only1moore
Star Participant
Yes folks, iHeart pulled the plug on the Alternative after 27 years Wednesday (November 16, 2016). Stay tuned...
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
The Edge is no more!
- Thread starter only1moore
- Start date
radiolife3
Regular Participant
I'll guess Urban as "Real 102.1" with The Breakfast Club mornings. Doesn't matter how many Urbans/Rhythms are in the Market, IHR is putting these on in markets with up to 4 existing Urbans (See Atlanta). This will be direct comp for KKDA, and KBFB and puts TBC in a big market on the growing list of cities for this show.
My vote is for Urban with The Breakfast Club in A.M. drive. Would not surprise me if we get a Christmas music stunt format in the interim.
My cinderella candidate is All-80's.
I have a tough time picturing 102.1 flipping to A.C. or Soft A.C. KDMX is the de facto Mainstream AC station in the market even though it is a Hot AC reporter. An Urban station would provide an audience the cluster's existing brands largely fail to reach.
Does anyone else out there believe Cumulus will flip 93.3 to Alt?
Dumping KDGE will give KEGL more flexibility music wise and certainly a larger audience. Even if 93.3 does flip to Alternative, I think their numbers will be weaker than what 102.1 earned.
My cinderella candidate is All-80's.
I have a tough time picturing 102.1 flipping to A.C. or Soft A.C. KDMX is the de facto Mainstream AC station in the market even though it is a Hot AC reporter. An Urban station would provide an audience the cluster's existing brands largely fail to reach.
Does anyone else out there believe Cumulus will flip 93.3 to Alt?
Dumping KDGE will give KEGL more flexibility music wise and certainly a larger audience. Even if 93.3 does flip to Alternative, I think their numbers will be weaker than what 102.1 earned.
Robert Bass
Star Participant
Will_H_69_9
Star Participant
today is a sad day for rock music in DFW, just like May 18, 2004 or the day the Rock died on 102.1 the first time aka the day Q102 became Magic 102. or any day where rock stations died in the 80s and 90s.
i grew up as a teenager into my early 20s listening to both The Edge at both 94.5 and 102.1 from 1999-2000 and 2004-2007 full time and 97.1 The Eagle from 2000-2004
for everyone who were listening to the Edge at the very end, i know your pain, losing a beloved favorite radio station is always hard to deal with and having to feel the void is difficult but know this, you will go through the grieving process of a radio station then move on.
but when you do move on, you will either move on to 97.1 The Eagle (which will become more active rock), KXT, and of course the internet where streaming services like iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, etc.
but i know most listeners of The Edge who listen to the Edge at 3-7 are gonna be mad that they won't get their rock during that time cause Russ Martin is on and he does not play any music on his show. (unless he's moved over to the sister station LoneStar 92.5 or if 102.1 relaunches as a news/talk station aka the current format of 1190 AM)
now as for the new format of 102.1 my picks of the top choice of format that it will change to are:
1. KVIL's old format before it relaunched as a top 40 station aka Lite Rock/soft AC
2. the current format of 1190 AM being moved over and being anchored by Russ in the Afternoons instead of a Morning replay of the 3-7 show on The Eagle.
3. Hip-Hop R&B to compete with The Beat and long time Hip-Hop/R&B station K104.
4. a new country station, to compete against the Cumulus Country monopoly in this market aka 96.3 KSCS and 99.5 The Wolf.
and 5. Sports talk (not likely since 3 is enough in this market) to compete with 105.3 The Fan, 1310 The Ticket and 103.3 ESPN Radio, but the only way they could do that format is still the radio rights to either the Cowboys, Rangers, Mavs or Stars to this station and also temporary anchor with Dan Patrick, Jim Rome and Rich Eisen and content from Fox Sports Radio.
anyway, i'm sure the Edge's gonna be missed dearly by the Rock scene in DFW, but maybe it's for the best, since iHeartMedia has had 3 rock station and 1 has to go if it's under-performing, the last time DFW went from 3 to 2 rock stations, The Edge was performing well, 92.5 was Classic Rock (then know by it's call letters instead of it's current calls) and of course an under-performing 97.1 The Eagle, and it was the one that got blown up. back in 2004, the Eagle was struggling after Russ Martin left for 105.3 in early 2000 when Infinity Broadcasting/CBS Radio blew up Young Country for "The Talk That Rocks Texas" aka Live 105.3.
