It’s been more than a month since the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em.” In the first 48 hours after that song’s release, Beyoncé may not have broken the Internet, but her song was mind-bending for radio, as programmers in all formats struggled with how to handle it. Top 40 was first, although even there the first few days were more occasional event airplay than instant rotation. Country was initially slowest but gained momentum by the end of the week thanks to a few key supporters, and once Columbia announced its intention to work the song Country. For a few days, the song grew faster there than at CHR.
So how is “Texas Hold ’Em” holding up in week No. 5?
Here’s what Mediabase was showing for the seven-day period ending March 12:
- Top 40/CHR: 13-11*, gaining 1110 spins — the second highest gain after SZA’s brand-new “Saturn”;
- Hot AC/Adult CHR: 14-13*, + 320 spins — also the second-greatest gainer; I was initially surprised to see how well it’s doing here, but this is the audience that grew up with her;
- Rhythmic Top 40: 18-15*, +581 spins — the third-biggest gain;
- Adult R&B: 23-21*, +60 on a chart with smaller week-to-week spin changes;
- Hip-Hop/R&B: 31-29*, +258;
- Triple-A, 35-34*, +3;
- Country, 42-39*, +53 spins — this number actually reflects seven-day airplay through March 13; if I had shown yesterday’s number, the song would have been -18 spins.
The Triple-A airplay is as much of a story as Country to me, but one I haven’t seen discussed the same way online or in the press. That format has played a lot more R&B over the last decade, but generally from singer-songwriter acts, and not those shared with R&B radio. Triple-A WAPS (The Summit) Akron, Ohio, PD Brad Savage says the song has gotten an overall favorable response. I haven’t had a chance to encounter “Hold ’Em” on Triple-A yet, but Tuesday’s monitor shows WAPS playing it in between the Cure’s “Love Song” and Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Southern Cross,” a set I would have liked to hear.
When I first wrote about “Texas Hold ’Em,” I was careful to point out that these were early days. You can still say that about Country in particular, where many songs would love to be No. 39 after four weeks. Even as a mainstream uptempo title by a core artist, Kane Brown’s “I Can Feel It” still needed 25 weeks to become the current No. 1.
That said, some of the initial buzz of “Beyoncé comes to Country” seems to have slowed. Two initial champions, KBAY San Jose and KKBQ (93Q) Houston, have backed the song down. (93Q’s rival, KILT [the Bull], and KBAY’s now-Internet only competitor KRTY never played it.) In Minneapolis, it’s up in spins on KMNB (The Wolf) but down at rival KEEY (K102). Its biggest gains are at iHeart’s WBWL (The Bull) Boston and new add WIRK West Palm Beach, Fla. (UPDATE: In week No. 6, the song regains momentum thanks to increased spins at WBWL and other iHR stations.)
At Top 40, “Hold ’Em” is already in power at a few stations, including KBFF (Live 95.5) Portland, Ore., whose owner, Alpha Media, has been one of the song’s most enthusiastic supporters in all formats. KHKS [Kiss 106.1] Dallas had it in power last week, then backed down, but that still means 87x over the last week. In general, the Top 40 and Country trajectories are clearly different. (UPDATE: In week No. 6, KHKS returned the song to power rotation.)
During the first week of “Texas Hold ’Em,” Country Insider’s Brian Mansfield shared the observation that one of the best things about Country’s eventual opening up to the record at the time was that neither the artist nor the format needed each other. Country was well stocked for music and the only current-based format that could be said to be on a roll.
A month later, part of Top 40’s enthusiasm for “Texas Hold ’Em” seems to be very much a function of how much more it needs the hit. CHR is doing OK for uptempo music now, but not for new songs in power rotation, and much of the uptempo music is in one style — throwback ’70s disco. It’s also a record with enough of an airplay base that radio can enthusiastically follow streaming’s lead. And like the records that Top 40 thrived on in the late ’00s/early ’10s, it’s a genre-bending song but not one that began at another format.
“Texas Hold ‘Em” has been No. 1 for two weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100. (UPDATE: It’s No. 6 this week.) It has received the sort of consumer press that few pop hits generate these days. There has already been enough airplay that it will likely be remembered as a hit, or at least a shared experience. Only at Country is its trajectory still under scrutiny.
At Country Radio Seminar a few weeks ago, “Texas Hold ’Em” was easily the biggest musical topic. On panels, the response was positive. In the hallways, I heard the concerns, particularly from PDs who felt that it would polarize existing listeners without bringing in new ones, especially since it wasn’t exclusive to Country. Being multi-format could eventually help the song in callout, however. Shortly before Country’s explosion, Maren Morris’s “The Bones” was one of the few true hit songs at the format, thanks to pop support. But it also had less competition in those days.
After a month, I still enjoy “Texas Hold ’Em” on the radio. In those first few days, I didn’t know how long I would. Last night, I asked Facebook friends for their take and got a surprising number of “my daughter likes it” comments. I’ve already commented on the potential of “Texas” to bring people together. Reuniting the mother/daughter coalition in any way would be a big achievement. And then we need a whole summer’s worth of other songs that do the same.
(UPDATE: Here’s what Mediabase was showing for the seven-day period ending March 20):
- Top 40/CHR: 11-11*, gaining 746 spins;
- Hot AC/Adult CHR: 13-12*, + 587 spins;
- Rhythmic Top 40: 15-13*, +332 spins;
- Adult R&B: 21-19*, +131 spins;
- Hip-Hop/R&B: 29-25*, -19
- Triple-A, 35-37*, +3;
- Country, 39-33*, +386 spins.
Meanwhile, since we’re talking about classic jingles elsewhere in Ross On Radio this week, here’s how “Texas Hold ‘Em” sounded on WGYL Vero Beach, Fla., recently.
