GSP November trends

[101tm]

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

Some obvious trends going on here…

Looks like WROQ and WFBC, especially WROQ are on a nice upward trek. I wonder if the more centralized CHR programming is helping WFBC. I think the younger personalities during the day make the station sound a lot fresher than it has in the past, they seem more in tune with stuff the audience cares about.

The Block is back up above a 2 share, even beating 94.5’s gibberish. WYRD is back down a bit, and WSPA-FM needs a Christmas miracle.

WTPT has gone from being a 3-4 share station several years ago to a 2-3 share station now. I find it interesting Audacy is now syndicating The Rise Guys to sister stations in Chattanooga and New Orleans.

Oh, and 104.9’s flip to Fox Sports seems to have halved the audience they had from the rock format, but Audacy’s attempt isn’t doing much better. IMO just not a big sports talk market.

 

[AMRocks]

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

Some obvious trends going on here…

Looks like WROQ and WFBC, especially WROQ are on a nice upward trek. I wonder if the more centralized CHR programming is helping WFBC. I think the younger personalities during the day make the station sound a lot fresher than it has in the past, they seem more in tune with stuff the audience cares about.

The Block is back up above a 2 share, even beating 94.5’s gibberish. WYRD is back down a bit, and WSPA-FM needs a Christmas miracle.

WTPT has gone from being a 3-4 share station several years ago to a 2-3 share station now. I find it interesting Audacy is now syndicating The Rise Guys to sister stations in Chattanooga and New Orleans.

Oh, and 104.9’s flip to Fox Sports seems to have halved the audience they had from the rock format, but Audacy’s attempt isn’t doing much better. IMO just not a big sports talk market.

Since iHeart (and nearly all other radio groups) rarely promote their "new" radio stations, (read: format changes,) how is anyone supposed to even FIND the new sports station? They aren't serious about it. That's obvious. Audacy, on the other hand, seems to at least do some remotes, has a van, etc. Billing is okay on ESPN Upstate. And their quadruple signals (not counting the HD on WFBC) cover nearly the entire market.

WFBC does sound fresh, if not canned. Can they talk about the Audacity app any more than they do? 😶 It's annoying.

And good for The Block. It's not my music at all, but it's probably one of the highest rated "just translator" stations in the country (based on shares.) They built a nice little network of low powered signals to be able to cover the market.

 

[101tm]

Since iHeart (and nearly all other radio groups) rarely promote their "new" radio stations, (read: format changes,) how is anyone supposed to even FIND the new sports station? They aren't serious about it. That's obvious. Audacy, on the other hand, seems to at least do some remotes, has a van, etc. Billing is okay on ESPN Upstate. And their quadruple signals (not counting the HD on WFBC) cover nearly the entire market.

WFBC does sound fresh, if not canned. Can they talk about the Audacity app any more than they do? 😶 It's annoying.

And good for The Block. It's not my music at all, but it's probably one of the highest rated "just translator" stations in the country (based on shares.) They built a nice little network of low powered signals to be able to cover the market.

iHeart has added a local show for a couple of hours on 104.9 in PM drive, so they are putting in some effort to a degree. With a better signal than the 97.1/97.7 simulcast (well except maybe in Spartanburg, do people still listen to AM?), plus the Gamecocks (97.1/97.7 doesn’t have anything major), I feel like they could be a contender but I don’t think this is a massive sports talk market, much like Charlotte and the Triad in NC.

The Block was the last station I remember seeing billboards for. It’s not really my cup of tea either, but I’ve wanted to see them succeed. Very few translators can break past a 1 share in a market this big, much less above a 2. I still feel if they had an available full power signal to flip, it would make sense to put it on a full powered stick and take 107.3 down to its knees a bit.

The rest of the translators have become basement dwellers….the Summit translators used to do okay for the signals but they really seem to have fallen, especially 99.5.

Re: the Audacy app - its worse than iHeartRadio, or maybe I’m just used to iHR plugged everywhere now. It essentially sounds like they want you to listen to other stations on the app instead of the actual signal.

 

[genius]

I had to laugh about WSPA needing a Christmas miracle obviously flipping Christmas so early is starting to hurt them in November. We’ll see if they get a bump when the December trends come out next month.

WYRD’s audience just did not stick around post Rush or post Bobby Mac. Having two conspiracy nutcases screeching in drive time doesn’t help the cause. WYRD deserves a lump of coal for Christmas.

I still personally think WHZT is the more vibrant station of the two but it is interesting to see WFBC’s recent changes gain some momentum.

Glad to see X98.5 climbing back to a 1.1 lol.