in the years since the 2004 flip of the Eagle to Sunny 97.1, Lone Star flip from Classic Rock to a hybrid to Classic Country/Classic Rock as Lone Star then reverting back to Classic Rock while retaining the LoneStar 92.5 name and 97.1 went through 2 format flips since the May 2004 flip to Sunny, in which the Sunny format failed badly and then 97.1 went Espanol as La Preciosa, which started off as a success but quickly decline due to the fact that there was way too many Spanish stations in this market at that point and boom the station flipped yet again for the second time in a 3 year period when on December 1, the plug was pull on La Preciosa and they stunted for days with Christmas music until December 18, when they did a funny tease of what was to come at 10 AM that morning then at 10 AM, a promo aired that recapped the death of The Eagle and the 2 failed formats then ended it with the announcer saying "97.1 The Eagle....Rocks...Again, then it followed by "Flying High Again" by Ozzy Osbourne (a staple artist of the old 1992-2004 version of The Eagle). The Edge had been The Edge though this time, but added more of The Eagle's key artist and music to fill the void from 2004-2007 and the slowly went back to Alternative rock when The Eagle returned.
i grew up as a teenager into my early 20s listening to both The Edge at both 94.5 and 102.1 from 1999-2000 and 2004-2007 full time and 97.1 The Eagle from 2000-2004
for everyone who were listening to the Edge at the very end, i know your pain, losing a beloved favorite radio station is always hard to deal with and having to feel the void is difficult but know this, you will go through the grieving process of a radio station then move on.
but when you do move on, you will either move on to 97.1 The Eagle (which will become more active rock), KXT, and of course the internet where streaming services like iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, etc.
but i know most listeners of The Edge who listen to the Edge at 3-7 are gonna be mad that they won't get their rock during that time cause Russ Martin is on and he does not play any music on his show. (unless he's moved over to the sister station LoneStar 92.5 or if 102.1 relaunches as a news/talk station aka the current format of 1190 AM)
now as for the new format of 102.1 my picks of the top choice of format that it will change to are:
1. KVIL's old format before it relaunched as a top 40 station aka Lite Rock/soft AC
2. the current format of 1190 AM being moved over and being anchored by Russ in the Afternoons instead of a Morning replay of the 3-7 show on The Eagle.
3. Hip-Hop R&B to compete with The Beat and long time Hip-Hop/R&B station K104.
4. a new country station, to compete against the Cumulus Country monopoly in this market aka 96.3 KSCS and 99.5 The Wolf.
and 5. Sports talk (not likely since 3 is enough in this market) to compete with 105.3 The Fan, 1310 The Ticket and 103.3 ESPN Radio, but the only way they could do that format is still the radio rights to either the Cowboys, Rangers, Mavs or Stars to this station and also temporary anchor with Dan Patrick, Jim Rome and Rich Eisen and content from Fox Sports Radio.
anyway, i'm sure the Edge's gonna be missed dearly by the Rock scene in DFW, but maybe it's for the best, since iHeartMedia has had 3 rock station and 1 has to go if it's under-performing, the last time DFW went from 3 to 2 rock stations, The Edge was performing well, 92.5 was Classic Rock (then know by it's call letters instead of it's current calls) and of course an under-performing 97.1 The Eagle, and it was the one that got blown up. back in 2004, the Eagle was struggling after Russ Martin left for 105.3 in early 2000 when Infinity Broadcasting/CBS Radio blew up Young Country for "The Talk That Rocks Texas" aka Live 105.3.
in the years since the 2004 flip of the Eagle to Sunny 97.1, Lone Star flip from Classic Rock to a hybrid to Classic Country/Classic Rock as Lone Star then reverting back to Classic Rock while retaining the LoneStar 92.5 name and 97.1 went through 2 format flips since the May 2004 flip to Sunny, in which the Sunny format failed badly and then 97.1 went Espanol as La Preciosa, which started off as a success but quickly decline due to the fact that there was way too many Spanish stations in this market at that point and boom the station flipped yet again for the second time in a 3 year period when on December 1, the plug was pull on La Preciosa and they stunted for days with Christmas music until December 18, when they did a funny tease of what was to come at 10 AM that morning then at 10 AM, a promo aired that recapped the death of The Eagle and the 2 failed formats then ended it with the announcer saying "97.1 The Eagle....Rocks...Again, then it followed by "Flying High Again" by Ozzy Osbourne (a staple artist of the old 1992-2004 version of The Eagle). The Edge had been The Edge though this time, but added more of The Eagle's key artist and music to fill the void from 2004-2007 and the slowly went back to Alternative rock when The Eagle returned.
