Here’s an article from industry publication RadioInsight, found via Reddit, that makes a pretty convincing case alternative rock music is going to return to Dallas airwaves, more than a year after the death of 102.1 The Edge.
Short version: Industry players Entercom and CBS Radio are merging. After Entercom completes said acquisition, it will own 12 alt-rock stations in markets that do not include Dallas. Here’s RadioInsight:
That gives a solid group to sell to national ad buyers attempting to reach younger male audiences. And Entercom may just not be done there. Rumors have been flying over the past few days that one of the company’s first moves will be to flip CHR “Amp 103.7” KVIL Dallas to Alternative. We reported last month on an anonymous registration of Alt1037.com, which is being used as a decoy to point to iHeart’s “Alt 104.9” KLLT St. Louis and have been told that the domain is likely for use for Entercom post-merger closing. Dallas has been without the format since last November’s flip of 102.1 KDGE to AC.
That would now give Entercom three Alternative stations in top five markets. Add AAA 93.1 WXRT Chicago (as well as 105.5 WMMM Madison) for sales purposes and you now have four and leaving one gaping hole for the format and the company. CHR “92.3 Amp” WBMP New York is currently struggling with a 2.0 share in a market where no non Hip-Hop music station is targeting 18-49 year old men. Adding New York and Dallas enables record label support behind the format and gives Entercom the ability to package the top five markets for national sales and marketing partnerships along with the other eleven stations mentioned.
All well and good, but we’d really prefer if somebody brought back classic hip-hop.
