Boston Radio Ratings: July 2023

[pjc1961]

Covering the survey period from Thu. 6/22/2023 thru Wed. 7/19/2023, age 6+ overall:

Boston - RadioInsight

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Boston (Market #10) Population: 4,413,400 Black: 379,300 - Hispanic: 538,700 Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid 9/14-10/1110/12-11/811/9-12/612/7-1/31/4-1/312/1-2/28 OCT 23NOV 23DEC 23HOL 23JAN 24FEB 24STATIONNAMEFORMATOWNERCUME...

radioinsight.com

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or https://www.urbaninsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/BOSTON.htm

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis (scroll down to see Boston market):

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25-54: 1T. WBZ-FM 21T WXKS-FM 3. WWBX 4T. WBGB (up from #8) 4T. WBUR 8. WBQT (down from #5)
18-34: 1T. WXKS-FM 1T. WWBX 3. WBGB 4. WMJX 5. WBZ-FM (down from #2)
_______ 6T. WBQT (down from #3) 6T. WBOS 6T. WGBH 6T. WROR 6T. WZLX 11. WKLB (down from #5)
18-49: 1. WXKS-FM 2. WWBX 3. WBZ-FM 4. WMJX 5T. WROR (up from #8) 5T. WBGB (up from #9) 7T. WBQT 7T. WBUR

 

[freqlost]

WBUR with a strong second place.

WWBX doing good.

WBGB and WERS are doing good.

 

[CTListener]

Sharp drop in 18-34 for WKLB. Anything to be concerned about or just a matter of a few country listeners exiting the panel and being replaced by listeners who don't like country? How many would it take to cause a big dip like the one 'KLB sees today?

 

[pjc1961]

Re: WKLB dip in 18-34: being as there's a 5-way tie for 6th in that demo,
there's likely much "compression" where there's not much share % difference between #5 + #11.

25-54: 1T. WBZ-FM 21T WXKS-FM

My bad; typo should read:

25-54: 1T. WBZ-FM 1T. WXKS-FM

It'd be a helluva thing if Kiss 108 was actually tied for 21st in 25-54!

 

[sacredcod]

Wow. WBUR is doing very well. It seems they are secure at the top of the charts. I am concerned about WBZ. I am curious what WBUR is doing that is getting the attention of the listeners. Other public radio like WGBH is similar and has more local ties but does not appear to be as popular . I prefer the shorter stories and announcers at WBZ but it appears I may be in the minority.

 

[EnterCommunicator]

Wow WBZ FM dropping like a rock, while WEEI has remained consistent.

 

[TheBigA]

Wow WBZ FM dropping like a rock, while WEEI has remained consistent.

How would you characterize the sports situation in Boston now that basketball season is over? Where's that poop emoji?

I'm not sure that there's a lot to look forward to with football either.

 

[leftofthedial]

Wow. WBUR is doing very well. It seems they are secure at the top of the charts. I am concerned about WBZ. I am curious what WBUR is doing that is getting the attention of the listeners. Other public radio like WGBH is similar and has more local ties but does not appear to be as popular . I prefer the shorter stories and announcers at WBZ but it appears I may be in the minority.

not too sound TOO cynical, but I'm sure the meters just shifted and WBUR picked one or two up. Public radio listeners are really loyal and listen for long stretches of time. WBZ may just be suffering from summer schedules (kids not in school, vacations, etc).

I am interested why WBUR is picking up so much and WGBH seems so flat, considering their programming is nearly identical. Likely the legacy of WBUR as the NPR affiliate...I think GBH only started news about 10 years ago

 

[EnterCommunicator]

How would you characterize the sports situation in Boston now that basketball season is over? Where's that poop emoji?

I'm not sure that there's a lot to look forward to with football either.

Understood, just surprised that 'EEI hasn't suffered a similar loss, they even improved by .1.
Granted they have the Red Sox but I'm skeptical that they provide a meaningful bump.

 

[CTListener]

Understood, just surprised that 'EEI hasn't suffered a similar loss, they even improved by .1.
Granted they have the Red Sox but I'm skeptical that they provide a meaningful bump.

The Red Sox have provided enough of a tease this season to keep the fan base interested. Hardly anyone expects the Patriots to finish anywhere but last in their division, so Sports Hub's slump and EEI's micro-surge (actually, well within margin of error) look perfectly logical to me. Should the Sox be out of contention by the time the NFL season opens, I'm sure WBZ-FM will regain momentum no matter how badly the Pats play in their first few games.

 

[EnterCommunicator]

I'm not really following your point, both stations talk about the Sox, though guessing 'eei is more Sox talk heavy because of their partnership, are you saying that's the difference for the Hub falling while EEI maintains?

