Greenville-Spartanburg monthly trends

[101tm]

https://ratings.****************/content/arb191

Not a lot of major changes, but an ouch book for Audacy. WORD continues its steep fall losing around a full share each month. WGTK is down to a 2 share as well.

Bad books for B93.7 and Magic 98.9, possibly the lowest share for WSPA-FM I've seen in recent years. CHR is in trouble nationwide, so that fall isn't that big of a shock. Not great for Magic, but I predict they'll bounce back.

Interesting Urban book - WJMZ no longer seems able to get the double digit or near double digit shares they used to - if you do the math, even though they were down, The Block seems to be doing well enough to prevent that from happening. I also wonder if Rejoice 96.9's half or so of a share is impacting them also. WHZT hitting 5th place is a surprise, especially given that hip hop stations seeem to be struggling vs. urban AC's across the country. I know they're a rhythmic CHR, but they've taken a hard hip hop lean as of late which now has them going in the opposite direction of WFBC ratings wise and may have damaged The Block a bit.

 

[genius]

I was going to bump that WVOC/WORD thread about WORD’s latest ratings collapse but this works. Their shard has now almost ben cut in half since the start of the year.

WSPA is very stale at the moment with the same old playlist over and over again. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if they recover again from playing Christmas music for 3 months straight again this fall.

WHZT just sounds like a better station on air than WJMZ and WFBC these days.

 

[101tm]

Interestingly, Audacy is rumored to be standardizing their CHR’s under the “Now” branding and nationalizing some day parts such as mornings and evenings, much like iHeart has done for years as Audacy’s “local” approach obviously isn’t working for their CHR’s. If that’s true, big changes could soon be in the works at WFBC. 93.7 Now doesn’t sound bad at this point…

Agree about Magic, they can come back but they need a nice refresh.

 

[genius]

Interestingly, Audacy is rumored to be standardizing their CHR’s under the “Now” branding and nationalizing some day parts such as mornings and evenings, much like iHeart has done for years as Audacy’s “local” approach obviously isn’t working for their CHR’s. If that’s true, big changes could soon be in the works at WFBC. 93.7 Now doesn’t sound bad at this point…

Agree about Magic, they can come back but they need a nice refresh.

Lord I heard Tara following up Tucker Carson’s NSA claim this morning as actual fact no wonder the station is suffering heavy losses.

Magic is suffering from the same fate WTCB in Columbia has for the past couple of years. A playlist that hasn’t been updated in 15 years except an occasional newish song. The down side of WSPA is flipping to Christmas music so
early and then being hostile to anyone who objects on their Facebook page had also hurt their image. I can’t see 98.9 being sustainable in 5 years without an overhaul.

 

[101tm]

Another issue Magic 98.9 has is that this market is *so* oversaturated with gold based formats which pulls away from AC. Columbia has a similar issue but not to this extreme. The older stuff they play is played on so many other stations that it is coming at them from every direction. I like 99.5 but I wouldn’t mind giving up one of these other gold/80s based stations for more variety or competition.

Columbia is a similar issue between 96.7, 98.5, and 102.3 overlapping with 106.7, but 96.7 is a much better station than 102.5 The Lake.

 

[StormKlowdz]

Dont forget that in Columbia, 93.1 is also a contender with their Gold based AC format. They just got a share in the 3's. 93.1 the Lake has made great strides and has former personalities from B106.7.

 

[AMRocks]

Interestingly, Audacy is rumored to be standardizing their CHR’s under the “Now” branding and nationalizing some day parts such as mornings and evenings, much like iHeart has done for years as Audacy’s “local” approach obviously isn’t working for their CHR’s. If that’s true, big changes could soon be in the works at WFBC. 93.7 Now doesn’t sound bad at this point…

Agree about Magic, they can come back but they need a nice refresh.

B has a huge history in this town, so I doubt they will change the moniker. But what needs to be refreshed is the talent. Hawk & Tom might be mainstays in the market, but they are too old for a true CHR station. I can't imagine Kato, who's probably around 50 now, strapping into a car to crash it on Torture Tuesdays. (They rerun old bits.) The jocks sound a bit uninterested in their shows, too. Not very exciting. Couple that to new music all sounding the same and you've got a 2 share.

Hawk and Tom would fit much better on Magic.

 

[Steve.Gates]

B has a huge history in this town, so I doubt they will change the moniker. But what needs to be refreshed is the talent. Hawk & Tom might be mainstays in the market, but they are too old for a true CHR station. I can't imagine Kato, who's probably around 50 now, strapping into a car to crash it on Torture Tuesdays. (They rerun old bits.) The jocks sound a bit uninterested in their shows, too. Not very exciting. Couple that to new music all sounding the same and you've got a 2 share.

