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.
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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244 comments Add your comment
savior
September 6th, 2012
12:48 pm
Does this mean we finally get rid of hamburger shapiro????????????
Please God say it’s finally so!!!!
tom
September 6th, 2012
12:49 pm
who cares i have spotify – radio dj’s suck any way
kevinofconyers
September 6th, 2012
1:01 pm
You’re complaining about V103? Have you seen the numbers they do?!!! They’re leading in Atlanta radio and it isn’t even close (not talking opinions — Im talking NUMBERS). Regardless of how you or I may feel, they aren’t rebooting that one ANYTIME soon.
Toby
September 6th, 2012
1:09 pm
It’s good Steve Craig is getting off the air. That guy is stupid: he’s full of himself, is full of trivial information, is deeply confused about economics in the broadest sense… good riddance. It is weird how much pop we have here now, but, I listen to 90.& (GPB) & 90.7 (WABE) & they are awesome; people who listen to NPR are the most well informed in the nation too, so, hey that’s good. We’re all very lucky.
Toby
September 6th, 2012
1:10 pm
90.7 (GPB) & 90.1 (WABE)
Glenn
September 6th, 2012
1:20 pm
I’m not sure where the people are getting their numbers from, but virtually everyone I know listens to Dave FM exclusively and no one asked us. I have no interest in “pop” music or Top 40, nor do most of my friends or family, and my wife isn’t interested in sports, so we listen to Dave; this is fairly consistent with dozens of our friends. I would also suggest we’re the people with the disposable income the advertisers are aiming for. I guess new artists in Atlanta will suffer unless they are mentioned by word of mouth because most of us aren’t going to bother to listen to the radio anymore. Can you say iPod?
Southern Comfortable
September 6th, 2012
1:21 pm
First of all I have two letters for y’all: XM! When Z93 became DAVE FM I NEVER tuned in again, then my beloved 96 Rock became Project 9-6-1 and Y106 became a latin station. Atlanta radio had officially gone down the toilet. I bought XM and never looked back!
Southern Comfortable
September 6th, 2012
1:26 pm
And another thing……Z93, 96 Rock, Y106, etc. lasted for DECADES for a reason. How long have the stations lasted that took their place? If it aint broke don’t fix it!
fred
September 6th, 2012
1:28 pm
I glad I’m not alone. You’d think Atlanta of all places would have a good, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s Pop station. 97.1 plays the same old stuff day after day….no variety. 98.5 hits some every now and then. Please bring back SCOTT SHANNON, the best DJ on the planet. Try Magic 98.1FM out of Hawkinsville. They are GREAT but weak signal.
Runned Offt
September 6th, 2012
1:41 pm
Clear Channel is already on their 3rd FB page since their format mistake! They’ve had to make new ones when their moderators couldn’t keep up with the number of negative posters. Guess when a few thousand rock fans get irritated, it’s hard to keep up with the necessary deletions.
Disheartened Listener
September 6th, 2012
1:52 pm
I am very upset that they have taken away the older listening stations and replaced them with Top 40. I like all different types of music and I want a variety of radio stations on my radio dial. If we are going to have the same types of stations cycling the same music/news formats why do I need a radio at all? I could just load everything on my iPod or use my SmartPhone.and get what I really want. I loved Journey, I also like the oldies channel, country music, hip hop, pop, jazz, classical, big band and I could go on and on. I cannot be the only one with such tastes. Why I we being spoon fed the same stuff over and over!
Chipster
September 6th, 2012
2:03 pm
@Rodney – not sure if this has already been covered, but there are already FOUR sports stations in Atlanta…680, 790…and 1230 (Fan 2 ) and 1340 (Fan 3). Fan 2 is ESPN Radio and Fan 3 is Fox Sports Radio, but has Dan Patrick and Jim Rome. Rome signed with CBS last year and now CBS is building out a sports talk radio network…perhaps there’s a story there?
atlantathrunthru
September 6th, 2012
2:06 pm
The real losers are modern rock fans. im 22 and i enjoy all types of music but project 96.1 with its current rock for younger adults was by far everyone i knew’s favorite station. also 99x with alternative rock was always option 1a, where is anyone going to be able to listen to tool, chevelle,incubus, three days grace and so on. I realize 98.9 “the bone” is close to project and 99x but i will not be considered a “boner” anytime soon.
Lyndsey Marie... 3 thumbs up
September 6th, 2012
2:08 pm
Why hasn’t anyone hired “Radio Boy” Christopher Clandro or Chad “Mr. Personality” Scotttt?
Boned in Gwinnett
September 6th, 2012
2:11 pm
The big problem with the bone is they can’t even get their signal to reach Buford…..
the who were wrong
September 6th, 2012
2:27 pm
Rock radio is dying all over America. Sirius here I come.
Mitch Evans/Mike Bell
September 6th, 2012
2:35 pm
Randy! Oh my god!
Chris
September 6th, 2012
2:55 pm
Hopefully this will inspire 88.5 to bring back good alternative college music, like they used to play from the 70s through the 90s. It’s been a mess of mostly junk music since then. They were first to play Bob Marley, Jane’s Addiction, Pixies, The Cure, The Cult, Smashing Pumpkins, etc… in Atlanta. We need that type of good programming back.
