Winners and losers in Atlanta radio with all the changes
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Phew!
It’s been a whirlwind month in Atlanta radio for rock and pop radio listeners, unprecedented in the amount of change in such a short time.
Lets’ review:
- Hard rock station Project 9-6-1 last week became top 40 station Power 96.1 on one of the most powerful FM signals in metro Atlanta. (Clear Channel today announced it is making a Project station available on its phone app “I Heart Radio.”)
- Alternative rock station 99X at 98.9 on Saturday turned into a hard rock station 98.9/The Bone on a signal that doesn’t reach much beyond the Perimeter.
- Journey 97.9 on Tuesday transformed itself into a Q100 “spinoff” featuring the top 20 songs from that station on a signal comparable to that of 98.9.
- In a few weeks, adult rock station 92.9/Dave FM will switch format into a sports talk station on one of the stronger signals in the area.
- And back in May, the oldies station Atlanta’s Greatest Hits dropped its format to be All News 106.7.
So who are winners and losers if things don’t change yet again?
WINNERS
- Fans of top 40 radio. Clearly, the options to hear Flo Rida, Rihanna and Karmin have gone up since two more top 40 stations have appeared on the dial. We now have at least five stations playing a variation of current pop music, some with more of a rock/pop lean, some with a hip-hop feel: B98.5, Star 94 and Q100 plus newbies Power 96.1 and Q100’s 20 at 97.9. Wild 105.7/96.7 has started to veer more hip hop but still plays some top 40 songs. It’s fair to say Atlanta has never had this many choices on the top 40 front.
- Sports talk fans. There’s a reasonable debate about whether Atlanta is a good sports town outside of football. But for more than a decade, it has successfully sustained two AM sports talk stations – one which added a modest FM signal in 2010. But can Atlanta sustain three sports talk stations? Folks who love to listen to guys (and the occasional woman) gab about the Hawks, Falcons and Dawgs now have more options than ever thanks to CBS Radio and 92.9.
- Elvis Duran and Ryan Seacrest. Elvis Duran, the syndicated New York talk show host, had been on the weaker Wild 105.7/96.7 signal and gradually building a faithful audience seeking an alternative to the Bert Show on Q100. Now he’s been placed on the more powerful Power 96.1 signal and will face Bert on an even playing field. Seacrest, the ubiquitous media mogul and “Idol” host who began his career as a teen-ager at Star 94 in the 1980s, joins the mid-day slot in syndicated form, a place he held briefly a couple years ago on Star.
- Rock 100.5 and 97.1/The River. Fewer options for rock fans has to help the two remaining big-signal rock stations. It certainly can’t hurt them. Ratings-challenged Rock 100.5 could especially use the boost.
- The Regular Guys. With Project’s year-old Kidd Chris gone, the male-leaning veteran Regular Guys show on Rock 100.5 may be able to draw back some of its listeners who have left the past couple of years.
- Spotify, Pandora, Slacker, Sirius XM, your iPod. Alienated FM radio listeners are going to other options. And there are plenty, especially on your smartphone. Arguably, the fact so many rock fans were already going in this direction may have hastened the demise of stations such as Dave.
LOSERS
- Rock radio fans, especially those in their 30s and 40s. While classic rock fans can still enjoy the River and Rock 100.5, if you’re into acts such as Mumford & Sons, Avett Brothers, Cake, the Talking Heads, Jack Johnson, INXS, Dave Matthews Band, and Weezer, your options are or will soon be virtually gone from the FM dial in Atlanta.
- Pop fans who like songs from the 1980s and 1990s. Lovers of pop songs from the 1960s and 1970s are already bereft of FM options since Atlanta’s Greatest Hits went away in May. No Beatles. No James Taylor. No Bee Gees. B98.5 plays a few 1980s and 1990s cuts. Star will throw in an occasional nugget from the 1990s. But if you just want to listen to songs from those decades alone, Journey was it.
- Kidd Chris. After 15 months in Atlanta, he was starting to build momentum for younger males. New morning shows typically take two or three years to really get going so he was well on his way. The death of Project cut him off at a key moment.
- Most of the staff at Dave FM. With fewer rock options in this market, this makes it just much harder for on-air staff such as Steve Craig, Margot Smith and Rich Sullivan to find another job in Atlanta. Mara Davis, given her heritage in town, may have the easiest time landing somewhere else.
