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October ratings are here

M

Mediafrog+

October numbers: https://ratings.****************/content/arb033

Sunny back on top.

Love 'em or hate 'em, KTRH's surge into the sixes is impressive.

Eagle dives a bit.

Nice surge for KSBJ.

The Spot sinking into the fours.

Mega sinks into the twos. Hmmm.

KQBT's decline has now got to be a concern for iHeart.

NGEN retaining its improved numbers.

And our favorite dumpster fire, KROI, sinks further into the zeroes. Recent changes not working.
 
What is going on with Urban radio in this market, especially The Beat??? Is this still due to the pandemic, or something else?

It can't be listeners returning to The Boxx; although they are ahead of The Beat, a 3.5 is still the lowest I've ever seen that station have!
 
stan said:
The death of Limbaugh won’t help their ratings, not that his ratings are that good.
Click to expand...

His ratings in some markets are very large, in others were there are fewer conservatives, they are lower. In the big markets, his loss will considerably hurt their ratings.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Love 'em or hate 'em, KTRH's surge into the sixes is impressive.
Click to expand...

I programmed a nostalgia station when I was in college. I was top 5 12+ every book playing Sinatra and the Great American Songbook.

I was probably #20 25-54, but the newspaper didn't print that so my mom was impressed.
 
hmmm

Interesting... considering the pandemic.. KBXX has been around since 1991 when we launched it.. so it is the stronger on shelf brand, with limited activity and promotions on the streets... it kind of sucks the life out of the format, so the Beat does look like it is down trending.. It would be interesting to see the 18 to 34 numbers for the market, it would probably paint a different story.


mr.ric said:
What is going on with Urban radio in this market, especially The Beat??? Is this still due to the pandemic, or something else?

It can't be listeners returning to The Boxx; although they are ahead of The Beat, a 3.5 is still the lowest I've ever seen that station have!
Click to expand...
 
mr.ric said:
What is going on with Urban radio in this market, especially The Beat??? Is this still due to the pandemic, or something else?
Click to expand...

We may have passed a saturation point with R3H2 (Rhythmic, Rap, Reggaeton, Hip-Hop) in the market. Too many stations sound too similar. Even the Country stations sound like Pop/Hip-hop.

Wondering if the recent iHeart flip in Chicago with WCHI might be a hint for the future of 93.7. I know Houston is quite different from the Windy City, but this analysis was interesting from a "format possibilities" perspective: https://radioinsight.com/ross/200087/fresh-listen-the-rock-war-of-chicago/

Yes, once again, Houston is probably too hard-wired for R3H2 for any of that to work. But it does raise the argument that you might want to distance yourself from R3H2 in order to get some attention.

KROI is in this rut--it sounds too much like a bunch of other stations, and you have the deficient coverage. The signal is capable of pulling some respectable numbers with a unique format--it would break into the threes when it was Urban Gospel and again with Classic Hip-hop--but you need to figure out what the next "hungry for" format is in this market that would also be advertiser friendly.
 
stan said:
The death of Limbaugh won’t help their ratings, not that his ratings are that good.
Click to expand...

"...not that his ratings are that good." Huh?

On Wikipedia, Rush Limbaugh is the #1 radio talk show host in America:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio_programs (OK, maybe Wiki is not the most up-to-date or credible resource)

At "Talkers.com," Rush Limbaugh is shown as the #2 radio talk show host in America, so his ratings remain excellent in 2020:
http://www.talkers.com/2020-talkers-heavy-hundred-•-1-25/

Like him or not -- Rush is still a clear top-tier leader in talk radio.
 
ThatVoice22 said:
"...not that his ratings are that good." Huh?

On Wikipedia, Rush Limbaugh is the #1 radio talk show host in America:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio_programs (OK, maybe Wiki is not the most up-to-date or credible resource)

At "Talkers.com," Rush Limbaugh is shown as the #2 radio talk show host in America, so his ratings remain excellent in 2020:
http://www.talkers.com/2020-talkers-heavy-hundred-•-1-25/

Like him or not -- Rush is still a clear top-tier leader in talk radio.
Click to expand...

And your source is Wikipedia? Where any idiot can rewrite an article?

That says it all.

Talker's has a "proprietary" system to rank talk hosts. It has little or nothing to do with ratings and actual listenership. Look at their description; most of the criteria are purely judgemental and have nothing to do with listening or ratings. Their estimate of cume listeners is absurdly and violently way off.
 
sorry... was not the full article.. just the (Houston portion).

