What format is WKTU?

I was in NYC over he past few days, and while listening to WKTU I started wondering what the format was. It's a CHR per Mediabase, Hot AC according to Wikipedia, and a rhythmic according to iHeartMedia themselves. But they don't seem to be either of those formats. Not that there is an exact definition of 'KTU's format, but what would you (AKA people reading this thread) consider the format of WKTU? Are there any other stations you can think of that have a similar format?

Tomgsinger said:

I was in NYC over he past few days, and while listening to WKTU I started wondering what the format was. It's a CHR per Mediabase, Hot AC according to Wikipedia, and a rhythmic according to iHeartMedia themselves. But they don't seem to be either of those formats. Not that there is an exact definition of 'KTU's format, but what would you (AKA people reading this thread) consider the format of WKTU? Are there any other stations you can think of that have a similar format?

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. I heard they were Dance at one time. Good luck with your quest.

When I was last in NYC 13 years ago I came across WKTU and they were playing a lot of music that had been played on their defunct sister station Jammin 105 which was Jammin Oldies. However that was also on a Saturday so don't go by what a station is playing on a Saturday to determine their normal playlist.

During my two days in the NYC market, I heard a mix of current pop songs, techno hits from the 90s/2K, some Hispanic radio hits, recent golds, and remixes of older songs (Don't Stop Belevin', Like a Prayer and Heaven come to mind). The era balance was extremely similar to that of a Hot AC, but the music... not so much.

WKTU as of today would be best described as a rhythmic hot ac. They are slower on adding new songs than sister z100 is, their powers are normally a few weeks to a month behind z100 as well, and those powers get played less often. The station is more recurrent driven than a typical chr is, but I think what makes them unable to be called an adult chr is that they do play songs from the 80s and 90s. Now, 80s songs are few and far between, they consist almost entirely of Micheal Jackson and Prince. The 90s songs are rhythmic pop, NSYNC, BSB, Britney, along with a few of the best testing crossover so called dance songs and hip pop as well.
To sum it up, it is a very safe mass appeal station that goes after your 30s females who prefer rhythmic pop music, and protects z100 to some extent from amp radio being able to gain ground.

Rhythmic AC. The format has splintered recently. Classic hip hop stations are now classified as Rhythmic AC in some markets. A new classification of Rhythmic Hot AC should be created.

DavidEduardo said:

It just occured to me that this was exactly the format of WABC in its biggest days: slower to add new songs, holding them longer before going out of rotation.

The powers get played every 90 minutes, just as WABC did.

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You are right, those similarities are there. I think though that WABC played many more secondary currents. While KTU does play their powers 95-100 times a week, they don't have a large amount of secondary currents with considerable spin as WABC did.

What makes me not say adult chr which is what you have made a solid case for is the playing of songs that are 20 years old, as chr today doesn't do that. I know from trusted sources that WABC did react to oldies on wxlo and wcbs by playing some but at that time those so called oldies were no more than 5-7 years old.

WKTU evolved about 7 years ago when 923 now signed on and they were cornering the market on pitbull and other dancey songs at the time. WKTU was used to counter 923 by taking ownership of those songs, thus protecting z100 from 923 as z100 was not going to over represent one genre of music just because it was hot at the time, that strategy has burned z100 a few times in the past, a mistake not to be made again.

How about Urban Classic Hits? Those stations are pretty much "oldies," but in today's language it would be "classic hits." But it's definitely urban, too.

I haven't heard WKTU recently, but I can make an educated guess that they are similar to Boston's WJMN 94.5. A rhythmic CHR

Not even close. WJMN is more of the typical definition of Rhythmic: current heavy and leans Urban. KTU is, well I have no idea. Too new to be considered Urban Classic Hits, too CHR to be Rhythmic AC or even truly Rhythmic. Too much gold for CHR. Too Rhythmic for Hot AC. I can't really say what it is. "Say You Won't Let Go" and "Hymn for the Weekend" are on their top 50 rotation. Is KTU playing remixes of these songs? I wouldn't imagine those on Rhythmic radio in a million years.

Perhaps WKTU is programming an undefined format in a class of it's own.

Maybe. But other stations like it exist too, such as KHTI in Riverside/San Bernandino (despite having no pre-2000 tracks and playing conventional Hot AC tracks in the overnight daypart) and (formerly) WBQT in Boston, which is now a classic hip hop/rhythmic CHR hybrid. In Canada, 92.5 the Beat in Montreal is a good example of a "WKTU emulator".

chrocket87 said:

Not even close. WJMN is more of the typical definition of Rhythmic: current heavy and leans Urban. KTU is, well I have no idea. Too new to be considered Urban Classic Hits, too CHR to be Rhythmic AC or even truly Rhythmic. Too much gold for CHR. Too Rhythmic for Hot AC. I can't really say what it is. "Say You Won't Let Go" and "Hymn for the Weekend" are on their top 50 rotation. Is KTU playing remixes of these songs? I wouldn't imagine those on Rhythmic radio in a million years.

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I think it goes without saying but obviously those songs are the remixes. KTU should be called Rhythmic hot ac. If you take out the songs from 20 years ago that makes them a Rhythmic Adult Chr. WJMN already discussed.....and those g/boom stations are hip hop classic hits. Hot 969 is kind of a mix of 3 formats, rhythmic, rhythmic hot ac and hip hop classic hits.

The what may seem like subtle variations change the composition of p1 audience quite a bit. It all comes down to examining the market, what exists already in that market, your sister stations, and the niche which will make the most cash for the cluster as a whole.

They strangely aren't playing a remix of Million Reasons. Maybe just because it's Gaga?