Alternative Rock Station in Birmingham?

I'll be driving through Birmingham in a couple of weeks, just wondering if there is an alternative rocker in B'Ham, or if there is an AAA, or if there is a Top 40 with an Alt-Rock lean, or even a college station that plays good Indie Rock. Thanks in advance.

In Birmingham for Alternative it's 94.9 FM and the Indie/AAA tunes it's 107.3 FM.

Dan <><

To learn more about Alt 94.9 FM Birmingham visit: http://birminghamsalt949.iheart.com
To learn more about 107.3 FM Birmingham visit: http://bhammountainradio.com

Dan <><

Thank you!

Both those stations Dan mentioned are on little translators, so you won't pick 'em up very far. If you have an HD radio, they're both on subchannels of bigger stations. Happy listening!

Birmingham is not a Alternative Rock Station market. However it probably does okay as a niche on the translators.

Groove1670 said:

Birmingham is not a Alternative Rock Station market.

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Hmmm, I'm curious what metric you would use to define such a market.

Demographics, market research and ratings. Miami is another great example where the format has failed over and over.

Sure it was 20 years ago, but 107-7 the X had quite a run, didn't it? Or could it be argued that their success was in part because there wasn't a CHR station in Birmingham until 103-7 the Q moved in in '98?

I was always led to believe that The X was one of the more influential alt rockers in the nation during its heyday. Certainly there was a market for the music then, and I don't see how CHR would displace it. They're wildly different formats!

Unless you mean on a greater cultural level, because pop did rise after alternative rock faltered in the late 90s.

But I seriously doubt any X listeners heard Destiny's Child on The Q and thought "yeah this'll do nicely to replace Nirvana"...

Alternative struggles today because the format (at least commercially) is dead.

Alternative hit a peak 20 years ago (from Nirvana to Primitive radio gods), thanks to the defection of listeners from CHR. Country also got the benefit of the CHR slump of the 90's. Today's the CHR format has adjusted back to a pop rhythmic style, and is doing well. Alternative has once again become a niche regional format in most cases (Seattle, San Diego etc).

Swing and Ballroom music also make a comeback at that time with groups such as the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. It will also fade and return to loyal core of fans.

The 90's were not kind to CHR, Hot AC, and R&B formats.

County and Hip Hop (now classic hip hop) were the winners.

tomservo said:

I was always led to believe that The X was one of the more influential alt rockers in the nation during its heyday. Certainly there was a market for the music then, and I don't see how CHR would displace it. They're wildly different formats!

Unless you mean on a greater cultural level, because pop did rise after alternative rock faltered in the late 90s.

But I seriously doubt any X listeners heard Destiny's Child on The Q and thought "yeah this'll do nicely to replace Nirvana"...

Alternative struggles today because the format (at least commercially) is dead.

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Personally, I felt disenfranchised when WKXX bit the dust in '91. I had never been a fan of I-95, but I got my Top 40 fix via Q-104, static and all, because I thought it was a better station than I-95. By late '92, 106.9 was back on my presets when Oldies 106.9 debuted.

Maybe I was too old for the format by the time alternative was making its headway in the early 90's.

Charles35080 said:

Personally, I felt disenfranchised when WKXX bit the dust in '91. I had never been a fan of I-95, but I got my Top 40 fix via Q-104, static and all, because I thought it was a better station than I-95. By late '92, 106.9 was back on my presets when Oldies 106.9 debuted.

Maybe I was too old for the format by the time alternative was making its headway in the early 90's.

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Could be — I remember it being very much an "of the moment" format. It hit hard with kids of a certain age (my age, as it happens) and burned hot then faded quickly. As a contrast to your experience, I was too young to 'get' CHR when I-95 and Kicks were fighting for supremacy in Birmingham. Those stations did not even exist as far as I knew as a kid in Tuscaloosa. My cool aunt listened to I-95 but I was not nearly hip enough to appreciate it at the time. I was a Fox 95.7, Magic 96 and WJRD listener because I believe my parents listened to those stations.

Later on when I was more hip to radio, I was firmly ensconced in the warm bosom of oldies radio, first with WCRT and then later WODL.

Yeah, I was never cool!