The Beat goes off in Atlanta

[tico]

Yesterday, Cox pulled the plug on rhythmic CHR 95.5 the Beat in favor of simulcasting AM news/talk powerhouse WSB-AM. This perhaps, opens up an opportunity for Clear Channel's 105.7 the Groove to go more modern. It'll be interesting to see who else reacts (or doesn't) to this move.

[EvanJ]

WBTS had okay but not great ratings. Back when I looked at the Arbitron ratings Atlanta was one of my favorite markets to look at.

[tico]

I don't know why this move was made. WSB-AM has a clear signal over all of metro Atlanta, as to where WBTS is spotty in areas to the south and west. My understanding is that WBTS was the lowest revenue-generating station of the Atlanta Cox stations, which is why it was sacrificed to make room for WSB's simulcast.

Another question is whether or not the call letters to WSB-FM will switch over to 95.5 and WBTS to 98.5.

[MikeCheck12]

I was pretty shocked with the format change.....

[atlantaboy]

I think it might put some pressure on Q100 to go more rhythmic (think it already has a little)

[tico]

^^

As long as Cumulus is running things, I'm not sure about that. Maybe they're given a bit more leeway than other Cumulus CHRs.

[atlantaboy]

Sept 17, 2010 22:51:22 GMT -5 @tico said:

^^

As long as Cumulus is running things, I'm not sure about that. Maybe they're given a bit more leeway than other Cumulus CHRs.

Yeah Cumulus actually has a station in Dallas that's really rhythmic - not sure if they'd give Q100 that kind of freedom, but it's definitely less Hot AC than it was a year ago

[Marv]

Actually, this move made a lot of sense for financial reasons; N/T stations which have added an FM frequency while holding on to their heritage AM signals have seen their ratings soar, and especially for the 18-49 listening cell which does not listen to AM radio.

It's happened in cities such as Indy, DC, SLC and tons of others; the word on the www.radio-info.com boards is that KFI-AM will soon be simulcasting on 92.3 FM, currently held by Urban AC KHHT, which apparently Clear Channel is willing to do away with, since it's the weakest performing station ratings-wise of their FM properties here in LA.

[atlantaboy]

^The sound of A. M. radio kind of hurts my ears, so yeah I'd listen to an F. M. talk station every once in a while, where I'd never listen to A. M. talk, even if the station were exactly the same