- Wild 105.7/96.7. The station was doing very well on a medium-sized signal, a top 5 station among 18 to 34 year olds. Even though Wild has gone more hip-hop in the past week to try to take away listeners from surging Hot 107.9, Clear Channel has turned Wild into a “flanker” to Power rather than its primary focus. That means resources that might have gone to Wild in terms of marketing and sales will likely be diverted to Power.
- Q100 (potentially). Q100 is a dominant top 40 station in town and has been for years. Power’s music mix is clearly targeting that station, even more so than B98.5 and Star 94, which skew older.
- 790 the Zone. This station does not have an FM signal and its night signal is tepid. It’s already at a disadvantage with 680/The Fan, which also airs on 93.7 and has a stronger night signal. So with 92.9 coming aboard, the Zone is immediately in trouble. (The Zone is available on the Star 94 HD-2 channel if you happen to have HD Radio.)
- FM radio in general. These changes in general result in fewer options on the FM dial. There’s no doubt many peeved listeners are going to seek friendlier climes and spend less time with old-fashioned free radio.
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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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244 comments Add your comment
Sagebasics
September 5th, 2012
2:03 pm
All News 106.7 is a winner for those listeners who prefer news to music. We’re all winners when they can drive home in the afternoon, pick up the local news, and not have to listen to Sean Hannity.
former RegularGuy listener
September 5th, 2012
2:12 pm
At least we still have “TheRiver” radio so we can hear Phil Collins’ classic “I Can Feel It Cumming In Her Hair Tonight……….Oh Lord” about fifty times a frigging day and I am willing to bet that The RegularGuys radio show will be another proud sponsor and supporter of next spring’s Gay Pride Parade and rally since most of their content for over a year has been homo-erotic. I liked their program much better when Larry W.A.C.H.S., SouthSideSteve and SeaBass still pretended to be half way straight. I hope Tim Andrews and Eric Von Haesller can find their own program. Looks like the internet has truly killed the radio star.
beachmom
September 5th, 2012
2:17 pm
David Byrne had a great quote about radio and Clear Channel, in particular. He was talking about different deals musicians can make, and Live Nation came up.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
“I, for one, would not want to be beholden to Live Nation — a spinoff of Clear Channel, the radio conglomerate that turned the US airwaves into pabulum**.”
** pabulum: “Insipid intellectual nourishment”
The comment section on this blog has been more engaging than FM radio in Atlanta. Nice analysis, Rodney. I would just add one more group of losers: great artists whose music will never be heard on the radio in Atlanta.
dagadawgs
September 5th, 2012
2:18 pm
Liam hit it right on the head! Big rock acts will not be coming to Atlanta w/o a decent station to promote them. Atl radio blows
blkshepherd
September 5th, 2012
2:22 pm
You know your getting old or old when you finally decide to go out on the town to a nightclub after Years of staying home on friday and Saturday night..only to have the first 20 songs and two hours go over your head because Everything sounds the Same today, and then finally a song from the 1980s comes on and Its Like a Breath of Fresh air.
Even if the song from the 80s was Not one of your favorites..Its sounds so damn good you jump up and want to dance! I Never Never thought I would miss the 80s until the late 90s and 00s came in. All I had left was the Real Oldies station or my Own private collection.
Now that Radio has completely DIED(RIP) I guess the Only music worth listening to is what you have Downloaded from Youtube to your Mp3 player! RIP 60s 70s and 80s when we had Music of substance.
dagadawgs
September 5th, 2012
2:23 pm
Couldn’t agree more with former Reg listener. What’s up with the W.A.C.H.S nonsense? Also, I am waiting for them to have a circle jerk and loser eats the cracker. Excluding Tim and EVH. Was starting to enjoy Kidd Chris show.
Sam-A
September 5th, 2012
2:23 pm
OTP: Me too. Bring Paul Drew at Quixie in Dixie back, I’ll listen to AM again! And the OLD Z93 – not the pathetic one of it’s last couple years on the air before Dave Radio took over. Glad I’ve got a good CD collection in my car!
Highlander
September 5th, 2012
2:36 pm
Nice write-up, Rodney. Then again, it’s not news to many that radio in Atlanta has been in decline for quite a long time.
