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Yeah but here’s why they did it:

—Country is very popular, almost like the new top 40. Popular with young (desired) listeners, especially women. In Boston Greater Media’s WKLB was doing VERY well in the ratings...#3, #1, etc. so Clear Channel changed its WBWL 101.7 to country from elec. dance music. A fan of EDM wrote on facebook, “Why country, nobody listens to that crap.” I replied, “the sole
country station in Boston was just #1 in the ratings. So much for ‘nobody listens’” A month later, the Clear Channel station had doubled its ratings and the Greater Media one lost a point in the ratings. This also helped Clear Channel as their competition was now getting lower ratings...and it somehow helps their top 40 station (WXKS-FM)

—So in Pitt., the idea is to take listeners away from CBS’s 107.9 and also help out Clear Channel stations like rock 102.5 WDVE. Yeah you got 107.9 and 104.7 and three different “Froggy” stations but I like to think of it this way.

You’re a kid and you have a huge pie in front of you, and you’re eating some of it. Your brothers and sisters show up and say, “Hey! CAN I HAVE SOME OF THAT PIE??”

That’s what’s happening. Clear Channel wanted some of that pie...the radio listeners. They felt country would be a better sell than conservative talk...and made a deal with WJAS to run the talk shows on AM. So yeah, too much country already, but country is hot. Even in Boston which for years wasn’t a hotspot of country. When the sole country station in Bos. slowly moves up the ratings charts and becomes #1, what do you do? You change the format to the same thing and try to woo listeners.

Many of whom may have fled to satellite radio, Pandora, apps
(like CC’s own iHeartRadio) and so on...