A Haven For Former 99X Listeners?
Written Jan. 21, 2008 by Sean Ross in Internet Radio + Terrestrial Radio with 4 Comments
As is the case whenever we cover major format changes, the impending departure of WNNX (99X) Atlanta from its terrestrial frequency has brought forth a lot of comments from listeners, many of them seemingly from outside our industry, and many of them ending with that common last line of angry listener e-mails, "From now on, I'm going to listen to satellite rado and/or my iPod."
In the world of The Infinite Dial, of course, there are lots of other replacements for 99X. Which leads me to pose this question for readers: What currently extant terrestrial Alternative stations would a former 99X listener enjoy? While it's hard to replace a legend -- particularly one that is already looming larger in listeners' minds before it even goes away, there are still plenty of choices for a long-time 99X listener, who misses some of the music that the station made famous, still cares about new Alternative rock, and has sensibilities that lean toward the pop/singer-songwriter/true alternative side, not the harder side of the format.
That description covers probably 40-45% of the format these days, including two of the longest running success-stories, KROQ Los Angeles and KXRK (X96) Salt Lake City. Both have become slightly more adult over the last year in a way that might appeal to a 99X person, and X96, like 99X, prides itself on having a thinking person's morning show. You might also steer a former 99X person to:
* The first wave of Adult Moderns (which 99X briefly joined) like KBZT San Diego or KNRK Portland, Ore.
* The new crop of stations on the cusp of Modern Rock and Modern AC. And lest this become one more plug for WRFF (Radio 104.5) Philly, any of the Clear Channel hybrids have similar appeal, including WDVI Rochester, N.Y., or KJMY Salt Lake City. So, for that matter, would its Hot AC WMAX Grand Rapids, Mich., where the top 5 most played oldies are from the Bodeans, Shawn Mullins, Black Crowes, Nine Days, and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
* The more contemporary half of the Triple-A format (e.g., KBCO Denver, KMTT Seattle, KINK Portland, Ore.)
There's also the radio station that kept me on the terrestrial dial for Modern Rock when WXRK (K-Rock) New York went all-Talk for a year, WHTG (G-Rock) Monmouth/Ocean, N.J. Even after being tightened up by a new PD, it's still aggressive with both currents and gold and still has some "what will they play next" aspect to it.
Okay, this is a very partial list -- that's where you come in.
Reader Comments
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Kin FM in Holland! www.kinkfm.com
Right now 92.9 Dave FM (AAA format) here in Atlanta is paying homage to 99X at the top of each hour. They are featuring tributes to the personalities (Leslie Fram, Axel, Sean, Steve, Yvonne, etc.) that made 99X over the years and a song that 99X made popular. It's a great way of tell the 99X listeners that you've grown up to the AAA format but you can still here much of your favorite music at Dave.
Dave plays a good bit of the 99x material (add Muse)!. KROQ has an excellent playlist, and those hybrids you mention also sound appealing.
Switching 99x to a MOR classic rock station doesn't put Cumulus on my friends list.
I agree with regards to WMAX-FM - it seems to actually be more like a modern rock/modern AC hybrid than a Hot AC (other than when they confusingly drop in Aerosmith and Bon Jovi a couple times a day, which clashes against everything else they're playing...).