Chicago Media Chat Message Forum

Forum Agreement, Terms Of Service Disclaimer

B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by Z-92 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Z-92' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 30, 2023, 11:24 pm

Now that B96 is playing many Jams titles, will Jams also flip? Have they adjusted their playlist away from B96 (I don't really know, I don't listen much to Jams)? I kinda thought Jams would have flipped to something else by now. More astute listeners wanna give analysis?

Side note: B96 is more listenable for me now. Just my opinion. Still not stellar. But finally heard a real 90s classic dance song today...Amber "This Is Your Night". At least it's something! Anyone hear other killer B classic dance?

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 31, 2023, 8:43 am, in reply to "B96 and 104.3 Jams"

Hi Z-92!

Audacy has bigger issues to deal with like being delisted from the stock exchange. Do not be surprised if you see reorganization sooner than later.

I think they will want to see some numbers come out before flipping, but one of the scenarios is if they can share numbers between stations not sending them to the competition, that is a win. Ultimately you will see Jams go. Erik is still "interim" over there. Todd was never replaced. That is screaming not committed to the format.

I do not know if a single dance track from Amber is good when you have to waddle through hours of crap before you encounter it? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Z

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 31, 2023, 10:54 am, in reply to "Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams"

I've heard 2 90ss Dance tracks on there. Both were big hits nationally. Amber - This Is Your Night and CeCe Peniston - Finally

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by Z-92 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Z-92' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 31, 2023, 11:32 am, in reply to "Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams"

I might also add Robin S "Show Me Love" plus the other two above played yesterday. Plus they have added some dance tracks from the early 2010s that they use to play back then. I'm trying to give them all the props I can. It is something! But, agreed, lots of crap to wade through to get there.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

104.3 played or plays the Robin S song, so I didn't include it

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Hard to understand shared playlists by shared ownership of these 2 stations. Back to my streaming!

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

104.3 is strictly Classic Hip Hop and R&B.

B96 to me seems like Hot AC with mostly Rhythmic and Pop golds. The new music is very Hot AC. Taylor Swift, Jonas Brothers, Morgan Wallen (A Country artist), Katy Perry, Glass Animals, etc. Some Rhythmic hits, but mostly Hot AC, Pop.

The golds are mostly 90s and 2000s Hip Hop and Pop hits. They'll play Maroon 5, Backstreet Boys, Nsync, all that. Majority of the Hip Hop from the 2000s and 2010s (Actually all of it) was played on Mainstream CHR. This includes the dance songs.

104.3 will play Faith Evens, Prince, Busta Rhymes, Mystikal, Ice Cube, etc. Bunch of things B96 is not playing. There may also be an audience that doesn't want to hear the pop or the currents. This is where the difference is.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

I wish I was wrong, but I seriously think they'll end up flipping 104.3 and using it to point listeners to B96. They did this once before.

When Fresh 105.9 flipped to News, the format at the time was Hot AC. B96 had been evolving back to a more Mainstream CHR format. As 105.9 was flipping to news, they kept running promos telling listeners to turn on B96.

I can imagine the same with 104.3. They flip to a simulcast of WSCR. And in the days leading up to it, they run promos for B96.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by ABRockNJock <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=ABRockNJock' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on June 5, 2023, 1:46 pm, in reply to "Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams"

I'm late to this party, but it makes a lot of sense for Audacy to pull the plug on 104.3 FM JAMS and the familiar call letters of WBMX to accommodate a possible simulcast of 670 AM The SCORE's sports talk format on the 104.3 FM frequency.

After all, WSCR has been on 670 AM for 23 years of its 31 years on the air and they've been available on 104.3 FM HD2 for those that actually have HD Radio in addition to the Audacy app.

Imagine hearing Cubs & Bulls' games on BOTH 670 AM & 104.3 FM over the air. Other cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, Phoenix & Atlanta have all aired sports talk on FM for quite sometime. If they can do it, why not here?

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Good synopsis Jeremy. Thank you. Makes sense.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by disman00911 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=disman00911' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 31, 2023, 2:36 pm, in reply to "Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams"

I too was stunned to learn that B96 had added a few of the dance tracks from their 1990s glory years. I'll have to give B96 credit for at least acknowledging a few hits from their dance past as I would had assumed they would continue to ignore their dance heritage. I also saw DJ Sammy's "Heaven" from 2002, one of the very few "Energy 92.7/92.5" era songs B96 actually played back then as they were all hip hop/R&B back then.

