Ms. Martinez’s departure was magnified by those that followed. In December, the D.J. Mister Cee, who had 21 years at the station, also packed his mike, sensing a shifting tide, he said. Amid the news of the new hires, the D.J. Big Dennis Rivera, who had started there as an intern in 1991, was pushed out. Two weeks later, the station announced that Cipha Sounds was no longer with the company, “effective immediately.”
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"The station “has always had a reputation for being a leader, for breaking records and artists first, and for being more aggressive with what it played,” said Karlie Hustle, who resigned in August after serving as Hot 97’s music director for three years. “Hot 97 sounded like a New York radio station. It’s nice when you go to a place, and it sounds like the city you’re in.” But competition from rivals has forced Hot 97 and its parent company, Emmis Communications, to adjust. Since July, Ms. Martinez has helped lift the ratings of Power 105.1, which came along in 2002 and is run by the conglomerate iHeartMedia, formerly known as Clear Channel.
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Power 105.1 topped Hot 97 in total audience share for five of six months — in August, they tied — as well as in the core demographic of 18-to-34-year-olds from September through December, according to ratings compiled by Nielsen Music.
Now, at Hot 97, “there’s a lot of deference to pop in order to survive in the ratings,” Ms. Hustle said, citing a song like “Latch” by Disclosure, featuring Sam Smith, which has received heavy airplay even though it doesn’t sound like the rest of the station’s more rugged rap and R&B playlist.
“It’s about keeping the lights on,” she said. “If Hot 97 is going to exist, the station must evolve and change with the times.”
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(The radio war is not being fought only in New York. Last week, Emmis sued Kurt Alexander, better known as Big Boy, its longtime morning show host at Power 106 in Los Angeles, for breach of contract after he tried to accept a $3.5 million annual offer from iHeartMedia.)
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Rather than lose its New York edge with those decamping veterans, he said, “This station needs to continue to be what it’s always been: the heartbeat of the city and a reflection of our listeners.” (Of Hot 97’s original crew, only the bombastic Funkmaster Flex remains; he could not be reached for comment.)