Personally, my radio listening is primarily news talk and sports talk now. When I’m listening to music in the car, it’s almost always through my mp3 player hooked up to the audio system. That way I don’t have to hear the same 10 or 12 songs every time I get in the car. And I don’t have to hear Adele every fourth song! (…Yeah, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. There have been times when an over-played Adele song came on the radio and when I switched channels, another Adele song was playing!)
sports talk
September 5th, 2012
2:39 pm
Rodney,
Sports talk will really be just two stations instead of the one we have now. 790 AM can barely be heard outside the perimeter during daylight hours. Driving home from the airport at night, I lose the signal before getting to the perimeter. Pathetic.
Dave, depending on whom they choose as their personalities, will do well as they can be heard, day or night, well out into the ‘burbs.
Snowball
September 5th, 2012
2:40 pm
106.7 news format is TERRIBLE bring back the oldies!
Cherrie D.
September 5th, 2012
2:43 pm
There’s nothing great to listen to OTP. At 7pm tonight , it’ll be a week that my radio has stayed off since they took “The Project 96.1 off of the air. I’m depending on cd’s in the car and Jango and WSOU and old Punkrockalypse podcasts online at home. The http://www.facebook.com/SaveOurProject page has over 14,000 fans in a week. I think that alone says something about how pissed off that people are with Atlanta radio stations for their actions. I hope that everyone who lost their favorite stations keeps the fight going, Clear channel and Cumulas Corps. screwed us all !
Snozzwanger
September 5th, 2012
2:45 pm
I HATE it that Dave is gone, especially since the music has been so good the last few months. It’s seemed like “we’re leaving, but hear what web *could* have been without meddling consultants/corporate wonks interfering.” Not saying that’s what was going on, but that’s how it feels.
BTW: Rodney, in your (otherwise) excellent re-cap above you have ‘Journey’ as having been @ 98.9.
old dj
September 5th, 2012
2:52 pm
A few thoughts:
*Why hasn’t WABE dropped the Classical during the day? For me WABE get’s turned off right at “Second Cup”. In other cities, Public Radio is much more engaging.
*I’m surprised that there was not more mention of 88.5. A great station. But, I will agree aformentioned that they tend to play too much “new music”. However the late night Fri and Sat shows are still a treat.
*I liked The River for about 2 weeks. That is until I exhuasted the 150 tracks in thier playlist.
*95.5 can be entertaining, but once Bortz goes, I go… Plus half the reason I listen, is because “Second Cup” is lame
*The real winners in Atlanta are the Urban R&B/Hip-Hop, and Country stations… Neither of which I care for…
Highlander
September 5th, 2012
2:56 pm
@blkshepherd, exactly!! So-o-o-o-o much of today’s pop music sounds the same.
I know that’s an old complaint that’s been handed down through the generations, but positive proof happened a couple years ago when Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson both had hits that sounded alike because the same “beat” track was inadvertently used on both songs!
HENRY
September 5th, 2012
3:05 pm
I AGREE WITH THIS WRITING……..ALL THE GOOD STATIONS AND FORMATS ARE GONE…..BRING BACK “THE GREASEMAN” AND “JOHN BOY AND BILLY” TO THIS MARKET. I LISTEN TO RADIO OUT OF MACON.
Alana
September 5th, 2012
3:14 pm
I moved here from Miami during what I knew as the PRIME of ATL radio, rock was all the rage. I couldn’t have been happier as Miami has continued to move towards the Hip-Hop & Rap or Latin radio, your options are limited there. Over the past 10 years, ATL has taken the same route (with the exception of Latin radio), we have nothing but POP on the stations here, and the same 5 pop songs, to make it worse….. What happened to classic rock? This is just depressing…. I’ll be the girl with the ear-buds in on 85… Don’t worry, I can still hear you all honking
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Calling It Like It Is
September 5th, 2012
3:27 pm
I agree with the apps instead of satellite. But, if you are going to boycott the media companies, don’t download I Heart Radio, as it is owned by Clear Channel and Cumulus.
And…wasn’t there a deregulation years ago that said that one company couldn’t have a monopoly in any market?
