• 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

Big 95.5

JeremyAndrews said:
Any idea how WKQX is doing in their target? They seem to have been hit the hardest by WCHI. At least in this most recent book
Click to expand...

Looks like XRT got hit hard too. Weird, I was expecting The Drive to get hit the hardest but they barely budged at all.

Anyway, thanks for the info David, it is much appreciated, especially as I don't know the ins and outs of the radio business as much as I'd like. It makes sense that they're going solely for a nostalgia-based playlist right now. I personally responded to their survey requesting some new music mixed in with the hits and favorites but clearly I was in the minority. Full disclosure, I am 33, so I am in both the 18-34 and 25-54 demos right now.
 
macattack said:
I'm not suggesting anything more dramatic than them playing a current or two within pretty much the exact same playlist they have now (albeit probably at the cost of the little bit of 70's rock they play that has heavy overlap with 93XRT and The Drive). If it came off as otherwise, I apologize. If you did understand what I was getting at, could you explain why it would be such a major, audience-alienating shift to play, for example, Chris Cornell's cover of "Patience", a recurrent like "S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun)" by The Glorious Sons or a 2010's hit like "Gold On The Ceiling" by The Black Keys, once or twice in an hour of pretty much the same music they're playing now?

I don't doubt that iHeart did an insane amount of research to make the playlist work for the Chicago market. They also probably spent a lot of time listening to their would-be competitors to know what the audience is listening to and what they are lacking. They are literally playing a huge plethora of songs that have been neglected (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Kings of Leon, blink-182) or completely absent (pretty much everything The Loop played) in the Chicago market. It's smartly programmed, but I have to wonder what happens when the "new station smell" wears off. Right now there's a gradual building of curious listeners, but what happens six months from now? I think the current playlist is extremely intelligent and should hook people, but eventually they'll have to start mixing it up. I am curious to see what they'll do when they have to start gently adjusting the formula.
Click to expand...

I bolded what I wanted to cover.

I've already started to tune in less. Yea, when I'm out in the garage working in things, it's on in the background, but when driving somewhere, I've found that I tune in less and less than I had been.

Why? Tired of the repetitiveness. I never really cared for Angie to begin with, so I'm not enthused enough to keep her locked on in the morning (although Abe is cool), and stupid "bumpers" after commercials and in-between songs. In the morning, that guy Conrad Cooper, and not trying to be mean here... Sounds like a dork.
 
Bumping this since it's been a few months.

They changed some of their imaging and I have to say I like it. I like the bumpers and the voice-over guy and his "quickie's". Chainsaw Friday's is a "unique" thing, and the top hour ID is pretty cool.

They have made revisions to the play list to help some of the repetitiveness, but still I hear Poison "something to believe in" waaayyy too much as well as U2 "Vertigo" (but I will take that because I pretty much can't stand anything else by them).

Oh yea, Conrad Cooper still sounds like a dork.

What are others impressions?
 
Would really like to hear some new rock tracks added to the playlist, such as "Protect the Land" by System of a Down, "Shame Shame" by the Foo Fighters, "Bruised and Bloodied" by Seether, and "Self Destructor" by Chevelle, among others which would fit right in with the current playlist. Otherwise, it's still good, especially with the playlist modifications that have been made recently.
 
They do play "Shame, Shame" every once in a blue moon. I'm not a big Foo Fighters fan, but I do like this track. So when I do catch it, I do note it. :D
 
Yeah I'm all for 95.5 going Active. Doesn't need to be a jarring shift but sprinkling in a current every 6 song set will freshen things. Start with veterans to get people primed for new songs and then gently bring in the promising new blood like Cleopatrick and Ayron Jones.
 
100% agree with you, macattack.

They could take some cues from WRIF and WHQG. Do 95.5 P1s really want to hear Journey and Nickelback??? For me, those would be immediate tune out songs.

This station isn't as bad as Emmis-era WLUP from a mediocrity standpoint, but I feel 95.5 is trying to be all things to all people. That's a recipe for long-term also ran status.
 
MarkW said:
100% agree with you, macattack.

They could take some cues from WRIF and WHQG. Do 95.5 P1s really want to hear Journey and Nickelback??? For me, those would be immediate tune out songs.

This station isn't as bad as Emmis-era WLUP from a mediocrity standpoint, but I feel 95.5 is trying to be all things to all people. That's a recipe for long-term also ran status.
Click to expand...
Journey... ehhh, they have some songs that have withstood the test of time, and I think the PD knows that and he's been careful to play the Journey songs that seem to be universally beloved. As for Nickelback I think Imagine Dragons is usurping Nickelback as "worst band ever" in the public eye so maybe people are going to tone down the Nickelback hate a bit this decade. Doesn't hurt to find out.