 

[101tm]

WYRD is definitely experiencing the news/talk slump occurring nationwide, a lot of it due to losing Rush and an off year for elections. However, I didn’t think about Bobby Mac leaving being a factor he was so irritating but I guess I can see it. 106.3 just goes down some rabbit holes that go off the rails. I think a lot of people, even in their target audience that may have listened in the past, are put out with a lot of the antics. 94.5 doesn’t push unfounded claims and conspiracies as much as 106.3 does but they are more “preachy.” I think a lot of the former WYRD listeners have gone to WROQ and the country stations and may get their news elsewhere.

WSPA-FM broke their normal format like 2 or 3 times during the year to do all Christmas stunts. I get it if it makes them money, but out of all terrestrial radio stations I think they’ve been all Christmas almost the most. They flipped way before any other Audacy station or even the iHeart ones and they’ll probably continue it in to New Years again this year. Most AC’s go back to the main format at 12:01 after the ID hits on 12/26 - WSPA used to - but over the past couple of years they’ve started early and ended late.

 

[genius]

Yes they did Christmas stunts back in July and in September. I joked before WSPA should just become the all Christmas all the time station. It may be a money maker but as many times WSPA has flipped to Christmas and stretching it out from 11/2-1/1 reeks of desperation if they are looking for extra cash.

 

[vchimpanzee]

94.5 doesn’t push unfounded claims and conspiracies as much as 106.3 does but they are more “preachy.”

I can remember when they used to literally preach.

 

[101tm]

Yes they did Christmas stunts back in July and in September. I joked before WSPA should just become the all Christmas all the time station. It may be a money maker but as many times WSPA has flipped to Christmas and stretching it out from 11/2-1/1 reeks of desperation if they are looking for extra cash.

I feel like it's more out of desperation or more financial success with Christmas music. The question is, why is the AC format underperforming? The music isn't that different from most other mainstream AC's. Mornings are syndicated, not as common with AC as other formats but not unheard of and there are other AC's around that have carried that show for years. I do find the imaging confusing - why do some liners and the DJ's say Magic 98-9, but other liners and the jingles say Magic 98 point 9? They shouldn't have made a change like that if they couldn't budget to update it completely. Also, the RDS and automation are a trainwreck, you'll hear two liners on top of each other, an outro liner running over a commercial, cold segues from music to commercials, etc. But every other Audacy GSP station has those same issues.

My theory still comes down to what I've said many times, this market has an abnormal amount of signals playing a lot of the same songs that target the same demographic, so it's going to fragment the audience. Back when WSPA-FM was regularly top 5 this wasn't the case especially after WMYI went to hot AC and dropped everything pre-2000.

BTW, as much as I can't stand The Rise Guys, Audacy must see a lot of potential in them. They put them on in Chattanooga earlier this year and last week added them to their classic rocker in New Orleans.

 

[101tm]

Audacy has added Natasha Castles from KALV/Live 101.5 Phoenix for nights on B93.7. Very canned, no station or local references (like Julia and Bru).

 

[freqdev]

The question is, why is the AC format underperforming? The music isn't that different from most other mainstream AC's. Mornings are syndicated, not as common with AC as other formats but not unheard of and there are other AC's around that have carried that show for years.

i dont think anyone wants to address the elephant in the room, ac is trying to sound contemporary while appealing to the lower demos with familar songs. the older demos don't know the newer songs and the younger demos that know them don't use radio. ac is not dead. a shot of truth serum and learning who the audience actually is might help.

 

[vchimpanzee]

i dont think anyone wants to address the elephant in the room, ac is trying to sound contemporary while appealing to the lower demos with familar songs. the older demos don't know the newer songs and the younger demos that know them don't use radio. ac is not dead. a shot of truth serum and learning who the audience actually is might help.

WEZV in Myrtle Beach learned this. The new songs are gone and the focus is on older stuff. It's also softer.

 

[AMRocks]

Audacy has added Natasha Castles from KALV/Live 101.5 Phoenix for nights on B93.7. Very canned, no station or local references (like Julia and Bru).

All the canned jocks (and even some of the local ones) promote the HELL out of that freaking Audacy app. 😵 You'd never know it was a terrestrial radio station they were on.....
It gets really annoying

 

[101tm]

interesting the only thing not canned on B93.7 is their horribly aged morning show. If it does that well, I’m starting to join the camp of moving it to WSPA-FM and in turn making the playlist there slightly more modern, ditching most of the 80s stuff that every stick in the market seems to be playing as a freshen up. I would think it would improve the demos 18-34 and 25-34 on 93.7 and bring the 35-54 demos on 98.9 down and improve their struggles as I’d think most of Hawk and Tom’s audience is no longer listening to CHR and would probably fit better with AC.

But then again 10 years ago or so 102.5 tried a younger AC then Hot AC format and it never caught on. Perhaps the market just doesn’t like newer music? 93.7, 96.3/etc, 98.1, 98.5 and 100.5 are the only stations primarily focused on new hits. 93.3, 98.9, and 107.3 play some, but that’s still a lot less than most other markets. I’d love to have something like KDMX 1029NOW in Dallas.