Kiss 107

[DavidEduardo]

It is still current based in some cities.

CHR is always current based.. That is why the "C" in CHR stands for Current!

The change is that stations either have shorter current lists or slow down the rotations of some songs. To compensate, they play a couple more recurrents or gold songs per hour.

 

[keys2]

Like K-Rock 94 that lasted a month in 1985.

That was stunting leading up to their conversion to The New WINK 94.1.

 

[fedacct1]

Cincinnati has just never been a town for the CHR format. If you think about it, all the top 40 stations that have been here have leaned AC in various degrees over time. Look at what historically succeeds here. Basically oldies, adult contemporary, and country. Grunge, dance, and hip-hop were too aggressive for Q 102, with is why you had the slogan in the 90’s “The station you grew up with has grown up with you.”

 

[DavidEduardo]

Cincinnati has just never been a town for the CHR format.

WSAI and WCPO? Both were huge, with WSAI winning due to signal.

 

[keys2]

And moving to the FM dial, there first was WKRQ in 1972 rebranding as Q102 in 1975. WJDJ known as 94DJ about 1973 or 74. WOKV 103.5 came along about 1977. They morphed into disco and the frequency became Urban-CHR hybrid WBLZ in the early 80s. There was WSKS Kiss 96. YES 95 before they became 95 W-LITE. 107.1 was The Heat, The Power Pig, and eventually and still is Kiss 107. Am I missing any?

I’d say Cincy has been a pretty good Top 40/CHR market, as decent as any of a similar size. And guess who has outlasted them all? Q102. Still going strong. Because they’ve always adapted to the competition and this market’s tastes, despite big corporate ownership.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

And moving to the FM dial, there first was WKRQ in 1972 rebranding as Q102 in 1975. WJDJ known as 94DJ about 1973 or 74. WOKV 103.5 came along about 1977. They morphed into disco and the frequency became Urban-CHR hybrid WBLZ in the early 80s. There was WSKS Kiss 96. YES 95 before they became 95 W-LITE. 107.1 was The Heat, The Power Pig, and eventually and still is Kiss 107. Am I missing any?

I’d say Cincy has been a pretty good Top 40/CHR market, as decent as any of a similar size. And guess who has outlasted them all? Q102. Still going strong. Because they’ve always adapted to the competition and this market’s tastes, despite big corporate ownership.

Cincinnati didn't have a big top 40 battle in the '80s, which even smaller cities had. For a long time, the only competition (if any) was really a mismatch.

 

[keys2]

Cincinnati didn't have a big top 40 battle in the '80s, which even smaller cities had. For a long time, the only competition (if any) was really a mismatch.

So we’re looking at the entire CHR scene from the perspective of one decade? Which did include Q102, KISS 96, YES 95, and WBLZ? OK. 😑

 

[NoWayNoCC]

So we’re looking at the entire CHR scene from the perspective of one decade? Which did include Q102, KISS 96, YES 95, and WBLZ? OK. 😑

I think Kiss 96 and Yes 95 both dropped top 40 way back in 1981. WBLZ was actually a hybrid format.

That leaves really small stations like WCLU or far, far rimshot signals like 105.9. Those didn't last the decade, and I think 105.9 was only top 40 for a few months.

 

[BruceB]

Way back in the day, in 1965-1967 WCFL Chicago used to do the Instant Replay Schick.
Of course I loved it if it was a song I liked hated it if not. And didn't KHJ Los Angeles do it in the late 60s?

 

[Yabadabado1]

Way back in the day, in 1965-1967 WCFL Chicago used to do the Instant Replay Schick.
Of course I loved it if it was a song I liked hated it if not. And didn't KHJ Los Angeles do it in the la

Way, way back, very early 70s a DJ at WHLO, supposedly mad about something [not getting a raise, receptionist wouldn't date him, booted from the shift he had to overnights, I'm not sure] locked himself in the studio and played "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" over and over and over. Turned mic on ranting and raving that he wasn't going to stop till he got what he wanted, you could hear people yelling at him to unlock the door, etc. Even in my early teens I was thinking "This is fishy bullshit, why don't they just cut the power, switch off to another studio, break down the door.....". Found out years later from one of the DJs that it was all a ratings stunt; hoping listeners would call friends and tell them "Turn on WHLO, you won't believe what's happening there!" I was thinking "If you're trying to get people to listen to you, why on earth would you play "Tiptoe Through The Tulips"? I'd snap the knob off the radio turning it off!" And by the way, every station I worked at you could never lock any of the studio doors. Entry doors to stations, yeah, wouldn't want any of those outside weirdos walking in on you.

