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What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
A caveat about the list in question, put out by Inside Radio. It's a measure of stations in the U.S. only. I'm not sure if there is a Canadian equivalent, but there are far more stations down there than here so it makes for a more interesting read in some ways. According to their research for July:
"Looking at the total station count of the top ten formats, country radio is tops with 2,180 total stations as of July 2022, followed by news/talk (2,017), Religion (1,989), contemporary Christian (1,331), Spanish (1,257), variety (1,237), classic hits (1,191), classic rock (631), sports (631) and CHR (598)."
We, of course, don't have very many Spanish stations here and those that do exist, such as CHHA, Voces Latina, at 1610 AM have a far different flavour than the ones down south. Similarly, I don't think there are a ton of contemporary Christian outlets here or stations that would consider themselves "all religion." (CJYE 1250 AM in Oakville is an exception in this part of the world.)
And they don't entirely define what is meant by "variety," although it seems to have captured big numbers, as well.
What would be the top format in Canada? My guess would be either CHR, classic rock or country here (with the latter especially strong out west) but without a full list, it would be hard to say. But the U.S. outline shows where radio is - and where it might be going.
U.S. Format Count: Classic Hits, Classic Rock Gain Most Stations So Far In 2022
- Tomas Barlow
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Re: What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
Variety must be AC and hot AC. CHR never outnumbers those two formats.
- mace
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Re: What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
Simply a guess here. #11 on that format list would some variation of R/B, Rap and/or Hip-Hop. Another interesting tid bit of radio info I discovered while searching for something else. The three states with the most radio stations. 1.Texas-944. 2. California-868. 3. Florida-590. [NY was 4th-557] The three states with the fewest stations. 1. D.C.-21. 2.Rhode Island-30. 3. Delaware-32.
- RadioActive
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Re: What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
Country is the #1 format in the U.S. by (you should pardon the expression) a country mile, according to the list. Yet the GTA cannot support a single local station here. I guess KX94.7 from Hamilton/Burlington is the closest we get. We've had this debate here before, but for whatever reason, country just doesn't seem to work in Toronto and with certain exceptions (CFGM being the most memorable) it never really has.
I've never been quite sure what it is about the format that's led to Toronto audiences shutting it out, but it's strong elsewhere, including out west. Closer to home, WYRK-FM Buffalo, a city which hardly seems like a country music hub, has always been near the top of the ratings down there.
I feel sorry for country fans in this part of the world - they have so little choice to tune in their music on an over-the-air station. And there's no sign that will change anytime soon. But the why of that continues to baffle me.
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Thread Starter- paterson1
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Re: What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
I think Toronto as some point will have a country station. CISS was popular and successful when it debuted back in 1993. Don't have the figures, but I did see an old BBM that had them at fifth or sixth in Toronto for cume.
What killed CISS were too many cross over pop songs (Bare Naked Ladies and Seals and Croft are not country) on the playlist. If you are a country station, play the music and stop trying to appeal to an audience that will never listen to your station anyway. Rogers killed the country music in 1999 when they bought CISS.
Country works very well in Vancouver and could in Toronto. The history of CISS proves this. Country music fans listen to the radio and are very loyal, but you need to play the music and have hosts that love country music. Pattison media should take the plunge and buy up some stations in the east. Are the Corus radio stations still for sale? CFNY is prime for a change.
- RadioActive
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Re: What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
Certainly, one argument for a country format in Toronto is you would be almost alone in doing it, guaranteeing you whatever audience there is for the music. That alone should be enough for a struggling station to perhaps take a chance on the idea.
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Thread Starter- Bristol
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Re: What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
KX94.7's eastern cousin KX96 (Ajax / Oshawa) has a repeater in downtown Toronto. Last time there was Numeris data for the Durham Region station, the combined KX brand had the largest country audience in Canada.
- mace
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Re: What's The Most Common Format On U.S Radio? This List Says Country
Of the top 10 U.S. markets, six have a top 10 Country formatted station. Boston/Chicago-#6, Houston-#8, Philadelphia-#9, Atlanta-#10, Dallas-#10[Country Gold] Non Top 10 Country markets include L.A-#14, DC-16 and SF-19. Missing from the list? NYC. They gave up on Country last year when WNSH became Hip-Hop WXBK. More closer to home, in addition to Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse are Country hotbeds. WBEE has been on top in Rochester for years. Although in the last several ratings periods they have fallen to second behind WHAM. Syracuse has two top 10 Country stations. #2 WBBS and #7 WOLF.