Asll1
September 6th, 2012
2:58 pm
Atlanta radio—maybe the worst of any big market in the u.s. I went with XM 4 years ago and haven’t looked back. They must make money here, but the quality is very low.
mc
September 6th, 2012
3:01 pm
1690 am is the best radio station in town. Eclectic mix of good music and occasional humor.
I was there
September 6th, 2012
3:11 pm
Ryan Seacrest started at Star 94 in the early ’90s, not the 1980s. He would’ve been too young, considering his 15th birthday came just a week before New Years Day 1990.
Mike
September 6th, 2012
3:13 pm
Joe South died yesterday in Flower Branch, and I don’t think there’s a single radio station in Atlanta that would even have “Games People Play” or “Rose Garden” to play in his memory.
Big Hat
September 6th, 2012
3:18 pm
Do any stations use their call letters anymore (small FCC requirement) or is that just too 20th century?
Butch
September 6th, 2012
3:47 pm
Please go away Seacrest. We don’t want you here seeing as you couldn’t get syndicated before and now you had to alienate people who are loyal listeners and want to different radio in order to get your way. I’ve completely switched to XM but the quality of sound on XM isn’t very good to me compared to FM at least in my car. It sounds so compressed and flat but it’s better than supporting any of the FM stations around in this town. I might turn into the River but 99X is too weak of a signal to hear the rock that I want.
NoCal
September 6th, 2012
3:55 pm
I feel bad for all my former neighbors in the ATL who like rock radio. 96 Rock was a high school staple in the mid 80s and 99x was cool for a while, but decent rock radio hasn’t existed in Atlanta in a long time. If you have the I Heart radio app, find 98 Rock in Sacramento. Great mix of new and old rock: Tool, Godsmack, Seether, etc with a nice dose of Ozzy, Floyd, Tom Petty, etc. There is a lot I miss about living in Atlanta, but radio isn’t one of them.
levelhead
September 6th, 2012
5:24 pm
HA HA I’m jamming in my car to 91.9 the Jazz of the City. Thanks to all of my DJ’s who keep me entertained all day. So if you see me in my Mercedes rocking to the beat its all about WCLK 91.9. PROUD MEMBER!
RockMusicFan
September 6th, 2012
6:17 pm
I’m SO disappointed with how Atlanta radio is turning out! I’ve been a fan of 99X since day one, and now they’re gone… again. Dave FM is one of the last great rock/alt stations out there! Do we really need so many Top40/pop/hip-hop stations?! And more sports talk?! Really? Guess I need to look into streaming audio on my smartphone.
Robert Owens
September 6th, 2012
8:40 pm
You should do a story about Clear Chanel’s sneaky take over and destruction of Atlanta’s traditional Rock Station Project 9 6 1 (formerly Rock 96) With out warning Clear Channel changed the format to Canned top 40 music. ( already several stations in north Georgia broadcast in this format)
The listeners are forming a boycott and revolt. Go to face book and see:https://www.facebook.com/Project961Undead (nearly 5000 members) https://www.facebook.com/KeepProject961?ref=stream (a little less than 10,000 members and growing)
so you see its not just a small thing, Its a movement against corporate greed.
Operation Cut The Power
[BOYCOTT] As promised, we are sharing the first sponsor on our list of Clear Channel/Power 96.1 advertisers. Today we are starting with…McDonald’s.
Please help get the message out that Atlanta will not be ruled by cooperate greed. give us back project 9 6 1.
Roswell Grandpa
September 6th, 2012
9:01 pm
These changes don’t really affect me. In the mornings I like 640am for Art Maring doing traffic, and now I’m getting into this Rob and Dave show, very far right but hey that’s me. I also like 90.1 for NPR in the afternoon and occasionally 97.1 River Music at night for the wine parties. Does anybody else miss the Kimmer on 640?!
Ghoti
September 7th, 2012
6:44 am
No Dave? No more commercial radio for me. I detest talk radio and abhor pop.
College radio, here I come. And I’m 47.
Highlander
September 7th, 2012
7:46 am
“And another thing……Z93, 96 Rock, Y106, etc. lasted for DECADES for a reason. How long have the stations lasted that took their place?” – Southern Comfortable, September 6th, 2012, 1:26 pm
Brilliant!! Excellent point! At the risk of dating myself, you used to listen to Z93 if you wanted rock & roll, 94Q if you wanted to hear Pop (Top 40) and 96Rock if you wanted to hear Hard Rock. And Y106 “owned” Country music in Atlanta.
As someone pointed out, much of where we are today is the result of deregulation from a few years back. No single corporation should be allowed to own so many stations in one market. They (FCC) don’t allow it for TV, so why for radio??
hotlanta linda
September 7th, 2012
8:32 am
Atlanta is my home for 34 years, and I love this city w/ so much to offer. So what`s up w/ the people deserting LIVE radio? The human touch can`t be replaced by a computer stream, period! In the last several years,all music styles considered, the worthy stations seem to have been shot down. I`ve had plenty to listen to in 34 years, but NOW is the pits!! Dave and!!! 99X TOO??? BIG request to Rock 100 – PLEASE expand your playlist and!!! dj family.Even much needed/loved WCLK let half their airstaff go !##**!!?? WHY?? I won`t even get to the loss of large fan-based Smooth Jazz a few years ago….. I`m heartsick – most of my `radio family` is being put out on the streets, homeless!!! What can we in the audience do???
