New “Iconic” Hank FM Signals Important Moment in Format Split
The signs continue to point towards the country music radio format officially splitting in two, with Top 40 country, and “Icon” country covering music from as far back as the 80’s vying for equal share of the country music listenership. The primary impetus for the split has been Cumulus Media’s NASH Icon radio network. As the second-largest radio station owner in the United States, the Cumulus influence is already causing landmark rifts on radio, with their new NASH Icon station in Nashville beating Clear Channel’s powerhouse WSIX.
But if country radio is truly going to split in two, it is going to take the participation of local and regionally-owned radio stations all across the country adopting the new format. Remember, it wasn’t NASH Icon and Cumulus who launched the first radio station under the new proposed format. It was 103.9 The Hawk out of Louisville, KY, that began by calling itself GARTH-FM. Now another local radio station has switched to the new country format, and the verbiage accompanying the format change shows just how much sway NASH Icon is having on country radio land.
101.5 Hank FM out of Dayton, OH, owned by Alpha Media, announced on October 16th it would be switching formats to “iconic hit country music from the 90’s, 80’s and 2000’s” that promises to “differentiate itself by playing the iconic artists absent from Dayton radio musicians that made country music popular such as Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and Brooks & Dunn.”
“101.5 Hank FM is being launched because we miss the ‘golden era’ of country music and we know that a lot of people in Dayton do too,” says the station’s Program Director, Brad Waldo.
“The wise decision to add Hank FM in Dayton becomes part of the foundation to help increase our value as a cluster in the market,” says Alpha Media Executive VP of Programming, Scott Mahalick. “The Icons of Country format connects us to a passionate and underserved audience that continues to grow.”
The Portland, Oregon-based Alpha Media owns a total of 70 radio stations across the country, and is just the type of mid-sized radio company that could play a critical role in eventually splitting country radio in two. And yes, one can’t help but notice the use of “Icon” in their communication about the changeover, signaling that this may eventually be the terminology that gets adopted for the new format, since “classic” (one of the original terms used) never felt like a good fit for a format the doesn’t venture past 1980.
One big difference between Hank FM and NASH Icon is that Hank doesn’t play any new music, making it more enticing for classic country fans. NASH Icon affiliates still play many new singles from country’s current Top 40 artists.
It will take some time for the new “Icon” format to shake out and reveal exactly what it will sound like after all the dust settles, and seeing different stations take variations on the same theme is probably a healthy thing, as program directors across the country monitor ratings and see which approach is working best and what their local market wants to hear. As we have already seen with NASH Icon, not only is the format faring well, it is also attracting new listeners to country radio, or re-engaging old ones, meaning it’s not just simply cannibalizing the stations that already exist, growing the country music pie that much more.
It’s also worth pointing out that the moniker “Hank FM” is not foreign to country music. Numerous more traditionally-oriented radio stations use that name, including 92.1 Hank FM in North Texas, and 98.3 Hank FM in Savannah, GA.
Hank FM is just one station, but once again we see the new idea of older country music taking hold on the airwaves.
READ: The Best & Worst Case Scenarios For The New Classic Country Format
October 23, 2014 @ 9:36 am
Awesome! We have a HANK FM down here in Oklahoma City! It’s my go to radio station, and I hear a lot of Conway, Judds, Johnny Cash, and much more. My only complaint is that this station repeats a lot of songs from these artists, like I’ve heard Cash’s “One Piece at a Time” 2 or 3 times, but not Folsom Prison or Ring of Fire. Granted I don’t listen more than 20 minutes a commute, but still.
Overall it’s great!
October 23, 2014 @ 9:43 am
I never thought in a million years we would be looking at a trend where older country would be coming back to the airwaves in such a widespread manner. I know that to many traditional country fans, these stations are not enough, and they don’t go far back enough to entice you to listen. But I can’t emphasize what a big moment this is in country music, and the fight to return more traditionally-sounding music to the airwaves.
October 23, 2014 @ 10:55 am
“I know that to many traditional country fans, these stations are not enough, and they don”™t go far back enough to entice you to listen.”
