• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

WHY IS CLEAR CHANNEL RESISTANT TO POP/ROCK?

carolinaradio said:
I don't get the musical changes at B-93.7 either, unless it's that the PD's specialty is rhythmic and that is what he is familiar with.
Click to expand...

I remember when I lived in Charlotte (from 1999-2007), it seemed like B93.7 would change its musical shift every half year - rock-friendly for a while, then rhythmic-friendly for a while, then back and forth...for years

Honestly, I think the staff at WFBC just has ADD and gets bored with doing the same thing for too long
 
atlantaboy said:
carolinaradio said:
I don't get the musical changes at B-93.7 either, unless it's that the PD's specialty is rhythmic and that is what he is familiar with.
Click to expand...

I remember when I lived in Charlotte (from 1999-2007), it seemed like B93.7 would change its musical shift every half year - rock-friendly for a while, then rhythmic-friendly for a while, then back and forth...for years

Honestly, I think the staff at WFBC just has ADD and gets bored with doing the same thing for too long
Click to expand...
Actually, they had gotten pretty stable the past couple of years, in terms of direction. They were more pop/rock friendly than most CHR's, had special 'acoustic' shows a couple of times a years, etc. They haven't been this rhythmic in a long time. The station has never gotten extremely great ratings on a consistent basis....maybe they keep thinking they can adjust the ratings and do better. IMO it's not presented extremely well.
 
atlantaboy said:
^If they stay really Rhythmic, WMYI should go Hot AC
Click to expand...

WMYI actually flipped to Hot AC last year, but they haven't been as "fresh" as they advertise to be. Very slow to add new songs and still sticking in some traditional AC like they're trying to keep old listeners. Better than nothing, but far from what it could be. They do have a national feed at night that is all Hot AC. It's their daytime that is lacking.
 
Adding to the above post, in response to 102.5 being Hot AC, though- as far as currents, they sound more like AC, but in their older selection of 90s/00s/recurrents (and some 80s), they sound like hot AC - it's just a big mess...one of the only AC-reporting stations to play "Party Rock Anthem" and "OMG"....I think now would be as good of a time as ever to try to get listeners from B93.7 instead of Magic 98.9, who they seem to be more after. We don't need a rhythmic CHR AND a rhythmic leaning CHR, with no alternative for new music, especially in a market like this, which can definitely support pop/rock music, IMO.

I wonder if WFBC will eventually take on a sound like the previously mentioned WXSS/Milwaukee, also Entercom.
 
Funny that as the majority of CHR's that were playing We The Kings have stopped playing SYLM, it is still one of WFBC's most played songs, getting way more plays than "Turn Me On" or 'Back Home' - really odd since they've become conservative/slower with pop/rock adds lately, but it's gotten 50+ plays in the last week and gets more plays than a lot of songs in the top 10 - doesn't really make sense (but then again, this is the same station that still has "We Found Love" and "It Will Rain" in power)...
 
Sorry, I posted this in the "Rock Dead" thread as well, but think this is really where I meant to post since I think B93.7 was actually mentioned more in this thread.

Anyway, the station recently got a new PD who apparently came from a heavily leaning rhythmic station which concerned me that they'd go even further in that direction. Ironically, the station's been adding more pop-rock songs that have long been ignored by the station.

Fun. has been a huge hit in many places for a while now, but, to my knowledge, it just started getting played here this week. One of the changes the PD appears to have made is to play the top requested song at the top of every hour. Today that song has been Fun. - just DAYS after it got a bit more rotation (honestly I heard it for the first time during the day yesterday). Hmmm...maybe that's the kind of music more people want to hear!

To me this is a huge kick in the ass to those PDs that think people don't like pop-rock and all they want to hear is the latest urban dance song or Katy Perry.

The station also has added Coldplay and newer Foster the People songs that have been long been ignored as well as Train's latest hit. Sure, they still have those other songs too. But it's a much better balance so far.

Hope, at least in our area, this signals a trend that pop-rock isn't dead.

Granted this is just something I've noticed over the past few weeks so it may be too early to tell the PD's grand plan for the station.
 
Actually, as the only CHR in the market, they should be playing those- none of the pop/rock adds are really out of the ordinary, but at least they're playing them. They're still a little later than most other CHR's with pop/rock, but I won't complain because at least they're getting played.

The "most requested song at the top of the hour" is essentially their 4 highest rotated songs (Fun. is one of those), so I wonder if they're really their most requested. I find it hard to believe that "Set Fire To The Rain" or 'Stronger', which fall in to that heavy rotation category, are at the top of their request list for a month. JMO.
I'm still baffled that WFBC is so obsessed with We The Kings. 50 plays a week for a song that wasn't even much of a hit, after all this time, is quite interesting...and "Turn Me On" by David Guetta / Nicki Minaj, which is #2 on CHR, just got 13 plays last week. Makes no sense.

Oh, as for Clear Channel resisting pop/rock, they seem to be warming up to the Fun song quite nicely - maybe they aren't as closed minded as it may seem.
 
carolinaradio said:
I'm still baffled that WFBC is so obsessed with We The Kings.
Click to expand...

Maybe somebody's cousin at B93.7 knows the brother of the cousin of We The King's promoter....LOL... It is kind of strange.

Guess my thing with Fun. is that even though it has been out for a bit and still is a song that they were slow to add, it got put into B's rotation much quicker than it took for them to jump on the Foster the People bandwagon. I honestly think FTP's "Pumped Up Kicks" was in the Top 10 for a few months  before WFBC ever played them (have no evidence to back that up, but it seemed that way). When they finally did play it, it got played to death. But it took forever for them to even add it to their playlist.