Jody
September 5th, 2012
3:35 pm
Commercial radio is terrible. You want good radio tune in to 88.5 WRAS, 89.1 WRFG, and 91.1 WREK. Daily rotation at WRAS is fantastic. And for moring drive time – blues at WRFG. But the absolute best on radio bar none is every Friday nite on WREK Stonehenge. All of these stations are available on TuneIn but you can also tune in yourself with a real radio.
jeff
September 5th, 2012
3:40 pm
i still miss 96 ROCK
Luke
September 5th, 2012
3:41 pm
I am actually kind of glad. Some of the most frequent complaints about Atlanta radio stations were the lack of diversity in their playlist. Now with more people moving to internet radio stations, spotify, rdio, tune-in radio, etc. there will be a broader scope of music reaching more people. Good riddance to the crappy stations.
Stuart
September 5th, 2012
3:48 pm
Everytime I see a story by Rodney about radio stations and the subsequent comments, I think of radio in New Orleans. There is a guy named Bob Walker who was a radio legend there with a station called WTIX (like WQXI and some other top 40s back in the day) and he has a website with a couple of links concerning his opinion about the suits who run radio stations. You could probably replace the city name with Atlanta and it is probably the same opinion.
If anyone wishes to read it. Google Walker’s name and possibly WTIX. Otherwise I think the site is walkerspub.com but I am unsure.
Stuart
September 5th, 2012
3:49 pm
By the way, I like the photo of the lady.
trueblue
September 5th, 2012
3:53 pm
I love the 2-Live Stews, I hope someone will pick those guys up after 790 goes under.
JMac
September 5th, 2012
3:55 pm
There will never again be a time so wonderful as when Atlanta had 94Q, 96Rock and Z-93. Rock music in the Atl. was covered. Now, all we have is 100.5 and The River, both of which absolutely reek. Any rock/classic rock/classic hits station that refuses to play any or only one or two songs by artists such as Springsteen, Allman Brothers, Foghat, Seger, and Beatles, just to name a few, is not worth the time. Hear that Clapper??
ATL
September 5th, 2012
4:12 pm
Radio sucks in this town. Wish the River would play more than 25 songs over and over. More and more we use Directv music stations around the house. Choice of 70’s, 80’s, 90’s. Subterranean is the best. Satellite for everything else. Hair Nation is cool!!!
Murray J Siskind
September 5th, 2012
4:13 pm
My favoite radio station to listen to in Atlanta is Chattanooga’s NPR station at 88.1. Jazz, Wilco, Decemberists, Black Eyed Peas…I can pick it up on the northside most days…
Tim
September 5th, 2012
4:23 pm
For hip-hop fans, there is a new station at 94.5 (I guess they’re new, I just stumbled upon them last week). They’ve been playing some songs not heard on Hot 107.9. Hopefully they’ll continue.
@Jody
Yes, Stonehenge on 91.1 every Friday is good and definitely slept on. All the people who miss Classic Rock on radio should tune in. I also listen to the Friday Night Fish Fry (The Blues) at 6:00 p.m. sometimes before Stonehenge comes on. Then I listen to Wreckage (Heavy Metal) sometimes after Stonehenge. WREK 91.1 is very good on Fridays from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
It’s a shame there is not more Blues and Jazz on the radio in Atlanta. And there is no Soul Music being played. You can hear some old-school R&B, but they never play Curtis Mayfield or Sly and the Family Stone.
Huffster
September 5th, 2012
4:25 pm
Insightful reporting and predicting, Rodney. All those highly-paid radio execs should have consulted you instead of their highly-paid, clueless consultants who recommended all these poorly-thought-out changes.
Madeline
September 5th, 2012
4:29 pm
When you say “surging 107.9″ do you mean it’s gaining on/or has surpassed,103.3 in ratings? In the rare instances when I do turn on the radio, it’s almost always to 104.1.. or 97.5.
Cammi317
September 5th, 2012
4:40 pm
It’s official, after Dave switches over I will have nothing to listen to on broadcast radio. Last week I was consoling myself with the fact that I would still have Journey, but they showed me…..
think about it
September 5th, 2012
4:46 pm
the one thing most of you are forgetting is the “WHY?”… It’s not as if some big wig just pulled the plug for no reason. They use ratings systems to track the amount of listeners they have. Low numbers mean lack of advertising on the station. When the Ad revenue isn’t there, they can’t keep the station going… Who’s to blame? The listeners not supporting the stations.
rachel
September 5th, 2012
4:49 pm
I am probably not old enough to know this for sure – but hasn’t every generation complained about the younger generations music “all sounding the same’? My mother even admitted her parents compained about her music from the 70’s and 80’s. I’m sure I will make the same complaint one day.
