WMMR is one of the highest rated rock stations in the country. But how does WDHA in New Jersey do
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WMTR in Suburban NYC
- Thread starter CassChopper96
- Start date
Mentioning MMR doesn’t really make it a Philly topic when the question is something else.
How does DHA do in NJ
There is no NJ book per se.
WDHA shows in Morristown, New York City and Sussex books. It does not show in the Monmouth, NJ, book (although it did once in the last 5 years), or the Trenton or the Atlantic City books in NJ, Morris country is an embedded market that is also part of the NYC mayket, so the cume is duplicated in the NYC book and can't be added..
At https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Arbitron/Market-Maps/Arb_US_Metro_Map_19.pdf you can see an expandable map of all Nielsen markets, including embedded markets (an embedded market is a smaller market breakout of one or more counties that are also contained in a larger metro). There are 4 counties in NJ that are not measured in any book.
It appears to have a total measured cume of 120,000 which, compared to the 600,000 plus that WMMR gets in 5 different rated markets is quite a difference.
Of course, WAXQ in NYC comes 1.3 million by comparison. Or KLOS's 980,000.
You can't compare share across markets as in each the competitive situation is different, as are factors like the market's ethnic composition, average age and such.
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The Morristown market is 1/10th the size of the Philadelphia market. WDHA is 3rd in Morristown, it's home market. WMMR is 2nd in Philadelphia.
Interestingly, it gets nearly 2/3 of its cume outside the Morristown market! It's mostly in the adjacent areas within the NYC market.
Meanwhile, the top rated radio stations in Morristown are NYC stations.
Why isn’t this over in the New Jersey thread?
Now it is.
Thanks, David!
It's only putting out 1kw ERP. That signal covers some of the north Jersey suburbs but not the towns closest to NYC, and that doesn't even take into account the New York pirates operating on the same frequency with signals flying across the Hudson River. WDHA is a great sounding station but I'm sure its audience size is limited by its diminutive signal.
It's a "standard" Class A, but because it is at nearly double the HAAT for an A, it runs 1 kw.
And it billed, last year, more than WNSH and WADO which considered full market stations.
The fact is that in its city of license, WDHA is being beaten by stations over 35 miles away. It's a narrow niche station for an audience that largely doesn't listen to traditional radio as much as it once did. The hardest thing to do when you're running a suburban station is to beat the big budget stations in the big city. Imagine being a programmer in Dover NJ trying to beat Rick Sklar and WABC in 1967 when they were getting double-digit shares. There used to be a lot more radio stations in northern NJ, and almost all of them have picked up and moved across the Hudson. There's a great book to be written someday about the rise and fall of northern NJ radio.
Now it is.
Could you fix the subject line too? Wrong call letters for the topic.
You say that like it's some far away random market. It's New York, dude. Lots of people in north Jersey work in the city (or at least their jobs are still based there while they work remotely during the pandemic). There's a commuter rail line that runs right through most of the towns WDHA serves. People watch NYC TV stations, listen to NYC radio stations, and routinely go into the city for entertainment. 35 miles away is nothing for people living in the region.
No, it's an active rock station playing Bon Jovi, Springsteen...it could not be any less niche for Jersey. And it fills a void not being served by any NYC station other than WAXQ which is softer, older and not an Active Rock station.
They're not trying to. Have you ever listened to them? They're serving their own audience in New Jersey and as David Eduardo pointed out they are billing well which is what really counts.
I think he'd do what WDHA does today, super-serve your local audience and not try to be a NYC station. There are lots of businesses in north Jersey who will never buy advertising in NYC media. They love a station like WDHA.
Northern NJ is really attached at the hip to NYC. The New York stations, even those formerly based in New Jersey, still serve the whole region. Most of the suburban New Jersey stations have terrible signals and terrible programming to match. WDHA and its AM sister WMTR found what seem to be perfect roles and they do impressively well in this environment.
The home stations to the Morristown embedded market get just 6% of the AQH listening in the market.
WMTR and its sister AM get 98% of the local radio revenue. They are almost the only radio options for local advertisers, because the larger stations are too expensive and waste coverage (and cost) in areas local merchants don't serve.
They have a small share, but they are the only radio game in town. Only because of that does the station work financially.
Remember, Morristown County is also part of the NYC metro survey area. It is only a separate market for ratings because the two Beasley stations pay for the breakout.
I have lived in and worked at radio stations in the market. I know the station and its situation very well. I know the station is very popular among a select niche audience. But the ratings are not limited by the signal, as you seem to think. Its audience is limited by its format and the fact that people in the market more identify with what's available from NYC.
G
Groove1670
Guest
I worked for Peter Arnow When he sold WMTR & WDHA and purchased WEOW/WKIZ in Key West. I enjoyed working there. He insisted that stations were involved with the community. Since he retired there he wasn't involved with the day to day operations, but had a good management team.
He had some great stories about the stories about the stations. Including one of the first stations to broadcast in stereo and to play compact discs.
I worked there for about a year. He would sell to Clear Channel in the Keys and call it a day.
He had some great stories about the stories about the stations. Including one of the first stations to broadcast in stereo and to play compact discs.
I worked there for about a year. He would sell to Clear Channel in the Keys and call it a day.
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