Hawk and Tom would fit much better on Magic.

Hawk and Tom are OK, but I loved Hawk and Marty even better. Loved the way they came over the Airwaves. Back then, you could "DX" without ever having to worry about "Transponders and LP FM"'s. I cannot remember if Heidi "One Headlight" Aiken was with Hawk and Marty Originally.... Truly do miss those Days regardlesss..... Steve.

 

[101tm]

B has a huge history in this town, so I doubt they will change the moniker. But what needs to be refreshed is the talent. Hawk & Tom might be mainstays in the market, but they are too old for a true CHR station. I can't imagine Kato, who's probably around 50 now, strapping into a car to crash it on Torture Tuesdays. (They rerun old bits.) The jocks sound a bit uninterested in their shows, too. Not very exciting. Couple that to new music all sounding the same and you've got a 2 share.

Hawk and Tom would fit much better on Magic.

Hawk and Tom/Marty definitely had their day and I won’t question their talent. However, you are right - the station is still trying to target the same demo as they were in 1996 but the morning show hosts are 25 years older. That’s a whole generation. I wonder how many of their loyal listeners listen for the music or the show. The talent on B93.7 overall and even the presentation at times doesn’t match the music at all. Musically it’s pretty solid but everything else needs an overhaul. I know Hot 98.1 is a slightly different variation of CHR but their presentation is much more upbeat and exciting, as are their hosts. They also have a much younger morning show that fits the format. B93.7’s music has moved on but it feels like Hawk and Tom have not.

Hawk and Tom are a better fit for Hot AC or AC, but I doubt Audacy is willing to pay the hefty salaries they’re likely collecting now on an AC station in this size of market that has done fine without much of a solid morning show for years, give or take a few books like the most recent where they’ve been down. If programmed correctly an AC can be very successful and make bank with low overhead.

 

[tylerSC]

Hawk and Tom are OK, but I loved Hawk and Marty even better. Loved the way they came over the Airwaves. Back then, you could "DX" without ever having to worry about "Transponders and LP FM"'s. I cannot remember if Heidi "One Headlight" Aiken was with Hawk and Marty Originally.... Truly do miss those Days regardlesss..... Steve.

Yes when you get near Gastonia and the Charlotte area a low power Bible beater religious station now interferes with B-93.7. So you may need to switch to 95.1 or 96.1 for the hit music format.

 

[tylerSC]

I agree B-93.7 needs an overhaul or refresh. And Hawk and Tom are mainstays but they may be aging out of the format. Something Adult AC may be a better fit, although Magic 98.9 may already have their own hosts. And that station needs a refresh as well. I tend to prefer 102.5 or 99.5.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Yes when you get near Gastonia and the Charlotte area a low power Bible beater religious station now interferes with B-93.7. So you may need to switch to 95.1 or 96.1 for the hit music format.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, at least there's good music, most of the time. They don't really need it since 91.1 has a monster signal which can be heard in Asheville.

 

[Paul1033]

Yes when you get near Gastonia and the Charlotte area a low power Bible beater religious station now interferes with B-93.7. So you may need to switch to 95.1 or 96.1 for the hit music format.

On way to Rock Hill, SC this afternoon, I was able to pick up WFBC B93.7 on I-77 heading south clearly around Exit 85 in SC in my 2010 Toyota Yaris. Heading north on I-77, I could put a lock on B93.7 until just after Exit 88 Gold Hill Rd. Then after that it was a rap due to the BBN 93.7 translator causing a discontinuity to the reception of WFBC B93.7.

 

[AMRocks]

The next trends are out. These are for July. Nothing really earth shattering, with a few stations up and a few stations down. WORD continues it's slide from number one with no end in sight at this point.

I have one question though. How does WBAV from Charlotte show up in this book? And with trends from earlier months? I live in town and I can't hear that station. Very odd.

Also, when is iHeart going to do something about WROO? Jeez it's pitiful.

 

[Gregg.]

Here's another market where Urban AC is #1, WJMZ. That's followed by the two iHeart Country stations.

Is WYRD-FM dropping? Sure. But that's true of other talk radio stations. The Pandemic, while still going on, is not as alarming as it was at first. It gave plenty of talk, news and NPR stations a boost last year. And in the summertime we always expect talk radio stations to usually dip. Let's remember, WYRD-FM is a 25,000 watt station in a large geographic market where most of the FMs are 100,000 watts.