I don't heart radio
September 7th, 2012
8:55 am
Oh come on, like Atlanta really needs another station to play Katy Perry…… our radio stations are a total joke!
hotlanta linda
September 7th, 2012
8:58 am
I was interupted….Must add the loss of WYAY as our quality country listening, only to see the oldies that took their place go too….WBCX is trying to pick up the oldies in daypart programming – I heard a LIVE dj in the early morn
and thank goodness for their jazz/smooth and alternative shows. The left side of the dial has shorter shows as a whole, but it`s what we have to support!!!
hotlanta linda
September 7th, 2012
9:01 am
PS – THANK YOU Highlander!!!!
Mary Lou Alto
September 7th, 2012
9:34 am
When I moved here 5 years ago I immediately listened to DaveFM. Now with getting 2 new cars along comes Sirius XM, and I love it too, especially when we drive to SC or out of the Atl listening area. But I love to have a connection with the city of ATL, the people, the events, the concerts….and the great music from Dave. There are no sports worth talking about all day/every day in this town, sorry folks. Except when the Yankees come…and the Giants December 11th….
Q100 almost former listener
September 7th, 2012
1:56 pm
If Bert Weiss does “Throwback Throwdown” ONE more time, I am gone. Tracey Kinney, can you not come up with anything better? Rodney, thank you for pointing out my other options. Please — HOW is this entertaining for the listeners? The faux “I believe that Michelle Obama was actually cussing in her speech” was also idiotic. You ran those fake callers not once, but 15 times. Oh, SO clever. (So stupid.) Truly, I’ve listened to Q100 for years, and these two things are just grating.
What's going on with Atlanta radio? - Page 8 - City-Data Forum
September 9th, 2012
10:27 am
[...] [...]
Gabrielle Nistico
September 9th, 2012
12:42 pm
I’m a voiceover talent & coach as well as a former radio personality. Lots of radio and TV folks look to get into voiceovers after their broadcasting careers come to an unfortunate close. While I hate to hear that the ATL market was hit so hard with all these recent changes, there is a potential silver lining for many radio people in voiceover.
Coincidentally I’m in town on Sept. 15th – offering a workshop on the business of voiceovers, how to get started and how to properly prepare for your new business venture. I did – so can you. I help radio people to avoid the pitfalls and rocket towards success in VO. Details are here http://vobiz091512.eventbrite.com/ if anyone is interested. This is a really affordable session and it’s a 1/3 the cost of private lessons for the same material. Hope to see you there.
Gabrielle Nistico
September 9th, 2012
12:42 pm
I’m a voiceover talent & coach as well as a former radio personality. Lots of radio and TV folks look to get into voiceovers after their broadcasting careers come to an unfortunate close. While I hate to hear that the ATL market was hit so hard with all these recent changes, there is a potential silver lining for many radio people in voiceover.
Coincidentally I’m in town on Sept. 15th – offering a workshop on the business of voiceovers, how to get started and how to properly prepare for your new business venture. I did – so can you. I help radio people to avoid the pitfalls and rocket towards success in VO. Details are here http://vobiz091512.eventbrite.com/ if anyone is interested. This is a really affordable session and it’s a 1/3 the cost of private lessons for the same material. Hope to see you there.
Gabrielle Nistco
September 9th, 2012
12:48 pm
While I hate to hear that ATL radio people have been hit so hard by all these changes – it’s a common occurance across the country. There may be a silver lining for those that lose their broadcasting jobs in the form of voiceovers. I did – so can they. The voiceover acting world offers cast-off radio people a much needed potential for income.
Coincidentally i’m going to be in Atlanta on Sept 15th offering a workshop on the Business of Voiceovers and how to get started. I’m a voice actress and coach with 20 years plus. I can help the out-of-work radio folks in the marketing create a plan for success in a new but not totally unfamiliar industry.
Here are the details – http://vobiz091512.eventbrite.com/ would love to see you there. This full day workshop is being offered at 1/3 the cost of private lessons so it’s affordable for those that may have just lost their jobs too. Hope to see some of you there.
Gabrielle Nistco
September 9th, 2012
12:50 pm
oops – sorry about the triple submission – I was having trouble getting the first one to load – so i submittted twice and thought i’d lost the entire thing so I rewrote it. It was an honest mistake – sorry. I don’t know how to delete the first two.
Dennis
September 9th, 2012
6:58 pm
Gabby,
No problem with multi-posts, especially since you made it clear it was an honest mistake.
I’ll be at workshop among the many newbies to gain good info.
On the subject, from what you’re seeing, is this a national thing with stations lately? Are big corps just looking at ad $$$ or demographics or anything else?
ralph
September 10th, 2012
9:53 pm
Why is radio SO BAD in Atlanta? Everywhere I travel has much better stations.