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WSTR-FM gifts Atlanta the city's "Best Music," with an older-skewing playlist

Has the time for a 80s/90s classic hits station come and gone? That material is now about as old as the 50s/60s stuff that Fox 97 was playing when it started hitting the ratings skids in the late 90s (and narrowed their playlist to "good times and eight oldies"), and we don't have the boomer worship (that GenX never got) to keep their cultural touchstones going past their shelf life. It seems no matter the format, you cannot play music that's more than about 30 years old. Classic rock seems to be the one exception; we're still hearing 50 year old stuff.

Nostalgia (30s to the early 50s) got blasted off the Atlanta dial with the demise of WJYF/WJYA Joy FM (104.1) and AM mid-80s, when that music got that old. They were a MOYL affiliate, as I remember.
 
jabba17 said:
Has the time for a 80s/90s classic hits station come and gone?
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If so, you'd hear more of those songs on The River. But older pop songs don't attract younger people the way classic rock does. The River still does well with 18-49. Most classic hits stations are more in the late 40s and 50s.

Statistically, Atlanta is one of the youngest cities in the country. The median age is 33, which is exactly the same as Houston, another city that doesn't have a 80s classic hits station. Coincidence? Maybe.
 
Star 94.1 Is More Hits Your Hits

Star 94.1 Is More Hits Your Hits, wow! They've got "thirty years of Atlanta memories" they just said that in a sweeper into Christina Aguilera's "Genie In A Bottle". Star 94.1 has certainly unlocked it's own format "genie in a bottle" with The Best Music. They're played Dan + Shay a while ago, and playing Maren Morris now. Oh wait now it's Rihanna - "We Found Love" ft. Calvin Harris, hello 2011!!! And I just can't wait until the next late 90s/early 2K gold on Star, it's like early Q100! I love the throwbacks Star 94.1 this is what you do! "All About That Bass" ... it's like the greatest hits of 2010s, I love this station!
 
will19 said:
A couple of items remain for the station to resolve in the new year, first among them making Madison James (B98.5 alum) permanent in mid-days. The other is to solve mornings, which are its weakest daypart in terms of talent and will likely be switched up in the new year. I'm told to be on the lookout for more playlist curation to occur, including "songs you'll only hear on Star" to show up within the next few weeks.

Thoughts?
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Madison James is a great talent. But Entercom has started voice-tracking middays in market after market. Do you think they would pay the salary Madison would command for doing a live show? A midday show voice-tracked by Madison might be a solution if she's willing to do it.

I also think Madison could be an excellent morning show co-host for Star given her appeal to the target audience and her growing reputation as a lifestyle expert. But they would have to find the right partner, which is always difficult.
 
I was out of town for the past several days but have been listening to Star today.

What has been on the air for the past several days is virtually the same as the on-air product in the weeks leading up to the all-Christmas playlist. Star had already been positioning itself in the TOH ID as "Atlanta's Best Music" for a few weeks. Powers had been greatly reduced, and throwbacks had increased, with the throwbacks positioned to take advantage of the station's 30-year heritage.

What's on now is really a continuation of that, possibly slightly higher on the number of throwbacks per hour. I did hear some new sweepers and promos, one of which sounded like the one running during the Christmas music.

I doubt Mr. McKenna is done with his modifications. And as others have suggested, I expect some talent changes, most notably in mornings.
 
jabba17 said:
Nostalgia (30s to the early 50s) got blasted off the Atlanta dial with the demise of WJYF/WJYA Joy FM (104.1) and AM mid-80s, when that music got that old. They were a MOYL affiliate, as I remember.
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I'm not sure whether this would count as "nostalgia" but on 1160 and 1170 AM, both daytime-only, they were playing adult standards in the late 90s. At least what would be called adult standards now, since the decades you mention didn't seem to be a part of it.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
Madison James is a great talent. But Entercom has started voice-tracking middays in market after market. Do you think they would pay the salary Madison would command for doing a live show? A midday show voice-tracked by Madison might be a solution if she's willing to do it.

I also think Madison could be an excellent morning show co-host for Star given her appeal to the target audience and her growing reputation as a lifestyle expert. But they would have to find the right partner, which is always difficult.
Click to expand...

Madison has been working mid-days (in addition to her preexisting weekend duties) for at least the past month. She was even working on 12/23, 12/24 and 12/26. Not sure if the weekday stuff is VT'd, but it sounds good nonetheless. And I'm sure mid-days is either first or second most important daypart for a station like Star.
 
I'm going to agree with Roddy that the presentation and music from 12/26 on is basically the same as it was prior to the flip. It would be crazy to not have whatever tweaks ready for 12/26 at 12am. You're now five days beyond the return to regular format, if you were trying to grab new Christmas cume and pull them in with something more exciting I'd argue the time to do that has passed. But that's about as "Star 94.1" as it gets - screw up a post Christmas re-brand and wait until January to really get it on the air. If there's no rebrand and this is it, I'm afraid it'll be 17th place for them and a flip by the end of the year, as the station sounds the same to me.

I don't believe Madison James is ready for prime time on Star. When I've listened to her, she seems to have a hard time connecting with the audience, she sounded particularly out of place when the station was all Christmas. I think middays in Atlanta deserve more than someone who's not really suitable for weekends.

Back to mediocrity for 94.1.
 
caller10 said:
Star 94.1 Is More Hits Your Hits, wow! They've got "thirty years of Atlanta memories" they just said that in a sweeper into Christina Aguilera's "Genie In A Bottle". Star 94.1 has certainly unlocked it's own format "genie in a bottle" with The Best Music. They're played Dan + Shay a while ago, and playing Maren Morris now. Oh wait now it's Rihanna - "We Found Love" ft. Calvin Harris, hello 2011!!! And I just can't wait until the next late 90s/early 2K gold on Star, it's like early Q100! I love the throwbacks Star 94.1 this is what you do! "All About That Bass" ... it's like the greatest hits of 2010s, I love this station!
Click to expand...

This station sounds very similar to the successful Magic 105.3 in San Antonio. Whether this format is successful here, is the question.

www.magic1053.com
 
TheBigA said:
The median age is 33, which is exactly the same as Houston, another city that doesn't have a 80s classic hits station. Coincidence? Maybe.
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Perhaps not a strict classic hits, but the lane in Houston seems to be fairly well served.
 
Houston has 95.7 The Spot.

Atlanta has no such station.

Playlist:
https://957thespot.radio.com/playlist

Houston's AC station (Sunny 99.1) also plays more 80's music than B98.5.

I think a Variety Hits station would perform decently in Atlanta if programmed properly for the market. At least ratings wise, the Houston station appears to be rather successful.

93.1 Jack FM is another great example of a well-executed Variety Hits station in a major metropolis whose population skews young.
 
I heard a sweeper on Star this morning that said "we're turning 30, and feeling a little nostalgic...". Ummmmmm, wasn't 2019 the year Star turned 30? Are they turning 30 again this year? Wow, what awesome attention to detail!
 
DoctorRadio997 said:
I heard a sweeper on Star this morning that said "we're turning 30, and feeling a little nostalgic...". Ummmmmm, wasn't 2019 the year Star turned 30? Are they turning 30 again this year? Wow, what awesome attention to detail!
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Technically they just turned 30 in November, so maybe they’re hanging on like the 12 Days of Christmas.
 
WSTR-FM gifts Atlanta the city's "Best Music," with an older-skewing playlist

I checked Mediabase 24/7. Roddy is correct. The playlist isn't all that different than it was in the weeks leading into xmas, certainly not anything major.
 
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