Last edited:
That's my bet too. The two major music format initiatives at iHeart are urban and country. The monopoly in Dallas has kept iHeart's country content out of a Top 5 market. They flipped alternative stations to country in Chicago and Boston. I predict Dallas will soon follow.
93.3 had pulled some high ratings back in the early 2000s when they were classic rocker "The Bone" but soon to have lower ratings afterwards. However, an "Alt 93.3/X93.3/93.3 The Edge/Buzz" would be a start.
However, not only Cumulus could revive the alternative format but probably CBS might look into it. Only question is which station? 105.3? 107.5? I doubt 100.3 though.
Robert Bass
Star Participant
I don't see Country coming to that signal, mainly because a lot of country leans rock these days so it would be like replacing one rock format with another.
R
R
It's not a music decision. It's a money decision. Country makes a ton of money, and iHeart has no reason to allow the competition to get it all. Plus, as I said, they've done it before. They killed The Phoenix, a legendary indie alternative station in Boston, and replaced it with country.
About 5 years ago, there was a rumor that iHeart would take KEGL country, though it obviously never happened. Seems like it might be a possibility for 102.1. The one thing that makes me think it won't be country, however, is that all Christmas hurts country almost as much as it does AC. Launching a country format now might not be a good idea since the audience is a little smaller this time of year.
I could also see an AC format to shore up its wall of women, though urban would be possible, too. Another dark horse format that comes to mind is classic hits. KLUV is usually one of CBS's best performers, and they knew it would go all Christmas. Launching a classic hits format while the competition is away might be smart.
I could also see an AC format to shore up its wall of women, though urban would be possible, too. Another dark horse format that comes to mind is classic hits. KLUV is usually one of CBS's best performers, and they knew it would go all Christmas. Launching a classic hits format while the competition is away might be smart.
It's not really a priority at iHeart, and not typically much of a money maker. They're a cross-platform company that is looking to promote their more aggressive brands of CHR, Urban, and Country, which are formats with a large percentage of currents. Current hits attract current artists to perform in their annual festivals. The growth area at iHeart is festival money.
I looked at the weather and there seems to be a light wind or whatever you call it blowing into the Metroplex.
The irony is their programming management is becoming increasingly Gen-X.
Maybe....their ACs are among the biggest billers in the country. But imagine moving the iHeartCountry Festival from Austin to AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
Not for me. I still stream 101X, 103.3 the App, and Pandora off my phone in the car so not a total loss for me.
Triple Fake Jerry
Frequent Participant
It is a sad day, but the Edge was a shadow of its former self and a change was needed.
I've been saying for years that the playlist had gotten stale with too much grunge/90s and not enough currents. You could hit the button on the station and there was a 1-in-3 chance you'd hear a Beastie Boys song. Toward the end they started mixing in more currents, but I think by that time most of its listeners had jumped ship for good. I figured something would move on this soon because the Edge and Eagle's playlists were very similar.
I honestly have no idea what iHeart will do with the frequency.
I've been saying for years that the playlist had gotten stale with too much grunge/90s and not enough currents. You could hit the button on the station and there was a 1-in-3 chance you'd hear a Beastie Boys song. Toward the end they started mixing in more currents, but I think by that time most of its listeners had jumped ship for good. I figured something would move on this soon because the Edge and Eagle's playlists were very similar.
I honestly have no idea what iHeart will do with the frequency.
Unfortunately current alternative music is no longer a mass media format. You have individual bands playing to their fan bases. That's great for personal playlists. Bad when you're looking for consensus music that non-specific fans can like, and hold them through the commercial breaks. The old hits had the ability to do that. The currents, if they actually are hits, are being co-opted by other formats. This is mainly a music problem, not a radio problem.
BBontheRadio
Leading Participant
If I had to guess, I would say AC because there is no pure AC or Soft AC in the market since KVIL changed.
- Status