Djbabyface said:
From All Access: HOUSTON-GALVESTON: Sunny Side Up

For more: https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/...rch-director-inc-exclusive-october-ppm-analys
Click to expand...

EDITOR NOTE: We can't allow full copies of entire columns from other websites. Only brief extracts... maybe a paragraph... is "fair usage". But it is not legal to copy full articles without permission.[/QUOTE]

What you quoted was the full section about Houston.

It's OK to quote a few sentences, maybe a paragraph, under what is legally called "Fair Use" but the whole relevant section is not legal and could cause copyright violation issues. This is true on any website or in any publication.

"Fair use"
(in US copyright law) the doctrine that brief excerpts of copyright material may, under certain circumstances, be quoted verbatim for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research, without the need for permission from or payment to the copyright holder.
 
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That is old thinking... you have to factor in how Radio advertising is sold. Clients buy demo 1st format second. that is why demo's like 18-34 and 25 to 54 come in to play. IHeart will not make a change.. For instance you combine the sports radio demos with the beats demos.. and the right rate price.. you beat out Radio One who only has The Box and Magic to offer... etc. It is total cluster versus cluster. Program Directors and spectators are quick to assume that a format change is needed.. but forget that advertisers by trends.. and a few good ratings periods put together and the right amount of cume and the right sales angle gets the $$$.

Take a look at KQBT Vs KBXX Station Cume...

#6 Houston-Galveston, TX
Station Cume

KQBT-FM
Urban May 719,200 June 783,300 July 654,500 Aug622,100 Sept 593,300 Oct 621,000

KBXX-FM
Top 40/R May 923,300 June 933,200 July 821,000 Aug772,900 Sept 764,400 Oct 854,200


Now look at KROI Vs KRBE vs KKHH
KROI-FM
Top 40/M May 240,800 June 301,900 July 350,600 Aug 283,500 Sept 290,000 Oct 256,200
KRBE-FM
Top 40/M May 864,800 June 1,013,100 July 1,034,100 Aug 982,400 Sept 1,048,800 Oct 1,143,100
KKHH-FM
Adult Hits May 999,300 June 1,057,200 July 1,056,500 Aug1,045,500 Sept 1,112,900 Oct 1,069,600

Now here is KTRH
KTRH-AM
N/T May 401,400 June 441,200 July448,400 Aug438,100 Sept470,900 Oct 496,000

As a advertiser... KTRH and KQBT will get you a great reach.. probably at a great price.. just like buying KROI and KBXX.. will probably give you a great price as well versus buying just KRBE. etc etc.. that is why as a cluster these station individually fit a certain "cluster sales plan"
Click to expand...

Advertisers who even look at ratings (most direct accounts don't) look at Average Quarter Hour (AQH) persons, not cume. Cume does not tell you how many people hear each ad. AQH does. Buyers who use ratings look almost exclusively at how many people will hear each ad.

Few local direct advertisers buy multiple stations; that is the kind of thing an agency does best. And they buy AQH, not cume.

And cume is not additive. In other words, the cume on KAAA may include 50% of the cume of WBBB and 25% of the cume of WCCC and 75% of the cume of WDDD. So buying all would not quadruple your reach... it might, in fact, only double it if there is that much sharing.

Local direct accounts look at customers, not listeners. They want to reach "the kind of people" who would patronized their business. Knowledgeable retailers know a bit about their consumers and understand that their users may be older or younger or part of a lifestyle group that is associated with a music style. So they don't look as much at age as at the kind of people that are their users or buyers. That is why local direct advertisers often don't mind 55 and over listeners as they know that seniors are a big part of their consumers. Similarly, some only want very young listeners if that is their target... so in those cases, the kind of music played or the talk content is critical, not the ratings.
 
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DavidEduardo said:
Talker's has a "proprietary" system to rank talk hosts. It has little or nothing to do with ratings and actual listenership. Look at their description; most of the criteria are purely judgemental and have nothing to do with listening or ratings. Their estimate of cume listeners is absurdly and violently way off.
Click to expand...

OK -- Exactly what are Rush Limbaugh's ratings? Kindly provide some real data that shows he's NOT in the top tier anymore.
Also, please provide the current Top Ten ratings for talk radio hosts -- and provide the source for those ratings. Thanks.
 
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ThatVoice22 said:
OK -- Exactly what are Rush Limbaugh's ratings? Kindly provide some real data that shows he's NOT in the top tier anymore.
Click to expand...