I also wonder, why doesn't WEPR, the South Carolina Public Radio station, show on the list? The SC Public Radio station in Columbia is #13 and in Charleston it's #12.

Someone said that 96.7 Steve-FM in Columbia (WLTY) is better than 102.5 The Lake (WMYI). They're both iHeart stations doing a generic form of Jack-FM. Same for 102.9 The Lake in Charlotte (WLKO). None of these stations use DJs, I think. To me the playlists are also very similar. WMYI is #10, not bad for a station with little overhead.

 

[The Beat]

WCQS is on the list. Weird as you can't hear them on their main channel- only on their two 101.5 translators that are 10 watts from NC... which are strongly interfered with by 101.5 in Greenville, 101.7 in Clemson, 101.5 in Anderson and 101.7 in Woodruff. In other words, why are their call letters on the Greenville ratings at all? Gotta love those diaries!

 

[genius]

I noticed that WSPA bounced back up to a 3.9 maybe that Christmas in July desperation paid off 🤣🤣

WORD’s slide is pretty substantial if you ask me their ratings have split in half from that 8.6 and #1 ranking they had and actually having a 4.1 rating is the lowest rating from them in several years.

As for WEPR, well simply to say its Upstate South Carolina. Charleston and Columbia are much more progressive and cosmopolitan markets thus stations like WRJA, WLTR, WJWJ (even with its weakened signal from Beaufort) and WSCI fare a lot better.

The next trends are out. These are for July. Nothing really earth shattering, with a few stations up and a few stations down. WORD continues it's slide from number one with no end in sight at this point.

I have one question though. How does WBAV from Charlotte show up in this book?

Is WYRD-FM dropping? Sure. But that's true of other talk radio stations. The Pandemic, while still going on, is not as alarming as it was at first. It gave plenty of talk, news and NPR stations a boost last year. And in the summertime we always expect talk radio stations to usually dip. Let's remember, WYRD-FM is a 25,000 watt station in a large geographic market where most of the FMs are 100,000 watts.

I also wonder, why doesn't WEPR, the South Carolina Public Radio station, show on the list? The SC Public Radio station in Columbia is #13 and in Charleston it's #12.

 

[davideduardo]

The next trends are out. These are for July. Nothing really earth shattering, with a few stations up and a few stations down. WORD continues it's slide from number one with no end in sight at this point.

Remember, the book is named "July" but it covers May, June and July ratings periods. And, despite being named for months, the periods don't match the calendar months exactly.

 

[davideduardo]

Let's remember, WYRD-FM is a 25,000 watt station in a large geographic market where most of the FMs are 100,000 watts.

It is also only at 328 feet, while there are 5 FMs in the market at between 1500 and 2000 feet, and 11 at 1000 feet or over. Height is as important as power on FM, and in hilly or mountainous terrain, even more important than power.

 

[101tm]

WEPR carries the same programming that WSCI and and WLTR carry from the SCEPR classical/news feed, so they're in sync with the other 2 main markets in the state. I think them not showing up was some kind of fluke. It's too bad they don't carry the SCEPR feed carried on WLJK, WNSC, WJWJ, etc that is mostly news/talk.

As far as these trends, a few things stand out -

WMYI is collapsing. Compared to the adult hits format heard on Steve FM in Columbia, The Lake/WMYI is a lot more predictable and conservative. It's mainly 80s and some 70s/90s titles that are burned out. Nothing really "oh wow" that you hear on a lot of adult hits stations. Not to mention, WMYI is up against so many other stations as I repeatedly say that are playing the same music - WROQ, Earth FM, Awesome 99.5, and even WSPA-FM. The repetitive titles and boring imaging makes it easily forgettable.

WORD. Yes, news/talk is in a downward cycle due to a lot of factors - pandemic fatigue, the election being over, Rush's death - but they have not had these numbers since they were just on 1330/950 12-13 years ago. At this point, they're just 2 points ahead from WGTK which has remained stable. Also - WORD has been almost at the top, so the signal is capable of being top 3 if the audience is there.

WTPT has always been a 3-4 share station 12+ overall (I know I know, it doesn't matter, but better than nothing), but now they're trending down in to the 2's. I don't know if the active rock format is struggling nationally or not, but this isn't good.

WROO does its job as a flanker against WROQ to keep them from threatening the country stations, but dang. I guess it could be worse, they could be an all-lullabies format like WMYI-HD2....

Everything else is not really a surprise.