With B down, I might just be right

[atlantaboy]

2 Hot AC's in most major markets? All I can think of in the top 20 is NYC, which has 95.5 and 102.7

New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, San Diego, Detroit, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Phoenix all have two Hot ACs (I guess that's not most, but it's enough to at least give B98.5 an option IMO)

Atlanta is a young city - Classic Rock, Classic Hits, etc. don't do that well here, and I assume that's the same probably B98.5 was having when it tried playing a lot of soft 70s/80s

Doubling Star's playlist doesn't make any sense though - I would almost think B98.5 would have an easier time going after Star from the opposite end - new music heavy, and broader playlist - either that, or try Adult Hits with a huge variety of songs from the 80s/90s/2000s (not just the same 90s/00s songs that Star already plays)

 

[ck dexter haven]

Amusing. Bob Neil's gone now, what--6 months--and the station is tanking. What did Bob preach: focus. Deliver on what the research showed. Now things are different with Bob gone. Let's expand the playlist. Let's be "cooler". Pfffft.

Conservative works in the AC world.

There are lots of reasons to treat radio product as just that: a product. And there's nothing wrong with that, although boards like this tend to bring out the "expand your playlist, make it broader" types. Ok. But no one ever went into McDonald's asking, "where's the T-Bone steak on your menu?"

When I started in the biz, I was a music purist. That's all changed; I could care less. Play the hits, avoid the stiffs, and be consistent in presentation, marketing, and positioning.

It's not about music quality. It's about aggregating listeners to sell advertising at the highest rates.

 

[RadioPhillyFan]

2 Hot AC's in most major markets? All I can think of in the top 20 is NYC, which has 95.5 and 102.7, but 102.7 is classified as AC and is a little conservative (although they don't play 80s, which PLJ does), DC who has 94.7 and 107.3, and Detroit who has 96.3 and 100.3.

Try Philly?

PST (94.5)
WISX (106.1)
WSJO (104.9)
WSTW (93.7)

All of those but WSJO are full market coverage.


And, Atlanta has a population of 500k (rounded) - mostly black, iirc. I don't care what arbitron says, it's easy to see they have bad information, they rate poorly and don't update. - Philly is not the seventh largest metro, it's the fifth.

Atlanta should try Gospel AC or Gospel CHR.

 

[wpb1999]

Atlanta should try Gospel AC or Gospel CHR.

See Praise 102.5

 

[wpb1999]

Amusing. Bob Neil's gone now, what--6 months--and the station is tanking. What did Bob preach: focus. Deliver on what the research showed. Now things are different with Bob gone. Let's expand the playlist. Let's be "cooler". Pfffft.

Conservative works in the AC world.

There are lots of reasons to treat radio product as just that: a product. And there's nothing wrong with that, although boards like this tend to bring out the "expand your playlist, make it broader" types. Ok. But no one ever went into McDonald's asking, "where's the T-Bone steak on your menu?"

When I started in the biz, I was a music purist. That's all changed; I could care less. Play the hits, avoid the stiffs, and be consistent in presentation, marketing, and positioning.

It's not about music quality. It's about aggregating listeners to sell advertising at the highest rates.

Bob was perfect for B, but of course he was on the good side of Cox corp., so everybody hates him. I couldn't agree more with you.

 

[kal30005]

Amusing. Bob Neil's gone now, what--6 months--and the station is tanking. What did Bob preach: focus. Deliver on what the research showed. Now things are different with Bob gone. Let's expand the playlist. Let's be "cooler". Pfffft.

Conservative works in the AC world.

There are lots of reasons to treat radio product as just that: a product. And there's nothing wrong with that, although boards like this tend to bring out the "expand your playlist, make it broader" types. Ok. But no one ever went into McDonald's asking, "where's the T-Bone steak on your menu?"

When I started in the biz, I was a music purist. That's all changed; I could care less. Play the hits, avoid the stiffs, and be consistent in presentation, marketing, and positioning.

It's not about music quality. It's about aggregating listeners to sell advertising at the highest rates.

I tend to agree with you ... I think.

It seems that everybody is pretty much playing the same music. I think instead of every station trying to play some of what everyone else is playing, stations need to find a niche that reaches a particular audience. And stick with that niche.

B 98.5 (and Peach 94.9) were playing a lot of soft rock. It didn't matter so much what decade but the music fit the format. And it worked and has been very popular with the females.

