Colorado Media Newsroom
February 2nd, 2024, 12:10 PM
From Radio Insight:
https://radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2024/01/hot937-200x200.jpgOver the last few months, I?ve had an odd idea, not quite formed yet, on how I might launch a new CHR (or Hip-Hop, or Alternative) station in a market that already had one. I would earnestly encourage people to listen to the incumbent, too, in an effort to establish radio overall as a viable option for listeners of contemporary music. There might still be some sideways digs ? ?now you?ll have a new choice for better new music and fewer commercials? ? but the goal would be to differentiate, not disable a rival. I admit it?s not quite there yet.*
One of the first things you notice about Fort Myers, Fla.?s new CHR, Hot 93.7, (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/263750/hot-93-7-launch-brings-chr-battle-to-fort-myers/) is that a lot of work has gone into imaging the station differently from most of today?s Top 40 stations. One artist-drops promo begins with ?our squad runs deep? and another declares, ?We?ve got some pretty dope friends.? Heritage WXKB (B103.9) (https://b1039.com/)is pretty straightforward. Much of the B103.9 imaging that I?ve heard is around a main positioner ? ?The No. 1 Hit Music Station? ? although there were also references to ?feel good? and ?live and local.?
Hot 93.7 is also going after B103.9, particularly in a launch promo that seeks to position the incumbent as ?old and tired,? points out that the station is ?over 31 years old,? and attacks ?way too many commercials and really bad music.? That led Radioinsight?s Lance Venta to ask (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/263750/hot-93-7-launch-brings-chr-battle-to-fort-myers/), ?What is really gained taking shots at WXKB? ? Attacking one competitor ? fails to acknowledge that the target demo for Top 40 is quickly abandoning radio for other platforms. That should be who you?re targeting.?
The classic CHR attack model goes back to the early ?90s, too. WRBQ (Q105) Tampa was a Top 40 that had effectively evolved to Hot AC when WFLZ (The Power Pig) came along and left Q105 dithering between chasing the listeners who had left and alienating those who had stayed for a reason. Q105 was a big target and, even in 1989, one with unusual vulnerabilities. B103.9 is more typical of today?s CHR. In October, before holiday music kicked in, it had a 3.6-share 12-plus; in December, it had a 3.0.
https://radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2019/06/b1039-200x200.pngI?m excited when broadcasters want to launch new CHRs in 2024 (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/258818/top-40-should-you-stay-or-should-you-go/), and I hope they help regrow the format?s shares. I?m also excited about Hot 93.7 bringing longtime KDWB Minneapolis PD Rob Morris back to CHR. I appreciate the new station?s new energy, but Venta?s question also prompted me to think about the following, not as a critique on any specific station, but as a query on behalf of all CHR stations and radio as a whole: Who is the enemy now?
Is it the incumbent CHR? The lessons of politics, established well before our current fraught times, are that there is no benefit to not going negative, (https://www.edisonresearch.com/the_power_of_ne/) and a weak incumbent is an even better target because, unlike Q105, people are already aware that they?re unhappy. But what happens when stealing half of an incumbent?s peak shares gets you a 1.8? Q105 was making contrarian music choices to play oldies in 1989. If B103.9 is playing ?terrible music,? it?s because of what CHR has available now. Hot 93.7 has those same songs, too, although its current/recurrent/throwback proportions felt a little newer.
Is it streaming? Is it TikTok? I do sense vulnerabilities in both, as well as an opportunity for radio to establish itself again as a better curator and a better entertainment experience. I think those selling points could be made to resonate with the moms who grew up with B103.9 and create greater enthusiasm for them. But could you make an 18-year-old realize they?re unhappy, as WFLZ did? Right now, TikTok is the one thing that evokes teen passion and community in the way radio did for us. And how would a new broadcast station get the message out to them if they?re unlikely to hear it on our air?
Is it older music? After several years of a throwback boom, there?s no particular joy in hearing ?Down? by Jay Sean anymore, but I don?t know that CHR?s increased reliance on the ?00s is a big-enough target, especially with Usher back on the charts and a new Justin Timberlake song dropping today. But a few months ago, I heard a CHR station playing ?She Will Be Loved? at 7 p.m., and did wonder if I could perhaps do something with that. In a market where the No. 1 station, WAVV (Wave 101), is playing ?Baby Come Back? and ?Theme from ?The Greatest American Hero,?? I also wonder if either Hot or B103.9 could make a statement about the amount of older music being played in the market overall.
When CHR recovered from its near-death experience in the mid-?90s, there was nobody to attack because there were few winning CHR incumbents. WKTU New York?s emphasis on ?feel good? was certainly a counterpoint to the harsher music on alternative-leaning WHTZ (Z100) or Hip-Hop WQHT (Hot 97), but I remember that being mostly by inference. In general, the CHR comeback was driven by music that created its own publicity with the eventual help of TRL. First, we need the better music, then we need to figure out how to make that translate when radio is no longer the only destination.*
I?ve written a lot about KMVQ (Now 99.7) San Francisco lately (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/262385/fresh-listen-kmvq-99-7-now-san-francisco/). That station does have a consistently lower spotload and better music curation than much of the format, but its positioning is mostly ?all the hits,? selling its commercial-free sweeps, and always mentioning the morning show. A PPM market has the Yoda option ? “no position, just do.? I wonder if that?s enough for our nation of 3.6-share diary-market CHRs. Or for a new launch. Those stations may need the outside marketing that isn?t an option for most people or some sort of off-air virality.*
When Intriguing Stations of 2024 is written, I hope both Hot 93.7 and B103.9 are there, and that Fort Myers becomes the rare diary market with two viable CHRs. The station I like most will be the one that?s well- and consistently hosted and local-sounding (right now, Hot is in jockless stunt mode, while some of the hours I?ve heard on B93.7 have been jockless) and the one that best curates its music, particularly if CHR music isn?t in a better place in a year. For now, improving the format doesn?t have to be either-or.*
Here’s Hot 93.7 at 11:30 on Jan. 24:
Doja Cat, ?Agoura Hills?
Nicki Youre, ?Sunroof?
Tyla, ?Water?
SZA, ?Kill Bill?
Doja Cat, ?Paint the Town Red?
Jack Harlow, ?First Class?
Dua Lipa, ?Houdini?
Chris Brown, ?Go Crazy?
Tate McRae, ?Greedy?
The Weeknd, ?Die for You?
Travis Scott, ?I Know??
Jessie J f/Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj, ?Bang Bang?
Taylor Swift, ?Cruel Summer?
Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow, ?Industry Baby?
Kenya Grace, ?Strangers?
Post Malone, ?Better Now?
And here?s B103.9 starting at 11:25 a.m.:
Onerepublic, ?I Ain?t Worried?
Doja Cat, ?Paint the Town Red?
Tate McRae, ?Exes?
Harry Styles, ?Adore You?
24kGoldn, ?Mood?
Taylor Swift, ?Cruel Summer?
Doja Cat, ?Vegas?
Miley Cyrus, ?Flowers?
Ed Sheeran, ?Shivers?
SZA, ?Kill Bill?
Jack Harlow, ?Lovin? on Me?
Kenya Grace, ?Strangers?
Lil Nas X, ?That?s What I Want?
Glass Animals, ?Heat Waves?
Morgan Wallen, ?Thinkin? Bout Me?
Post Malone, ?Circles?
Flo Rida, ?Low?
more (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/263941/how-to-fight-a-chr-battle-now/)
https://radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2024/01/hot937-200x200.jpgOver the last few months, I?ve had an odd idea, not quite formed yet, on how I might launch a new CHR (or Hip-Hop, or Alternative) station in a market that already had one. I would earnestly encourage people to listen to the incumbent, too, in an effort to establish radio overall as a viable option for listeners of contemporary music. There might still be some sideways digs ? ?now you?ll have a new choice for better new music and fewer commercials? ? but the goal would be to differentiate, not disable a rival. I admit it?s not quite there yet.*
One of the first things you notice about Fort Myers, Fla.?s new CHR, Hot 93.7, (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/263750/hot-93-7-launch-brings-chr-battle-to-fort-myers/) is that a lot of work has gone into imaging the station differently from most of today?s Top 40 stations. One artist-drops promo begins with ?our squad runs deep? and another declares, ?We?ve got some pretty dope friends.? Heritage WXKB (B103.9) (https://b1039.com/)is pretty straightforward. Much of the B103.9 imaging that I?ve heard is around a main positioner ? ?The No. 1 Hit Music Station? ? although there were also references to ?feel good? and ?live and local.?
Hot 93.7 is also going after B103.9, particularly in a launch promo that seeks to position the incumbent as ?old and tired,? points out that the station is ?over 31 years old,? and attacks ?way too many commercials and really bad music.? That led Radioinsight?s Lance Venta to ask (https://radioinsight.com/headlines/263750/hot-93-7-launch-brings-chr-battle-to-fort-myers/), ?What is really gained taking shots at WXKB? ? Attacking one competitor ? fails to acknowledge that the target demo for Top 40 is quickly abandoning radio for other platforms. That should be who you?re targeting.?
The classic CHR attack model goes back to the early ?90s, too. WRBQ (Q105) Tampa was a Top 40 that had effectively evolved to Hot AC when WFLZ (The Power Pig) came along and left Q105 dithering between chasing the listeners who had left and alienating those who had stayed for a reason. Q105 was a big target and, even in 1989, one with unusual vulnerabilities. B103.9 is more typical of today?s CHR. In October, before holiday music kicked in, it had a 3.6-share 12-plus; in December, it had a 3.0.
https://radioinsight.com/wp-content/images/2019/06/b1039-200x200.pngI?m excited when broadcasters want to launch new CHRs in 2024 (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/258818/top-40-should-you-stay-or-should-you-go/), and I hope they help regrow the format?s shares. I?m also excited about Hot 93.7 bringing longtime KDWB Minneapolis PD Rob Morris back to CHR. I appreciate the new station?s new energy, but Venta?s question also prompted me to think about the following, not as a critique on any specific station, but as a query on behalf of all CHR stations and radio as a whole: Who is the enemy now?
