- Urban adult contemporary
Urban adult contemporary is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an
urban contemporary format.Radio stations using this format usually would not have rap music on their playlists. The format was designed byBarry Mayo when he,Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson organized Broadcast Partners in 1988.Summary
The format usually would play
R&B hits ten years old or more. Classic soul music also has a great impact in this format.Disc jockey s use a more relaxed sound than their younger counterparts. News and current events have a major impact on the older audience. Around the evening urban AC stations play smoothjazz and slow jams. Many of the urban AC radio stations implement slogans such as "Today's R&B and Classic Soul", "Smooth R&B and Classic Ol Skool", "The Best Variety of R&B Hits and Oldies", and "(City/Region)'s R&B Leader". Some popular nicknames for urban AC stations include "Magic" (borrowed from Soft AC), "Hot," "Mix," and "Kiss (borrowed from Clear Channel's top 40 clone branding)".Gospel music also has a great impact in the format. Some 18-to-34-year-olds would listen to gospel music with their older counterparts usually not heard on mosturban contemporary stations. In the past urban stations (likeWBLS andWRKS inNew York ,WUSL inPhiladelphia ) played gospel music early on Sunday mornings and many Urban AC stations still do devote a large portion of Sunday morning programming to gospel.WBLS-FM inNew York which is the flagship station of theurban contemporary format is one of the first stations to introduce the urban AC format in 1994.WRKS-FM (also inNew York ) introduced the first 24-hour classic soul radio station in the country. Urban AC stations usually target the 25-54 age group. The format can also be described asadult contemporary .Many Urban AC stations rely heavily on syndicated programming such as the
Tom Joyner Morning Show, "Love, Lust and Lies" withMichael Baisden , and the nightly slow-jam program "TheKeith Sweat Hotel."ABC Radio Networks also operates a 24/7 Urban AC format delivered to affiliated stations via satellite, called "The Touch" (known on-air as "Today's Best R&B and Old School," formerly "The Best Variety of Hits and Oldies"), which is common on smaller- and medium-market stations featuring the Urban AC format.Hot urban AC
Hot urban AC stations play current
R&B without any form of rap music (or relegating rap music to nighttime dayparts) which resembles anadult top 40 station. Many stations around the country are adapting this format due to the fact that it attracts a mainstream adult audience as well as younger audiences. Hot urban AC stations also play a great deal of dance music.Urban oldies
Urban oldies refers to
R&B music dating back to the 1950s through the early 1970s. AlthoughAfrican-Americans are the primary audience,radio stations playing this type of music often attractWhite listeners becauseR&B traces its roots back torock and roll . A more mass-appeal version of the format isrhythmic oldies , which attracts both white and black listeners. One of the first stations to play this type of music wasWRKS-FM (98.7 Kiss FM). In December 1994Emmis Broadcasting transformed Kiss FM as the first station to play classic soul music on a regular basis. The format was an instant hit with black and white listeners around theGreater New York area, reaching to number two on theArbitron ratings.Fact|date=December 2007Before WRKS, many of the stations playing this music were on
AM radio . Primary artists includedThe Isley Brothers ,Aretha Franklin ,Marvin Gaye , andThe Temptations . One of the first stations to try the format was WSID in Baltimore in the late 1970s.WJMO in Cleveland was another of the early converts. KHYS in Houston switched to the format in the early 1990s.Early in 1994,
M Street Journal reported 33 radio stations in the format, compared to 14 a year earlier. Many of these were affiliates of the Satellite Music Network formatUrban Gold , which had 27 stations six months after starting October 1, 1993.Steve Harris , the SMN manager for urban radio, said no black radio stations had targeted adults over 35. ConsultantTony Gray said older adults did not like contemporary music, which had few tunes that had proved they could stand the test of time. Andrap was becoming a bigger part of contemporary radio. Another factor was the availability of older records inremastered form.Hurricane Dave Smith ofWYJZ in Pittsburgh, which had switched fromjazz , doubted the format would succeed onFM radio , but he believed listeners who enjoyed older songs were used to AM.Scan Ross of WGCI-AM in Chicago believed the format could work either place, but stations that selected it would be those desiring something different. The satellite format focused on the years 1967 to 1978 but also played songs from as far back as 1963 and as recent as the early 1980s. Included were both ballads and uptempo songs. WGCI even played songs from the 1950s, including "Unforgettable" byNat King Cole , though Ross said eventeenagers liked the station because they had learned about older songs from their parents, and because newer versions of old songs were being recorded. [Carrie Borzillo, "AM Gives R&B Oldies a New Lease on Life," Billboard, 3/26/94, p. 119.] Other stations includedWRBO "Soul Classics 103.5" in Memphis, WNPL in Nashville,KMEZ in New Orleans and WPLZ in Richmond. [Sean Ross, "R&B Oldies Format On The Rise," Billboard, 03/06/99, p. 28.]In addition to WRBO, urban oldies stations today include
KAJM in Phoenix,KTFM in San Antonio,WALR-FM in Atlanta,KOCN in Salinas. [http://www.mediaguide.com/stationsmonitored/formats.php?expandFormat=49, Retrieved on 2007/12/04.]See also
*
Urban contemporary
*Adult contemporary
*Rhythmic adult contemporary List of urban AC stations
Alabama
Birmingham
*WBHK, "98.7 Kiss FM" - according to the recentArbitron ratings, the highest-rated Urban AC station in the United States.California
Los Angeles
*KHHT , "Hot 92 Jamz"
*KJLH , "102.3 KJLH"San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
*KBLX , "102.9 KBLX"
*KISQ , "98.1 Kiss-FM"Connecticut
Hartford
*WKND - "1480 WKND" New Haven
*WYBC-FM , "94.3 YBC"Florida
Miami
*WHQT , "Hot 105"
*WMIB - "103.5 The Beat"Jacksonville
*WSOL-FM "V-101.5"Orlando
*WCFB - "Star 94.5"Tallahassee
*WHBX - "96.1 WHBX"Georgia
Atlanta
*WALR-FM , "Kiss 104.1"
*WAMJ , "Grown Folks Radio 102.5"Augusta
*WKSP "96.3 Kiss-FM"Savannah
*WLVH "Love 101.1"
*WTYB "Magic 103.9"Columbus
*WAGH "Magic 101.3"Illinois
Chicago
*WVAZ-FM, "V-103"
*WSRB-FM, "SOUL-1063 THE BEST MIX OF R&B"Indiana
Evansville
*WEOA , "1400 The Pump"Indianapolis
*WTLC, "106.7 WTLC"Kentucky
Louisville
*WMJM , "Magic 101.3"Michigan
Detroit
*WMXD - "Mix 92.3"
*WDMK - "105.9 Kiss-FM"
*WGPR - "The Rhythm 107.5"Flint
*WDZZ - "Z-92.7"Saginaw
*WTLZ - "Hot 107"Vassar
*WOWE - "98.9 WOWE"Grand Rapids
*WMFN - "Smooth Vibes AM 640"Muskegon
*WVIB - V-103Missouri
Kansas City
*KMJK - "Magic 107.3"St. Louis
*WFUN - "Foxy 95.5"
*KMJM-FM - "Majic 104.9"New York
New York City
*WBLS-FM , "107.5 WBLS" - anUrban contemporary turned Urban AC station.Syracuse
*WPHR - "Power 106.9"North Carolina
Charlotte
*WQNC , "Q-92.7 - Charlotte's R&B Leader"
*WBAV , "V-101.9"Ohio
Cincinnati
*WMOJ , Mojo 100.3Cleveland
*WZAK , 93.1 FMDayton
*WROU , "92.1 WROU"Columbus
*WXMG - Magic 98.9Toledo
*WIMX - Mix 95.7Oklahoma
Lawton
*KKRX - The Touch 1050Oklahoma City
*KRMP - The Touch 1140Tulsa
*KGTO - The Touch 1050Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
*WDAS-FM , "105.3 WDAS"
*WRNB-FM, "107.9 WRNB"Pittsburgh
*WAMO-AM - "AM 860"Harrisburg
*WTCY - "1400 The Touch"outh Carolina
Columbia
*WLXC , "98.5 Kiss-FM"
*WWDM . "101.3 Big DM"Charleston
*WMGL - "Magic 101.7"
*WXST - "Star 99.7"Tennessee
Memphis
*KJMS , V101.1Nashville
*WQQK , 92QTexas
Dallas-Fort Worth
*KRNB , "105.7 KR&B"
*KSOC , "94.5 K-Soul"Houston
*KMJQ , "Majic 102.1"Wisconsin
Milwaukee
*WJMR , "Jammin' 98.3"Washington, DC
*
WHUR , "96.3 WHUR" - based out ofHoward University
*WMMJ , "Majic 102.3"National
*Heart & Soul, XS51, Sirius
*Suite 62 , XM62, XM
*The Touch (Today's R&B & Old School),ABC Radio Non-U.S. radio station using this format
* [http://www.vipradio.net/ VIP Radio - Good Times Last Forever]
References
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