Most influential radio stations in US??

[NORTHCOAST]

Can people please post what they think are the most influential radio stations in the country.  Station and city, please.  Thanks!

[allow that]

WHTZ (Z100) New York City for CHR/Pop

WLTW, NYC for AC

Unfortunately, WQHT (Hot 97) NYC for Rap-leaning Urban stations

[bluenote]

Jersey said:

Unfortunately, WQHT (Hot 97) NYC for Rap-leaning Urban stations

y is that Unfortunate

[jimmy74747]

Z-100 can easily get a song broken big time, but they don't take chances on new artists too often, especially Hot AC or straight pop artists. I think XL 106.7 in Orlando does a nice job filing that void.

KROQ in LA is also very influential (or at least it was a few years back)

[Deleted]

BlueNote said:

y is that Unfortunate

Because the station is a mess. They'll play 3 Lloyd Banks songs in a row that aren't even singles.

[Crushcrushchris]

Z100 New York
KROQ Los Angeles and WXRK New York
The End in Seattle

[msanoja]

Isn't KIIS FM in Los Angeles up there as well?

[Crushcrushchris]

Tasty said:

Isn't KIIS FM in Los Angeles up there as well?

True. They are responsible for the 2 country countdown shows because both Dees and Seacrest are or have been DJ's over there.

[Adonis the DemiGod!]

WQHT!
WBLS

[Radical347]

WNUA/Chicago. They influenced all the smooth jazz stations to become bad ACs. >:(

[strong4PMB!]

KSXY in Santa Rosa was pretty influential when it was CHR/Pop! So was the KIIS station in Boise. They helped launch hits by Myra, Angela Via, Kaci, MPRESS, and Joy Enriquez into multi-format airplay smashes.

[bluenote]

The said:

Because the station is a mess.  They'll play 3 Lloyd Banks songs in a row that aren't even singles.

thats a waste of perfectly good audience impressions!!!!!

[George Tropicana]

geoguy said:

KSXY in Santa Rosa was pretty influential when it was CHR/Pop! So was the KIIS station in Boise. They helped launch hits by Myra, Angela Via, Kaci, MPRESS, and Joy Enriquez into multi-format airplay smashes.

Don't forget Tulsa!

[KikiMets]

BlueNote said:

thats a waste of perfectly good audience impressions!!!!!

Large numbers of perfectly good audience impressions. 10 spins at a NYC station will be good for at least 1 million impressions. I think there are a few songs on Hot 97 with over 10 million impressions :o

[Deleted]

Adonis-Love said:

WBLS

Why? They're the lowest ranked of the four urban stations in New York. The only thing slightly influential is Wendy Williams's afternoon show.

[j]

So basically we're just naming big market, major format radio stations.

[I love David and Theo]

B96 is Chicago. Without it BSB, NSYNC and Britney would not have had careers. They also kept Mariah alive when she went hippy-hoppy and until their recent efforts have kept Madonna and Janet Jackson viable at Rhythmic.

[NORTHCOAST]

WMMS in Cleveland used to be so influential.  Back in the 80's when Kid Leo was king and their morning team rocked!  Is Kid Leo working in NY now?  WMMS was always picked as the #1 station in the US in the Rolling Stone poll.    Now they are just a shell of what was once a powerhouse station. 

[EvanJ]

Nobody has named a Country station. KZLA Los Angeles, WUSN Chicago, and KPLX Dallas-Fort Worth have near equal audience per spin.

[Pink Champagne Ricochet]

Y100 in Miami has broken several international tracks in the U.S. You can blame them for making "Barbie Girl" by Aqua an American hit. And I wouldn't be surprised if they've led on some of the 'Latin explosion' tracks as well.

[tico]

One radio station that could be considered influential is alternative station KBZT San Diego (FM 94/9). They play a lot of classic alternative music, going as far back as the punk-rock era of the late 70s. After beating rival 91X in the ratings, a lot of other alternative stations around the country like the End in Seattle and 99X Atlanta have included older alternative songs in their playlists. Not bad for a station that's only been on since Veterans Day 2002.

[procrastination101]

I disagree with Kiis from LA.

I've lived in LA and in NYC. If a song breaks on Z100, it will be a nationwide hit.

If a song breaks on Kiis in LA, it means nothing. It might be huge in LA, but, it doesn't mean that it will become a huge hit around the country.

I agree about HOT97. It's extremely influential, but it's playlist is hideous.

[BookJones]

Jersey said:

Unfortunately, WQHT (Hot 97) NYC for Rap-leaning Urban stations

I don't think it is so.  Not many Urban stations are playing Kevin Lyttle " Turn Me On" or Christina Milian " Dip It Low".

[Adonis the DemiGod!]

The said:

Why?  They're the lowest ranked of the four urban stations in New York.  The only thing slightly influential is Wendy Williams's afternoon show.

WBLS is an influential Urban AC whether or not its classified as Urban AC.

[Crushcrushchris]

procrastination101 said:

If a song breaks on Z100, it will be a nationwide hit.

I actually have to disagree. With Z100, their songs are pretty much already nationwide hits. There are only those awkward little dance tunes that make it onto the playlist, but even they become big.

[Edf85]

KIIS, Z100, KROQ, HOT97, B96

[Deleted]

Adonis-Love said:

WBLS is an influential Urban AC whether or not its classified as Urban AC.

It's definitely not Urban AC. They play way too much rap to be Urban AC. That's why they're not classified as Urban AC.

Kiss FM (WRKS) is Urban AC.

[BookJones]

WGCI Chicago!
All those R. Kelly songs they play and jump start them on the Urban chart.

[reception]

KLUA/KPVS on the Big Island seems to play the new CHR/Rhythmic songs before any of the Honolulu stations can get it.

[thedualityofman]

They don't influence charts, but WOXY been influencing people to bands that you'd never hear otherwise for years.

God bless the internet or WOXY would be done.