "take risks", it sounds like you want them to play more dance music

I'm not "excited" about those songs but I don't mind them. They can add those two songs in addition to the others - that's what I don't get. They add those two songs, but won't touch many of the other ones. The fact that Q100 hardly plays Sick Puppies - Maybe and Maroon 5 - Give A Little More illustrates that they aren't catching on with listeners. Hasn't it been proven that when Q100 started leaning more rhythmic, their ratings went way up?

Also, I never said anything about a station having to play exactly what I want when I want it. There are many radio stations around the country I enjoy listening to and can listen to for awhile... unfortunately none of them are in Atlanta.

Finally, I'm not here to start arguments with people and I'm not sure why some of you are getting so defensive. What am I saying that is warranting these kind of responses? Oh no, dance, upbeat, rhythmic music on a CHR station?! Songs that are being played in large and small markets all over the country?! Are you crazy!? :

 

[electroboy73]

What I'm finding sad is watching the American Music Awards tonight and once again hearing tons of pop, dance and hip-hop music not even heard on Q100! ???

 

[InSearchOfGear]

What I'm finding sad is watching the American Music Awards tonight and once again hearing tons of pop, dance and hip-hop music not even heard on Q100! ???

The reason you're sad is because what Q100 is doing doesn;t fit into the neat little box you use to define a format.

Format definitions are for the radio industry, not radio listeners. Please see Q100's ratings for the answer to why you're so perplexed. They're doing well.

Next?

 

[mike7586]

What I'm finding sad is watching the American Music Awards tonight and once again hearing tons of pop, dance and hip-hop music not even heard on Q100! ???

The reason you're sad is because what Q100 is doing doesn;t fit into the neat little box you use to define a format.

Format definitions are for the radio industry, not radio listeners. Please see Q100's ratings for the answer to why you're so perplexed. They're doing well.

Next?

Q100 benefits greatly from The Bert Show. They have a solid and popular morning show. Overall, in the Atlanta market, Q100 is doing "well" but they could be doing better. Their playlist is really weird from 10am - 3pm. They mix in a bunch of random old songs (some good, some not so much) during that period and only play them during that period - it's a very jumpy feel and it's very strange. They really should move the Billy Bush Show to earlier in the day, say 10am - 2pm, then bump Brittany up to 2pm - 6pm, and make Johnny O the new night guy from 6pm - 11pm and give Johnny O a little more freedom to talk and interact with listeners and bring back a countdown or something. Billy Bush is too boring for the night spot and it's syndicated.

 

[electroboy73]

The reason you're sad is because what Q100 is doing doesn;t fit into the neat little box you use to define a format.

Format definitions are for the radio industry, not radio listeners. Please see Q100's ratings for the answer to why you're so perplexed. They're doing well.
Next?

Whatever dude. Yeah.... Like I'm really going by random undiscovered songs I just pulled out of nowhere. : Point is, there are hit songs that are played multiple times a day on CHRs in many markets from the size of Asheville, NC to New York that Q100/Cumulus is too conservative to play (and replaced by) tired AC/Hot-AC music which for market this size is ridiculous! There has been much improvement with this but, still so many hits on the current charts that are not heard in Atlanta. Q has good ratings because of the Bert Show. But the fact that its a major market CHR, and it STILL lacks the pure-CHR energy that's heard not only in major markets, but also in places like Charleston, Greenville and Williamsport, PA (of all places)....Then, yes it is sad.

 

[mike7586]

The reason you're sad is because what Q100 is doing doesn;t fit into the neat little box you use to define a format.

Format definitions are for the radio industry, not radio listeners. Please see Q100's ratings for the answer to why you're so perplexed. They're doing well.
Next?

Whatever dude. Yeah.... Like I'm really going by random undiscovered songs I just pulled out of nowhere. : Point is, there are hit songs that are played multiple times a day on CHRs in many markets from the size of Asheville, NC to New York that Q100/Cumulus is too conservative to play (and replaced by) tired AC/Hot-AC music which for market this size is ridiculous! There has been much improvement with this but, still so many hits on the current charts that are not heard in Atlanta. Q has good ratings because of the Bert Show. But the fact that its a major market CHR, and it STILL lacks the pure-CHR energy that's heard not only in major markets, but also in places like Charleston, Greenville and Williamsport, PA (of all places)....Then, yes it is sad.

Thank you! Could not agree with you more.

 

[electroboy73]

The reason you're sad is because what Q100 is doing doesn;t fit into the neat little box you use to define a format.

Format definitions are for the radio industry, not radio listeners. Please see Q100's ratings for the answer to why you're so perplexed. They're doing well.
Next?

Whatever dude. Yeah.... Like I'm really going by random undiscovered songs I just pulled out of nowhere. : Point is, there are hit songs that are played multiple times a day on CHRs in many markets from the size of Asheville, NC to New York that Q100/Cumulus is too conservative to play (and replaced by) tired AC/Hot-AC music which for market this size is ridiculous! There has been much improvement with this but, still so many hits on the current charts that are not heard in Atlanta. Q has good ratings because of the Bert Show. But the fact that its a major market CHR, and it STILL lacks the pure-CHR energy that's heard not only in major markets, but also in places like Charleston, Greenville and Williamsport, PA (of all places)....Then, yes it is sad.

CASE IN POINT: In the last hour or so I was listening to 3 very different CHR's (WIOQ/Philadelphia, WSSX/Charleston & WFBC/Greenville) And these are NOT rhythmic-CHRs but just regular CHRs. And between those two stations during the 10 and 11am hours, they played songs like:

Edward Maya - "Stereo Love"
Far East Movement - "Like A G6" (during midday, not just at night)
Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me"
Jesse McCartney - "Shake"
Eminem - "Not Afraid"
The Ready Set - "Love Like Woe"
Trey Songz - "Bottoms Up" (during midday, not just at night)

....it's not hard to see what type of (regular) CHR Atlanta is missing.

 

[atlantaboy]

You guys keep using examples of CHRs that have LOWER ratings than Q100 (WIOQ, WSSX, WKQI, WIBT), and you want Q100 to be more like those stations

Bottom line is IMO, the adult-CHR thing is working - if Wild 96.7 starts shooting up in ratings an beating Q100, then they'd be under pressure to go more pop/rhythmic, but as of right now, there's no reason for them to change what they're doing - and the claim that Q100 is only doing well because of the Bert Show is ridiculous