ATLANTA: WSB-AM, fearing the erosion of their right wing audience, flips 95.5 the Beat

[wyldwolf]

In a bid to attract a younger audience, Cox radio has decided to simulcast its news/talk station 750/WSB-AM at 95.5 on the FM dial starting at noon today.

As a result, hip-hop station 95.5/The Beat is losing its home after 11 years.

“Fewer people under the age of 40 are listening to AM,” said Tony Kidd, vice president and market manager for programming, said during an interview. By being on FM, this will enable WSB to draw from a bigger pool of potential listeners.”

The station has not changed its 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekday lineup in several years. But its audience has gotten older. To keep WSB-AM viable longer term, Kidd said they had to make this move.

WSB-AM has competed with R&B/hip-hop station V-103 for ratings domination in Atlanta for many years. But it has seen its listener numbers slide the past 18 months by more than 25 percent among all listeners and 54 percent among 25- to 54-year-olds, a key demographic for advertisers. Its Arbitron rating in February 2009 among 25- to 54-year-olds was 8.5, ranked No. 2 in the market. Last month, it had dipped to 3.9, ranked 11th.

http://blogs.ajc.com/radio-tv-talk/2010/08/16/95-5the-beat-loses-its-beat-taken-over-by-newstalk-wsb-am-simulcast/

What the above piece doesn't mention is WSB is home to Neal Boortz and also broadcasts Sean Hannity and local right winger Herman Cain. Their morning show - news/traffic/weather - also slants their news coverage to the right.

Interesting - a format and/or line up that is losing steam usually gets changed - not given another chance on second frequency. Ideology over sound business decisions, in my opinion.

[Fumesucker]

1. Right, hip hop fans are going to listen to Hannity and Boortz..

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I can't think of two more whitebread motherfuckas than Sean and Neal..

And I'm pretty damn whitebread myself..

[KamaAina]

2. Smooth move, Ex-Lax. Teh ATL is arguably the capital of hip-hop

so naturally you take a hip-hop station and flip it to tired, worn-out hate radio. :eyes:

[onehandle]

3. Get me out of here. nt