Originally posted by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Facing brutal competition on a signal many folks don’t even know exists on the FM dial, R&B station Mix 87.7 will be going off the air at the end of the month.
Steve Hegwood tried to make the signal work for three years. He will continue to run hip-hop station Streetz 94.5, which began in 2012.
Hegwood originally used the signal for Old School 87.7 with oldies from the 1970s to 1990s.In late 2017, he skewed the station younger to try to draw more listeners in the ad-friendly 25-54 demographic. But it didn’t make enough of a difference.
Jeffrey Charles, who worked part-time on air Sundays for a year until last month, said staff was informed of the bad news last week. (He said he was originally offered an evening job late last year but the offer was then rescinded with no explanation.)
Hegwood recently lost Porsche Foxx as morning host at Mix. She said she has a new gig set up once her non-compete is over but couldn't say when. Hegwood earlier this month replaced Foxx with a syndicated Dallas-based morning show.
He stopped paying for Nielsen ratings information for Mix in recent months. The last month where ratings data was available was in June, when Mix received a 1.5 rating, good for 21st place.
The Atlanta FM dial has no less than 13 music stations targeting the African-American audience.
Mix was competing directly with two stations with much more heritage, bigger signals and larger marketing budgets: Kiss 104.1 and Majic 107.5/97.5. Mix also had to vie for listeners on the older end with jazz stations 91.9/WCLK and Smooth Jazz 101.1, Gospel 102.5 and Classix 102.9. On the younger end, Mix competed less directly with Hegwood’s own Streetz 94.5, along with hip-hop stations Power 92.3 Jamz, 96.7/The Beat, OG 97.9, Hot 107.9 and V-103.
For clarity, the FM dial between 88.1 and 91.9 is reserved for non-commercial/educational stations. But 87.7 can be used for commercial stations.
Prior to Old School and Mix at 87.7, WTBS-FM was
Spanish tropical station La Mega Mundial.
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