What's the deal with WIXX?

[Frank72]

This is a great station. Musically, very non-traditional. Their ratings are stellar. And they have a direct competitor who play it a lot safer with their music. Any insight? Are they also the default HOT AC for the market? Or is it just a CHR custom tailored for the market that really works? Is Green Bay a rock town? Why are they so freakin' big?! And why don't more CHR's try customizing their sound instead of being avid chart watchers?

 

[CHRles]

Simple. Most of the younger programmers coming up in the business are either
A) Afraid to take chances, worried that they'll lose their job in the process. Can't entirely blame them with all the changes going around, now can we?
B) They've been brainwashed to believe that only CHRs in the Top 20 markets are allowed to break new records, and that the rest of them should follow those playlists like a bunch of sheep.

101.1 WIXX Green Bay is a great example of how CHRs can sound unique for their markets and make it work. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that Kiss 95.9 is also in town as they do a great job of playing all the big national hits, but WIXX has a certain distinct Green Bay and even Midwestern feel to it.
Z-100 New York, both 97.1 Amp Radio and 102.7 KIIS-FM do a great job of playing the right music for their markets. They understand which records they can jump early on, and which records they should be more cautious about. Their PDs rely both on research and on gut instinct, and that's the way it should be. The same is true for a number of other CC-owned CHRs like 106.1 Kiss FM Dallas, Channel 93-3 San Diego, or 93.3 FLZ Tampa.
Ever looked at the ratings for stations like KJ 103 Oklahoma City? They're a true blue all-hit music station and their ratings are always very high. The guys there know how often to rotate the music, and have a can do attitude as far as mixing up a diverse set of music that's still within the confines of Top 40 radio. Rival Wild 104.9 may still be labelled by some in the industry as a Rhythmic, but it's really good at jumping early on Rhythmic hits as well as embracing the big Pop and even Pop/Rock hits pretty quickly. Oklahoma's other big market, Tulsa, is similar in nature with both 106.9 K-Hits and 92.1 The Beat sounding anything but stale. And we're talking about Oklahoma here, one of the more conservative states in the country.
Charlotte's Kiss 95.1 and 96.1 The Beat are great to point out, Q-92 Canton, 93.7 STW Wilmington, 103.7 Kiss FM Milwaukee, 93.7 KRQ Tucson, 98.5 KRZ Wilkes Barre, 104.5 SNX Grand Rapids, 96.5 The Mountain Chattanooga are all among my favorite stations.
B-93.7 Greenville currently has Seether's "Careless Whisper" as it's most played song, a record which may be a stiff nationally, but performing well at this highly rated CHR (as well as several other ones)

 

[franksandhotdogs]

Actually, Green Bay does have a Hot AC, as well - WQLH, Star 98. Nowhere near the same sound as IXX, though. WIXX is a legendary powerhouse for the market, and some of the jocks have been there 20+ years. WKSZ (95.9 Kiss FM) is a good station, too. Not as unique as IXX and it doesn't have the heritage, but either station will probably leave you satisfied.

To answer your question, I believe Green Bay is a more rock town and IXX aims after the 25-54 audience.

WIXX has been around since the 70's, WKSZ dates back to 1996. Kiss was starting to eat at IXX's younger demos, so Midwest put on a rhythmic CHR (Wild 99.7) as a flanker in 2002. WIXX started leaning on rock and dropped most rhythmic titles then. WKSZ flipped to Hot AC in 2003 as "Mix 95.9" which had terrible ratings. By 2006, 99.7 ditched rhythmic CHR, which led 95.9 to reincarnate 95.9 Kiss FM as a CHR with a rhythmic lean to grab some of the WLYD listeners. IXX has gradually added more rhythmic titles since then, while still leaning on rock.

 

[BRH]

B-93.7 Greenville currently has Seether's "Careless Whisper" as it's most played song, a record which may be a stiff nationally, but performing well at this highly rated CHR (as well as several other ones)

I also noticed that WAEZ "Electric 94.9" Tri-Cities TN/VA, is spinning this record constantly. It's #2 in spins right now on Electric and listening to their top 9 at 9 countdown while leaving work this past week, I've noticed that it's been in the top 5 every night. So it must be connecting in the upper east TN/Carolina region. I was a bit surprised. I know some stations gave it a few spins in new music features when it first came out, but it always struck me as kind of a novelty record. I know WDOD "96-5 The Mountain" in Chattanooga gave it some spins early, but have since backed off of it.

But yeah, I agree, whether I like certain songs or not personally, it is cool to hear a few CHR's stepping outside of the box and playing a more regional focused sound instead of carbon copying a national playlist.