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Nielsen radio ratings - May 2021

passtheword

passtheword

Latest Nielsen radio ratings for Birmingham (May, 2021) were released yesterday. The usual stations make up the top five ("98.7 Kiss, 95.7 Jamz, WZZK, 106.9 The Eagle, and WDXB "102.5, The Bull"). WZRR "Talk 99.5" is up slightly; WERC is down. WJOX-FM rebounds, but will the momentum continue now that the "Roundtable" group has bailed at "Jox"? WMJJ has what appears to be the worst 12+ ratings (that I recall, anyway) in the 38 years the station has been in existence, tying with the "105.1 Hallelujah FM" translator; this is the (at least) fourth consecutive drop in the 12+ numbers for "Magic". :O WPYA "Mix 97.3" continues to spiral downward, even amidst the name change/revamping that occurred two months ago (when are stations ever gonna learn that hot AC does not perform well here in Birmingham?). Interestingly enough, the christian music translators that one would assume most listeners are completely unaware of (WZZK-HD2 i.e. Air-1 @102.1, and WMJJ-HD3 aka "K-Love" @ 96.1) showed a 0.2 and 0.4 share respectively, coming out ahead of WJOX-AM and WJQX (100.5) at the bottom of the barrel...unless you count the three stations below WJOX-AM, WJQX which evidently failed to register a 0.1 share (WAPI and WENN).

Here's the link to the entire ratings page for May, 2021:
https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb095
 
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Has there been a long-lasting FM in Birmingham with just one format than WMJJ? I am not sure when WZZK actually went country; I've never done a deep dive into their history.

I've only been in Birmingham a few times in the last few years and every time I've checked out Magic, it sounded like a station without much of a direction. In ye olden days it had personality, and even a signature sound to the audio processing that made it stand out. But now it just sounds like one of a million other rudderless, remote-jocked iHeart stations.
 
yes, WZZK is probably the longest running FM format in Birmingham which is still on the air. According to wikipedia, WZZK began in 1973 as an album rock station before changing to their country format in '78, so roughly 43 years time. WMJJ probably has the second longest FM radio format that's still on the air (38 years). The only other local FM station I can think of which has been around for the same amount of time would be Glen Iris' WGIB, which I believe began broadcasting in January, 1983, less than a month after WMJJ debuted. WDJC-FM has been on the air since '68, but was always more of a christian preaching/southern gospel outlet before changing over to all contemporary christian music about 20 years ago. The only other long-running formats I can recall which are still on the air in Birmingham would be WBHJ and WBHK, which began their respective urban and urban AC formats 25 years ago in 1996, although the move-in at 102.5 has been airing a country format for 27 years time (since '94) IIRC, although under different branding (Wow, Dixie, and the Bull). WZRR aired classic rock for 23 years as well.

Again, I cannot recall WMJJ's 12+ ratings ever being as low as they are now with that 2.9 share, even when the now-defunct WEZZ-FM "Easy 97.3" beat WMJJ in one particular ratings period in 2014 or 2015. I don't listen to "Magic" anyway, as I have never cared for mainstream AC.
 
btw, Zach...unrelated note to this post, but I was on your almediapage.info site a few days ago and was reading the page for WQRR in Reform/Tuscaloosa (the former WTID). WTID aired classic rock in the early 90's (this was prior to the adult contemporary format the station had). I was pretty sure that was the case that WTID aired classic rock, as I would sometimes listen to 101.7 here in Birmingham when the station upgraded to a C2. Wasn't 100% positive, though, as this ol' memory of mine doesn't work as well as it used to, so when in doubt...always check M Street Journal. ;)

 
Man do I remember the old WDJC. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, after I discovered them, I heard the following on there: A mix of very heretical Pentecostal Preachers from around 10 A.M. till 12:30 P.M Monday-Saturday, Senator Hank Erwin from 12:30 P.M. till 2:30 P.M. Monday-Saturday, The Heartline with Ronnie Bruce from 2:30 P.M. till 6:30 P.M., The Dixie Gospel Caravan with Wayne Wallace from 6:30 P.M. till 10:30 P.M. Monday-Saturday and some CCM late at night and early in the Morning. Their Sunday schedule had mostly heretical Pentecostal and some sound Preachers on there, with a block of The Dixie Gospel Caravan and some Soul Gospel after The Caravan. Glad that WDJC has abandoned the heretical Preachers. They said things that was very unbiblical to begin with. I remember changing the station, when they were on. The music was the main reason why I tuned in. They played many of the songs that I still like and now play on my own LPFM radio station.​

Dan <><
 
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passtheword said:
btw, Zach...unrelated note to this post, but I was on your almediapage.info site a few days ago and was reading the page for WQRR in Reform/Tuscaloosa (the former WTID). WTID aired classic rock in the early 90's (this was prior to the adult contemporary format the station had). I was pretty sure that was the case that WTID aired classic rock, as I would sometimes listen to 101.7 here in Birmingham when the station upgraded to a C2. Wasn't 100% positive, though, as this ol' memory of mine doesn't work as well as it used to, so when in doubt...always check M Street Journal. ;)

Click to expand...

Whoa, I had no idea. I thought classic rock was strictly the domain of WLXY "ARRO 100.7" in that area. Looking at some of the other M Street directories, it seems it lasted at least a few years before the AC took over. My earliest recollections of WTID were after it was AC, and the Broadcasting Yearbooks never seemed to show a format prior to that, but they seem to be rife with bad information on smaller market stations. I'm working on changing that listing for 101.7 right now.
 
passtheword said:
Latest Nielsen radio ratings for Birmingham (May, 2021) were released yesterday. The usual stations make up the top five ("98.7 Kiss, 95.7 Jamz, WZZK, 106.9 The Eagle, and WDXB "102.5, The Bull"). WZRR "Talk 99.5" is up slightly; WERC is down. WJOX-FM rebounds, but will the momentum continue now that the "Roundtable" group has bailed at "Jox"? WMJJ has what appears to be the worst 12+ ratings (that I recall, anyway) in the 38 years the station has been in existence, tying with the "105.1 Hallelujah FM" translator; this is the (at least) fourth consecutive drop in the 12+ numbers for "Magic". :O WPYA "Mix 97.3" continues to spiral downward, even amidst the name change/revamping that occurred two months ago (when are stations ever gonna learn that hot AC does not perform well here in Birmingham?). Interestingly enough, the christian music translators that one would assume most listeners are completely unaware of (WZZK-HD2 i.e. Air-1 @102.1, and WMJJ-HD3 aka "K-Love" @ 96.1) showed a 0.2 and 0.4 share respectively, coming out ahead of WJOX-AM and WJQX (100.5) at the bottom of the barrel...unless you count the three stations below WJOX-AM, WJQX which evidently failed to register a 0.1 share (WAPI and WENN).

Here's the link to the entire ratings page for May, 2021:
https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb095
Click to expand...
WUHT had an impressive leap as well.
 
https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb095

Looking at the October trends, one has to wonder if Cumulus is even trying at any of their stations. Or is it just that their programming isn't resonating with the Birmingham market?
 
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