 

[CTListener]

I'm not really following your point, both stations talk about the Sox, though guessing 'eei is more Sox talk heavy because of their partnership, are you saying that's the difference for the Hub falling while EEI maintains?

Exactly. Also, fans who listen to Sox play-by-play on 'EEI would figure to be at least slightly more loyal to 'EEI than those who either watch the games on TV or via streaming or sports fans who have only a casual interest in the Sox or no interest in baseball at all. This wouldn't account for all of the lost 'BZ-FM listeners, I concede, but the longstanding Sox-'EEI connection can't be ignored.

 

[kp2780]

WBUR with a strong second place.

WWBX doing good.

WBGB and WERS are doing good.

Some signs that point to the fact that Alternative is a format that would work now in Boston.

WWBX, WXLO, WERS and WXVR all in one way or another point to an audience for alternative. The fans of the genre are tuning into to those stations since it’s the closest thing they’ll get in Boston radio. When I say “Alternative,” I mean a station that actually plays new songs from the genre, not just 90s grunge and the same alt rock songs played to death by other supposed “Alternative” stations, although some of that would be fine. WWBX and WXLO are included on the list since modern Alternative could pass for Hot AC in a lot of instances.

 

[TheBigA]

When I say “Alternative,” I mean a station that actually plays new songs from the genre, not just 90s grunge and the same alt rock songs played to death by other supposed “Alternative” stations,

That place is really taken by WERS. There is no commercial station that will play more new alt than them.

 

[shutupandlisten]

I think the Sports hub ( 98.5 ) ratings drop the last couple of months because most of their regular hosts has been on vacation and sports in July and august is pretty much nothing going on ( beside the avg Sox ) .

 

[leftofthedial]

When I say “Alternative,” I mean a station that actually plays new songs from the genre,

the issue is that there are not enough consensus artists in "alternative" to sustain a commercial format. Who would this hypothetical station spin?

at this point, "new alternative" is best left to the many college stations in the market and SiriusXM.

 

[kp2780]

the issue is that there are not enough consensus artists in "alternative" to sustain a commercial format. Who would this hypothetical station spin?

at this point, "new alternative" is best left to the many college stations in the market and SiriusXM.

Here are two sample hours I came up with off the top of my head. It is a blend of new alternative and older alternative. Well known artists and some less well known artists.

I think there is an audience for more mainstream version of WERS.

Lovejoy: Call Me What You Like
Black Keys: Go
Beck and Phoenix: Odyssey
Haim: The Wire
Arctic Monkeys: Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?
Windser: Lost

Break

Jack Kays: Caffeine
The Strokes: Someday
Grouplove: Hello
No Doubt: Bathwater
F16s: Moon Child
Local Natives: NYE

Break
The 1975: Chocolate
Royal Blood: Pull Me Through

Hour 2
Foo Fighters: Under You
Weezer: Say It Ain’t So
Noal Kahan/Post Malone: Dial Drunk
White Stripes: My Doorbell
Ripe: Settling
Milky Chance: Living in a Haze

Break

Portugal the Man: Summer of Luv
Matt and Kim: Daylight
Tame Impala/Gorillaz: New Gold
Lumineers: Ophelia
Fall Out Boy: Hold Me Like a Grudge
Dominic Fike: Dancing in the Courthouse

Break
Jawny: Lalala
Death Cab for Cutie: Crooked Teeth

 

[chrocket87]

This playlist, in my PERSONAL opinion, looks pretty good, but there’s just not enough mass appeal songs there to give it better than a 1.x share.

I think the approach Audacy is currently running with Alt might be the most successful way for a place like Boston, not that I believe they will attempt it short of buying WXRV or something.

 

[leftofthedial]

I agree with @chrocket87 , with the caveat that I wouldn't categorize many of these artists as "new." Black Keys, Lumineers, Matt and Kim, White Stripes are pretty passe at this point. not enough mass appeal for a commercial station.

my other concern would be the target demo. young indie and alt fans (18-40) are on Spotify. It just doesn't seem viable, as much as I am dying for a good alt station in Boston.

 

[kp2780]

I agree with @chrocket87 , with the caveat that I wouldn't categorize many of these artists as "new." Black Keys, Lumineers, Matt and Kim, White Stripes are pretty passe at this point. not enough mass appeal for a commercial station.

my other concern would be the target demo. young indie and alt fans (18-40) are on Spotify. It just doesn't seem viable, as much as I am dying for a good alt station in Boston.

I think there is a very good chance that you are right but my original point was that there is evidence that an audience for this type of format exists when you look at the audience for the stations that have some similarities in their music to this format (some more than others). Is anyone actually trying this type of format anywhere where there is any hard evidence that it won’t work? While I realize there are costs with launching a station that fails, why not try something? The “safe” formats fail all of the time anyway.