Hot AC in 2006

[Radiogeek500]

So where does Hot AC go from here in 2006?

The format seems to have lost it's mojo. All the Jack and other people named stations with Variety Hits have stolen the thunder from Hot AC. In addition there just hasn't been any breakout artists like John Mayer or Jack Johnson and some markets don't even have Hot ACs in a actual or technical sense and I could say Los Angeles is one of them as Clear Channel tweaked both Hot ACs to Gold/Recurrent status(KBIG AND KYSR). And we also said goodbye to KFMB-FM/San Diego, which had been a Hot AC for the 90s and most of this decade Where will Hot AC wind up in the new year? Thoughts?<P ID="signature">______________
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[dave73]

> So where does Hot AC go from here in 2006?
>
> The format seems to have lost it's mojo. All the Jack and
> other people named stations with Variety Hits have stolen
> the thunder from Hot AC. In addition there just hasn't been
> any breakout artists like John Mayer or Jack Johnson and
> some markets don't even have Hot ACs in a actual or
> technical sense and I could say Los Angeles is one of them
> as Clear Channel tweaked both Hot ACs to Gold/Recurrent
> status(KBIG AND KYSR). And we also said goodbye to
> KFMB-FM/San Diego, which had been a Hot AC for the 90s and
> most of this decade Where will Hot AC wind up in the new
> year? Thoughts?
>
In Chicago, WTMX will be the only Hot AC station on a city grade stick, so there will be no real competition. Since Jack is mostly 70's & 80's these days amd just a jukebox, there's no threat. Also with Nine FM (jack clone, but the first variety station for the market) being on suburban signals, they won't weaken WTMX's ratings a bit. It's hard to say, but it would be interesting if variety stations overall replace the Hot AC format. Unlike other fad formats, there's a chance the variety format could hurt Hot AC in the long run.

 

[Magnum]

> So where does Hot AC go from here in 2006?
>
> The format seems to have lost it's mojo. All the Jack and
> other people named stations with Variety Hits have stolen
> the thunder from Hot AC. In addition there just hasn't been
> any breakout artists like John Mayer or Jack Johnson and
> some markets don't even have Hot ACs in a actual or
> technical sense and I could say Los Angeles is one of them
> as Clear Channel tweaked both Hot ACs to Gold/Recurrent
> status(KBIG AND KYSR). And we also said goodbye to
> KFMB-FM/San Diego, which had been a Hot AC for the 90s and
> most of this decade Where will Hot AC wind up in the new
> year? Thoughts?
>
Could it be that the Variety Hits format is the new Hot AC? In 2001-02, Philadelphia had 3 Hot AC stations (Mix 95.7, 96.5 The Point, and Alice 104.5). These stations never scored well in the ratings, and today, none of these stations exist. Back in March 2005, Mix changed from Hot AC to variety hits as Ben-FM. It's proven to be a good move for them as they've moved up in the ratings.

 

[radiophile]

Radio is cyclical. This could just be another cycle.

And it makes sense that it's happening mid-decade.

At some point in the mid 1990s, stations that played "the best of the 70s, 80s and 90s" had to decide whether to keep playing the 70s. Most dropped them, and oldies stations picked up more 70s music.

Jack/Bob/Sam/Whoever stations are about 50% 80s, with late 70s and early 90s making up another sizable portion of the playlist.

It's time for Hot ACs to reposition themselves. Drop the 80s. Become an adult Top 40 with just the 90s and Now. Cater to those 25-34s. Let the Variety Hits stations have those 40-49 year olds by playing a lot of 80s hits.

Be local and have some fun.

And someone has to come up with a better description than "the best of the 90s and Now" or "the best mix" to define exactly what a Hot AC is. That's an advantage of Jack/Bob/Tom/Dick/Harry: They found ways to positively describe what they are. "We play anything/everything." Even the stations that are using, "70s, 80s, 90s, whatever," is a better description (it has a bit of fun and attitude).

 

[dave73]

> > So where does Hot AC go from here in 2006?
> >
> > The format seems to have lost it's mojo. All the Jack and
> > other people named stations with Variety Hits have stolen
> > the thunder from Hot AC. In addition there just hasn't
> been
> > any breakout artists like John Mayer or Jack Johnson and
> > some markets don't even have Hot ACs in a actual or
> > technical sense and I could say Los Angeles is one of them
>
> > as Clear Channel tweaked both Hot ACs to Gold/Recurrent
> > status(KBIG AND KYSR). And we also said goodbye to
> > KFMB-FM/San Diego, which had been a Hot AC for the 90s and
>
> > most of this decade Where will Hot AC wind up in the new
> > year? Thoughts?
> >
> Could it be that the Variety Hits format is the new Hot AC?
> In 2001-02, Philadelphia had 3 Hot AC stations (Mix 95.7,
> 96.5 The Point, and Alice 104.5). These stations never
> scored well in the ratings, and today, none of these
> stations exist. Back in March 2005, Mix changed from Hot AC
> to variety hits as Ben-FM. It's proven to be a good move for
> them as they've moved up in the ratings.
>
Milwaukee has 2 Hot AC stations: WKTI & WMYX. The former AC station WLTQ (Light 97.3) went the hot route and their ratings dropped along with their billing, that CC pulled the plug on their heritage AC station and now have an 80's Rock station, WQBW (The Brew), and it bills better than Light 97.3 ever did. Milwaukee has yet to bring an actual variety hits station to that market, but WMYX has done the variety bit on weekends, though they put it on hiatus for the Christmas format that they're famous for around Christmas time.

