Birmingham does not know hot AC obviously....

[icycool7227]

The other thread about the new 94.5 changing has way too many replies. I don't mean to criticize but don't really like country radio - why wouldn't hot AC work? I would love an aircheck if anyone has any of WYSF. I don't think they ever called it anything but the new 94.5? I bet if they named it something and did more promotional work it would have done better. We have two hot ACs here in the Milwaukee, WI area and they both do very well as far as ratings go and it used to be 3 hot ACs with a modern touch. Country just sounds all the same while hot AC has many different sounds.

[ChrisWright]

In my opinion 94.5's attempt at Hot AC died the day they put Kidd Kraddick on the air.  Mornings are absolutely essential for a Hot AC and although Kidd has a really good show I don't think it was a fit for Birmingham.  Rick & Bubba already covered the "big show with drama in the lives of the personalities" slot and Ace & TJ were already in place for the younger, hipper crowd that don't like Rick & Bubba.  Kidd's show is also significantly more liberal than the market.   It takes time for his show to catch on and very few listeners were going to give him the necessary time because he wasn't providing much that they weren't already getting from shows that were either based in Birmingham or had strong Alabama ties.

I believe there was little 94.5's staff could have done to jump that hurdle.  Read Guy Zapoleon's thoughts on the format.  As he says there are three essential elements to a successful Hot AC... Music, Mornings and Marketing.  If any one of those is lacking the format won't work.

Is there room for someone else to have a strong morning show in Birmingham?  Absolutely.  But it won't come from syndication.  Someone will have to put some good people together IN THE MARKET and give them the freedom to be creative.  It will also take a commitment to a strong marketing campaign and budget to do a few things with some "wow" factor.

[Kent]

Why wouldn't hot AC work?  From a ratings standpoint, it doesn't work that well in very many places.  If you look at hot AC's around the nation, take a look at how many of them are better than middle of the pack.  There are very few.  Hot AC tends to last, though, because it outbills its ratings share in most markets.

94.5's problem was that it couldn't get over being "The Rick and Bubba Station" after losing Rick and Bubba.  I also agree that Kidd Kraddick didn't help things.  While I used to like the show when I lived in Dallas, the syndicated show seems to have lost something.   

[Zach]

Is there room for someone else to have a strong morning show in Birmingham?  Absolutely.  But it won't come from syndication.  Someone will have to put some good people together IN THE MARKET and give them the freedom to be creative.  It will also take a commitment to a strong marketing campaign and budget to do a few things with some "wow" factor.

Someone should tell Citadel that, then... The al.com article linked in another post about 94.5 says they're getting a nationally syndicated morning show after the move from 100.5 to 94.5.  That could wind up being Citadel-owned Don Imus.

Who knows what those folks will do?  Frankly I'm surprised no one's predicted the return of rock on 100.5 with (syndicated) Opie and Anthony.  Citadel seems to be keeping them on several stations, along with pushing Imus.

It would certainly be the cheapo way out, right?   

[icycool7227]

IMO, Kid Kraddick is more for CHR radio than hot AC. The style of it is more CHRish than anything. Why hto AC stations have that morning show I will never understand why. I don't care for syndicated morning shows much - lik 'em live and local.

[whitfm]

IMO, Kid Kraddick is more for CHR radio than hot AC. The style of it is more CHRish than anything. Why hto AC stations have that morning show I will never understand why. I don't care for syndicated morning shows much - lik 'em live and local.

You're absolutely right about Kraddick being better for CHR but one thing that was always a curiosity about "The New 94.5" was that they tried to bill themselves as a CHR even though the mix was clearly Hot AC. When they first came on the air they did not play any 80s gold and very little 90s gold, and had the "Birmingham's Hit Music" slogan and the new KIIS-FM jingles. They really were taking a run at The Q, even if it was for just a moment, but that run didn't last long before the playlist morphed into the more typical 80s/90s/now Hot AC sound.