That said, I think the novelty of B96's new direction is starting to wore off as I'm not going to sit through the same 100-200 throwback titles, in addition to the sad and pathetic state of modern-day pop music if I were an actual regular listener. Wishful thinking but can't these radio stations think outside the box and play some deep cuts and lost hits once in a while. Even the most die-hard Beyonce fan doesn't want to hear "Crazy in Love" over and over again as she's have multiple hits (both solo and in Destiny's Child).

I'm also surprised that 104.3 Jams is hanging around as I assumed that the higher-ups didn't want B96 and 104.3 to cannibalize each other playlist-wise as B96 was adding more songs from 104.3's library. I mean, just about every throwback currently played on 104.3 could also be played on B96 whereas the 90s/00s/10s pop throwbacks (Britney Spears, N'Sync, Lady Gaga, etc.) and the dance music wouldn't be played on 103.4. Jeremy mentioned some 90s/00s artists that B96 currently aren't playing. They wouldn't sound out-of-place on present-day B96 as those artists mentioned were actually played on B96 during the 90s or 00s.

The oldest throwback B96 plays is CeCe Peniston's "Finally" from 1991. Beforehand, it was Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg's " Nuthin' But a G Thang" from 1993. Although 104.3 is 1990s/2000s based classic hip hop/R&B, the oldest song they play is the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" from 1979. The only pre-1990s songs I've spotted was Bobby Brown's "My Propagative" from 1988 and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" from 1983. They may be few others that I didn't mention. For the record, those songs were played as 80s flashbacks (the more common term B96 used for older songs back then) during the Killer Bee/Party Radio days of B96.

Also, could the mixes return to B96 in the near-future though it more likely should 104.3 flip and their mixers jump ship to B96?

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Well said disman00911. I especially agree that "Crazy in Love" type songs are sooooooooooo overplayed. No creativity in today's radio world.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

The DJ Sammy track is not really all that surprising. It peaked at #4 on the CHR chart in the summer of 2002. Everybody was playing it if their format was CHR.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

At the time B96 was playing the DJ Sammy track, they were fighting over Eddie & Jobo with 103.5 and started leaning more toward Mainstream CHR. Lot of Vanessa Carlton, Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne and Pink was being mixed in. One night I even heard Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls on B96 in the early summer of 2002.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by Amanda Connells pimp <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Amanda+Connells+pimp' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 31, 2023, 3:37 pm, in reply to "Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams"

Mistake 1 is Ya'll pretend like you believe they know what they are doing on B96 and 104.3. Mistake 2 is all the songs were Top 40 hits. Jeremy is right. Not dance. How many B96, WKTU, Power 106, Hot 97 and Energy 927 stations on in the US right now? Don't hurt yourself trying to come up with 1!

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by Hunter <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Hunter' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on May 31, 2023, 3:35 pm, in reply to "Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams"

I think one question which needs to be asked is how does 104.3 Jams bill? Playing a number of songs a co-owned station plays may not signal a format change.

I recall when WJMK/104.3 flipped to Jack-FM. They played a lot of tracks which co-owned WXRT/93.1 plays. Jack-FM refused to stay in their own musical lane.

Jack-FM was on 104.3 for what? Five or six years.

As WYTZZ95FM said, I think Audacy has far bigger issues at this point in time.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Jack FM was a canned format. If you want to know how much thought was put into it, I remember hearing "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam on there more than once uncensored with the F bomb in it.

They also played a remake of Turn Up The Radio by Autograph. It was not by Autograph. It was from some cheap remake compilation CD of remakes.

They just loaded in a bunch of CDs and walked. They likely got threatened by Newsweb in the first few days. They used the same jingle package Nine FM was already using and ended up pulling them in a day or two.

No thought at all. Just rushed on the air.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Just like Newsweb could been served when Matt was using the name "Jack Efemme" on air. Oh wait, they did serve him and Newsweb for that. No you can't get sued for using the same jingle package.

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Jingle packages are usually market exclusive. So they probably got reminded by either Newsweb or TM Century

Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on June 2, 2023, 12:35 pm, in reply to "Re: B96 and 104.3 Jams"

As WYTZZ95FM said, I think Audacy has far bigger issues at this point in time.

Hi Hunter, this is correct.

Jams bills well. The issue, both stations are now sharing the same demo. Sometimes it is better for your listener to end up on your own sister station rather than the competition. Will this work out? Lets wait for a few trends and books.

Z

« Back to index

654

[ Chicago Media Chat Message Forum ]