It won’t be a Classic Hip-Hop Holiday for “Hot 93.3” KLIF-FM Haltom City/Dallas after all.
The Cumulus station had flipped from CHR to Classic Hip-Hop last month just hours before Radio-One launched the format on “Boom 94.5” KSOC Gainesville. KLIF-FM was promoting the format as a special for the holiday season.
Now with Boom entrenched, Cumulus has bailed out of the Classic Hip-Hop competition as it flipped 93.3 to Urban at 6pm today. The new format give Dallas its third Urban joining Service Broadcasting’s “K104” 104.5 KKDA-FM and Radio-One’s “97.9 The Beat” KBFB. It also becomes the third format for the station since it adopted the “Hot 93.3” identity two months ago.
The first hour of the Urban “Hot 93.3” consisted of:
Latch f/ Sam Smith – Disclosure
Kid Ink/Chris Brown – Main Chick
Schoolboy Q – Studio
Eminem f/ Rhianna – Monster
Lil Wayne – Believe Me
Trey Songz/Nicki Minaj – Touchin, Lovin
Drake – Started From The Bottom
Snoop Dogg – Gin & Juice
T.I. f/ Young Thug – About The Money
Jeremih f/ Y.G. – Don’t Tell’em
Chris Maurice & D.J. Brown – New Flame
Iggy Azalea f/ Charlie XCX – Fancy
This station needs to make up its mind. Listeners and myself do not like having the format changed every few weeks. This “new” format is very similar to what they were playing before they “stunted” (is that the correct word to describe this) with Classic Hip Hop.
Playlist looks more chr/rhythmic than urban. Whatever the format it is, it will likely have a conservative playlist, that is Cumulus’s style.
Yes, it does look more like a Rhythmic than Urban. They just played Nick Jonas’ “Jealous,” which tells you what direction they are actually heading.
If anything, they sound just like their Rhythmic sisters in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Peoria. All of them Hip-Hop/R&B-heavy with the Rhythmic Pop mixed in.
I don’t believe this is the final format:
1. Where is an official press release from Cumulus?
2. It’s a “Hip Hop Holiday ” Not a classic hip hop or current hip hop.
3. The liners are very suspect. No emphasis on the music they’re playing.
I believe the REAL format will be revealed after the new year.
I have a feeling that they may go Urban AC that leans more Gold than currents. They may add Joyner and Hughley. Reach and Cumulus already team up for Hughley everywhere else.
I mean I could see that. Especially considering the outcry of locals who miss a UAC in the area and it would be a perfect way to recapture a piece of K-Soul’s lost audience that happened when it was flipped to Classic Hip hop.
The question does remain in my mind is why can’t they keep a format on this particular station?
Adding Joyner would be a great decision since he’s highly respected by the community in Dallas. Not sure about Hughley though.