Katy Watts
September 5th, 2012
4:52 pm
I’m furious they turned the best oldies station, 106.7, into an all news station. BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I can’t find anything decent on the dial and that’s especially sad in a city as big as Atlanta.
michael
September 5th, 2012
4:57 pm
I love the River, but really miss 106.7’s music. It played classic rock, but included more variety of older hits….
kristoffer
September 5th, 2012
5:09 pm
My favorite stations were Dave and 99x. Now that they are both gone I will probably get an Sirius subscription. Someone else mentioned WXRT in Chicago for a station that seems to know how to play the right mix of rock music. I started listening online a few days ago and haven’t stopped. It’s kinda sad when you have to listen to a station out of state cause Atlanta can’t seem to get it right! http://wxrt.cbslocal.com/
GA Girl
September 5th, 2012
5:12 pm
I hate this!! Too much pop! I’m so sad they are taking 92.9 away. I LOVE that station! I enjoy Q100 as well, but I can only listen to the same song so many times!!
BravesFan79
September 5th, 2012
5:14 pm
I first knew things were changing for the worst when i started hearing hip hop on 96 Rock late at night years ago. The majority of people DONT want to hear all the same top 40 garbage that were told by Clear channel we HAVE to hear! Clear Channel you SUCK!
BravesFan79
September 5th, 2012
5:24 pm
As someone who listens to nothing but the radio, ive heard “That Nina”, “Ive been everywhere” and a few others SO MANY TIMES it makes me wanna punch the producers in the face. How about some old Outcast, how about some old Smashing Pumpkins or 311? The old stuff is the good stuff, when hip hop was golden, and rock. 2 bad stations arent “paid” to play it like they are the new stuff. Shame.
Frank
September 5th, 2012
5:27 pm
Rodney,
Have you heard any talk about 790 The Zone adding an FM signal anytime soon? I’d argue it’s long overdue, but it’s going to be crucial to the station’s survival once 92.9 flips to sports.
M915
September 5th, 2012
5:28 pm
atlanta radio was gone when 94q jazz flavors stopped
BravesFan79
September 5th, 2012
5:30 pm
Whos to blame? Not the “ratings” you blind fool. This is part of the NWO agenda, to push as much Lady Gaga and other low IQ no brains required music on the population as possible. Start em when their young, dumb down the population, brainwash the kids to fit your sick liberal agenda.
The Sanity Inspector
September 5th, 2012
5:47 pm
I actually welcome the return of all-news programming to Atlanta, with 106.7. Yes, it gets tedious if you listen to it all day–it obviously isn’t intended for that. But it’s better than having to wait for the top of the hour, as with the AM stations. Or sit through a snoozer of a feature about the plight of migrant Uighur rutabaga pickers in inner Mongolia, as on WABE.
Reverie
September 5th, 2012
6:10 pm
Four large Top 40 music-bots and no room for a good Jazz station with a relatively strong signal? They managed to completely annihilate 96Rock. WGST is a steaming pile of radio executive and they wonder why we grow further and further apart. I’m not in love with XM but I have it. I use TuneIn to listen to hard rock (KISS – San Antonio) and Progressive Rock such as Yes and Pink Floyd, ZZTop and the like. Everything I like has gone away and while I at the absolute height of my earning potential Atlanta radio executives decide to abandon me while they fight over table scraps. Top 40 is an absolute insult to real musicians and singers. Good-bye cruel world. I’m leaving here today. Good-bye, good-bye….good-bye.
ATLRadioInsider
September 5th, 2012
6:34 pm
What is Driving Pop Music in Atlanta?
http://atlradioinsider.blogspot.com/2012/09/whats-really-driving-pop-music-radio-in.html
ATLRadioInsider.blogspot.com
PMom_GA
September 5th, 2012
8:03 pm
Hmm, wasn’t Journey at 97.9? You have it as being 98.9.
Steak is a blow hard
September 5th, 2012
8:16 pm
When 790 goes under, will Steak’s family buy him another radio station? He is the sole reason why I refuse to listen to that station ….
Love DAVE FM
September 5th, 2012
9:11 pm
DAVE FM was the first station my 17-25 year old kids and I could agree on. I love the new fresh music out there and will hate my 1+ hour commute without it. Do you really think we all want to listen to news and sports talk? I’d rather listen to chalk screeching! What a terrible loss for Atlanta!!! Feels like the day music died!