What would have happened to AT40 if Casey never left?

[Deleted]

You are looking at this outside the business realm like it's a given radio stations are going to play the show no matter what. Here's the reality: Yes sure, you could have stayed with the Hot 100 and had a consistent chart that never changed. And you would also be saying now "Had AT40 still been around the top 40 this week would have been....." They dropped the Hot 100 for a reason. It wasn't because they were going through a mid life crisis and decided an unneeded change was in order. If Shadoe's version had kept the Hot 100 it would have been gone by 1993 IMO. Had the new AT40 which could have then begun in 1996 decided to use it again, it might have been picked up by a large number of affiliates due to the name and the host but would have been off most of them I think within a year.

Here's a way to ask this: how many stations dropped the show because the music on the Hot 100 was unfamiliar to them and their audience? We know this answer, several. Hence, the reason they changed the chart.

Now, how many stations dropped the show because they stopped using the Hot 100? I have this feeling the number equals or is less than the number of stations who dropped the show when they went to cd only because they had no CD player - 1.

[adam31]

Paul, no question you raise outstanding points. I think AT40 with Shadoe was destined to go off the air no matter what chart was used. ABC completely screwed the show and flushed it down the toilet. Even if Casey had stayed (the title of this topic), affiliates were already dropping in number due to ABC's "take it or leave it" mantra in reference to network spots. I just think the Hot 100 gets too much credit for AT40's demise.

Listening to some of the hardcore rap in the top 40 during the R&R days is also quite unbelievable. I would like to see a side by side comparison of the charts to see how different they were.