New York ratings Spring 1976

[RMarino]

It's interesting to see Country did as poorly back then as it does now in NYC. So many people rave about how successful WHN was, but these look like WNSH numbers.

 

[TheBigA]

It's interesting to see Country did as poorly back then as it does now in NYC. So many people rave about how successful WHN was, but these look like WNSH numbers.

The difference was the spot price. WHN was able to get a better spot price, comparable to WXLO. WNSH was a sales flop.

 

[RMarino]

The difference was the spot price. WHN was able to get a better spot price, comparable to WXLO. WNSH was a sales flop.

Yeah, I get it. Also there was less competition for ad dollars in 1976. I was mainly referring to overall listener popularity.

 

[radio128]

WRFM being top 5 in 18-49 and higher in 35-64 makes sense. My mother always had that station on the living room stereo while she worked around the house. She was mid forties at the time. My friends' moms also listened to it and they were late thirties to mid forties also.

 

[BRNout]

Interesting to me, in that WABC was still at the top (by quite a bit) at the "late" date of 1976, Also fascinating to look at the demo breakdown. Even among teens, WABC ran away with it and the others just below it were basically Top 40. You had to go down a ways to find AOR stations, a format that ruled teens in many markets by then. No commentary from me except that it demonstrates that NY was not a "rock" market and that music on AM still sold here as late as it did.

 

[CTListener]

Interesting to me, in that WABC was still at the top (by quite a bit) at the "late" date of 1976, Also fascinating to look at the demo breakdown. Even among teens, WABC ran away with it and the others just below it were basically Top 40. You had to go down a ways to find AOR stations, a format that ruled teens in many markets by then. No commentary from me except that it demonstrates that NY was not a "rock" market and that music on AM still sold here as late as it did.

Did AOR ever really "rule teens" anywhere? I thought that format's appeal was more to listeners in their 20s and 30s, and even in those age groups, Top 40 still did well, especially among women.

 

[gr8oldies]

Did AOR ever really "rule teens" anywhere? I thought that format's appeal was more to listeners in their 20s and 30s, and even in those age groups, Top 40 still did well, especially among women.

Teen boys and college age men were the prime demos for AOR.18-24 males.

 

[BRNout]

Teen boys and college age men were the prime demos for AOR.18-24 males.

I was surprised by the "TEENS" breakout because I would have expected AOR stations to be nearer the top in that one. My assumption being that men/boys had trended toward AOR during the mid-70's while girls took longer to do that (if they ever did). Doesn't appear to have been the case in the NY market. And that's ok, it's just interesting because AOR was so prominent in neighboring markets like Hartford, Boston, Philly, etc. in 1976. I was a teen at that time and I was one of the few guys left where I lived that still listened to Top 40 (as well as AOR) by that time.

 

[vchimpanzee]

It depends on how AOR is defined. Broadcasting Yearbook said WBCY was AOR and the station called itself "Charlotte's Best Rock" but the playlist sure looked like Top 40. And girls liked it.

 

[gr8oldies]

It depends on how AOR is defined. Broadcasting Yearbook said WBCY was AOR and the station called itself "Charlotte's Best Rock" but the playlist sure looked like Top 40. And girls liked it.

There were some variations, more folk-oriented or Jazz AOR (WSRZ, Sarasota, "Making Waves on Tampa Bay". Steely Dan and Spyro Gyra instead of Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd),

 

[vchimpanzee]

There were some variations, more folk-oriented or Jazz AOR (WSRZ, Sarasota, "Making Waves on Tampa Bay". Steely Dan and Spyro Gyra instead of Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd),

What you're describing sounds like WRPL Charlotte, a daytime-only AM, though its music was "progressive".

 

[RMarino]

There were some variations, more folk-oriented or Jazz AOR (WSRZ, Sarasota, "Making Waves on Tampa Bay". Steely Dan and Spyro Gyra instead of Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd),

…which incidentally got very low ratings in both the Sarasota and Tampa books while the more traditional AOR, “98 Rock” (then WQXM), did much better.

 

[gr8oldies]

…which incidentally got very low ratings in both the Sarasota and Tampa books while the more traditional AOR, “98 Rock” (then WQXM), did much better.

At First Phone Wonder School, a lot of my fellow students had 98 Rock on.

 

[Huff]

Did AOR ever really "rule teens" anywhere? I thought that format's appeal was more to listeners in their 20s and 30s, and even in those age groups, Top 40 still did well, especially among women.

There were some markets where AOR did extremely well in teens. Here's a snapshot of teens and young men from the April/May 1971 book for New York City:
1. WABC 32.0
2. WOR-FM 10.2
3. WNEW-FM 8.9
4. WMCA 4.8
5. WWRL 4.5

Men 18-24:
1. WABC 21.2
2. WOR-FM 14.1
3. WNEW-FM 11.5