What top markets needs a Top 40 Station?

[ATyler]

> Haven't been to Arizona in the summer, have you?


LOL, nope. Don't want to, either! That's waaayyyy too hot for my britches, thank ye!

<P ID="signature">______________
Aaron Tyler
Afternoons / MD
WVZA / Marion - Carbondale, IL
www.kissfm927.com

Weekends / Swing
KSLZ / St. Louis
WAKZ / Youngstown, OH
</P>

 

[jcolletta275]

What markets are really lacking in the Top 40 department?

I can think of several markets (of varied size) that need better CHR/Pop stations right off the top of my head. The one I'll mention here is where I am now.

Jackson, MI
No matter what anyone tells you, WKHM-FM is not a Top 40 station. They're more like a mid-90's AC with a couple of Kelly Clarkson tracks thrown in for good measure (although they don't get much out of it). I can't think of a single half-hour during which I've listened to them that there hasn't been at least one pre-1999 song in the playlist, and 80's tracks come up quite frequently. It seems to me (and many others) that they rely much too heavily on their library of gold and recurrent tracks... mostly gold. In fact, there have been Friday nights (outside of their "All 80's Old School Weekends"... and it's a rare occurance when a weekend isn't dubbed as such) when I've heard UB40's "Red Red Wine" or other such tracks played as part of the regular playlist. When was the last time you tuned into a Top 40 station on a Friday night and heard Bryan Adams' "Run To You"? Pretty pathetic, if you ask me.

Any others?<P ID="signature">______________
"Get educated. Read stuff on the web and believe all of it."
-- Phil Hendrie
http://theradioblog.blogspot.com</P>

 

[tanim_95]

> I wonder why KZZP would put so much rhythmic in their
> station. Come to think of it, you would think that they
> would put less rhythmic in their station, Phoenix has a very
> low black population...then yet, that doesn't always mean
> whites don't like rap. And, it's a CC station, so you'd
> definitely think they'd go by population.

R&B and hip-hop are popular with Hispanics, and Phoenix has a fairly significant (I think something like 25-30%) Hispanic population.

The popularity of R&B and hip-hop with Hispanics, and its popularity with the younger demos as a whole, is the reason Kiss leans heavily Rhythmic. When 104.7 had a more balanced playlist (from April '99 through April '01, using the "104-7 ZZP" moniker for most of that time), the ratings were bad. The station isn't #1 now, but it's still doing better than it did in the "104-7 ZZP" days.

Besides Kiss, Power 92 (KKFR) and Mega 104.3/99.3 (KAJM) also have slow jam shows.

(Power 92's normal format is all hip-hop and R&B. Mega's normal format is a very interesting mix of R&B, hip-hop, and dance from the late 60's -- I think -- through the 90's...including lots of songs that you just don't expect to hear on the radio anymore.