Star 94’s HD2 station, which plays popular hits from the 1970s to 1990s, is now airing out of Woodstock on 100.9 FM.
The station can now be heard clearly in Cobb County and into Atlanta. (I was able to hear it in Sandy Springs and Norcross.)
It's an "alternative" to the parent Star 94 (W265AV), which plays songs from the 1990s to today, and has been around on the HD dial for several years. It can also be heard via streaming through radio.com or an equivalent app.
Radio professionals define the format as “classic hits” and no other FM signal in metro Atlanta captures this particular mix. The closest is 97.1/The River, but that format focuses only on rock.
The station dubs it “the classic sound of Star” although what is now Star 94.1 was known as 94Q in the 1970s and 1980s.
A sampling of songs on its playlist:
- Crystal Waters "100% Pure Love" (1994)
- Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (1987)
- Kool & the Gang "Celebration" (1980)
- Sheryl Crow "Every Day Is a Winding Road" (1996)
- Talking Heads "Burning Down the House" (1983)
- Fleetwood Mac "Say You Love Me" (1976)
- Mark Morrison "Return of the Mack" (1997)
- The Spinners "Working My Way Back To You" (1980)
- The Wallflowers "One Headlight" (1997)
- Berlin "No More Words" (1984)
- Billy Joel "My Life" (1978)
- New Order "Blue Monday" (1983)
- Hall & Oates "Rich Girl" (1977)
- Sir Mix-a-Lot "Baby Got Back" (1992)
- Extreme "Hole Hearted" (1991)
- Earth, Wind & Fire "Let's Groove" (1981)
- Climax Blues Band "Can't Get It Right" (1976)
- Meatloaf "I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That") (1993)
- Bruce Springsteen "Born To Run" (1975)
- Terence Trent D'Arby "Wishing Well" (1987)
Listeners on radiodiscussons.com, a site for radio enthusiasts, note that the audio quality is a little flat on the FM dial.
Program director Jerry McKenna did not respond to a request for comment.
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Twanda Black, public affairs host and producer for Kiss 104.1, has been let go from the R&B station.
Black, who is 57, said with new ownership last year, she wasn’t surprised by the move.
“I’m cool,” she said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday. “I’m really happy. I’m going to be OK.”
Black started in 1984 when 104.1 was Jazz Flavors. She started her Sunday gospel show about 17 years ago.
She isn’t sure what her next move will be but hopes to stay in radio. “I really loved doing my gospel show,” she said. “I loved my audience and am going to miss them.”
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Pop stations recovered a bit in May after taking a dive during the pandemic-induced stay-at-home orders in April, based on the May Nielsen Atlanta radio ratings.
This particular four-week book covers April 23 through May 20.
News/talk WSB remained No. 1 with an 11.1 share, down from a peak of 13.9 in April. Kiss settled back to a still strong 8.4 from 9.3 in second. Rock station 97.1/The River was a solid third at an 8.0 share with R&B/hip-hop station V-103 in fourth at 6.9, up from a 6.0.
Pop station B98.5 recovered from a major drop-off in April, bouncing up to a 4.7 share from 3.3. While Power 96.1 held at 3.1, Q99.7 bounced back from a 2.3 to a 2.9 share. Star 94.1 also rebounded from 1.6 to 2.1.
The two country stations also found fresh footing with 94.9/The Bull up from 3.3 to a 3.8 share and New Country 101.5 moving from 2.3 to a 2.7.
And Praise 102.5, the gospel station, had another strong month with a 4.1, up from a 4 share.
Despite very little sports to talk about, the sports talk stations held their own with 92.9/The Game keeping steady at 3.3 and 680/93.7 The Fan moving up from a 1.0 to a 1.4.
With the move of Latin Hits from 105.3 to 105.7, the station fell from a 0.8 to a 0.5. The move of hip-hop station the Beat from 96.7 to 105.3 didn’t have any impact in ratings as it held at a 0.3.
Nielsen provides share numbers. Total radio listening is still down from its norms before the pandemic began.
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