But then they decided if they expanded the playlist to play more pop music, they could expand their market. But what they did instead was diluted it.

Another example was Groove when they first came on. Playing a lot of 70 and 80s disco and dance music. It wasn't a perfect station by any means but they had a niche and were playing music almost nobody else did. But then they just kind of drifted away from that and started playing the same stuff everyone else played.

I personally liked Dave FM and I think there are things they could do to improve the station. I'm not an expert in programming but it seems to me like there is a market in Atlanta for a little more indie music and a station that focuses more effort on local artists. I'm not saying Dave should become an all indie station or play just local music, but they had a nice niche for a while playing lighter alternative music and maybe they could have added more indie cuts and mixed in more local artists. Instead, they started to play what everyone else is playing and sound like the River now.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Let me remind everyone that B98.5's ratings had declined last year before they made changes. Immediately after the changes, ratings shot up. This was only one month. It might be a fluke, and it might not be. I don't think this report on its own is a reason for wholesale changes.

 

[Wildstyle K]

True - so I guess they need to explore a different option...

Maybe go full-blown Hot AC and compete head-on with Star and Q100 - most major markets now have two Hot ACs

I feel like if 70s were the way to go, WYAY would be WAY up in ratings - and it's not

If me suggesting a rhythmic chr in Atlanta means I want every station in the world to go dance, then shouldn't I conclude that the above statement means that you want every station to go Hot AC?  ;D

Sorry, I tried, but could not resist the growing temptation to say something!

I don't think that the 70s are the issue, but they need to start playing the Billy Joel, Elton, Van Morrison music that as you said, has defined them for years.  Lardass CeeLo is hip-hop and rap, NOT ADULT CONTEMPORARY   

CeeLo's "forget you" is not rap or hip hop. That's like calling "hey ya" by Outkast "rap or hip hop". If anything, it's as pop as Pink's "get this party started". It also crosses over to adult contemporary just as much as "single ladies" does. I guess you could say it's the new generation AC sound. I still remember how shocked I was when I first heard "the sweet escape" by Akon and Gwen Stefani on AC because I was mentally programmed to believe it was "too top 40" or too hard to be AC. I still remember when I thought Lady Gaga was too outrageous for AC because I wasn't used to it yet, but things change. I'm sure there were folks who once thought "waterfalls" by TLC sounded funny on AC.

Anyway, let me now go check on 99X. I have a feeling they're up to something.....

 

[atlantaboy]

True - so I guess they need to explore a different option...

Maybe go full-blown Hot AC and compete head-on with Star and Q100 - most major markets now have two Hot ACs

I feel like if 70s were the way to go, WYAY would be WAY up in ratings - and it's not

If me suggesting a rhythmic chr in Atlanta means I want every station in the world to go dance, then shouldn't I conclude that the above statement means that you want every station to go Hot AC? ;D

Fair enough - in my defense though, Star is dominating the caucasian market in ATL, so IMO it makes sense for stations to go after what's proven to work

 

[caller10]

I am now officially know as WPB1999- The only person on this board who wants the old B98.5 back.

To paraphrase Eminem: 'Cause (this thread) feels so empty without me'.

 

[MRFLASHPORT]

WMC Memphis...what if B went in this direction? No CeeLo but they completely cut out 70's and 80's and are mainstream CHR.
It's a lively sounding station...if B wants to take Star, they should do this, but stop trying to please everyone. It's almost as odd as AGH segue from Neil Diamond to Pink. It's just plain awkward!

http://www.fm100memphis.com/

 

[acheron1982]

Cee Lo is NOT rap. LOL! Remember, he was the lead singer in Gnarls Barkley. Remember who was playing Gnarls Barkley first and was the first station to play "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green? You guessed it; 99x that was once on 99.7 then 97.9 then 99.1 and finally 98.9 (something tells me 100.5 on down the road).

Regarding B- Get a little more conservative with the sound and stay away from Star. If soft ac does not work, tell Q100 to watch out because CHR has found a new home at 98.5.

 

[jabba17]

99x that was once on 99.7 then 97.9 then 99.1 and finally 98.9 (something tells me 100.5 on down the road).

99X is currently pulling a 0.3 share. Journey is pulling over twice that. 99X isn't getting promoted to a better signal any time soon, if at all.