True, but nothing will ever satisfy every listener. But I would argue with those folks that there is currently a – granted, very small – “classic country” radio presence out there featuring music from the Neo-traditionalist movement of the ’80s on back, whereas a lot of the iconic music from the era of Country’s rise to mainstream relevance is absent from the airwaves for the most part since it doesn’t really fit into either the classic or contemporary format.
October 23, 2014 @ 12:41 pm
We probably have FGL to thank for it.
October 23, 2014 @ 9:45 am
We have 105.5 BOB FM which has a similar format, less 2000’s and more 60’s and 70’s Country, but it’s a really solid station.
I think this is a smart idea by these stations to switch over, there are so many stations playing Pop Country/Bro Country that they all become homogenized, whereas a different format will hopefully pull in some of the disenfranchised Country radio listener.
October 23, 2014 @ 10:04 am
Its funny that this station is owned right here in Portland. We have two “country” stations. They both play the EXACT same shit. These two stations are right next to each other on the dial, I have caught them playing the same song simultaneously. This would be a good opportunity for one of them to stand out. Hell, the one that doesn’t make the format change could brag; “the only station playing nothing but NEW COUNTRY! YEEEEEHAAAAAAAWWWWW MOTHERFUCKERS! 99.5 the all new COORS LIGHT FIREBALL TRUCK TAILGATE CREEK BALLCAP FEELGOOD GET YER SWERVE ON REDNECK CHEWTABACKA CHEWTABACKA CHEWTABACKA SPIT!”
October 23, 2014 @ 11:13 am
I’m curious what the source is for Alpha owning 70 radio stations, because I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure they only own 5 or 6 – and they’re all local. They’re a REALLY small company. They do own that ridiculous “98.7 The Bull” here in Portland though, that lives up to its name by offering all the bull you can handle.
Speaking of Alpha though – what I’d rather see than a station playing old stuff I already know about, that’s available anywhere – is a station like Alpha’s rock station Kink, that play the GOOD new stuff, leaving out the shitty new stuff. Sure–a lot of shit leaks through, but they do a pretty good job AND they mix in the good old stuff too…including Henley’s Sunset Grill at least once a day for some weird reason…
October 23, 2014 @ 6:27 pm
Here’s the press release:
http://www.alphabroadcasting.com/new-country-radio-station-101-5-hank-fm-launches-in-dayton/
“Alpha Media, headquartered in Portland, Oregon owns and operates 68 radio stations and 2 additional stations under LMAs in 12 markets across the United States covering all formats including Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Spanish, Urban, News Talk, Sports, Rock, Country and more. In addition to the radio stations; Alpha Media owns the digital media and marketing company; Xapsis in Peoria, Illinois and the intimate performance venues, Bing Lounge in Portland, Oregon and Alamo Lounge in San Antonio, Texas.”
October 23, 2014 @ 10:21 pm
That didn’t make any sense to me, so trying to find a station list I found this, which says that they merged with L & L 6 months ago – gaining all the other stations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Broadcasting
I should have known something like that was up, because a lot changed at KINK FM here a while ago. New logo, they dropped some programs, added some…
Any time a radio company grows – you know it’s gonna be all bad news.
October 23, 2014 @ 6:37 pm
Here in Charlotte, NC, it’s the same — we have two identical country stations. They both play whatever the labels and charts tell them to play. At best, they will play the occasional early 00’s hit song, like “Suds in the Bucket.” We do not have any stations that will play classic county, yet we have two excellent classic rock stations. All this despite the fact that we are the heart of NASCAR fandom. We are in desperate need of a genuine country station. It would make sense for one of our two mainstream country stations to adopt the HANK FM or HAWK FM format. I guarantee you that they will outpace the other station.
October 23, 2014 @ 10:25 am
Here in south LOUISIANA…
WGUO “Gumbo” 94.9fm
Reserve, LA.
They’re playing older than 80’s going way back…into the 60’s..maybe 50’s
In conversation now with them to start playing NEW “traditional” country AND WESTERN music .
Starting with Johnny Angel and Helldorado…
October 23, 2014 @ 11:34 am
Man, if only these Icon formats stretched just a *little* bit farther back.
For example, if these stations are already mixing in 80’s hits from artists such as Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Don Williams, and others who were already popular before the 80’s, why not dip into their earlier material too? Would that really derail the format? The 70’s was also a really popular era of country music. When you exclude that decade, you leave out some of the biggest, mot obvious country music jukebox / sing-along / karaoke hits of all time like “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” “Jolene,” “Tulsa Time,” “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies…,” “Luckenbach, Texas,” and on and on. Granted, maybe some of those songs area over-exposed already but it seems silly not to include them. It also seems like people also really like that guy Johnny Cash. What if one of these stations occasionally threw in a song like “Folsom Prison Blues” which was recorded in *gasp* the late 1960’s? What would happen?
Unfortunately, I think rock music’s peak popularity is slightly more in line with its actual artistic peak, whereas country music’s peak popularity didn’t until the 90’s. Still, overall I strongly agree that the emergence of this new format is a really positive thing.
October 23, 2014 @ 11:36 am
whereas country music”™s peak popularity didn”™t come until the 90”²s.*
October 23, 2014 @ 4:19 pm
This.
October 23, 2014 @ 11:49 am
We just got Hank FM in Richmond on 93.1 and the pop country station moved to a larger signal. So far the music’s ranged from Johnny Cash songs to early Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney songs. We’ve never had a classic station so it’s pretty nice to have on the dial
October 27, 2014 @ 8:03 pm
I’m from Richmond as well, so you can imagine my surprise when I turn to 93.1 expecting to hear about tailgates but instead I heard “ghost riders in the sky.” I don’t know if you remember when 93.1 the wolf was “country that rocks” before it turned into the mildly offensive “not your granpas station” nonsense, but for one split second I thought they’d repented. I am so happy either way that someone FINALLY got the damn message. I’ve heard a lot of good solid classics from all the way back to the 60s and not a single song younger than the mid to late 90s. my husband and I ain’t touched the dial since and neither have right many of our friends.
October 23, 2014 @ 12:10 pm
There’s a small station out of Tulsa called King country I believe, 99.5, it’s really good. I listen to Hank in OKC if there’s nothing else to listen to, I had to sit thru ‘Shameless’ on the way back from lunch today but the next song was good.
October 23, 2014 @ 12:24 pm
This is good news and definitely a step in the right direction, but how about a radio station that plays current critically acclaimed country music?
October 23, 2014 @ 1:17 pm
Hi. Thisi s my first post but I have been reading this site for years now.
My comment is the perfect station to look to is WSM in Nashville. I think they hit the right amount of mix. You do hear new country music but there is also lots of older county music. Dpeending on the time of day you can hear old opry broadcasts. I love to listen to the station when I’m in nashville
October 23, 2014 @ 4:26 pm
You can download the free Opry app for your phone or tablet and listen to the WSM live stream when you’re NOT in Nashville!
And welcome!
October 23, 2014 @ 8:54 pm
Co-signed. I’ve been listening to WSM more and more lately. They still plays a little too much new country for my taste, but overall they do a really good job. They also have unique programming like bluegrass shows, country gospel shows, live sessions from the Station Inn, and actual live disc jockeys like Eddie Stubbs who will literally play anything you request going ALL the way back to Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family.
October 23, 2014 @ 10:22 pm
I’ve been listening I WSM for a long time. The app seems to crash a lot but when the sun goes down I can usually get the opry right on the radio when I’m driving around. I agree during the day they do go pop a little bit but it quickly countered by good music again. I think a mix is important though… One of my favorite shows is the golden era of the grand old opry…it’s usually on between the opry and midnight jambroee on Saturday nights.
But hands down Eddie Stubbs is the best dj ever. He knowledge of country music is so deep. He adds to the music so much.
October 23, 2014 @ 1:24 pm
Not sure how to react. Glad that ‘iconic’ country is gaining headway (as opposed to ‘ironic’ I suppose), on one hand, but I worry about how it will last.
Back in the early 70s, I was glad when ‘underground’ rock broke off from Top 40. But it wasn’t long before it was co-opted into just ‘rock’, which has now become ‘classic’ rock. I still like the music of my youth, but cannot, for a second, tune into a classic rock station. I’ve heard enough mid 70s Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Bob Seger to last thru the next couple of generations of kids. I have no desire to listen to it ad nauseam on a daily basis.
While I’m glad that there’s a trend to bring back stations that play Cash, Jones, Willie, Waylon, and a host of others, how long before it morphs into playing a lot of mediocre country music from the same eras? How many times can you play Ring of Fire in a week, before you get tired of hearing it?
