We are actually really excited to hear this is happening in the ATL. For too long, Gen X’ers have had no place to turn (besides their own collections) to hear music from the Golden Era of hip hop. At stations like WBLS in NYC, Marley Marl, DJ Bent Roc and occasionally Kool DJ Red Alert bring the heat and play inspired sets with throwbacks. However, these are typically relegated to evening drive. As such, it is refreshing to hear that Atlanta now has 3 stations playing that Boom Bap. Let’s see how many of them survive!
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From RadioTVTalk, December 2, 2014:
For fans of 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and Lil Kim, the Atlanta FM dial is now an embarrassment of riches because a third station has suddenly to play classic hip hop, this time on Radio One’s 102.9 signal. Called Boom 102.9, it debuted at 5 p.m. today, just five hours after Cumulus launched OG 97.9.
Just a week ago, Steve Hegwood had debuted Old School 99.3/AM1010.
“I went to work with one, I came back with three,” exclaimed Hegwood, who chortled at the thought. “Who’s going to outlast who? I have the least overhead. I have the least amount of debt. It’s crazy!”
Crazy indeed.
You want to listen to each station and compare online? You can try www.myboom1029.com (For some reason, they didn’t use http://www.boom1029.com.). Over at 99.3, it’s www.oldschool993.com. And for OG 97.9, it’swww.og979.com.
All three signals are called translators and are not terribly strong on the FM dial. The Federal Communications Commission allowed these signals a few years ago and they have often been used to simulcast other stations. But real estate is real estate, even if it’s not prime real estate. (This is the coverage map for Boom.)
Radio One, which also operates Hot 107.9, Praise 102.5 and Majic 107.5/97.5 in Atlanta, has launched Boom stations in other markets including Dallas and Philadelphia. As I noted in my earlier story today, this format is hot because the demographics are enticing. The people advertisers love to chase – people in their 30s and 40s – grew up with the era of hip hop these stations are focused on: mostly 1990 to 2005 with a few cuts from the 1980s and the later 2000s.
And while the genre chases a heavily black audience, non blacks of this Gen X demographic are also fans.
But do we really need three?
“This might just be overkill,” said Mary Catherine Sneed, whose original Hot 97.5 in the mid-1990s played many of the cuts heard on these three stations when they were new. “With Cumulus and Radio One, it’s going to be a race to the bottom in terms of who can drop their rates more. Hegwood has the most to gain. His stations are what they are. [He also runs Streetz 94.5]. His rates are what they are. They won’t change.”