Garth And Shania Making Radio Waves

12/04/1997 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Bruce Haring

(12/4/97) - What's new in radio formats? More of the same oldie stuff. Country has hit a plateau and adult contemporary stations are in a slump, while various retro formats are gaining popularity, according to findings in M Street Corporation's just-released annual National Format Trends Study, which analyzed programming in the States' 10,207 commercial stations and 2,106 noncommercial stations.

Thanks in part to Garth Brooks and pop country stars like Shania Twain, one in four commercial stations plays country music. But the number of country stations has fallen to 2491, the first time since 1991 that the figure dipped below 2500.

Adult contemporary, home to Celine Dion and Kenny G., is down to 1508 stations, a big drop since the 1989 high of 2058. One growth area, '90s-oriented modern AC, now boasts 70 stations.

While rock overall is down, a blow to struggling new acts, vets like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix maintain a pulse on the stalwart format of classic rock, disseminated by 755 stations; '70s-oriented classic rock is proving to be a healthy niche with 172 stations.