Audacy Drops Hosts From Channel Q Network

[Barry]

Channel Q is on about 40 HD subchannels of Audacy stations around the country. It had hosted programs aimed at the LGBT community, in addition to rhythmic pop music. AllAccess reports that the hosts are all gone, and just the music remains. So now it is similar to Pride, from IHeart Radio.
Perhaps this is another indication of Audacy's difficult financial situation.

 

[Kelly A]

Channel Q is on about 40 HD subchannels of Audacy stations around the country. It had hosted programs aimed at the LGBT community, in addition to rhythmic pop music. AllAccess reports that the hosts are all gone, and just the music remains. So now it is similar to Pride, from IHeart Radio.
Perhaps this is another indication of Audacy's difficult financial situation.

Forgot about that format. First thing that came to my mind was 'wow, has Audacy started a QAnon talk format?'

 

[Red Plume]

Forgot about that format. First thing that came to my mind was 'wow, has Audacy started a QAnon talk format?'

I think for the reason you stated, the "Channel Q" name did not age well. "Q" in any branding is a bit tarnished.

One of the first shows I heard on that station was co-hosted by someone who lost a previous timeslot on another station for saying something considered homophobic on the air. And in his first show, he was making fun of all the letters in "LGBTQ+". They likely threw him there to live out the remaining months of his contract.

It was a poorly executed network, at least in the early days. In almost every market, even on terrestrial radio, there's something better for someone seeking LGBTQ+ lifestyle talk and music programming.

 

[Gregg.]

I guess we now have two dance/EDM/classic disco digital subchannels in most large markets. As said above, iHeart's "Pride Radio" and Audacy's "Channel Q." Sometimes the hosts and guests on Channel Q were interesting. But often not. They did do a decent "Love Lines" show at night. At least it was an attempt to do something other than an automated format on an HD subchannel.

Channel Q does have a regular FM signal in Palm Springs, 103.1 KQPS. It hovers around a 1.0 rating in Market #133.

 

[Marcos_C]

Channel Q is on about 40 HD subchannels of Audacy stations around the country. It had hosted programs aimed at the LGBT community, in addition to rhythmic pop music. AllAccess reports that the hosts are all gone, and just the music remains. So now it is similar to Pride, from iHeart Radio.

Except that Pride Radio still has hosts; they just play the music.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

Except that Pride Radio still has hosts; they just play the music.

I remember when Pride Radio launched. It was in Chicago in '06 or so. It was all stereotypical music. No hosts. Was part of Clear Channel's format lab. Haven't listened much since except once in awhile. HD Radio is nowhere near as exciting as it was back then. I rarely heard jocks or anything on that feed. Most of their music is Dance now. Used to have a little of everything when it started.

 

[Wimmmex]

It was a poorly executed network, at least in the early days. In almost every market, even on terrestrial radio, there's something better for someone seeking LGBTQ+ lifestyle talk and music programming.

I think the format was a caricature of what it was claimed to be. Somehow it was presented as though all LGB people all thought, spoke and acted the same, with an overemphasis on stereotypes.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I think the format was a caricature of what it was claimed to be. Somehow it was presented as though all LGB people all thought, spoke and acted the same, with an overemphasis on stereotypes.

I'm gay and i really cant stand dance/trance/edm

 

[Mediafrog+]

I'm gay and i really cant stand dance/trance/edm

A gay family member once told me that he ”would rather have an ice pick hammered into his brain than listen to EDM.” So much for stereotypes.

 

[CTListener]

I'm gay and i really cant stand dance/trance/edm

Nor have any of the gay/lesbian co-workers I've had over the years. The question is, though, if LGBTQ-targeted radio drops the musical stereotyping and starts playing rock, country, hip-hop, etc., in addition to the occasional "this is what gay people love" song, will that target audience and whatever advertisers the format attracts accept the diversity? Would all the non-dance/disco music played have to be by LGBTQ artists in order to "keep it real"?

 

[JeremyAndrews]

They're focusing on LGBTQ people in the nightclub scene, which does not reflect that entire community. Yes, the gay nightclub scene is very visible and one of the largest supporters of dance music and vice versa. But it does not reflect that entire community beyond that. It's narrow.

 

[Kelly A]

A gay family member once told me that he ”would rather have an ice pick hammered into his brain than listen to EDM.” So much for stereotypes.

Sure, just like old, white, males 60+ only listen to AM talk radio. Oh...wait...

 

[victorres43]

Nor have any of the gay/lesbian co-workers I've had over the years. The question is, though, if LGBTQ-targeted radio drops the musical stereotyping and starts playing rock, country, hip-hop, etc., in addition to the occasional "this is what gay people love" song, will that target audience and whatever advertisers the format attracts accept the diversity? Would all the non-dance/disco music played have to be by LGBTQ artists in order to "keep it real"?

Yes, disco clubs in the 70s were safe spaces for those that are LGBTQ, and Madonna & Kylie Minogue cherished their LGBTQ fans before it was cool and trendy to do so. But, LGBTQ music fans are capable of listening to anything other than dance or dance pop, and acceptance of the LGBTQ community is high compared to 15-20 years ago, notwithstanding violent protests against "grooming" drag queens.