I think I would prefer a radio style similar (but not exactly) to ‘Outlaw Country’ on Sirius/XM… a mix of traditional country/western, and a good amount of new independent, and ‘outlaw’ style artists that are making waves outside of the mainstream.
October 23, 2014 @ 3:51 pm
Keeping the playlists updated and spicy is a specific issue that has been raised by multiple entities within the format split. The reason is because this is what happened to the classic rock format. It has played basically the same songs for the last 30 years.
This is what I proposed in my ideal scenario for the new format:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-best-worst-case-scenarios-for-the-new-classic-country-format
It includes playlists that are wide and diverse, and don”™t just focus on the narrow window of usual suspects who had their biggest success in the 90”²s. It doesn”™t just play the artists that were great from the classic era, but the songs that were great from the era from some of the lesser-known artists.
Unlike the classic rock format, it keeps playlists spicy. Understand that even with older artists, there are still trends and artists can get hot, or go cold depending on current events and other factors. If an older artist is going on a big tour or is releasing a new album, there may be renewed interest in that artist that demands more rotation time. Maybe a movie or documentary about an artist is released, or maybe they make an acting appearance that may raise their public interest. Play off of those trends to keep the format engaging. It listens to what listeners want.
October 24, 2014 @ 8:04 am
The Hank FM out of Fort Worth Texas is a great example of playing classic country but not limiting the format. They play classic country from decades as far back as the 40’s and 50’s but also throw in the more traditional Texas country artists like a Tommy Alverson or a Johnny Bush but will play stuff as recent as the 2000’s that keeps the format from getting stale. It is a lot like Willie’s roadhouse from sirrus format wise.
October 23, 2014 @ 3:29 pm
Wish we had similar stations and formats up in this neck of the woods ( Vancouver BC ). You know there is discontent when even our pop-country DJ’s preface songs with ” PLEASE DON”T phone or e-mail saying Taylor Swift isn’t country ” or ” I’m just doing my job here “..
I kid you not …it’s a very interesting time indeed .
October 23, 2014 @ 4:31 pm
But you DO have that choice in BC. Almost all of these stations mentioned allow live streaming of same.
See Andy’s link immediately below, start there and enjoy!
October 23, 2014 @ 7:23 pm
Thanks Greg ….I shoulda known I’d find it online . I was thinking more about the commute thing in the truck …but this is a start !! Right on ….
October 23, 2014 @ 3:51 pm
We’ve been lucky here in NE Wisconsin. 93.5 DUKE-FM has been playing classics from the 70’s though 90’s since September. My radio dial has not moved since I stumbled across it.
http://player.listenlive.co/29201
October 23, 2014 @ 4:22 pm
I posted a comment in the Ryan Adams article about iHeartMedia launching a new HD country format called Tailgate Country in Portland, OR. I wonder if country will branch out into two different formats, Icon and Tailgate. There seems to be a large enough audience for both.
October 23, 2014 @ 5:26 pm
Good to hear money real country coming back to the radio waves. But my all time favorite radio station is 98.5 The Ranch out of Fort Worth. I only can listen to it online since I am a long way from it but it is 100% Red Dirt and Texas Country. It has the new stuff from the scene and I believe I have heard some old Jerry Jeff Walker on there too. Good stuff!
October 23, 2014 @ 5:27 pm
I meant 95.9 The Ranch. oops
October 23, 2014 @ 5:45 pm
Yep, 95.9 the Ranch is pretty great. We listen to it quite a bit on the Internet here in San Antonio.
It’ll be interesting to see how this format does compared to, say, the classic rock format that sprang up in the ’80s.
October 23, 2014 @ 5:53 pm
Here in NYC we have NASH FM 94.7. I have it set in the car but only listen sparingly to see if anything good is on. Rarely is that the case but I listen for a while. I wonder if NASH ICON will ever take hold here. Can’t see the Tri State handling 2 Country stations. Maybe upstate NY could.
I will confess to liking America’s Morning Show with Blair Garner, Terri Clark and Chuck Wicks. They are actually amusing in a very benign sort of way. I’d rather listen to them dish than listen to the music, truth be told,
Are these ICON stations going to be available on line?
