When we last wrote about KNHC (C89.5) Seattle, three years ago, the dance-music standard-bearer had just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Last week, in the January PPM, the station celebrated another milestone, rising 1.2-1.4-1.7 6-plus – which, according to ratings expert Chris Huff, is a record high for the student/volunteer-operated station.
A very different type of high-school station debuted on February 27, when a partnership between Super Hi-Fi, Xperi, Cumulus, and the Nashville area’s Green Hills High School led to the launch of WGFX-HD-2 (The Hill,) one of two HD side-channels combining Super Hi-Fi’s AI-driven “Program Director” operating system and Xperi’s HD Radio and DTS Autostage. The other is “Nashville Songwriter Radio.”
The Hill is billed as “a mix of popular and emerging music across Pop, Hip-Hop, Alternative, and Country.” There’s a similarly intentioned but very different sounding on another suburban Nashville outlet, WYCZ (YoCo Nashville 96.7). That station launched four years ago under producer Polow Da Don as “Young Country,” but it was really playing viral hits, only about half of them Country by any traditional definition.
I took a Fresh Listen to C89.5 because of the ratings. I took a Fresh Listen to YoCo 96.7 as I arrived in Nashville for a Country Radio Seminar dominated by discussions of Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ’Em,” a perfect YoCo song. Radioinsight publisher Lance Venta came to CRS and brought his HD radio, allowing me to hear The Hill.
When C89.5 was last profiled, its students were still off the air because of COVID. The students are back now, although in the hour featured here, they were being used not in a linear DJ way but for various liners and sponsorship announcements, including one vignette on the importance of “listening without judging.” CHR is playing a lot more dance/pop than it was a few years ago, but C89.5 still stays out ahead of its rivals with only 1-2 crossover songs an hour. Here’s C89.5 just before 4 p.m., Feb. 28:
- Calvin Harris, “I’m Not Alone” — staged as “a deep-dive into the C89 catalog”
- Madelline, “I’m Only Here for the Beat”
- Chris Lake & Aluna, “Beggin’”
- Edward Maya, “Stereo Love”
- Felix Jaehn & Jonas Blue, “Past Life”
- Morgan Page, “Anyone”
- Tiesto/Tears for Fears, “Rule the World (Everybody)”
- Kaskade, “On My Way”
- Duke Dumont, “Need U (100%)”
- Goodboys, “Future”
- Nathan Dawe x Bebe Rexha, “Heart Still Beating”
- Black Rock, “Blue Water”
- Ida Corr vs. Fedde Le Grand, “Let Me Think About It”
- Troye Sivan, “Rush”
- Jes, “Imagination”
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor, “Murder on the Dance Floor”
Xperi/Super Hi-Fi’s The Hill was “broadcasting from the heart of Mt. Juliet to all of greater Nashville” with the “top songs in pop, Country, Hip-Hop, plus your trending faves.” It’s one of the things I’ve been waiting for more high-school and college stations to do — an alternate-universe CHR for the un-siloed generation. Here’s the Hill just after 3 p.m., on its launch day, Feb. 27:
- The Band Perry, “If I Die Young”
- Conan Gray, “Winner” — the first of a two-for-Tuesday set
- Conan Gray, “Heather”
- Moneybagg Yo f/Future, “Keep It Low”’
- Holly Humberstone, “The Walls Are Way Too Thin”
- Halsey, “You Should Be Sad”
- Fisher & Kita Alexander, “Atmosphere”
- Killers, “Your Side of Town”
- Hailey Whitters, “Everything She Ain’t”
- Tay Money & Monaleo, “Hands Up”
- M83, “Midnight City”
- Dominic Fike, “Mona Lisa”
- Jung Kook f/Latto, “Seven”
YoCo launched on the heels of the “Old Town Road” phenomenon. The mix remains very similar to what it was at the time, although it’s no longer billing itself as “Young Country.” The station has a morning host now, Leah Sykes. It’s also running promos about accepting advertising for the first time now. (The most prominent sponsor is Polow’s YoCo Vodka. Sykes was just wrapping up a station countdown, and the No. 1 song won’t surprise anybody.
Here’s YoCo Nashville 96.7 at 8:35 a.m., Feb. 28:
- Beyoncé, “Texas Hold ’Em” — the No. 1 song in question
- Nappy Roots & Blanco Brown, “End of the Night Song”
- Spencer Kane & Caleb LaDuke, “Hold On”
- Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor”
- Ice Spice, “Think U the Shit (Fart)”
- Taylor Swift, “Is It Over Now”
- Mitski, “My Love Mine All Mine”
- Connor Smith, “Baby I”
- Lauv, “Tattoos Together”
- Megan Moroney, “No Caller ID”
- Coco Joines w/Justin Timberlake, “ICU”
- Twice, “I Got You”