I took a selection of the top US markets, including red and blue ones, and got the weekly cume of Rush's show and then projected it into the entire nation's population.

I get around 8 million weekly listeners.

I don't have access to all two hundred or so of the rated markets where I can get the precises schedule (Rush is just part of "Midday" 10 AM to 3 PM) so one has to do a custom report to get the exact figures.

As someone who has been working with Arbitron / Nielsen data for over five decades, I think that I have got a good approximation, but the total may be +/- 10% to 15%. That is still under 10 million and there is no way it can be much higher than that.

There is only one source for ratings for the majority of US radio markets... and for all of the ones that have more than 0.1% of US population: Nielsen.
 
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DavidEduardo said:
I took a selection of the top US markets, including red and blue ones, and got the weekly cume of Rush's show and then projected it into the entire nation's population. I get around 8 million weekly listeners. I don't have access to all two hundred or so of the rated markets where I can get the precises schedule (Rush is just part of "Midday" 10 AM to 3 PM) so one has to do a custom report to get the exact figures.
As someone who has been working with Arbitron / Nielsen data for over five decades, I think that I have got a good approximation, but the total may be +/- 10% to 15%. That is still under 10 million and there is no way it can be much higher than that.
Click to expand...

OK, I respect your educated insight that Rush Limbaugh is somewhere between 8 and 10 million listeners. Where does that place him in the overall rankings -- and where are his competitors?
-----Please name the TOP TEN TALKERS as you see it and provide a resource for that opinion.
 
ThatVoice22 said:
OK, I respect your educated insight that Rush Limbaugh is somewhere between 8 and 10 million listeners. Where does that place him in the overall rankings -- and where are his competitors?
-----Please name the TOP TEN TALKERS as you see it and provide a resource for that opinion.
Click to expand...

I'd have to have a total market subscription to Nielsen and an accurate list of the hosts and stations. That would take weeks of work. There are no national ratings in radio... you have to take each market and extract the data for custom dayparts and you would have to do it over 200 times for just the Nielsen ratings.

(There is an annual national county by county study, but I do not have access and few buyers look at it)

It's going to be Hannity and Limbaugh at the very top. None of the others has as extensive a station lineup, to they miss many markets.

Again, all of them, irrespective of age, have very old listener bases. Even younger hosts like Loesch appeal to older listeners.

Also, keep in mind that advertisers don't buy the cume audience... they buy the average quarter hour audience. In other words, the number of people listening at the moment their ad is broadcast. The AQH audience for Rush is below 1 million.
 
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TheBigA said:
Arbitron used to put out RADAR for network ratings. Did Nielsen stop doing that?
Click to expand...

They still do:

NETWORKS REPORTED 35 networks reported in RADAR 146 (2 fewer networks then R145). American Urban’s Elite Plus, Renaissance and Starz Weekend Ent. have been discontinued. American Urban Epic has been added and is trendable with Renaissance’s past studies. Premiere Urban has changed its name to Premiere Flow and remains trendable

 That is the header for the September 2020 Radar report.

Those of us not in network radio or not with a subscribed network can't get data. The reports are an average of 12 prior months, and are not monthly or even quarterly... they cover 12 months.

And the networks are station sales clusters, not specific shows. An example of a Premier network would be:

PREMIERE TOP 50 OPTIMIZEDTarget Audience: Adults 18-49/Adults 25-54Description: Offers top-market delivery through iHeartMedia affiliates. It consists exclusively of the top 50 DMAs and contains some of the most popular, high-ranking stations in the country. Dominant CHR, AC/Adult Hits, Country, Classic Rock, and Rock formats target young listener

The Radar service is basically a way of selling the "buy us as a group" national sales packages. The focus is on lots of stations that cover a targeted spectrum. Premiere has youth, African American, women and all kinds of "networks" that are really just a one buy way to get on hundreds of stations.

The description is:

These reports are designed to provide estimates of national radio usage and network radio commercial audience during an average week within the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), based on surveys conducted from June20, 2019, through June17, 2020. The estimates are derived from listening information from Persons 12 years of age and older (based on Nielsen Radio Market Reports for Diary and PPM methodologies). Audience estimates provided by this service are intended to furnish network radio, agency, and advertiser clients of Nielsen with an aid in evaluating audience size and composition. All audience estimates are approximations subject to statistical variations and other limitations. The reliability of audience estimates cannot be determined to any precise mathematical value or definition
 
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