Markets without Classic Hits stations

Classic Hits station is a popular format, yes. However, I realized that many places lack Classic Hits radio stations.

- San Francisco. (?) Now, KBAY has the format, but it covers mainly San Jose and the rest of the South Bay and barely makes it into San Francisco proper. KOSF is all-80s, but many Classic Hits stations are focused on 70s/80s with a sliver of the 90s.
- Houston. I don't see how that different Houston is from DFW, demographic wise, and DFW has a successful classic hits station in KLUV. Now, KKHH may resemble it a bit, but they play little 70s and focus way too much on the 80s. Plus, there are no jocks or jingles.
- Washington DC. Shockingly, the Nation's Capital lacks a classic hits station. Given the low ratings of WWDC and WIAD, either of these stations are candidates to flip to the format.
- Atlanta. I'm not gonna deny the success of WSRV. But Cox "Classic Hits" stations largely eschew Pop and R&B, making them sound more like hit-driven classic rock.
- Baltimore. Not sure why this market is resistant to the format.
- Charlotte. (See Baltimore)
- Nashville. The Music City actually lacks a station that plays the "Greatest Hits."
- Piedmont Triad. Hasn't had one since 94.1 WTHZ (now WWLV) went to K-Love.
- New Orleans. At best, western portions of the market will get WRQQ from Baton Rouge.
- West Palm Beach. You would think with older demographics, that Palm Beach would have a classic hits station.
- Jacksonville. Cox "Classic Hits" outlets basically sounds like hit-driven classic rock, and WJGL is no different.
- Memphis. It's not that young of a market, so why not give it a try?
- Louisville. WSFR sounds like hit-driven classic rock, similar to Cox "Classic Hits" stations, although this one is owned by Summit Media. Formerly owned by Cox, however.
- Rio Grande Valley. KHKZ is going nowhere, so that is a candidate.
- Birmingham. Not sure which station will flip to Classic Hits, if so.
- Allentown. Can't say if the Philadelphia stations have a reliable enough signal in Allentown so residents can get WOGL.
- Bakersfield.
- Charleston.
- Monterey Bay.
- Colorado Springs. KPHT in Pueblo hardly has a signal in Colorado Springs proper.
- Mobile. Not sure why they haven't tried Classic Hits, given that WABB has been a popular Top 40 station in that market for YEARS.
, etc.

So far I have done the Top 100 markets. However, it is surprising and baffling that these cities do not have a Classic Hits-formatted radio station. And not all successful Classic Hits stations are in older-skewing markets, either.

Hartford only has a 99-watt FM translator of suburban WNTY(AM) for its classic hits, so that market barely qualifies as having a classic hits station. Boston's WROR sounds very much like Atlanta's WSRV -- very white, very rock, no R&B at all and very little pop.

My guess with Memphis is that it's too heavily African-American for the format to work, and that much of the white population in 35-54 prefers classic country to classic hits (rock, pop or R&B).

Hartford had a well-regarded Classic Hits station, WDRC-FM, till about a year or two ago when it switched to Classic Rock.

I always wonder why some markets are missing a major format, such as Classic Hits. At one time, people thought they were hard to sell due to older demos. But the way they are programmed today, they keep most of their listeners under 54. Every year they delete some 70s titles and add some 90s songs, all to keep most of their listeners in the 25-54 demo.

How about markets with no AC station? In NYC, Hartford and several other markets, AC is #1. Yet there are no AC stations in Minneapolis and till recently, none in Chicago or Dallas.

"- Mobile. Not sure why they haven't tried Classic Hits, given that WABB has been a popular Top 40 station in that market for YEARS. "

WJTQ Jet 100.7 sounds like Classic Hits to me.

Or were you not including the Pensacola market stations that have better coverage of Mobile than Pensacola?

Gregg. said:

Hartford had a well-regarded Classic Hits station, WDRC-FM, till about a year or two ago when it switched to Classic Rock.

Click to expand...

It's actually been 3 years as of this past July! And apparently, although the 12+ beauty pageant numbers were good, the money demo was weak.