 

[dave73]

> Radio is cyclical. This could just be another cycle.
>
> And it makes sense that it's happening mid-decade.
>
> At some point in the mid 1990s, stations that played "the
> best of the 70s, 80s and 90s" had to decide whether to keep
> playing the 70s. Most dropped them, and oldies stations
> picked up more 70s music.
>
WPNT in Chicago was WTMX's competitor at the time, and they did 70's, 80's, & 90's until Evergreen Media sold to Chancellor Media in 1997, which resulted in the sale of WPNT to Bonneville International, and then WPNT and WTMX became sister stations. Bonneville dropped Hot AC on 100.3 for WNND Windy 100.3 doing AC to compete with WLIT. That initially worked for Bonneville, but then the ratings slipped for that, then they did an 80's & 90's Hot AC, but it was a dud from the start since Bonneville was competing with themselves. Now 100.3 is WILV, a Rhythmic AC station taking on WLIT again, and now WLIT is competing with WTMX since they've gone the hot route, which hasn't hurt them yet, like it did for WLTQ, when they went hot, and Milwaukee has 2 hot ac stations. As for WJMK, they stayed with 50's & 60's until about 2001 or 2002, when they added 70's in 2000, if I remember correctly, then in 2001 or 2002, they dropped 50's.
>
> Jack/Bob/Sam/Whoever stations are about 50% 80s, with late
> 70s and early 90s making up another sizable portion of the
> playlist.
>
> It's time for Hot ACs to reposition themselves. Drop the
> 80s. Become an adult Top 40 with just the 90s and Now. Cater
> to those 25-34s. Let the Variety Hits stations have those
> 40-49 year olds by playing a lot of 80s hits.
>
> Be local and have some fun.
>
> And someone has to come up with a better description than
> "the best of the 90s and Now" or "the best mix" to define
> exactly what a Hot AC is. That's an advantage of
> Jack/Bob/Tom/Dick/Harry: They found ways to positively
> describe what they are. "We play anything/everything." Even
> the stations that are using, "70s, 80s, 90s, whatever," is a
> better description (it has a bit of fun and attitude).
>
WTMX has nothing to worry about. They have no real competition because while WLIT sounds hot, they're still listed as an AC station because they still play some 70's music. WTMX has always focussed on 80's music for a while, especially now that Nine FM came in the picture on suburban sticks, and Jack FM on WJMK. CBS Radio isn't likely to bring jocks to Jack, so don't expect any interaction on that station. WTMX doesn't cyberjock like CC does. They're involved with their commmunities by having remotes from time to time, and take part in charities. Nine FM is run by an independent, and they get involved with the public too. Too bad the station isn't as well heard in the city of Chicago due to the 99.9 signal being hammered by 99.5 & 100.3 & 92.7 getting hammered by 93.1 (92.3 isn't an issue due to its transmitter being in the south suburb of Burnham), especially in downtown Chicago. WJMK's slogan is : "Playing What We Want". WTMX's slogan is: "Playing Today's New Music (pause) (British Accent) And Whatever We Want". Nine FM's slogan is "We Play Anything", and that has held true because they have played some weird songs.

 

[radiogeek07]

I'm in a fun area for Hot AC. I am visiting family in the area between Providence RI and Boston MA.
Here's what I have.
106.1WCOD Cape Codd
104.5 WXLO Wooster
WBMX mix 98-5
"Mike FM 93.7*"
93-3 WSNE Providence Coast 93.3
92-proFM 92.3 Providence a(CHR, but more Hot AC leaning).
I can ocasionally get Mix 93.1 out of Springfield.
Add in 3 more what I would consider to be bright ACs, and a couple of CHRs that have a "Back in the day Cafe in their midday line up, and there ya go!
AC/Hot AC I think is better off than CHR in Southern New England.

 

[sfradio]

> Radio is cyclical. This could just be another cycle.
>
> And it makes sense that it's happening mid-decade.
>
> At some point in the mid 1990s, stations that played "the
> best of the 70s, 80s and 90s" had to decide whether to keep
> playing the 70s. Most dropped them, and oldies stations
> picked up more 70s music.
>
> Jack/Bob/Sam/Whoever stations are about 50% 80s, with late
> 70s and early 90s making up another sizable portion of the
> playlist.
>
> It's time for Hot ACs to reposition themselves. Drop the
> 80s. Become an adult Top 40 with just the 90s and Now. Cater
> to those 25-34s. Let the Variety Hits stations have those
> 40-49 year olds by playing a lot of 80s hits.
>
> Be local and have some fun.
>
> And someone has to come up with a better description than
> "the best of the 90s and Now" or "the best mix" to define
> exactly what a Hot AC is. That's an advantage of
> Jack/Bob/Tom/Dick/Harry: They found ways to positively
> describe what they are. "We play anything/everything." Even
> the stations that are using, "70s, 80s, 90s, whatever," is a
> better description (it has a bit of fun and attitude).
>
I disagree, they need to drop the 90's and now and go back to "the best of the 70's,80's and 90's"<P ID="signature">______________
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