Domain Insight 7/17: Where Does iHeart Have A Breeze Blowing Next?

[membership level="2,3"] After slowing down in recent years, iHeartMedia appears prepared to launch their Soft AC " Breeze " brand in another market. iHeart registered 1053TheBreeze.com on Monday, July 14. The timing of the registration may be an important clue in terms of which of the nine stations on the frequency that the company operates the domain will be used for. Right off the bat we can eliminate Adult R&B 105.3 WDAS-FM Philadelphia, Hot AC " Y105 " WYHT Mansfield OH, Rock " 105.3 The Fox " KZPR Minot ND, and Hip Hop " 105.3 The Beat " W287CO Tallahassee FL for competitive reasons. Most of the others have arguments leaning against a change, but that you could potentially make an argument for: San Diego: " Rock 105.3 " KIOZ has a solid 3.5 share , but adding a Soft AC to the cluster would create a similar sales trio with its Hot AC and CHR that the company has up the road in Los Angeles. A new Soft AC would also chip away at the top three commercial stations in the market in Audacy's Classic Hits " Sunny 98.1 " KXSN and AC 96.5 KYXY as well as LMSD's Rhythmic AC " Magic 92.5 ". I'd lean against it as low rated Rhythmic CHR " Jam'n 95.7 " KSSX would be a much more likely flip candidate. Bakersfield: A revamp of AC " Sunny 105.3 " KBFP would be simply a fresh coat of paint. KBFP currently has a 1.8 share and no direct format competition. Columbus OH: Classic Hip Hop " Throwback 105.3 " W287CP maintains a share in the low 1 share range, which isn't much off from NABCO's existing Soft AC " Star 94.1 " W231EG. Outside of exerting extra pressure on Saga AC " Sunny 95 " WSNY-FM, not sure how much would be gained here. Norfolk VA: 105.3 WNOH was the only full-power FM to be utilized as an affiliate of the News " Black Information Network ". The Class B signal is arguably the best of the four in the iHeart cluster, yet had just a 0.7 share in May. But the market already has two AC's between Max Media's " 92.9 The Wave " WTWV-FM and Audacy's " 101.3 2WD " WWDE. Atlanta: Speaking of low ratings, CHR " Power 105.3 " WWPW has been mired at a one share or lower since it was downgraded from 96.1 last year. On the day of the domain registration, the June monthly showed WWPW drop to a mere 0.4. Right now iHeart has a CHR in all but one of the top 20 PPM markets (Houston) and may be adverse to adding another one when they sell to artists and labels on scale, but with listenership that low, is it really adding anything to the national scale? Cox AC " B98.5 " WSB-FM has been down in recent months and the Atlanta market has no full-powered Classic Hits station making even the rimshot 105.3 signal potentially more viable with Soft AC than CHR. I'd argue that they'd need the 105.7 WBZY signal (currently 0.7 share Spanish CHR " Z105.7 ") to really make the format work in Atlanta, but based on timing and ratings WWPW would be our lead candidate for the flip. [/membership]

Domain Insight 7/17: Where Does iHeart Have A Breeze Blowing Next?

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Domain Insight 7/17: Where Does iHeart Have A Breeze Blowing Next?

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