So, with B93.7's more rhythmic-leaning direction over - I'd say - the past year, it's somewhat of a relief to me that the new PD may not be as keen on continuing that direction despite his background. As I said, it's still early and could be a coincidence, but at least I feel some improvement. 
 
^Seems like a pretty big tangent, but this week B93.7 (WFBC) added...
All-American Rejects "Beekeeper's Daughter" and
Christina Perri "A Thousand Years"
 
Actually, a lot of CHR's around here have been playing those for weeks, if not months...I'm pretty sure Channel 96.1 and 104.7 WNOK were...

I like "Beekeeper's Daughter." Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to do much. I like the Train track as well (pun not originally intended). At least those have some "bite" compared to Christina Perri, Adele, and even the Gotye (which WFBC isn't playing)/Foster The People type stuff.
 
As Sean Ross has pointed out in his newsletters available on thei website, most of CCs CHR/Pop stations are patterned after WKFS/Cincinnati and that's been the case for years; fast on rhythmic, moderate or less airplay for rock tunes.

The 12-24s and 18-34s that are the core audience for top 40 also weren't too fond of ballads by non-rhythmic artists--until Adele came along with 'Someone Like You'; heck it's really amazing that her three most recent singles all shot to #1; Ross even noted the 'resistance' (his word) that Maroon 5 has encountered at top 40 radio.

They're every bit as much of a 'right-in-top-40-radio's wheelhouse' band as Duran Duran was in the 1980s when the format as substantially more popular than it is today; 'Misery' went nowhere just a few years after 'Makes Me Wonder' dominated the airwaves.

For better or worse, the format has been hyper-fixated on BPM (or 'power pop', as Ross calls it) for a few years now; thank goodness for Hot AC, which is sounding absolutely terrific these days, thanks to stations such as KBIG/LA.
 
KBIG is a wonderful Bright AC, but let's be real here - A typical hour on KBIG sounds nothing like a typical hour on CHR radio.

This is KBIG at 7 PM on Friday

Katy Perry - Firework 23.03.2012 7:08pm

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle 23.03.2012 7:11pm

Adele - Someone Like You 23.03.2012 7:16pm

Train - HEY, SOUL SISTER 23.03.2012 7:19pm

Orianthi - According To You 23.03.2012 7:26pm

Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know It All 23.03.2012 7:30pm

Matchbox 20 - 3 AM 23.03.2012 7:34pm

Gotye - SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW 23.03.2012 7:37pm

Timbaland - Apologize 23.03.2012 7:40pm

Gym Class Heroes - Stereo Hearts f/Adam Levine 23.03.2012 7:43pm

Ingrid Michaelson - Way I Am 23.03.2012 7:46pm

U2 - Beautiful Day 23.03.2012 7:50pm


This is KBIG in Middays

Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up 23.03.2012 1:07pm

Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call 23.03.2012 1:10pm

Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill .. 23.03.2012 1:13pm

Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me 23.03.2012 1:18pm

OneRepublic - Stop And Stare 23.03.2012 1:22pm

Pink - Raise Your Glass 23.03.2012 1:25pm

Beyonce - Irreplaceable 23.03.2012 1:29pm

Adele - Set Fire to the Rain 23.03.2012 1:41pm

Daughtry - What About Now 23.03.2012 1:46pm

Usher f - DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love 23.03.2012 1:47pm

CHRISTINA PERRI - JAR OF HEARTS 23.03.2012 1:53pm

U2 - Beautiful Day 23.03.2012 1:56pm
 
Um, they're not supposed to, and I wouldn't call KBIG a Bright AC station under any circumstances, since I know of no such stations playing Guns n' Roses ('November Rain' no less, Florence & The Machine, Def Leppard, David Bowie, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Bon Jovi, KT Tunstall, The Fray, Nickelback, Coldplay & tons of other rock stuff, alongside the usual Adult-friendly top 40 product out there.
 
I just went to mediabase and longtime top rated Los Angeles based KIIS FM barely have any pop rock hits in rotation. The only hit I could think of is Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" (which crossed over to crosstown Urban AC outlet 102.3 KJLH) and Cold Play's "Princess of China". Since I don't really listen to KIIS FM anymore I can't think of anymore good pop rock crossovers. KIIS FM is still pretty much heavy on Hip Hop/R&B and Dance pop hits.
 
KBIG is sounding great lately- but I would never classify it as a Bright AC. I pulled the logs for all of last week, and they typically touch only 3 to 5 songs from the 80s each day, along with a few late 90s hits (hence the "From the 90s to Now" tagline). They're primarily Hot AC currents and gold from the 2000s. They sound like what KIIS sounded like 10 years ago, with many of the same DJs. As some pointed out already, Hot AC is the new CHR.

A Bright AC or AC station would never touch LMFAO "Sexy and I Know It" or play Eminem & Rihanna "Love the Way You Lie".
 
BJordan said:
I just went to mediabase and longtime top rated Los Angeles based KIIS FM barely have any pop rock hits in rotation. The only hit I could think of is Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" (which crossed over to crosstown Urban AC outlet 102.3 KJLH) and Cold Play's "Princess of China". Since I don't really listen to KIIS FM anymore I can't think of anymore good pop rock crossovers. KIIS FM is still pretty much heavy on Hip Hop/R&B and Dance pop hits.
Click to expand...

::) ::)
Let's see. Fun is NUMBER TWO at KIIS-FM
Adele is Top 5
Kelly Clarkson and Gotye are Top 20
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom