Along with the frequency swap, Radio-One shifted what was Classic Hip-Hop “Boom 107.9” WPHI-FM to what can best be described as Urban Hot AC when it made its move to 103.9 today.
The Classic Hip-Hop is limited to a few songs per hour with the remainder of the playlist consisting of currents and recurrents. The station is now positioning as “Tri-State’s Home For Hip-Hop, R&B and Throwbacks” while running jockless outside of Ed Lover’s syndicated morning show.
Boom 103.9 in the 2:00pm hour today consisted of:
Kanye West – Father Stretch My Hands Part 1
Fat Joe/Remy Ma/French Montana – All The Way Up
Chris Brown – Grass Ain’t Greener
Lloyd – True
Black Rob – Whoa
Usher ft. Young Thug – No Limit
DJ Drama ft. Chris Brown, Skeme & Lyquin – Wishing
Lost Boyz – Renee
Drake ft. Wiz Kid & Kyla – One Dance
Candice Boyd/French Montana – Damn Good Night
Jay Z ft. Beyonce – Part II (On The Run)
Das EFX – They Want EFX
Original Report 9/26: Radio-One is swapping frequencies for two of its Philadelphia formats on Tuesday, September 27.
Gospel “Praise 103.9” WPPZ-FM Jenkintown PA and Classic Hip-Hop “Boom 107.9” WPHI-FM Pennsauken NJ will exchange locations in an attempt to boost ratings for the struggling stations.
Both stations are Class A signals. 103.9 operates with 270w/339m from the Roxborough Tower Farm, which will give the Classic Hip-Hop format a stronger signal in the northern and western suburbs of the market. 107.9 operates with 780w/276m from the top of One Liberty Place in Center City. WPHI registered a 1.7 share in the August 2016 Nielsen Audio PPM ratings down from a 1.9 in July. WPPZ has been stagnant at a 1.6 share the past three months.
Is this a smart move, Boom has a very strong signal, (better than the Farm signals), in the urban, inner city, and the adjacent areas, where most of the listeners that embrace the format reside. Could the real reason for their poor showing be the format is not popular in this market. Can the coverage be used as an excuse, I don’t know, due to the fact they have a city grade signal in the ratings area, at my location they are the strongest FM on the dial with the exception of WMMR. How many station owners would give their eye teeth to get atop Liberty.