• 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

Rock stations: North vs. South

U

upstate29651

Seems to me the bulk of rock stations flipping to different formats appears to be in the South. Why is this? More acceptance of Pop/R&B? Higher proportion of blacks to whites, population-wise?

On that note, why are the rock stations up north so much heavier than those in the South? You'd almost never hear bands like Killswitch Engage or Parkway Drive on Southern (active) Rock radio. Up north, especially in the Northwest, you hear these bands with more frequency.

So....what's the reasoning for this?

G
 
Newer guitar rock has not had as much mainstream appeal in this decade as it had in the four previous ones so it has become a niche. Maybe in the northwest there is still a large enough audience for it. But everywhere else classic rock stations may as well be called just "rock" since past acts now define the format in most places.
 
upstate29651 said:
Seems to me the bulk of rock stations flipping to different formats appears to be in the South. Why is this? More acceptance of Pop/R&B? Higher proportion of blacks to whites, population-wise?

On that note, why are the rock stations up north so much heavier than those in the South? You'd almost never hear bands like Killswitch Engage or Parkway Drive on Southern (active) Rock radio. Up north, especially in the Northwest, you hear these bands with more frequency.

So....what's the reasoning for this?

G
Click to expand...

most likely that southern states are trying to play less of the acts you might here more up north due to the southern states being known as "the bible belt" meaning in the southern states, you have to be playing more safer music for these states that is very friendly for the southerners religious influences and very conservative in their political views.
 
WZDQ in Jackson, TN is the only station in my area that plays modern rock, except for what makes it into the CHR stations. Most others lean toward classic rock, and they probably mix in more Southern/country rock groups (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eagles, CCR, etc.).
 
I wouldn't go so far as to say the reason hard and heavy active rockers don't do as well in the South is less about the 'Bible Belt' schtick and more about regional preferences. I have heard GWAR on a couple rockers in the SE and Mid-Atlantic...besides specialty shows, they do not get airplay in the NW. Never really did. Even classic rock is like this...Northwest: You'll hear Gerry Rafferty songs in rotation far more than Molly Hatchet. The opposite is the case down South...Rafferty almost never gets played on anything other than on an ocassional classic hits station.

And actually, I'd almost say that active rock does alright in the South despite the format nationally shrinking significantly over the past 10 years. WNOR/Norfolk, VA, WXQR/Jacksonville, NC, WJRR/Orlando, FL, and WCPR/Biloxi, MS have all been very successful as active rock stations just to name a few. They may not have the legendary status of...say...98Rock in Baltimore or KISW in Seattle, but they do quite well.

Archie B.
 
I don't know that WXQR is a success. Its 12-plus numbers have been pathetic lately. My guess is that it continues in the format because it does well at a large nearby military base.

WTPT Forest City, NC (Greenville SC) has been in the format more than 20 years. I won't say it has big numbers, but it's still around.
 
seattlesarchiebunker said:
I wouldn't go so far as to say the reason hard and heavy active rockers don't do as well in the South is less about the 'Bible Belt' schtick and more about regional preferences. I have heard GWAR on a couple rockers in the SE and Mid-Atlantic...besides specialty shows, they do not get airplay in the NW. Never really did. Even classic rock is like this...Northwest: You'll hear Gerry Rafferty songs in rotation far more than Molly Hatchet. The opposite is the case down South...Rafferty almost never gets played on anything other than on an ocassional classic hits station.

And actually, I'd almost say that active rock does alright in the South despite the format nationally shrinking significantly over the past 10 years. WNOR/Norfolk, VA, WXQR/Jacksonville, NC, WJRR/Orlando, FL, and WCPR/Biloxi, MS have all been very successful as active rock stations just to name a few. They may not have the legendary status of...say...98Rock in Baltimore or KISW in Seattle, but they do quite well.

Archie B.
Click to expand...

