The Beat? Real? Whatever the name, the Gods over at iHeart are flipping MIA 92.3 and 96.7 (Radio 105.7 simulcast) to an Urban station according to Mr.Ho at AJC. All indications look to be promising considering The Breakfast Club was pulled from STREETZ 94.5 all of a sudden. By the way, that morning show is still on in Charlotte at STREETZ 103.3, Steve Hegwood's other station so the writing is on the wall that this was definitely an iHeart move to pull the show here in ATL.
Is this a great move? As much as I love Hip-Hop and R&B I'd say no. iHeart has waited too long for the opportunity to go Urban here in Atlanta. 3 Urbans, 3 Urban AC and the 2 Old School Hip Hop stations already exist here. I would predict iHeart could skew this new station Urban Contemporary to shave V103 down from the top. iHeart has ownership in The Breakfast Club Morning Show along with Keith Sweat's "Sweat Hotel" night show which is aimed at adults playing slow R&B songs. That show is not currently aired here in Atlanta so why not throw it on now. Most iHeart Urban stations run the voice track package with Breakfast Club in the AM and jocks from other stations like T.Roy, Big Sue, Chris Michaels, Big Nat and Mr.Chase. More than likely, whatever happens here will have little to no local and live jocks.
Signal wise, 92.3 nor 96.7 sounded clear last night driving from downtown to Lithonia on I-20. 92.3 started cutting out past Moreland Ave and really went out once I got to Candler Rd. 96.7 was choppy the entire ride. Not sure how an Urban station not covering Dekalb County is going to work out. Looking at the signal maps it may look like a perfect setup covering ATL proper and the SW parts of town where the Urban core is. Maybe last night must've been a DX type of night where signals go hay wire!
Is this a great move? As much as I love Hip-Hop and R&B I'd say no. iHeart has waited too long for the opportunity to go Urban here in Atlanta. 3 Urbans, 3 Urban AC and the 2 Old School Hip Hop stations already exist here. I would predict iHeart could skew this new station Urban Contemporary to shave V103 down from the top. iHeart has ownership in The Breakfast Club Morning Show along with Keith Sweat's "Sweat Hotel" night show which is aimed at adults playing slow R&B songs. That show is not currently aired here in Atlanta so why not throw it on now. Most iHeart Urban stations run the voice track package with Breakfast Club in the AM and jocks from other stations like T.Roy, Big Sue, Chris Michaels, Big Nat and Mr.Chase. More than likely, whatever happens here will have little to no local and live jocks.
Signal wise, 92.3 nor 96.7 sounded clear last night driving from downtown to Lithonia on I-20. 92.3 started cutting out past Moreland Ave and really went out once I got to Candler Rd. 96.7 was choppy the entire ride. Not sure how an Urban station not covering Dekalb County is going to work out. Looking at the signal maps it may look like a perfect setup covering ATL proper and the SW parts of town where the Urban core is. Maybe last night must've been a DX type of night where signals go hay wire!