October 23, 2014 @ 6:34 pm
Most any of them you can listen to online. The station in Atlanta you can listen to here:
http://player.listenlive.co/22611
Also I believe you can listen to them on the Rdio app, which is the Cumulus rough equivalent to iHeartRadio. And I believe iHeartRadio may carry some of the stations as well. Some of the stations may have personal apps as well.
October 24, 2014 @ 4:50 am
So I hit the link and the first song I get is Lee Brice I don’t dance. Not happy about that, but we will continue to give it a chance. Trying to be an optimist for these new stations.
October 23, 2014 @ 7:23 pm
Maybe we can get an ICON station in Pittsburgh. There was already 107.9 Y108 and the outlier Froggy network (with 3 stations in the southern, western and northwest suburbs). Then, in early August, Clear Channel switched 104.7 to Big Country. Now, we’ve effectively got three country choices and they all play the same thing. Here’s to hoping that one of the three will make a change.
October 24, 2014 @ 12:31 pm
Up here in northeast Wisconsin we have a 93.5 Duke fm. They play all the. Classic. Songs and artists, but still play a lot of the shitty songs from the eras. As well. This is leaps and bounds above what we had here before. It replaced one of the classic. Rock stations and one of the first songs I heard was Waylon and willie good hearted. Woman. I almost shit my pants!
October 24, 2014 @ 5:02 pm
I discovered this station today because of this thread, and have had a good time listening to it, until now when Shania came on. Since Don Williams was playing before that I will give it a pass.
October 25, 2014 @ 7:55 am
I love this new trend of radio stations switching back to a more traditional sound! I agree most stations don’t go deep enough into the classic country music catalog, but this is an amazing step!
October 26, 2014 @ 9:36 pm
I think that contemporary country radio is so trapped in the Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and FGL bro country sound that it’s scary. They can’t bother to play 5 decades of country music in their lineup instead of the same 40 songs every day? I know they can, instead of this HANK, Nash Icon traditional format and separate radio station lineups. Play what influenced the new country. I think it’s because some listeners don’t like the pop sounds injected in some country hits and that’s why they’re drifting to the Nash and Hank type stations. Maybe the Steve Wariner, Janie Fricke, older Alabama music that I heard in the early 80s. Even Vince Gill’s old band Pure Prairie League when he had the longer hair, not this short corporate hair look he has now.
November 17, 2014 @ 7:47 am
Trigger, somehow I just saw this article. I know I mentioned the station format change on Twitter to you when it first happened because I was so excited. It’s kind of sad that at 27, the quality of mainstream country radio is driving me to classics. So far the station has been great. They are still in a period of 10,000 songs with no commercials (other than little jokes about how “Hank” does things differently). They do a good job with a mix. I love hearing George Strait, Keith Whitley, Hank (Sr. and Jr.) and others. I asked on Facebook if they would play new music or only old music. The response I got was that if it was an “icon” they’d play it. So we’ll see if they add any new music.
The only thing keeping me from making it my #1 preset is the signal strength. I live 15-20 minutes south of downtown Dayton and it breaks up quite a bit in the Franklin/Springboro area. It comes in pretty well in other spots, but I have to change the station too often because it breaks up. I guess that is better than changing the station because of the garbage music that is being played. I’m curious to see how they compete against K99.1 FM which has been the main country station in Dayton for as long as I can remember.
October 8, 2017 @ 12:40 am
They are playing bro country now . 60’s and 70’s is the only real county music ..
November 21, 2020 @ 9:36 am
We have a HANK FM station that just started in my area. I listened for a week but they kept playing the same songs. I love those songs but variety is the spice of life. We are talking about singers with deep catalogs.
I made some requests on their Facebook pages for pre 1980s songs and modern Texas Country but I only received was the same non-committal response.
It is too bad. Lots of requests for TT, Jinks, and the crowd. They are missing out.
November 8, 2023 @ 3:33 pm
Trigger,
Any thoughts about the situation?
I have been listening to a similar station that has popped up. They have a bit more variety, but I feel like the whole situation could use an in-depth review.
November 8, 2023 @ 3:55 pm
What situation are you talking about? This article is over 9 years old.
November 9, 2023 @ 8:26 am
The growth and rise of these classic country stations and their playlists.