I'm surprised DC is lacking a Classic Hits outlet. When Jack Diamond returned to WRQX I thought they might flip. With WASH and WIAD doing hot AC,In surprised 107 3 is still in the format. As mentioned many Classic Hits stations are rocking pretty harder so it is not a demos problem

seedless said:

"- Mobile. Not sure why they haven't tried Classic Hits, given that WABB has been a popular Top 40 station in that market for YEARS. "

WJTQ Jet 100.7 sounds like Classic Hits to me.

Or were you not including the Pensacola market stations that have better coverage of Mobile than Pensacola?

Click to expand...

You are actually right about that one. I almost thought 100.7 is still a simulcast of WCOA, but at the same time, I am unsure how much listenership Pensacola stations have in Mobile, as Pensacola stations do not subscribe to the ratings for the Mobile market.

Gregg. said:

How about markets with no AC station? In NYC, Hartford and several other markets, AC is #1. Yet there are no AC stations in Minneapolis and till recently, none in Chicago or Dallas.

Click to expand...

As far as I know, WLIT never changed formats, just rebranded to “My FM.” Neither WSHE nor WLIT are Top 10 rating contenders in Chicago, although they may bill fairly well, though I’m not sure about that.

As for Dallas, KDGE (Star 102.1) has hardly made a dent in the ratings, despite high ratings when they debuted around the Holidays last year.

In addition, I feel that most AC stations are focusing on the 2000s-now, and rightfully so, given demographic changes, so they may not be exactly as similar to Classic Hits. Oddly enough, iHeartMedia is hell bent in playing several 1980s songs in their ACs, regardless of market (New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Portland, Mobile, doesn’t matter), which stands in contrast to stations owned by Cumulus, Cox, Saga, etc. Well in general anyway. And for younger skewing Sun Belt markets like Los Angeles and Houston, I thought, for the longest time, that the iHM ACs were only successful because of a lack of direct competitors. But as for Houston, it may be due to a lack of a Classic Hits station in their market.

benale said:

I'm surprised DC is lacking a Classic Hits outlet. When Jack Diamond returned to WRQX I thought they might flip. With WASH and WIAD doing hot AC,In surprised 107 3 is still in the format. As mentioned many Classic Hits stations are rocking pretty harder so it is not a demos problem

Click to expand...

No WASH isn't Hot AC. It is a mainstream AC, and one with several 80s songs at that, although they are a tad more uptempo than the typical iHeartMedia AC.

DavidEduardo said:

Those two bill, together, less than WTMX. WTMX is the de-facto AC winner.

Click to expand...

If the ratings (and billing) are any indication, it looks like Hubbard truly played their cards right when it comes to cluster strategy, since WSHE kept WLIT from inching closer to their high-billing Hot AC WTMX. Interesting enough, WLIT only has a 2.2 rating as of the October 2017 ratings, only 0.2 higher than sister station country WEBG, which has never been a strong contender in the ratings in Chicago (let alone beating WUSN), whereas WLIT is the long-time AC station in Chicago, with a rebranding to "My FM" a few years back. As for Hubbard, it certainly doesn't hurt that they also have highly-rated Classic Rock WDRV.

DavidEduardo said:

LA and HOU are a few years younger in median age due to the Hispanic population where the number of children per family is greater. In the English language AC target (including later generation Hispanics) the median age of LA and Chicago is about the same.

Click to expand...

This is true, but it may only partly explains why iHeartMedia AC's (not just in these aforementioned markets) have a huge gold library and why 80s songs are well emphasized in their AC stations. For instance, in the Washington-Baltimore corridor, WASH has less currents and a tad more gold compared to WLIF (owned by Entercom, previously CBS Radio). Also, in the Gulf Coast area, WMXC has a bit more 80s compared to WMEZ, and I doubt that the demographics differ between Mobile and Pensacola.



Although AC stations are more favorable in metro areas with a mid-to-high median age among the population, in Dallas (which I believe is in the middle of the road when it comes to age), KDGE is barely making a dent in the ratings. KVIL has been the long time AC station serving Dallas-Fort Worth, but ratings weakened in their latter years as a mainstream AC station. For some reason, the AC format isn't very strong in DFW. Interesting enough, many smaller markets in Texas, specifically Waco, Killeen-Temple, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Laredo, and the Rio Grande Valley, lack an AC station. (I guess this partly answers the previous question asked involving which markets lack an AC station.) With the exception of Houston and Austin (where their respective ACs rank in the Top 5 in ratings), Texas isn't the place to be when it comes to Adult Contemporary radio, it seems.

