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Cumulus' New Year's Day Surprise! Return of 99X?

Let me start by saying that I've been watching Atlanta radio for a long time, and decided to come back tonight just for the occasion. :)

Here's a few things that jump out at me from the get-go:

1. The website debacle from W255CJ, better known as Warm 98.9. Market manager Sean Shannon sent an email to our good friend Rodney Ho and claimed that the "web team" at Cumulus used the "wrong set of artists" to make the website artists. It would appear as though that list came from the artist set on Westwood One's Adult Standards network page, when in fact Warm is using the Adult Contemporary network. This tells me one of two things: either the communication inside Cumulus Atlanta is just *that* bad that the web people didn't even know which network 98.9 would affiliate with or management is so inept over there that Shannon wouldn't even preview the website before it went live. Another quick thing to point out: from the get-go, Warm has been using a strange website format that no other Cumulus station in the market is using. Just find that incredibly odd.

2. W255CJ's stream went dead today around 2:00pm. Even their page on TuneGenie, a service Cumulus contracts with to track and display last songs played, went dead as well. This is all too telling. They also began running cryptic "in the new year 2016..." liners today.

3. The ratings for Alternative in Atlanta aren't what they used to be. And if you'll recall, Cox just recently tried to steal away some of the alt. audience with WTSH, which failed. What makes Sean think this will be any different? And are they planning to keep both Rock 100.5 and 99x, which believe it or not, does overlap audiences a bit?

4. Cumulus isn't exactly known for going out of their way or putting forth much effort. Why would you put together a decoy station and a website with a Facebook page, and all these other things, just to "throw off" the competition? Not to mention all the VOs they had to pay somebody to produce? If this were a more elaborate company, I would say it was plausible, but I just don't know with this one.

And don't even get me started with that horrible hashtag...
 
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With Cumulus launching a series of Alternative stations recently, this makes sense to return to 98.9. I greatly preferred the 99x (and the current Cumulus model for alternative) to what WRDA offers.
 
atlradio16 said:
3. The ratings for Alternative in Atlanta aren't what they used to be. And if you'll recall, Cox just recently tried to steal away some of the alt. audience with WTSH, which failed. What makes Sean think this will be any different? And are they planning to keep both Rock 100.5 and 99x, which believe it or not, does overlap audiences a bit?
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Great point! Cox tried Alternative with X107.1 and failed. The signal into Metro Atlanta probably was part of the reason, but HELLOOOOOOOOO, 98.9 also has a major signal problem. What makes Cumulus think 99X at 98.9 will succeed in its third go-around? Remember 99X was at 97.9 and 98.9! I don't get it!
 
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Haven't we all been posting that one of the missing formats from the Atlanta airwaves is soft AC? I think Warm is here to stay. However this station has switched formats 5 times so anything is possible at this point.
 
Update: Warm is now promoting "Manilow Mondays" beginning in 2016, because, well, why not?

Also, well placed people tell me this morning that at some point, these changes will involve more than just 98.9. They wouldn't be specific as to when that might be.
 
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atlradio16 said:
Update: Warm is now promoting "Manilow Mondays" beginning in 2016, because, well, why not?

Also, well placed people tell me this morning that at some point, these changes will involve more than just 98.9. They wouldn't be specific as to when that might be.
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So there is definitely a change coming for 98.9? Why would they establish Warm 98.9 for less than a week?
 
Who knows? Maybe it could be 99.7, the station that was 99X, the ORIGINAL 99X. According to RadioInsight, they believed that 98.9 was switching to Alternative (most likely 99X), but why would Cumulus dump a week-old format. That's really crazy. After the new CEO arrived, Cumulus probably had the most suicides than any other radio company (probably except iHeart, obviously, which dumped Lite 98 in Richmond, despite being in the Top 5 in Radio-Online.com's Nielsen 12+, which to me is a "suicide".
 
Station suicides are a lot like Nostradamus predictions. They can only be suicides in retrospect. If the change works (no matter how crazy it seems), it wasn't a suicide.

I don't think any of the changes Cumulus has made since Berner took over have much sign of a potential suicide, at least not the ones I've seen. Every one I've seen was an underperforming station and/or a simple rebranding.
 
Jonathan7157 said:
Who knows? Maybe it could be 99.7, the station that was 99X, the ORIGINAL 99X. According to RadioInsight, they believed that 98.9 was switching to Alternative (most likely 99X), but why would Cumulus dump a week-old format. That's really crazy. After the new CEO arrived, Cumulus probably had the most suicides than any other radio company (probably except iHeart, obviously, which dumped Lite 98 in Richmond, despite being in the Top 5 in Radio-Online.com's Nielsen 12+, which to me is a "suicide".
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Well we know Q100 and The Bert Show isn't being dumped. So if 99.7 flips back to 99X, Q100 would have to move back to it's original 100.5. LOL!
 
RadioFreak69 said:
Well we know Q100 and The Bert Show isn't being dumped. So if 99.7 flips back to 99X, Q100 would have to move back to it's original 100.5. LOL!
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And besides, if they try to dump The Bert Show, what will happen to all the other stations around the country that syndicate the show. Will they all have their own morning shows? This doesn't effect just Atlanta, it could affect Charleston, Montgomery, maybe even the whole country!
 
Jonathan7157 said:
And besides, if they try to dump The Bert Show, what will happen to all the other stations around the country that syndicate the show. Will they all have their own morning shows? This doesn't effect just Atlanta, it could affect Charleston, Montgomery, maybe even the whole country!
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If they, Cumulus were to resurrect the Alternative format in Atlanta I would want it to be on a stronger signal. Like 100.5 or 106.7! Not on 98.9. And they will dump Q100 for it.

And something tells me that odd but somewhat appealing Warm 98.9 website was just a fluke....it's not going to stay nor will the station.
 
As if we needed any greater confirmation of what the new format will be, we have more anyway. I'm told that a concert being held tomorrow night down at the Buckhead Theatre, featuring the Revivalists (an alt. group out of LA), will doubly serve as the launch announcement for the new station, culminating with a launch on January 1st.
 
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