ATL NOW THE WORST EVER

[ExNuYawker]

My Sirius radio is worth every penny of the $10 a month these days.

[beachguy3b]

My Sirius radio is worth every penny of the $10 a month these days.

As is mine.

Since I moved from ATL in 2008 (BIG mistake) I've lived and traveled all over. It has gotten where I simply cannot listen to music radio. Talk stations pretty much sound the same. And stations that used to be polished diamond are now, at best cubic zirconia. I miss radio, but it is terrible everywhere. I've heard people in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, L.A., etc. that 20 years ago wouldn't have been good enough to work in Macon.

And 30 or more years ago, wouldn't even be allowed to LISTEN they sucked so much.

[BRENT]

Honestly, scanning the dial tonight, and it is truly abysmal of what choices we have.  CC you are our only hope...........

[kal30005]

I agree with others that Atlanta radio is no worse than anywhere else. Radio sucks everywhere.

Actually, I think Atlanta is arguably the strongest R&B and Urban market in the country, mostly due to the large African-American population here. I'm not sure that there's a market with a station as strong as V-103 anywhere. And how many markets have 2 Urban ACs and an FM gospel station?

And while everybody likes to complain about the music played by all the stations here, when I go out of town for a week or two and listen to stations in other mid-sized Southern markets like Orlando, Tampa and Charlotte, I find that their playlists are even smaller than the stations here and while they sound fresh at first, they become old VERY quick. And when I come back to Atlanta, I realize how far ahead musically Atlanta radio still is compared with the other Southern markets.

[acheron82]

If you are referring to Urban formats in other communities then yes, Atlanta is probably fresher in terms of playlist but I beg to differ on playlists for other formats.  CHR??  Go to Raleigh and listen to G105.  Turn around and compare that with Q100.  Classic Rock??  Go to Chattanooga and listen to KZ106 and compare that playlist to The River.  Active Rock??  Check out Rock 106.1 in Savannah and compare to Project.  Some have rated that station the number one active rock station in the nation.  AC??  Go to any town and you will find AC both modern and older (oldies/classic hits style).  Alternative rock??  Go to Myrtle Beach and check out WKZQ.  Blows 99x out of the water.  I don't listen to country so have no opinion there. 

I agree with others that Atlanta radio is no worse than anywhere else. Radio sucks everywhere.

Actually, I think Atlanta is arguably the strongest R&B and Urban market in the country, mostly due to the large African-American population here. I'm not sure that there's a market with a station as strong as V-103 anywhere. And how many markets have 2 Urban ACs and an FM gospel station?

And while everybody likes to complain about the music played by all the stations here, when I go out of town for a week or two and listen to stations in other mid-sized Southern markets like Orlando, Tampa and Charlotte, I find that their playlists are even smaller than the stations here and while they sound fresh at first, they become old VERY quick. And when I come back to Atlanta, I realize how far ahead musically Atlanta radio still is compared with the other Southern markets.

[kal30005]

If you are referring to Urban formats in other communities then yes, Atlanta is probably fresher in terms of playlist but I beg to differ on playlists for other formats.  CHR??  Go to Raleigh and listen to G105.  Turn around and compare that with Q100.  Classic Rock??  Go to Chattanooga and listen to KZ106 and compare that playlist to The River.  Active Rock??  Check out Rock 106.1 in Savannah and compare to Project.  Some have rated that station the number one active rock station in the nation.  AC??  Go to any town and you will find AC both modern and older (oldies/classic hits style).  Alternative rock??  Go to Myrtle Beach and check out WKZQ.  Blows 99x out of the water.  I don't listen to country so have no opinion there.

You can certainly find individual stations around the country that have stronger playlists. There's no question about that.

But note that all your examples are in different markets. The debate is about the strength of Atlanta as a market, not about individual stations.

Atlanta probably has more stations, even right now, that people in other markets wish they had, like V-103 and Praise. I've heard several people who came here and heard Wild (pre CHR shift) say they wish they had a station that played a CHR/Hip Hop mix like they did. And how many markets have a station like Fish? Even Dave-FM is a station that while it's been mostly broken, is still unique.

I totally agree that 99X is REALLY bad right now for an alternative station, especially since they were one of the stations that really launched the format in the 90s. But if they move to a batter signal and Dave goes away, we might see them improve as well.

I'm not suggesting that Atlanta radio is great by any means. I'm just saying that radio sucks everywhere.

[kilamanjero]

I agree with others that Atlanta radio is no worse than anywhere else. Radio sucks everywhere.

Actually, I think Atlanta is arguably the strongest R&B and Urban market in the country, mostly due to the large African-American population here. I'm not sure that there's a market with a station as strong as V-103 anywhere. And how many markets have 2 Urban ACs and an FM gospel station?

And while everybody likes to complain about the music played by all the stations here, when I go out of town for a week or two and listen to stations in other mid-sized Southern markets like Orlando, Tampa and Charlotte, I find that their playlists are even smaller than the stations here and while they sound fresh at first, they become old VERY quick. And when I come back to Atlanta, I realize how far ahead musically Atlanta radio still is compared with the other Southern markets.

Amen to that!  I swear if some of you that hate Atlanta radio that much, have they considered how awful radio is for urban music listeners in other major Southern markets?  Birmingham, Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, Louisville, and Jacksonville are all mundane as it gets for urban formats.  They have plenty of stronger stations in other formats except urban formats.  I applaud V-103 for being so strong and maintaining such a very diverse playlist of contemporary and old school hip-hop and R&B although it has some fierce competition from the Radio One-owned stations and Kiss 104.1.  The only large city urban stations that comparable to V-103 is their CBS-owned sister station WPGC-FM/Washington DC along with KPRS/Kansas City, KMEL/San Francisco, WBLK/Buffalo, and WDKX/Rochester (New York). 

[BRENT]

I agree with others that Atlanta radio is no worse than anywhere else. Radio sucks everywhere.

Actually, I think Atlanta is arguably the strongest R&B and Urban market in the country, mostly due to the large African-American population here. I'm not sure that there's a market with a station as strong as V-103 anywhere. And how many markets have 2 Urban ACs and an FM gospel station?

And while everybody likes to complain about the music played by all the stations here, when I go out of town for a week or two and listen to stations in other mid-sized Southern markets like Orlando, Tampa and Charlotte, I find that their playlists are even smaller than the stations here and while they sound fresh at first, they become old VERY quick. And when I come back to Atlanta, I realize how far ahead musically Atlanta radio still is compared with the other Southern markets.

Amen to that!  I swear if some of you that hate Atlanta radio that much, have they considered how awful radio is for urban music listeners in other major Southern markets?  Birmingham, Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, Louisville, and Jacksonville are all mundane as it gets for urban formats.  They have plenty of stronger stations in other formats except urban formats.  I applaud V-103 for being so strong and maintaining such a very diverse playlist of contemporary and old school hip-hop and R&B although it has some fierce competition from the Radio One-owned stations and Kiss 104.1.  The only large city urban stations that comparable to V-103 is their CBS-owned sister station WPGC-FM/Washington DC along with KPRS/Kansas City, KMEL/San Francisco, WBLK/Buffalo, and WDKX/Rochester (New York). 

Kiss is owned by Cox and is actually fairly listen-able for me. Although they are ghetto sometimes.  I liked when they played more oldies. I mean white peeps listen too. But you would never know it.

[carolinaradio]

I've never denied that while Atlanta is a great market for Urban formats, I feel that the non-Urban stations lack (outside of country and Star 94).  Given the demographics and size of the market, it SHOULD have the strong Urbans it has. 

Comparing the non-Urban formats, though, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Tampa, and even Charlotte have much more variety and better sounding choices.  Raleigh and Nashville, Greensboro-Winston-Salem are unimpressive.

[BRENT]

I've never denied that while Atlanta is a great market for Urban formats, I feel that the non-Urban stations lack (outside of country and Star 94).  Given the demographics and size of the market, it SHOULD have the strong Urbans it has. 

Comparing the non-Urban formats, though, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Tampa, and even Charlotte have much more variety and better sounding choices.  Raleigh and Nashville, Greensboro-Winston-Salem are unimpressive.

I love Hippie radio in Nashville, Atlanta needs this...Since it always had the highest hippie baby boomer pop in the SE.


http://hippieradio.net/