Is it the incumbent CHR? The lessons of politics, established well before our current fraught times, are that there is no benefit to not going negative, (https://www.edisonresearch.com/the_power_of_ne/) and a weak incumbent is an even better target because, unlike Q105, people are already aware that they?re unhappy. But what happens when stealing half of an incumbent?s peak shares gets you a 1.8? Q105 was making contrarian music choices to play oldies in 1989. If B103.9 is playing ?terrible music,? it?s because of what CHR has available now. Hot 93.7 has those same songs, too, although its current/recurrent/throwback proportions felt a little newer.
Is it streaming? Is it TikTok? I do sense vulnerabilities in both, as well as an opportunity for radio to establish itself again as a better curator and a better entertainment experience. I think those selling points could be made to resonate with the moms who grew up with B103.9 and create greater enthusiasm for them. But could you make an 18-year-old realize they?re unhappy, as WFLZ did? Right now, TikTok is the one thing that evokes teen passion and community in the way radio did for us. And how would a new broadcast station get the message out to them if they?re unlikely to hear it on our air?
Is it older music? After several years of a throwback boom, there?s no particular joy in hearing ?Down? by Jay Sean anymore, but I don?t know that CHR?s increased reliance on the ?00s is a big-enough target, especially with Usher back on the charts and a new Justin Timberlake song dropping today. But a few months ago, I heard a CHR station playing ?She Will Be Loved? at 7 p.m., and did wonder if I could perhaps do something with that. In a market where the No. 1 station, WAVV (Wave 101), is playing ?Baby Come Back? and ?Theme from ?The Greatest American Hero,?? I also wonder if either Hot or B103.9 could make a statement about the amount of older music being played in the market overall.
When CHR recovered from its near-death experience in the mid-?90s, there was nobody to attack because there were few winning CHR incumbents. WKTU New York?s emphasis on ?feel good? was certainly a counterpoint to the harsher music on alternative-leaning WHTZ (Z100) or Hip-Hop WQHT (Hot 97), but I remember that being mostly by inference. In general, the CHR comeback was driven by music that created its own publicity with the eventual help of TRL. First, we need the better music, then we need to figure out how to make that translate when radio is no longer the only destination.*
I?ve written a lot about KMVQ (Now 99.7) San Francisco lately (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/262385/fresh-listen-kmvq-99-7-now-san-francisco/). That station does have a consistently lower spotload and better music curation than much of the format, but its positioning is mostly ?all the hits,? selling its commercial-free sweeps, and always mentioning the morning show. A PPM market has the Yoda option ? “no position, just do.? I wonder if that?s enough for our nation of 3.6-share diary-market CHRs. Or for a new launch. Those stations may need the outside marketing that isn?t an option for most people or some sort of off-air virality.*
When Intriguing Stations of 2024 is written, I hope both Hot 93.7 and B103.9 are there, and that Fort Myers becomes the rare diary market with two viable CHRs. The station I like most will be the one that?s well- and consistently hosted and local-sounding (right now, Hot is in jockless stunt mode, while some of the hours I?ve heard on B93.7 have been jockless) and the one that best curates its music, particularly if CHR music isn?t in a better place in a year. For now, improving the format doesn?t have to be either-or.*
Here’s Hot 93.7 at 11:30 on Jan. 24:
Doja Cat, ?Agoura Hills?
Nicki Youre, ?Sunroof?
Tyla, ?Water?
SZA, ?Kill Bill?
Doja Cat, ?Paint the Town Red?
Jack Harlow, ?First Class?
Dua Lipa, ?Houdini?
Chris Brown, ?Go Crazy?
Tate McRae, ?Greedy?
The Weeknd, ?Die for You?
Travis Scott, ?I Know??
Jessie J f/Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj, ?Bang Bang?
Taylor Swift, ?Cruel Summer?
Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow, ?Industry Baby?
Kenya Grace, ?Strangers?
Post Malone, ?Better Now?
And here?s B103.9 starting at 11:25 a.m.:
Onerepublic, ?I Ain?t Worried?
Doja Cat, ?Paint the Town Red?
Tate McRae, ?Exes?
Harry Styles, ?Adore You?
24kGoldn, ?Mood?
Taylor Swift, ?Cruel Summer?
Doja Cat, ?Vegas?
Miley Cyrus, ?Flowers?
Ed Sheeran, ?Shivers?
SZA, ?Kill Bill?
Jack Harlow, ?Lovin? on Me?
Kenya Grace, ?Strangers?
Lil Nas X, ?That?s What I Want?
Glass Animals, ?Heat Waves?
Morgan Wallen, ?Thinkin? Bout Me?
Post Malone, ?Circles?
Flo Rida, ?Low?
more (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/263941/how-to-fight-a-chr-battle-now/)