What format trend of the 2010s had the most impact?
If the measurement is stations launched over the last decade or so that are market leaders today, the highest yield was almost certainly in the move of heritage News/Talk and Sports brands to FM. The 2010s began with the move of stations like N/T WSB Atlanta and KFBK Sacramento, Calif., and sports KFXN (the Fan) Minneapolis and WIP Philadelphia. This week began with an FM translator for Entercom’s KMOX St. Louis on the heels of a new FM frequency for its KYW Philadelphia.
The continuing tumult of the last year might have propelled spoken-word stations into the top 5 anyway, but many of the stations that acquired an FM or moved there outright, such as WMAL Washington, D.C., were chief among January’s top-rated stations. That boom also includes WHPT (The Bone) Tampa, Fla., which was still a personality-heavy Classic Rock station when the last decade began.
By comparison, only a relative handful of music stations launched in between 2000-10 were in the top 5 6-plus in January’s PPM ratings, about 15 in total, depending on how you count. None of those were the second or third CHRs that popped up during the format explosion of the early ‘00s, or the younger-leaning “New Country” stations that proliferated a few years later when the format began attracting younger demos. None were Classic Hip-Hop outlets or the all-’90s format that gave 2020 one of its few heavily discussed new radio stations.
The January PPM month typically shows some lingering effects of the Christmas-music season. But it’s unlikely that many second CHRs or younger Country outlets are just one month of recovery away from the top 5. Even before COVID-19, a Radioinsight story documented the surprising number of stations that have been in their formats more-or-less continuously since the 1980s. To some extent, those stations have managed to co-opt new format developments. WMIA (Totally 93.9) Miami hasn’t gained traction with all-’90s, but Soft AC rival WFEZ (Easy 93.1) Miami is playing more than ever.
WFEZ celebrated its 10th birthday this year. Its Soft AC format has morphed considerably, but not before it prompted a successful Soft AC launch at KISQ (The Breeze) San Francisco, and the return of WLIT (Lite FM) Chicago to Soft AC.
Ross On Radio has covered the Soft AC format at length, often to the consternation of Mainstream AC programmers. But that group can also be proud of current top 5 stations WREW (Mix 94.9) Cincinnati, WLDB (B93) Milwaukee — which counts as a ‘10s launch by dint of a brief foray into Hot AC — and the most-recent launch, KDGE (Star 102.1) Dallas, which led the holiday book and was second in the market in January.
Just as the advent of PPM helped drive the building boom in CHRs in the early ‘00s, it also made sure that most markets had the Classic Hits format, which, until then, had been faltering. Current top five launches include WEAT West Palm Beach, Fla.; KBAY San Jose; and KXSN (Sunny 98.1) San Diego. Sunny’s debut was particularly auspicious — a former Soft AC that changed in pursuit of better demos and remained a market leader, something that rarely goes according to plan.
We also observed last year that the Bob- and Jack-FM “Adult Hits” format, the most influential programming trend of the mid-‘00s, seemed to be undergoing a resurgence in early 2020, further defying any “fad format” predictions. While most of the successful Adult Hits stations in this month’s ratings were 2000s launches, newer ones include WBBB Raleigh, N.C., and KYOT (The Mountain) Phoenix. KKHH (The Spot) Houston wasn’t top five 6-plus in January but was also a prominent format launch in recent years. Classic Rock KTKX (The Eagle) San Antonio also launched in the early 2010s, forcing a heritage rival out of the format.
It’s worth noting that a number of the aforementioned launches don’t represent format trends as much as opportunities created by owners with other priorities. Dallas’s Star 102.1 and West Palm Beach’s WEAT were both prompted by the loss of heritage stations. The most adventurous success story this month was non-commercial Triple-A KUTX Austin, Texas, one of several in the format this month, also including KEXP Seattle. KCMP (The Current) Minneapolis — one of the first highly rated non-comm Triple-A outlets, is in the high-3/low-4 share range now, but even that was once unimaginable.
Radioinsight.com publisher Lance Venta, who along with Country Aircheck ratings expert Chris Huff suggested this story, also cites the influence of New York’s WNYL (Alt 92.3) and WNSH (Country 94.7). Those stations demonstrated the commitment of their owners, Entercom and Cumulus respectively, to the formats, and, in the case of WNYL, touched off a building boom in the format, even though Alternative has yet to rebound overall. Venta also cites WBQT (Hot 96.9) Boston, KHTP (Hot 103.7) Seattle, and KXQQ (Q100.5) Las Vegas, which are among the most enduring of the mid-’00s Classic Hip-Hop launches.
Soft AC and non-comm Triple-A may seem like opposites, but they share a willingness to cater to disenfranchised upper demos, as well as COVID-era listeners who are now in search of longer-span listening experiences. Both have elements of “radio as it used to be,” whether it’s Soft AC playing Air Supply or Triple-A’s hosts advocating for new music.
That there have been relatively few phenomenal and enduring new format launches over the last decade reflects how both outside marketing and a station’s ability to generate talk from existing cume have been diminished since 2010, a time when radio was already playing defense. Podcasting has captured the broadcaster attention that might have gone into station launches. The new body of music that exists in streaming is arguably a format, but not on the radio; CHR’s efforts to make a pest a pet by acknowledging the hits of TikTok and ISPs have yet to pay off.
What are your most influential stations of the last decade? Please leave a comment.