 

[Barry]

I will venture a guess that most LGBT people like the same music and radio programming as everyone else in their demos. If that's correct, there is probably little demand for stations such as Channel Q and Pride.
In the case of Channel Q, the music is not really dance/EDM. It is more like rhythmic/AC.

 

[Red Plume]

Yes, disco clubs in the 70s were safe spaces for those that are LGBTQ,...

I would extend that through the 1990's into the 2000's. I remember being chased by someone with a gun in the 1990's because they merely suspected I may be gay. It was dangerous to be identified as LGBTQ+ outside of a safe space until not that long ago.

Consequently, the historic dance music connection as the soundtrack to safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community can be traced into the 2000's. In the late 2000's dance music started to become part of the mainstream. So I feel, and agree with some of the posts here, that associating The Chainsmokers with LGBTQ+ would be stereotypical. But associating Deborah Cox or Martha Wash with that community would not, as those were some prominent voices in the music played in the safe places.

One of the adjustments that club DJs would often make, acknowledging the diversity of musical tastes, is to include remixes, so non-dance artists could be played in the club. Toni Braxton was an excellent example.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

I will venture a guess that most LGBT people like the same music and radio programming as everyone else in their demos. If that's correct, there is probably little demand for stations such as Channel Q and Pride.
In the case of Channel Q, the music is not really dance/EDM. It is more like rhythmic/AC.

They do. Alternative Rock, CHR, AC, Country, even Classic Rock have LGBTQ fans. There are also gay Christians listening to CCM.

 

[Miss Tuned]

Nor have any of the gay/lesbian co-workers I've had over the years. The question is, though, if LGBTQ-targeted radio drops the musical stereotyping and starts playing rock, country, hip-hop, etc., in addition to the occasional "this is what gay people love" song, will that target audience and whatever advertisers the format attracts accept the diversity? Would all the non-dance/disco music played have to be by LGBTQ artists in order to "keep it real"?

A station called - yes - "Gaydio" in the UK used to be like that, launching in (I think) 2008. They were rhythmic, but not overwhelmingly so. They had alternative rock and hip-hop and 80s music programming, and the LGBTQ+ content came in the speech between the songs, there was community news, an events guide. That format lasted a few years, but they eventually flipped to the standard all-EDM, all-the-time format that all LGBTQ+ people apparently crave - this is a recent playlist.

There are historic reasons for it - Red Plume has set them out above - in that gay clubs in big cities were a safe space for people to be out when it wasn't safe to be out. But in this day and age, in the vast majority of places (certainly here in the UK, in big cities, small towns, the countryside, there are visible out LGBTQ+ people and nobody sane cares) there isn't really the same issue any more, except some amount of transphobia as a holdover from the bad old days, and even that is waning.

Again, at least here, "mainstream" radio has openly LGBTQ+ hosts at all levels and in all formats and regularly gives mentions to queer listeners, things like hearing that a man and his husband are celebrating their anniversary are just normal things to hear on the air now. Things have changed hugely even since 2008, so the "safe space" provided by stations like Gaydio is less and less necessary.

These stations have a future as generic EDM networks - the big EDM network in France, Radio FG, started as a gay station - or will close down as unnecessary, as Channel Q appears to be on the way to doing. I don't see the point in LGBTQ+ radio in the modern English-speaking West.

 

[CTListener]

Again, at least here, "mainstream" radio has openly LGBTQ+ hosts at all levels and in all formats and regularly gives mentions to queer listeners, things like hearing that a man and his husband are celebrating their anniversary are just normal things to hear on the air now.

The midday jock on one of our local (Vermont, not Connecticut) country stations often mentions her wife on air. I don't imagine that raises many eyebrows in these parts, but I wonder if she'd be so open elsewhere.

 

[Nathan Obral]

Channel Q does have a regular FM signal in Palm Springs, 103.1 KQPS. It hovers around a 1.0 rating in Market #133.

It was also on 1550 AM in San Francisco before Audacy finally managed to divest that high-band AM station with a nearly chameleon identity (prior to picking up Channel Q, 1550 simulcast KGMZ and aired A’s games in any schedule conflicts with the Warriors before the A’s voided their contract with KGMZ amid much acrimony).

 

[Nathan Obral]

I remember when Pride Radio launched. It was in Chicago in '06 or so. It was all stereotypical music. No hosts. Was part of Clear Channel's format lab. Haven't listened much since except once in awhile. HD Radio is nowhere near as exciting as it was back then. I rarely heard jocks or anything on that feed. Most of their music is Dance now. Used to have a little of everything when it started.

Once those “format labs” for Clear Channel became the backbone for their “Premium Choice” internal network (shared music logs, streamlined voicetracking and dedicated channels on iHeartRadio) the original purpose of HD Radio for the company was entirely lost.

The potential upsides of having format channels on a mobile app clearly sounded a lot more appealing than hoping people would go to Best Buy and purchase a FM model (made with a proprietary standard that made those radios cost-prohibitive to the public) in the hopes of accessing them over there. Audacy’s attempt with Channel Q was also the same in aspects, they trotted it out as a channel on their streaming platform that just so happens to also be on HD subchannels.