Radio Radio Listener said:

You are actually right about that one. I almost thought 100.7 is still a simulcast of WCOA, but at the same time, I am unsure how much listenership Pensacola stations have in Mobile, as Pensacola stations do not subscribe to the ratings for the Mobile market.

Click to expand...

WJTQ Pensacola has the exact same signal as Mobile's top 3 stations (WDLT, WBLX & WKSJ). Rock formats have always been shared between Mobile and Pensacola with Active Rock coming from TK101 Pensacola and Classic Rock coming from The Rocket in Mobile. According to Cumulus' sales info, WJTQ is the second most listened to station in the Pensacola cluster, a distant second to Nash 102.7.

Charlotte has classic hits. WXRC "The Ride" plays America, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and Stevie Wonder in addition to rock. True, it's not like most classic hits stations but there was a time when the term referred to stations that mostly played rock.

WLKO "The Lake" plays "everything" and most of what this means is classic hits from the 70s and 80s.

vchimpanzee said:

Charlotte has classic hits. WXRC "The Ride" plays America, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and Stevie Wonder in addition to rock. True, it's not like most classic hits stations but there was a time when the term referred to stations that mostly played rock.

WLKO "The Lake" plays "everything" and most of what this means is classic hits from the 70s and 80s.

Click to expand...

I stand corrected when it comes to the Charlotte market.

However, while they share some songs, I wouldn't classify adult hits as the same as classic hits IMO. Adult hits radio stations play a handful of current songs and a significant amount of music from the 2000s/early 2010s, while classic hits rarely play anything after 1999. In addition, the adult hits format may include harder rock songs, whereas the classic hits format seldom includes them. Many well known classic hits stations such as WCBS or WLS do not include Guns N' Roses or Twisted Sister in their playlists.

CTListener said:

My guess with Memphis is that it's too heavily African-American for the format to work, and that much of the white population in 35-54 prefers classic country to classic hits (rock, pop or R&B).

Click to expand...

Memphis has Guess FM at 99.3. I believe that they employ several of the DJs who were at the former 'KQK, or at FM 100 back in the day.

Radio Radio Listener said:

- Nashville. The Music City actually lacks a station that plays the "Greatest Hits."

Click to expand...

Hippie Radio, 94.5. They have been on the air for five, almost six years now.

Also 93.3 is classic hits, although they are a relatively weak signal FM translator for an AM station.

- Birmingham. Not sure which station will flip to Classic Hits, if so.

Click to expand...

I like The Peach whenever we are in Birmingham, but they may be a bit of a rimshot station aimed at the area south of Birmingham (Alabaster area).

firepoint525 said:

Hippie Radio, 94.5. They have been on the air for five, almost six years now.

Also 93.3 is classic hits, although they are a relatively weak signal FM translator for an AM station.I like The Peach whenever we are in Birmingham, but they may be a bit of a rimshot station aimed at the area south of Birmingham (Alabaster area).

Click to expand...

Guess the fact that these stations (in Nashville) haven't subscribed to Arbitron is a factor on why I didn't think that some markets had a classic hits station. At least they have them, but I don't know if they are a factor in their respective markets. Still, the list of markets that do not have stations that play the "greatest hits" is surprisingly long

Radio Radio Listener said:

However, while they share some songs, I wouldn't classify adult hits as the same as classic hits IMO. Adult hits radio stations play a handful of current songs and a significant amount of music from the 2000s/early 2010s, while classic hits rarely play anything after 1999. In addition, the adult hits format may include harder rock songs, whereas the classic hits format seldom includes them. Many well known classic hits stations such as WCBS or WLS do not include Guns N' Roses or Twisted Sister in their playlists.

Click to expand...

I was just making the point that this is where people can hear the songs. Same in Greensboro, NC, where 98.7 Simon plays "everything" but this mostly means classic hits, even if grunge and rap and maybe even metal show up from time to time. In that market an AM station plays oldies but doesn't have a lot of listeners.

Charlotte also has several oldies stations, most of them AM stations that don't even reach the city at night, and one FM that reaches at least part of the market.