Why put CHR/RHYTHMIC music on 96.1 FM?
Simply put, Clear Channel thought Charlotte’s 96.1 FM can attract a larger audience of younger people and make far more money with an urban based format than with the oldies Magic played. It was a decision based on the desire to make more money for the shareholders because after all, radio is a business. Rest assured it was a carefully researched change and had secretly been in the planning stages for quite a while. In the next rating after the format change, the CHR/Rhythmic music had doubled the size of the audience. In the second rating period after the flip they had knocked off WPEG “Power 98” to become the number 1 urban flavored station. However now the ratings for “THE BEAT” at 96.1 FM are down and “Power 98” is back on top of the Urban heap. “THE BEAT” finished TENTH in listeners 12 years of age and older in Charlotte’s December/January/February 2007 rating period.