Rock stations have never done well in the South (only a handful). You can't put Active rock and Southern Rock in the same category. Baltimore, Seattle, etc. do well with rock outlets. Atlanta, Montgomery, Miami not so much. Rock stations around military installations do well in the South. Mainstream classic rock and Rock/pop leaning classic hit stations also do well in some markets in the South. For example (and I have not seen the numbers lately) WJTQ Pensacola and WRKH Mobile are two that do (or did) well.
 
Groove1670 said:
Rock stations have never done well in the South (only a handful). You can't put Active rock and Southern Rock in the same category. Baltimore, Seattle, etc. do well with rock outlets. Atlanta, Montgomery, Miami not so much. Rock stations around military installations do well in the South. Mainstream classic rock and Rock/pop leaning classic hit stations also do well in some markets in the South. For example (and I have not seen the numbers lately) WJTQ Pensacola and WRKH Mobile are two that do (or did) well.
Click to expand...

That's kind of a blanket statement... the Abrams / Superstars concept came out of WQDR in Raleigh and the 70's and 80's saw market-leading or highly ranked rockers in most of the South. Miami was the exception due to the ethnicity of the market, but it was the big exception even though the original WSHE and, for a while, WINZ-FM put together some pretty good combined shares.
 
seattlesarchiebunker said:
I wouldn't go so far as to say the reason hard and heavy active rockers don't do as well in the South is less about the 'Bible Belt' schtick and more about regional preferences. I have heard GWAR on a couple rockers in the SE and Mid-Atlantic...besides specialty shows, they do not get airplay in the NW. Never really did. Even classic rock is like this...Northwest: You'll hear Gerry Rafferty songs in rotation far more than Molly Hatchet. The opposite is the case down South...Rafferty almost never gets played on anything other than on an ocassional classic hits station.

Archie B.
Click to expand...

The main place I hear Gerry Rafferty is usually Baker Street on oldies stations and the instrumental portion as Dave Ramsey's theme song. (One of the few talk shows I actually listen to on occasion.)
 
Something I read years ago about the difference between rock radio in the North and rock radio in the South is that John Boy and Billy could never expand their show beyond the South without making a country version available because rock radio in the North would never accept it. Some country stations in the South have aired the show.
 
seattlesarchiebunker said:
I have heard GWAR on a couple rockers in the SE and Mid-Atlantic...besides specialty shows, they do not get airplay in the NW. Never really did.
Click to expand...

GWAR are from Richmond, VA. That explains why you heard them on the radio over there.
 
Groove1670 said:
Mainstream classic rock and Rock/pop leaning classic hit stations also do well in some markets in the South. For example (and I have not seen the numbers lately) WJTQ Pensacola and WRKH Mobile are two that do (or did) well.
Click to expand...
WRFX Charlotte is number one 12-plus in the latest ratings.
 
Will_H_69_9 said:
most likely that southern states are trying to play less of the acts you might here more up north due to the southern states being known as "the bible belt" meaning in the southern states, you have to be playing more safer music for these states that is very friendly for the southerners religious influences and very conservative in their political views.
Click to expand...

That's not it. I have lived in rural Michigan. Church attendance and attitudes on such matters are very much like they are in the "bible belt". National chains like iHeart use pretty much the same playlists wherever they are. The old stereotype of a bible-thumping Alabama preacher telling people they'll go to Hell for listening to that Elvis guy no longer holds true.
 
John Boy and Billy have the southern accents as part of their schtick. The show is regionalized but the music played (the version I hear is by satellite and the same on both WIMZ and WQUT) is standard issue classic rock. The onl difference I've noted between WIMZ and say, WTUE in Dayton is a touch more southern rock.
 
I cant speak for stations up North, but I completely agree with what you are saying. I cant even get a decent hard rock station in Houston. I stream C101 out of Corpus Christi.
 
vchimpanzee said:
And someone has posted that the station is way down after Nikki Sixx was replaced with something about Big Rigs.
Click to expand...

Big Rig is a known personality for IHM and i believe he's voice tracked from a different market, he used to be on middays here on KEGL 97.1The Eagle after Chris Ryan left the station years ago, Big Rig was replaced by Ayo from sister station KDGE shortly after 102.1 The Egde became Star 102.1 in late 2016.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom