95.5 The Beat

95.5 The Beat, In an attempt to attract a younger audience, Cox Radio has decided to simulcast its news / talk station in 750/WSB-AM 95.5 on the FM dial from noon today.
As a result, hip-hop station 95.5/The Bata is losing his home after 11 years.
“Fewer people under 40 are listening to AM,” said Tony Kidd, vice president and market manager for programming, said in an interview. While in FM, which will allow WSB extract a larger pool of potential listeners.
The station has not changed from 5 am to 7 pm weekday lineup in years. However, its audience has grown up. WSB-AM To maintain sustainable long term, Kidd said he had to make this move.
Beat Most on-air and sales staff are losing their jobs, but will be considered for other positions in Cox Radio family, said Kidd. (Cox operates 86 stations in 19 markets.) Hosting the morning means Murph Dawg and CJ Simpson (right), morning and noon inguinal Maverick K Dub-host are among those who will be off the air.
WSB-AM has competed with R & B / hip-hop station V-103 to ratings dominance in Atlanta for many years. However, it has seen its number of listeners for the last 18 months slide by more than 25 percent among all listeners and 54 percent among 25 – to 54-year-old, a key demographic for advertisers. His Arbitron numbers in February 2009 among 25 – to 54-year-old was 8.5, ranked number two in the market. Last month, it had fallen to 3.9, ranked 11th.
The four Cox Atlanta FM stations are doing well, “said Kidd. Unfortunately, the Beat, which in turn gears to a younger audience, generating income was lower compared with classic hits station 97.1/The River, Kiss R & B station 104.1 and soft rock station B98.5.
WSB-AM in the past has been a top revenue producer among radio stations in the market. He always had an advantage among AM stations, because it is the only AM in Atlanta to pump 50,000 watts 24 / 7, allowing people to hear the signal at night by hundreds of miles. (Rival 640/WGST-AM, which used to simulcast on 105.7 for much of the 1990s, it has to turn to only 1,000 watts at night and often fuzz 25 miles outside of downtown Atlanta. )
The Beat competed in a crowded market full of pop and some hip-hop stations,. In the last three months, Clear Channel’s Groove 105.3/The has changed her music to the Beat, playing more current hits from the likes of Usher, Drake and Katy Perry. Could benefit most from the departure of the Beat. Currently, the station 10 months old, is far behind the pace, which ranked fourth among 18 – to 34 years of age in the Arbitron ratings in July. The Groove # 17.
Who could get hurt? Any stations on AM. This measure gives people one less excuse to explore even the AM dial.
Tom Taylor, editor of the radio-info.com, said simulcasts of news and talk radio stations on AM and FM is a modest trend, with stations in Seattle and San Francisco, to do it now. WTOP, the news station in Washington DC, is in AM and FM is the highest station in that market. Cox has a similar radio simulcast in Jacksonville, Florida, where its news and talk station is No. 1 on the market.
The Beat signal to 40,000 watts, is not as strong as that of its sister stations and heavily distorted northeast toward Gainesville.
This is the first major format change in nearly a year in the Atlanta radio since 105.7/The Groove came to town last fall.
An HD-2 version of the coup, with no staff in the air, will air at 97.1, while relatively few people listen to HD radio.http://worldhotsearch1.blogspot.com/