But yeah if I were PD if the reactions to new Foo Fighters are positive I'd look into slipping in some veteran bands' currents (particularly hometown heroes Chevelle, whose "Self destructor" is turning into an Active smash with mild Alternative crossover) and see if the listeners like them!
 
Well, they did play my favorite Linkin Park song today, 'Papercut', which is outside of the normal 3 - 5 mainstream hits of theirs, so that's a win.
 
macattack said:
Looks like XRT got hit hard too. Weird, I was expecting The Drive to get hit the hardest but they barely budged at all.

Anyway, thanks for the info David, it is much appreciated, especially as I don't know the ins and outs of the radio business as much as I'd like. It makes sense that they're going solely for a nostalgia-based playlist right now. I personally responded to their survey requesting some new music mixed in with the hits and favorites but clearly I was in the minority. Full disclosure, I am 33, so I am in both the 18-34 and 25-54 demos right now.
Click to expand...
In my experience, country, news/talk, classic hits and A/C take the biggest hits at Christmas time, only to return to normal in January. Christmas music could have negatively effected WKQX as well. All it might take is one 30 YO female heavy WKQX listener to switch to Christmas music for the survey period. This could have been an issue for WXRT as well. It might be more prudent to wait for January and February "books" to get a better feel as to what's happening with the rock stations. (Side note: I DO think WCHI is hurting WLS-FM)
 
I might have been one of the few that didn't even tune in to 93.9 this year. Part of it was that they turned so early (IMO), and I just wasn't mentally ready for it. And second, just was in a bah humbug mood this year.
 
The ratings in 6+ are now a hot pile of garbage, as I expected all along.

I wonder how well they are faring in Men 25-54 vis-à-vis 670 The Score, 93XRT, and 97.1 The Drive? I suspect rank wise, they don't look bad on paper, but when one examines actual AQH share, it wouldn't surprise me if they trail those other three stations by a mile.

The wrong individual is programming this station. Some of the worst segues I've ever seen on any rock station in the top 100 markets.
 
When you say segues, are you talking about the bumpers by the voice over guy? I like those TBH.

I will say, some of the music choices after that kinda suck. But the bribing, the chainsaw, the divorce consultation giveaway, were all pretty good. Early on when they were doing these stupid comedy skit bits, annoyed me. Their segue's in to the traffic segment, I don't like. Just have a music bed for traffic and go to it.
 
I've been listening for about 30 minutes now. The format is very similar to WHQG "The Hog" in Milwaukee. Anyone else feel the same?

The Drive has little to worry about. Their format is significantly different from WCHI. Plus, they are a Chicagoland brand. Almost every car I get into (family, friends, and Uber) has The Drive as a preset.

WXRT will be fine too. Again, they have a good brand and a loyal (albeit smaller) following.

WIIL is most impacted by this, but the impact is only in far north suburban Lake/McHenry counties. And if anything, people now have two stations to flip between. WILL has a similar 90s/00s rock format, but they incorporate newer tracks a few times per hour.

Overall, the market will adjust accordingly. It's good to see someone shake up the market every once in a while. Chicago needed this. The dial was getting "stale."
 
I've been listening for about 30 minutes now. The format is very similar to WHQG "The Hog" in Milwaukee. Anyone else feel the same?
Click to expand...

No, I don't feel that way at all. The Hog has a well structured playlist, has a fairly typical sound for the Active Rock format, doesn't play garbage from Joan Jett, Journey or Matchbox 20, has a heritage morning show who's been in the market for over three decades, and plays currents & recurrents alongside a well structured catalog of gold.

The only area where 95.5 sounds better than WHQG is creative production. (The creative on WHQG has taken a step backward under the current PD.) In all other respects, WHQG is a superior product.

Few people who can pick up WIIL clearly will switch allegiance to 95.5.

I do completely agree with you that WDRV and WXRT have nothing to worry about relative to WCHI.
 
Well, I now feel this station has become a repetitive snoozefest. Same handful of songs daily, hardly any new songs played, and songs that really shouldn't be on a real Rock station playlist. It's back to streaming KUPD for me (far better playlist and new songs!). 🤘
 
I posted this in the ratings thread too;

Things I don't like;
- Still don't like Angie in the morning
- Some of the fillers trying to do comedic bits drive me nuts.
- Traffic report intro's. I don't need some stupid commentary. Just lay a music bed in to the traffic report.
- And yes, they need more consistency with their play list

Things I like;
- Some of their promos... Chainsaw Friday, divorce consultations for Valentines Day, etc... :D
- Pat Capone. Right now he is doing weekends. He should be your afternoon drive guy. He really hit his stride on 103.9 the Fox. Guitar licks and some of the other stuff he did that would fit perfectly on 'CHI.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom