SPI Blog reader DJ Smooth (CityWalk) reports that local radio station 102JAMZ has rebranded itself and is now being marketed as 101.9 AMP Radio. Officially licensed to Daytona Beach as radio station WJHM but with studios in Maitland, the station once dominated the Orlando radio market with its "Hip Hop and R&B Flava" format. In recent years ratings declined as Hip Hop fans migrated to Hip Hop/Reggaeton station WPYO operating as "Power 95". Mixshow DJ's have reportedly been canned.
102JAMZ backed away from Hip Hop over the past couple years as many Hip Hop acts migrated to Electronic Dance Music and EDM-enfused Pop began to dominate the Top 40 charts. Eliminating the 102JAMZ marketing name now appears to be an effort to distance itself from its past but it does nothing towards giving Orlando its own Dance station again, something sorely lacking. Unfortunately, a station that plays both Avicii and Justin Bieber ain't going to cut it. I'll be sticking with my Sirius/XM.
I heard the other night! I miss PARTY 95.3
ReplyDeletenot the power 95
95.3 PARTY!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the Mediabase charts, their playlist is right in line with the typical Top 40 station. If I had to bet money, I'd say this re-branding has been in the works for awhile.
ReplyDeleteClearly....since their major campaign leading up to the name change (which also includes changing not only the name, but the dial ID *102 jamz vs 1019 amp radio*) has been "I made the switch from XL" 102 Jamz became top 40 2 years ago, this is just the final step. Competitive Intrusion marketing strategy at its finest.
ReplyDeleteI live in Dallas and we notoriously bad radio for the size of our city. Kiss FM is tired and sad mix of top 40, hip hip and some EDM and 93.3 isn't really any better. We used to have a great dance station called KDL i think but it didn't last long enough to build a following. Poor Dallas, still stuck in the 90s. Will you ever learn?
ReplyDeleteNo mixshows on the air this weekend so I guess those amateur "Djs" they had doing their mixes are gone as part of the change. That's a good thing because no offense to them but they didn't have the experience and the skills to be on the radio. It will be interesting to see what they do with the mixshows given that XL 106 hits it pretty hard every weekend.
ReplyDelete"AMP Radio"? WTF is that supposed to mean?
ReplyDeleteit's a CBS Radio thing. they have Amp Radio in other cities...
ReplyDeleteI thought the DJ's doing the mixing on 102 Jams were way better than 106.7. I personally think that XL is a horrible station, especially the mixing. 93.3 FLZ is much better. Thanks to Tampa for having a decent station, Orlando radio is not good. I'm with Bob, thank you XM/Sirius radio!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, everyone. Yes, I'd call the Amp a Top 40 station which is why they play those artists. During my recent STL & CHI trip my rental car did not have satellite so I was forced to listen to Top 40 stations out of St. Louis, Springfield & Chicago. They were all playing the same stuff; Ryan Seacrest or whatever his name is is everywhere. YUCK. Props to WPGU in Champaign-Urbana playing all Alternative.
ReplyDeleteSad about the mixshow DJ's being fired, if that's the case.
Anon at 3:35 PM, sorry to tell you this but you may not know what to listen for. The mixing was amateur hour. The lack of experience showed from the programming as well as the transitions and actual beat mixing. A TON of train wreck transitions, off beat mixing where you could hear the kick drums out of sync, etc. Some of the transitions were SO bad, you'd notice them even if you were drunk. In general, there was so much repetition, it was incredible. CBS radio uses PPM and keep their stations on a tight playlist but the mixshows were nuts with driving playlist songs into the ground.
ReplyDeleteI used to have Sirius till it became Sirius/XM. when it was Sirius they had The best stations on but XM came alone and ruined that! When they took off the good stations I quit Sirius.
ReplyDeleteBrian, XM had way better Electronic Dance Music stations than Sirius did, IMO. But I give both Sirius and XM partisl credit for the EDM boom that we're now experiencing. Both were definitely a factor in the rise.
ReplyDeleteone channel is missing from SiriusXM's dance channel lineup. A true house music channel. Think of the dance music world cut into three pieces. Electric Area covers 1/3 with Trance, BPM covers 1/3 with "EDM" and then there's the true house music bringing up the rear with the other 1/3. Under the current programming of BPM, anything you'd hear on that channel would be disqualified because it's too commercial. If you remember XM back before the merger, we need channel 80 back in the lineup. =)
ReplyDeleteThe original satellite dance channels were:
ReplyDeleteXM SATELLITE RADIO
80 THE MOVE House/Progressive
81 BPM Dance Hits
82 THE SYSTEM Electronica/Trance
83 CHROME Disco/Classic Dance
SIRIUS
60 HOUSE PARTY House
62 THE RAVE Nonstop Club Mix
63 PLANET DANCE Mainstream Dance
64 THE VORTEX Electronica
66 THE BEAT Dance Hits
68 THE STROBE Disco
Additional channels may have been available online.
Bob, did you ever listen to channel 80 back then?
ReplyDelete