The Intriguing Stations of 2021 Challenge

In recent years, my wrap-ups of the previous year’s “Intriguing Stations” have been full of heritage stations that shone through the pandemic, but relatively few sign-ons. 2020’s most-watched launch, WMIA (Totally 93.9) Miami, wasn’t a ratings hit, although the ‘90s format continues to grow worldwide. The biggest FM sign-on of 2020, Classic Hip-Hop/R&B WXBK (the Block), hasn’t sparked yet either. Even if those stations were successes, there would be grumbling about stations recycling old music, not creating something new. 

You can’t say that about SiriusXM TikTok Radio. Almost immediately, I knew this station would be featured here at year’s end. Australia already had TikTok and SoundCloud channels. But this one did the best job of codifying TikTok’s genre multiverse and helping me with the “get off my lawn challenge” where a middle-aged guy tries to spend 30 seconds with their music without getting overwhelmed. TikTok Radio was a highlight of a year where SXM was more on the industry’s radar than ever.

“Intriguing” spotlights stations, new or existing, that changed the programming landscape or typified positive programming trends. It’s never a comprehensive honor roll of great stations, but if you think a station is missing, you might find it on last year’s list. Facebook friends have supplied the usual long list of station suggestions; I had gotten my “to listen” list down to two pages, but it’s expanding again. You might also find a favorite station on next year’s list, or shared in future weeks’ columns.

I haven’t tasked any of the stations I found intriguing in 2021 with the job of “saving radio.” In part, it’s because radio as a concept doesn’t need saving, just help contending with a new 1970s style AM-to-FM-to-wherever’s-next transition. That’s not any one broadcaster’s responsibility, although building a station around TikTok hits on a new(er) platform is a move in the right direction. 

In 2021, that challenge was particularly daunting for CHR, which had to wonder if fixing a seven-year product problem would even matter. There were a half-dozen medium-market stations, along with SXM Hits 1, that managed not to participate in the downturn last year. WDJQ (Q92) Canton, Ohio, did the best job of cherry-picking TikTok. WIXX Green Bay, Wis., leaned more adult but found its own hits, including creating a local hit.

I’ve been waiting for a new station based in dance/pop to emerge, similar to WKTU New York in 1996. For the time being, there’s student-operated KNHC (C89.5) Seattle, which celebrated its 50th overall anniversary last year. In addition, KGAY Palm Springs, Calif., relaunched this year under new owners with a yesterday-and-today dance format.

Radioinsight’s Lance Venta’s CHR list includes WHTZ (Z100) New York and WIOQ (Q102) Philadelphia for adding afternoon personality shows, to which I can add Z100’s decision to take powers down to 85x a week from the industry standard of 120x or more. 

Triple-A KINK Portland, Ore., was an industry fave last year, channeling a similar appeal to PD Gene Sandbloom’s time at peak-era Alternative KROQ Los Angeles. (That includes the imaging. KINK was the only station on this list that spurred me to tape a station promo to share with broadcast students and radio friends.) In its up cycles, KINK has always doubled as a pop station for the market. Last year, it played Olivia Rodrigo (following a trendlet among some A3 outlets). Currently, it’s playing “Cold Heart.” It’s hard for CHR anywhere to reassemble the mother/daughter coalition, but in Portland, it’s even harder. 

I didn’t hear Olivia Rodrigo on KUTX Austin, Texas, but I did hear one all-time record-collector favorite that I’d never encountered on the radio before. At the moment, both KUTX and KEXP Seattle have topline ratings numbers not expected from a non-comm Triple-A. To some extent, that reflects losses in mainstream listening, but KUTX, KEXP, and KINK all made attempts to own music discovery in a way that was more credible than just a sweeper. In Alternative, there were also reader votes for the UK’s Radio X from Keith Berman and Connoisseur’s Keith Dakin, who describes it as “everything you want: smart, passionate jocks, incredible drive-time shows, edgy imaging, and unbelievable music.” 

Dakin and Venta both supplied briefs for WBZ-FM (The Sports Hub) Boston, if any were needed beyond the ratings. 2021 was the year of WBZ-FM “moving to the next level in ratings and becoming the dominant ‘voice of Boston’ beyond just sports,” Venta writes. At a time when full-service was more of a difference-maker than ever, maybe it’s time to again discuss CKNO (Now 102.3) Edmonton’s combination of AC and listener topics, inspired by BBC Radio 2. More than a decade later, it remains a market force and the approach continued to spread to the country’s other major markets last year.