That's not to say 99X couldn't do a radical reformatting and get promoted, but a station focusing on 90s album alt will always be a tiny niche. Heck, 99X + Dave barely gets a 2 share in the last book.

Cumulus would do well to figure out exactly what they want to do with Q, Journey, and AGH in terms of format positioning and tweaking--to max out listenership, reduce cannibalistic overlap, and also go after direct competitors like Star and B. If AGH gets too much into the 80s then they will have a lot of overlap with Journey. Done right, Journey + AGH could put a hurt on B, if that isn't the case already with B's 4-something share.

If Cumulus buys LFM then that changes the calculus altogether. Would Q go full CHR and Star solidify in Hot AC? Whither Journey at that point? I'd then put Journey on 106.7 and TOC on 97.9. Then Cumulus's 3 1/2 stations can whup up on B98.5; the only thing B could do then is revert to soft AC and LWYW.

 

[TheMusicMan]

Journey, in its current form, does not merit a full-power FM slot unless Cumulus has a death wish for one of its signals. If they ditch the fluff titles, add just a little personality and tweak it to echo the B98.5 of yesteryear (with a few more currents, but not nearly the amount B currently carries), that could be another story. Agree that AGH's approach depends mostly on what, if anything, might happen with this hypothetical AC. I don't believe they'd win head-to-head combat against The River. Q100 will stay the course.

MRFLASHPORT - FM100/Memphis is a straight-ahead Hot AC, very similar to Star 94. Cox moving to straight-ahead Hot AC would leave the door wide open for Cumulus or CBS to launch a mainstream AC. Less than advisable. Any new Hot AC in this market would have an uphill battle against an entrenched and thriving direct competitor (Star) and two strong peripheral competitors (Q100 and B98.5). The niche is small enough as is. Try battling them on the cheap and failure is guaranteed.

Also, I'll go on the record saying that I'd rather Cumulus DIDN'T get its hands on LFM, thank you very much.

 

[atlantaboy]

Would Q go full CHR and Star solidify in Hot AC?

As long as Star is pulling the ratings that it is, there's no way Q100 is going to "go full CHR"

 

[acheron1982]

I agree that 99X needs to reformat itself but that should be for a different thread.
Journey is doing better than 99x because Journey's signal is better. Also, look at the type of people that would listen to Journey verses 99x. 99x is much younger and are men. 99X listeners are into IPODS and Satellite radio where the listeners of Journey probably would not even know how to use an Ipod (Joking).

If 99x would sale their format and let people know where they are at, I think you might have some double takes. They have got to go true Alternative (like Radio 104.5 Philly) and leave that Active/Alternative hybrid alone.

What about B98.5 becoming CHR? Does COX have good CHR stations?? I know the rumor of 92.9 going CHR has went around on the blog but compare CBS with Cox. Who makes a better CHR station?

 

[TheMusicMan]

There is absolutely zero - no, LESS than zero - chance that B98.5 goes CHR, or changes to any format whatsoever.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

There is absolutely zero - no, LESS than zero - chance that B98.5 goes CHR, or changes to any format whatsoever.

You are absolutely right about that.

By the way, over the past few months, I've wondered why Star 94 never played Without You by David Guetta. I realize it's somewhat in the rhythmic genre and kind of young, but I don't see anything offensive in it to Hot AC listeners.

 

[wpb1999]

There is absolutely zero - no, LESS than zero - chance that B98.5 goes CHR, or changes to any format whatsoever.

You are absolutely right about that.

By the way, over the past few months, I've wondered why Star 94 never played Without You by David Guetta. I realize it's somewhat in the rhythmic genre and kind of young, but I don't see anything offensive in it to Hot AC listeners.

Maybe because LFM wants to play good music.

 

[jabba17]

Journey, in its current form, does not merit a full-power FM slot unless Cumulus has a death wish for one of its signals. If they ditch the fluff titles, add just a little personality and tweak it to echo the B98.5 of yesteryear (with a few more currents, but not nearly the amount B currently carries), that could be another story. Agree that AGH's approach depends mostly on what, if anything, might happen with this hypothetical AC. I don't believe they'd win head-to-head combat against The River.

No, if Journey gets a promotion it will not be in its current form. AGH doesn't really compete with River, not with River going full classic AOR. Rock 100.5 does, though.