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December 2020 trends

C

ckg279

Per Radio Online. 12+ only. Top 5 stations listed, then general notes.

1. WBLK/93.7 8.9(down .4)
2. WBEN/930 8.3(up .7)
3. WGRF/96.9 7.3(down .7)
WYRK/106.5 7.3(down .2)
5. WGR/550 6.7(up .6)

General notes:

-WYRK is still on the decline overall.
-WTSS won the Battle of the Christmas Music Stations, 6.2 to 4.1 .
-WBFO continues their slow upward climb to a 3.3 .
-WBUF remains at a 1.9 . Likewise, The Wolf is just as moribund at a 1.2(down .2) .
 
ckg279 said:
Per Radio Online. 12+ only. Top 5 stations listed, then general notes.

1. WBLK/93.7 8.9(down .4)
2. WBEN/930 8.3(up .7)
3. WGRF/96.9 7.3(down .7)
WYRK/106.5 7.3(down .2)
5. WGR/550 6.7(up .6)

General notes:

-WYRK is still on the decline overall.
-WTSS won the Battle of the Christmas Music Stations, 6.2 to 4.1 .
-WBFO continues their slow upward climb to a 3.3 .
-WBUF remains at a 1.9 . Likewise, The Wolf is just as moribund at a 1.2(down .2) .
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Just a little clarification... the "monthly" releases in continuous measurement diary markets are "books" and not "trends". Each release is a fully weighted book. A trend used to be an interim report based on months from two different books and was not weighted.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Just a little clarification... the "monthly" releases in continuous measurement diary markets are "books" and not "trends". Each release is a fully weighted book. A trend used to be an interim report based on months from two different books and was not weighted.
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Maybe you can revise the title of these two threads from "Trend" to "Book". A certain station owner who started the other thread has an axe to grind with Nielsen.

As for the current ratings, very little has changed. WLKK and WBUF are dead stations. The Wolf is proving that there is no demand for a 2nd Country format. Flipping from Alternative to Country was a lateral move. 107.7 is the "Home of The 1 Share"...
 
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TheBigA said:
Nationally the country format is in it's usual holiday hole. It usually rebounds in February.
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Holiday Hole? Isn't that the new Country Artist of the Year?

WYRK has been declining from their lofty ratings perch, but they are still in decent shape. The Wolf (1.2 share) is road kill and certainly isn't causing WYRK's decline...
 
tbolt909 said:
The Wolf (1.2 share) is road kill and certainly isn't causing WYRK's decline...
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It's not causing WYRK's decline, but their listeners now have a place to go. It's all about the rebound. If WYRK doesn't rebound, and you can see shift in the diary mentions, then it's a problem. In any case, Audacy isn't going back to alt.
 
Persons 12+ December

Interesting that the header refers to these numbers "trends," but as has been pointed out, the data are fully and properly weighted and constitute a Fall book.

Even without knowing the Persons 25-54 or 35-64, it appears WYRK is facing some serious headwinds, and the erosion isn't necessarily if at all due to The Wolf. The new PD/OM at Townsquare has some decisions to make. Given his track record in country and in Rochester, it wouldn't be wise to bet against him. Glass being half full, there's nothing better than coming into a situation where the station is faltering, being able to stop the slide and regain momentum.

Although The Wolf appears gaunt, the other key Audacy properties are up. WBEN-AM, WGR-AM, Kiss and Star posted gains.

Somewhat ironic that the Edge is up 0.7 and 97 Rock is off 0.7. It would not be a surprise, upon drilling deep into the key demos, to find that WGR and Buffalo Bills football siphoned off some Men from 97 Rock. Same application to WBUF which is flat ("better than going down") and getting no traction, probably because of WGR... and the legacy of 97 Rock. (Jack called in from a phone booth on Allen street and left a message.) WBLK, although #1, showed some slippage, but remember, this is 12+ and the heritage Urban format probably has enviable target demo ratings.
 
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I think there are some interesting numbers to pick through here. WBLK continues to hover around a 9 share. Their audience looks solid.

WBEN has been steadily upward since September. The battle for mayor likely helped that, especially considering that it wasn't official until later in November. Still, it's a bit surprising to me.

Star gets the big Christmas present. Santa likely trimmed a few tenths from several music stations. My guess is that they impacted WECK a bit more than some of the stations targeted at younger audiences.

Another decline for WYRK has to be disturbing. The new management there has to stop the bleeding.

The Bills are certainly good for WGR. The advent of sports betting may also be a plus for them. They certainly talk about betting enough.

Maybe the new Edge morning show is having an impact. The perspective is different with a woman leading the show. It will be interesting to see if they're building something there.

WHTT continues to inch upward. They just missed joining the tie for 5th.

Otherwise, it's mostly more of the same. WEBR did register in this book, but 0.1 isn't going to scare anybody.
 
SirRoxalot said:
The Bills are certainly good for WGR. The advent of sports betting may also be a plus for them. They certainly talk about betting enough.
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I'd bet WGR is #1 Men 25-54, eclipsing 97 Rock and The Edge. Ahem. Sports and political rancor, the fuel that keeps AM stations alive. Regarding WYRK from the sales perspective: if the station's rating points in dayparts and key demographics are slipping, and the AQH Persons are eroding, serious revenue issues for OTA may be in store. CPP and CPM are key metrics for driving OTA based revenue. Townsquare's advantage however is their extensive digital platform which generates considerable revenue for the company. How much of that revuenue comes from the Buffalo cluster stations? Very likely, WYRK leads in those metrics, followed by WBLK, while the Breeze and WBUF lag. The OTA numbers may be down, but if the digital sustains or actually grows, WYRK's loss may be mitigated, at least for a while. Clicks, page views and sessions.
 
Rusty Bridges said:
Regarding WYRK from the sales perspective: if the station's rating points in dayparts and key demographics are slipping, and the AQH Persons are eroding, serious revenue issues for OTA may be in store.
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For those unfamiliar with ratings terminology, it's important to know that all three average audience level measurements are the same thing, just expressed differently, sort of like "yards" and "meters" in physical measurements.

Average Quarter Hour (AQH) Persons: the actual number of people listening in a time period.
Rating: AQH persons expressed as a percentage of all people in a particular group (age, gender, ethnic, etc)
Share: AQH persons express as a percentage of all people in a particular group who are listening to the radio.

So, in an imaginary market, a station might have 5,200 AQH persons. That would represent a 5 share of all radio listeners, and a rating of 0.4. Yet all three of those numbers are the same, just as 1/2 is the same as 50% or 0.5.
 
DavidEduardo said:
So, in an imaginary market, a station might have 5,200 AQH persons. That would represent a 5 share of all radio listeners, and a rating of 0.4. Yet all three of those numbers are the same, just as 1/2 is the same as 50% or 0.5.
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Yes, this is ↑ a worthwhile clarification and application of the terms. A few respected sales reps have remarked that whereas programming people typically look at shares (AQH Share), sales reps often deal with buyers who base their decisions on Cost Per Thousand (CPM, AQH Persons) or Cost Per Point (CPP, Cost Per Rating Point) ... it's a fascinating aspect of radio advertising transactions.
 
Rusty Bridges said:
Yes, this is ↑ a worthwhile clarification and application of the terms. A few respected sales reps have remarked that whereas programming people typically look at shares (AQH Share), sales reps often deal with buyers who base their decisions on Cost Per Thousand (CPM, AQH Persons) or Cost Per Point (CPP, Cost Per Rating Point) ... it's a fascinating aspect of radio advertising transactions.
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And at stations, we watch for the exact moment when "ratings" come out and then download and look at the shares!!!
 
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