Over the last year, a number of heritage R&B stations have made new appearances in the column, including our look at top-rated PPM outlets, as well as a recent return to R&B Oldies, WDIA Memphis. As diary market ratings come in, they’re favoring heritage outlets like WBLK Buffalo, N.Y., and WDKX Rochester, N.Y., that manage to cover both the adult and mainstream R&B franchise. And when I listened last to WDKX, I heard it hire a listener live at a remote for its street team. 

In 2021, as Country grappled with both the state of current product and increased competition from streaming for the new music franchise, I found myself drawn to stations on a similar template to WBLK and WDKX, particularly WCTK (Cat Country 98.1) Providence, R.I., and KRTY San Jose Calif. KRTY was also featured in this column for promoting streaming in a more effective, less perfunctory way than most.

Every year of Ross on Radio brings a new supply of “Sean mixtape stations” — places where I can hear a steady supply of “oh wow” songs. Oldies WOON Woonsocket, R.I., joined the list last year. Reader Michael Davis’s ‘80s-through-Hot AC WMTA (Star 107.3) Central City, Ky., has been there for a few years. New Zealand’s recently profiled Beach 106.3 would have qualified as a mixtape alone, but it was also a full-service station built from scratch and, as such, last year’s only FM launch to make this list. (Another New Zealander, Richard Phelps, created last year’s favorite pop-up station, saluting “KKHV Hill Valley.”)

Classic Hits 4KQ Brisbane, Australia is a longtime favorite. Last year, as ratings expert Chris Huff notes, it was also “the only AM-only music station anywhere to hit No. 1 in the ratings,” averaging a 10 share throughout. Stations that reclaimed ‘60s/early ‘70s hits have been a regular feature in this column in recent years, but 4KQ has evolved without ever leaving them behind. The station is in the process of being spun off as the result of a merger, so don’t take it for granted. We’ve already taken a “Fresh Listen.”

The stations that did co-opt the ‘60s and ‘70s that Classic Hits wouldn’t play are regularly featured here. KOAI (the Wow Factor) Phoenix became a 6-plus ratings entity in 2021, despite (or perhaps because of) its 55-plus target. I challenge myself not to repeat the same stations every year, but when I don’t include KDRI (the Drive) Tucson, Ariz., readers ask me where it is. KDUN Reedsport, Ore., also rates a mention as both the AM bought by Delilah and a showcase for Clear Media Networks and Smokey Rivers’s version of the format. Classic Hits  WYET (Throwback 102.3) South Bend, Ind.,  currently has the logistical advantage of serving only one market, but it’s also an example of national resources sounding better for smaller operators than for some major group-owned stations.

Boom Radio’s UK version of older/wider radio went back to the pre-rock MOR era for “your parents’ music.” Adult Standards KWXY Palm Springs, Calif., appears to be going for a similar standards-through-now approach. In the first few days, I heard Village People followed by Lena Horne. There also seems to be a component of anything ‘50s-inspired, including rockabilly-inspired-new wave from the Blasters and the Cramps, among others. “This is one to keep an ear on,” wrote reader Tony Simon. 

In 2021, the line between Classic Hits and the gold-based AC format it once made obsolete blurred further, ending with the retooling of the already successful KBAY San Jose, Calif. WUEZ Carbondale, Ill., PD Paxton Guy names WKQC (K104.7) Charlotte, N.C., as his top domestic FM pick for its “’80s-based uptempo AC that could be confused for Classic Hits in many markets.” Many of the Soft AC launches of recent years evolved to a similar place in 2021, including WKJY Long Island, N.Y., which kept its “place to relax” positioning, but might use it next to, say, “Levitating.”

Even in years not marked by major-market station launches, I’m happy to say that I did about three times as many “First Listen” articles as “Final Listens” last year. The “Final Listen” I felt the most was the most recent, KOGT Orange, Texas, on its last day. I didn’t get to iHeart’s Podcast Channel before its last of three affiliates signed off, but the channel is still available online, and now one of many listening appointments I’ve set for the near future.

Those are my Intriguing Stations of 2021. What are yours? Leave a comment or email me.