Something just changed on the Oregon Coast.
And if the first batch of artists is any indication, this could be one of those radio stations where you sit in the car for another song because you have absolutely no idea what’s coming next.
Bicoastal Media has pulled the plug on the AAA direction at 94.9 KTEE North Bend and 95.7 K239AL Coos Bay, Oregon, flipping the signals to Rhythmic Hot AC under a new identity:
94.9/95.7 The Beat.
And forget trying to explain this thing with one tidy little decade.
Prince.
TLC.
Usher.
Janet Jackson.
Nelly.
Mariah Carey.
Outkast.
Destiny’s Child.
Bruno Mars.
Rihanna.
Beyoncé.
The Weeknd.
Dua Lipa.
OKAY THEN.
Now we’ve got something to talk about.
This Isnt Just A Format Flip Its An Entirely Different Attitude
Moving from AAA to Rhythmic Hot AC isn’t changing a few records around the edges.
It’s walking into the house, moving all the furniture and throwing a party in the living room.
The old KTEE direction lived in one musical universe.
The Beat is setting up shop in another ZIP code entirely.
The new station appears designed around rhythm, familiarity, energy and an enormous reservoir of songs that already have emotional connections with listeners.
And that artist list tells us quite a bit about what Bicoastal is trying to build.
Prince gives you generations of familiarity.
Janet gives you pop and rhythmic heritage.
Mariah gives you massive records.
TLC and Destiny’s Child immediately open another lane.
Usher and Nelly bring the 2000s.
Outkast gives the station some edge.
Beyoncé and Rihanna move the timeline forward.
Bruno Mars practically lives at the intersection of rhythmic, pop, throwback and contemporary appeal.
Then The Weeknd and Dua Lipa keep the station connected to more recent pop culture.
THAT IS A LOT OF MUSICAL REAL ESTATE.
And The 2000s Could Be The Secret Weapon
Radio has spent years squeezing every possible ounce out of the 1980s.
Then the 1990s.
Well, everybody…
THE 2000s ARE NOW FULL-BLOWN NOSTALGIA.
Yes.
I know.
Some of us need a minute after reading that.
But the listener who was blasting Usher, Nelly, TLC, Outkast and Destiny’s Child during formative years isn’t necessarily the kid radio was chasing back then.
That listener has grown up.
That listener has a job.
That listener may have kids.
That listener has purchasing power.
And most importantly for this format:
THAT LISTENER KNOWS EVERY WORD.
There is tremendous emotional power in hearing a song that instantly transports you back twenty years.
The Beat has the potential to exploit that without becoming trapped inside a museum.
That’s important.
Dont Make This A Throwback Station
Here’s where the execution gets interesting.
The artist list could easily produce an incredible rhythmic gold station.
But that’s not what this needs to become.
The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé and Rihanna give The Beat permission to keep moving forward.
That’s the sweet spot.
Give me the record that makes me remember 2002.
Then give me something that sounds like 2026.
Then surprise me with Prince.
Then hit me with TLC.
Then something current.
Then Janet.
MAKE THE NEXT SONG SLIGHTLY UNPREDICTABLE.
That’s where this can become addictive.
Because predictability is one of contemporary music radio’s biggest enemies.
Listeners shouldn’t be able to hear one song and accurately predict the next four.
The Name Works Too
The Beat.
Simple.
Memorable.
No complicated explanation required.
You hear the name and immediately understand the neighborhood.
More importantly, it gives the station room.
The branding doesn’t lock KTEE into one decade or an excessively narrow musical definition.
Prince can live there.
Usher can live there.
Bruno can live there.
Dua can live there.
If a newer rhythmic pop record explodes six months from now, that can live there too.
That’s useful branding.
The Oregon Coast Makes This Even More Interesting
This isn’t Los Angeles.
It isn’t Miami.
It isn’t New York.
And that’s precisely why I’m interested.
A format doesn’t have to exist exclusively in a giant market to work.
The question is whether it provides something listeners in Coos Bay and North Bend aren’t already getting in abundance.
If The Beat establishes a clear musical lane and executes it with personality, local presence and disciplined variety, this could sound dramatically different from everything around it.
And different is valuable.
DIFFERENT GETS NOTICED.
The worst possible outcome of a format change is spending all that energy flipping a station only to produce something listeners swear they’ve already heard somewhere else.
Based on this artist menu, The Beat at least has an opportunity to avoid that.
An On The Dial Perspective
I’m intrigued by Rhythmic Hot AC right now.
There’s an enormous amount of rhythmic and pop music sitting between contemporary hit radio and traditional Classic Hits that still sounds incredibly alive.
The trick is resisting the temptation to make the library too safe.
If you’re going to call yourself The Beat, give the station one.
Let it move.
Let it surprise people.
Let Prince sit next to Rihanna.
Let TLC crash into Dua Lipa.
Let Outkast show up when nobody expects it.
Let somebody hear the first three seconds of an Usher record and yell:
OH MY GOD I FORGOT ABOUT THIS SONG!
That’s a radio moment.
And radio desperately needs more moments.
Not simply songs that test well individually.
MOMENTS.
Songs that cause somebody to turn it up.
Songs that trigger memories.
Songs that get texted to a friend.
Songs that make somebody dance badly at a stoplight while pretending nobody in the next car can see them.
That’s what this format can do.
Now Give The Music Some People
That’s the next piece.
A great playlist gets somebody through the door.
PERSONALITY MAKES THEM CARE ABOUT THE HOUSE.
If Bicoastal surrounds this music with entertaining local personalities who understand the Oregon Coast and can make The Beat feel like Coos Bay’s station rather than another jukebox with a clever name, there’s real opportunity here.
The playlist can provide the soundtrack.
The people provide the relationship.
Combine those two correctly and suddenly you’ve got something considerably bigger than a format flip.
You’ve got a brand.
So welcome to the dial, 94.9/95.7 The Beat.
You’ve got Prince.
You’ve got Janet.
You’ve got Mariah.
You’ve got Usher.
You’ve got Outkast.
You’ve got Beyoncé.
You’ve got Bruno.
You’ve got Rihanna.
You’ve got The Weeknd.
You’ve got Dua.
That’s one heck of a music library to start playing with.
Now do the fun part:
TURN IT UP AND MAKE THE OREGON COAST MOVE.
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