Umm, have you seen the January PPM's?

[Miguelito]

• WMMR is in first place, having jumped .5 to 7.6?
• WHYY is in second place(?!?!), having jumped a whopping 1.5 from (5.9 to 7.4)?!?!
• WDAS is in third place, having dropped 1.2 points (8.5 to 7.3)?!?!

I mean, huh?

• WXTU inexplicably jumped from 2.9 to 5.3 and is now in 5th place?
• B101.1 crashes down to earth, returning to the same share they had before Christmas music. They dropped nearly 10 points! Their cume is far less than it was in the months leading up to Christmas.
• WOGL, meanwhile, jumps a full point from 3.5 to 4.5.
• WPEN nearly doubles (1.6 to 3.1). Their stream jumped from 0.7 to 1.9. (Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.)
• WPHT scores a lowly 1.3. The WPHT stream, meanwhile, scores...a matching 1.3?!?!
• WTDY continues basically flatlining.

I don't really see how this can be right.

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[atthestars]

Not a lot of it REALLY surprises me too much:

WMMR- Always strong. Numbers aren't far off previous highs.
WHYY- Somewhat of a surprise. They've been strong for a while, but that's a heck of a bump.
WDAS-FM- One "bad" book, but still numbers that Radio One would LOVE to have on one of their signals.

WXTU- has been jumpy before, and people tuned back in after the Christmas switched off on B and the Breeze
WPHT- A little surprised at the streaming number, considering how old their target demographic is.

WTDY & WRNB: Are they really worth those numbers as part of a "cluster sell" or something like that? Not that either company really has anything they could flip them to.

WIP Stream at a 1.9? I CAN see that (plus WPEN's jump). Playoff football, postseason trade talk, people trashing Carson Wentz? People tune in for it.

Getting a little concerned with both WUSL and WRFF's vanity numbers. Sure Power 99 has the heritage, and they're still beating WRNB. Alt 104.5 losing to WXPN again? I love the Alternative format, and the format is going through a tough time right now, but that's a little worrisome.

 

[Miguelito]

Now that I've had a second to stop italicizing and bolding things, these are my real thoughts/questions...

• WDAS drove off a cliff for no apparent reason?
• WXTU just casually advanced 2.4 points?
• I can understand WOGL rising a bit once Christmas music on B101.1 went away...but a full point...to the highest they've scored since last April?
• I don't follow sports so I have no idea what could have made WPEN (and their stream) skip ahead.
• And now that I look at it, WPHT's stream and OTA have had matching scores for three consecutive months...which I just can't comprehend.

 

[TheBigA]

I don't really see how this can be right.

Country and classic hits seem to lose share during the holidays. So now they're back:

https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb007

WRFF is on the way back too.

 

[atthestars]

Country and classic hits seem to lose share during the holidays. So now they're back:

https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb007

WRFF is on the way back too.

WRFF usually doesn't sink this low though. And in years past, WRFF would be in the upper 3's/Low 4's before getting the Christmas slump. Now they've been stuck in the 2's before taking that hit.

Just makes me worry as a fan of the format!

 

[MarkW]

No one seems willing to even semi-challenge WMMR, which is incredible to me. Beasley has a great thing going!

WRFF is at or barely above all-time record low AQH share for the alternative format on that frequency (and perhaps in the history of the market).

96.5 TDY remains an afterthought.

104.5 should seriously consider adding some harder edged rock product to its playlist, similar to 105.9 Pittsburgh, and curtail the Modern AC spins. 104.5's current playlist is nauseatingly bad. Probably my least favorite playlist of any iHM alternative formatted station nationwide. I suspect iHM's collective station group locally earns a very small percentage of male listening.

 

[atthestars]

Now that I've had a second to stop italicizing and bolding things, these are my real thoughts/questions...

• WDAS drove off a cliff for no apparent reason?
• WXTU just casually advanced 2.4 points?
• I can understand WOGL rising a bit once Christmas music on B101.1 went away...but a full point...to the highest they've scored since last April?
• I don't follow sports so I have no idea what could have made WPEN (and their stream) skip ahead.
• And now that I look at it, WPHT's stream and OTA have had matching scores for three consecutive months...which I just can't comprehend.

I wouldn't really call WDAS-FM's drop "diving off a cliff". They had been steady in the 8's for a while, a 7.3, while a step back, is still a fantastic rating (who knows what the demos show). If they repeat in the low 7s or step back lower, then worry. But for now, one bad month does not mean panic.

WXTU rebounding and stepping ahead of where they were pre-christmas again, isn't too unheard of.

 

[atthestars]

No one seems willing to even semi-challenge WMMR, which is incredible to me. Beasley has a great thing going!

WRFF is at or barely above all-time record low AQH share for the alternative format on that frequency (and perhaps in the history of the market).

96.5 TDY remains an afterthought.

104.5 should seriously consider adding some harder edged rock product to its playlist, similar to 105.9 Pittsburgh, and curtail the Modern AC spins. 104.5's current playlist is nauseatingly bad. Probably my least favorite playlist of any iHM alternative formatted station nationwide. I suspect iHM's collective station group locally earns a very small percentage of male listening.

Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are two completely different markets, even though they're in the same state. Can't copy the yinz to the youse and expect the same results.

Plus WXDX has a talk show in the afternoon, and they air Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, a team that is in playoff contention. (Although they just added the Woody show, so we'll see if that does anything to their numbers)

 

[MarkW]

I predict the Woody Show will hurt WXDX's numbers.

The current playlist formula on WRFF's is failing spectacularly. WXDX brought back more rock songs - the numbers rose. WEND in Charlotte brought back some rock songs - the numbers rose. KVIL in Dallas (Audacy owned) added some rock songs - the numbers rose. I'm seeing a pattern.

Sissy music-laced alternative in many instances simply does not work. Washington, D.C., a market with relatively few music stations that cater to white listeners and who lost a fairly popular Hot AC station a couple years ago, is a very noteworthy exception.

 

[atthestars]

I predict the Woody Show will hurt WXDX's numbers.

The current playlist formula on WRFF's is failing spectacularly. WXDX brought back more rock songs - the numbers rose. WEND in Charlotte brought back some rock songs - the numbers rose. KVIL in Dallas (Audacy owned) added some rock songs - the numbers rose. I'm seeing a pattern.

Sissy music-laced alternative in many instances simply does not work. Washington, D.C., a market with relatively few music stations that cater to white listeners and who lost a fairly popular Hot AC station a couple years ago, is a very noteworthy exception.

Again, the population and market history of Pittsburgh is different than Philly. Same with Charlotte and Dallas.

In Pittsburgh, there's WDVE and KDKA-FM pulling in Male numbers, but no other current rock station. Mixing in some harder tracks makes sense there.

In Charlotte, there's classic rock WRFX, but no other station focusing on current rock. Mixing in some harder tracks makes sense there.

In Dallas, you've got Active Rock KEGL ranked lower than KVIL. Not exactly a formula you want to emulate. