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Mix 106 slipping back to the 80s again

A

atthestars

Star Participant
Not sure when this started, but I'll assume it's partly to attempt to take any 101.1 More FM listeners who don't want all-Christmas. Mix 106 has been opening back up the gold library. They used to be essentially at 2000's to Now station with an occasional 90s tune spiked in. Now they've dug back to the 80s, throwing songs like Wham's "Wake Me up Before you Go Go", En Vogue's "My Lovin (You're Never Gonna Get It)" Edwin McCain's "I'll Be" and Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" back into rotation.

Imaging has been updated too to reflect the add-in of the 80s, which makes me believe this slight shift is sticking around post-Christmas.

Since we haven't had any full-on format flips in a while, any little change seems worth of discussion :)
 
For years, I have been expecting them to do this and stick with it. Once WBEB committed to being Hot AC, it felt like it made sense for WISX to throw in some older cuts. Looks like they are throwing in a couple '80s tracks per hour now. I see stuff from Paula Abdul, Bon Jovi, Club Nouveau, Guns N Roses, Human League, John Cougar Mellencamp, Pat Benetar, and '80s Madonna.

That having been said: "My Lovin'" was released in 2001; "I'll Be" was in '97; and "Free Fallin'" was barely '80s, having been released in the waning months of 1989. :cool:
 
Miguelito said:
For years, I have been expecting them to do this and stick with it. Once WBEB committed to being Hot AC, it felt like it made sense for WISX to throw in some older cuts. Looks like they are throwing in a couple '80s tracks per hour now. I see stuff from Paula Abdul, Bon Jovi, Club Nouveau, Guns N Roses, Human League, John Cougar Mellencamp, Pat Benetar, and '80s Madonna.

That having been said: "My Lovin'" was released in 2001; "I'll Be" was in '97; and "Free Fallin'" was barely '80s, having been released in the waning months of 1989. :cool:
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My Lovin' was released in 1992... but yeah... I included them moreso to point out how they're playing ANYTHING pre-2000, which they really hadn't before! :cool:

And it's a tough call to say WBEB is Hot AC now... sure... they have definitely leaned "hotter" since the morph to More FM... but looking at their spin totals/rotations, I'd still call them Mainstream AC, as their most spun song still tops out around 30 or so spins per week (while Mix is up around 60+, down from nearly 80). I'd still call Mix a Hot AC (although a rare one spinning any 80s), and WBEB a Mainstream AC that is pushing younger.

Of course, that's just my useless humble opinion!
 
Quite a few markets seem to have stations flipping back to the 80s.
 
Silkie said:
Quite a few markets seem to have stations flipping back to the 80s.
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True, after the first round of mostly failed 80s stations, we've seen All-80s stations pop back up in San Francisco, Miami, Albuquerque, State College, and Tulsa. Testing for 80s songs looking strong again?
 
Let's not say WBEB is Hot AC. It isn't. This is what AC sounds like today. WBEB isn't much different than WLTW NYC or KOST LA. Almost by definition, if a station plays music from the 1980s, it can't be Hot AC. Most Hot AC stations rarely play music before 2000.

In this case, though, it probably makes sense for Mix 106 to add a few select 80s. Not just WBEB is in Christmas mode but so is WOGL. So both places where 80s hits are common are now playing music from the 80s, 70s, 60s, 50s and even an occasional Bing Crosby song from the 40s. I suppose Mix 106 feels it's caught between the Top 40s on one side (WIOQ and WZMP) and the older skewing stations on the other (WBEB and WOGL).

In most markets, being the only Hot AC would be a good place to be. But Mix 106 never seems to catch on. Its ratings are worse than all four of the others I mentioned. I suppose WBEB is so strong that it stops a Hot AC from finding an audience. Contrast that with Minneapolis and until recently Dallas, where you only have Hot AC, no regular AC. (A new AC is starting up in Dallas after Xmas.)
 
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First target that actually popped into my head with that 80's stuff, Gregg, was WOGL. So might WISX might be looking to cadge from both those stations with the swollen ratings?
 
Gregg. said:
Let's not say WBEB is Hot AC. It isn't. This is what AC sounds like today. WBEB isn't much different than WLTW NYC or KOST LA. Almost by definition, if a station plays music from the 1980s, it can't be Hot AC. Most Hot AC stations rarely play music before 2000.

In this case, though, it probably makes sense for Mix 106 to add a few select 80s. Not just WBEB is in Christmas mode but so is WOGL. So both places where 80s hits are common are now playing music from the 80s, 70s, 60s, 50s and even an occasional Bing Crosby song from the 40s. I suppose Mix 106 feels it's caught between the Top 40s on one side (WIOQ and WZMP) and the older skewing stations on the other (WBEB and WOGL).

In most markets, being the only Hot AC would be a good place to be. But Mix 106 never seems to catch on. Its ratings are worse than all four of the others I mentioned. I suppose WBEB is so strong that it stops a Hot AC from finding an audience. Contrast that with Minneapolis and until recently Dallas, where you only have Hot AC, no regular AC. (A new AC is starting up in Dallas after Xmas.)
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Don't forget some of the outlying Top 40 stations, like 94.5 PST from Trenton or 93.7 WSTW from Wilmington.
 
I notice the WISX website now uses the phrase "Mix 106.1 - Variety from the 80s, 90s and now." So this is more than just a temporary move while WBEB and WOGL are in Christmas mode.

Unusual for a Hot AC to add 80s music, since most Hot AC stations are aiming at a younger audience, too young to remember the 80s.
 
The key is selected 80's. The songs that test well across many demos. Madonna, Bon Jovi, Prince, Benetar..etc.
 
Gregg. said:
I notice the WISX website now uses the phrase "Mix 106.1 - Variety from the 80s, 90s and now." So this is more than just a temporary move while WBEB and WOGL are in Christmas mode.

Unusual for a Hot AC to add 80s music, since most Hot AC stations are aiming at a younger audience, too young to remember the 80s.
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Exactly. This isn't simply slipping a few songs into the playlist. Imaging, website, even the voicetracks from Ryan Seacrest and Mario Lopez have been updated to reflect the 80s add-ins. Leads me to believe the station is tweaking a bit and the songs will stay post-Christmas.
 
Keep in mind some stations will make slight changes to freshen up the playlist.
 
Does this mean that WISX is moving towards mainstream AC where it will compete with WBEB and to a lesser extent, WJBR?
 
atthestars said:
True, after the first round of mostly failed 80s stations, we've seen All-80s stations pop back up in San Francisco, Miami, Albuquerque, State College, and Tulsa. Testing for 80s songs looking strong again?
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There is a school of thought that the eighties are the last viable oldies format. We'll see.
 
Might just be that our Hot AC is feeling some stress because we have two Top 40's. That's three stations playing a lot of the same music. It certainly makes more sense for WISX to compete with WBEB than to compete in the Top 40 space (which could potentially cut into their own sister, Q102).
 
106.1 The River in Knoxville,TN still plays lots of 80's and they're Hot AC. Maybe a little top 40 leaning because of the heavy selection of rap music in their playlist.
 
Miguelito said:
Might just be that our Hot AC is feeling some stress because we have two Top 40's. That's three stations playing a lot of the same music. It certainly makes more sense for WISX to compete with WBEB than to compete in the Top 40 space (which could potentially cut into their own sister, Q102).
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Was just re-reading this thread and thinking how ironic it is that Mix was competing with two Top 40's and now they're competing with two AC's! I looked over their playlist and it's damn good. Personally, I would never listen to Mario Lopez (I've listened and it's just awful) and I don't actually care much for Ryan Seacrest either. I rarely actually listen to a radio anymore so I guess my opinion is worthless but those two basically poison 106.1 for me. If I do turn on a radio, it's never 106.1. But I do like what the station has done with the library.
 
Miguelito said:
Was just re-reading this thread and thinking how ironic it is that Mix was competing with two Top 40's and now they're competing with two AC's! I looked over their playlist and it's damn good. Personally, I would never listen to Mario Lopez (I've listened and it's just awful) and I don't actually care much for Ryan Seacrest either. I rarely actually listen to a radio anymore so I guess my opinion is worthless but those two basically poison 106.1 for me. If I do turn on a radio, it's never 106.1. But I do like what the station has done with the library.
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I'm interested to see what becomes of Mix now. From what I've heard, they bill well, and run on the cheap. But it also seems like they're a bit of an afterthought in the cluster. (Ryan Seacrest was dumped on them from Q102 when Q102 wanted to go live in middays to battle then-96.5 AMP). The music mix sounds good, but does VT'd Wendy Wild, Seacrest, Mario Lopez, or the Rendezvous really make people tune in?

Obviously, I'm not their target demo or a regular radio listener, but the long breaks and such of those shows makes me tune out. The target demo may love the chatter though.
 
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