 

[keys2]

I think Kiss 96 and Yes 95 both dropped top 40 way back in 1981. WBLZ was actually a hybrid format.

That leaves really small stations like WCLU or far, far rimshot signals like 105.9. Those didn't last the decade, and I think 105.9 was only top 40 for a few months.

YES 95 did morph into Hot AC after about a year, but KISS 96 hung in there for longer before eventually morphing into a Top Tracks AOR presentation. But, your post validates my point. You only focus on the 1980s when judging the overall Top 40/CHR scene here.

There are plenty of other markets that have seen CHRs come and go, some rather quickly too. But not too many have a consistently dominant heritage CHR like WKRQ that goes all the way back to 1972. I think that speaks pretty well for Cincinnati and the Q.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

YES 95 did morph into Hot AC after about a year, but KISS 96 hung in there for longer before eventually morphing into a Top Tracks AOR presentation. But, your post validates my point. You only focus on the 1980s when judging the overall Top 40/CHR scene here.

There are plenty of other markets that have seen CHRs come and go, some rather quickly too. But not too many have a consistently dominant heritage CHR like WKRQ that goes all the way back to 1972. I think that speaks pretty well for Cincinnati and the Q.

But Q-102 is only one station. Others weren't able to last very long even when they were very well-programmed. They might have been plagued by a bad signal or no budget for promotions or newer studio equipment.

 

[BruceB]

CHR is always current based.. That is why the "C" in CHR stands for Current!

The change is that stations either have shorter current lists or slow down the rotations of some songs. To compensate, they play a couple more recurrents or gold songs per hour.

My head is spinning I always thought the C in CHR stood for contemporary.I've been wrong all these years?

 

[BruceB]

WSAI and WCPO? Both were huge, with WSAI winning due to signal.

Cincinnati was my market growing up in the '60s signal strength had something to do with it for sure but the playlists were different. WSAI in 64-66 was much heavier on British Invasion and WCPO on R&B, Motown and Staxx. My black friends listened to WCIN or WCPO not so much WSAI. My white friends WSAI big time.
I'm not saying WSAI did not play black music or that WCPO did not play Beatles/ Stones, in both cases they did but the rotations were very different.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

This is sort of like how WCLU played a lot more modern rock crossovers than Q-102 did. If there was some song that MTV played a lot that only peaked at #52 or something, WCLU would be much more likely to play it than Q-102 did.

 

[keys2]

But Q-102 is only one station. Others weren't able to last very long even when they were very well-programmed. They might have been plagued by a bad signal or no budget for promotions or newer studio equipment.

But isn’t that almost always the case anywhere? Name one similar sized market that has had two dominant CHR stations for a considerable amount of time. One almost always succumbs to the other.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

But isn’t that almost always the case anywhere? Name one similar sized market that has had two dominant CHR stations for a considerable amount of time. One almost always succumbs to the other.

Lexington is a smaller market than Cincinnati, and I think the battle between WLAP-FM and WFMI went on for a while.

I think there was a pretty long battle in Panama City, Florida. Or maybe Grand Forks, North Dakota.

In Columbus, there was a pretty long battle between WNCI and 92-X.

 

[BruceB]

Lexington is a smaller market than Cincinnati, and I think the battle between WLAP-FM and WFMI went on for a while.

I think there was a pretty long battle in Panama City, Florida. Or maybe Grand Forks, North Dakota.

In Columbus, there was a pretty long battle between WNCI and 92-X.

Going way back to the 60's there was a heck of a battle in Dayton between WING and WONE neck and neck for several years.

 

[Directional Ray]

Who can forget WCLU's (then WCVG) sister station as 107.1 The Heat? That was actually a pretty good station around 1990 maybe?

 

[keys2]

Lexington is a smaller market than Cincinnati, and I think the battle between WLAP-FM and WFMI went on for a while.

I think there was a pretty long battle in Panama City, Florida. Or maybe Grand Forks, North Dakota.

In Columbus, there was a pretty long battle between WNCI and 92-X.

Columbus is a similar sized market and you’re right, WNCI and 92X did battle for a while. Although if I recall, 92X moved toward a rock-based, AOR-style format musically by the late 80s while keeping a CHRish presentation. But again, when you say Cincinnati has never been a very good CHR town, you have to consider more than just the one decade. How about the fact that KISS 107 and Q102 have both been at it for over 20 years now? Yes, I get that corporate radio with their multi-station clusters in a market has shifted the dynamics away from the always fun head-to-head competition back in the good old days. But I still think 20+ years is pretty good that these two stations have been in what is essentially the same format.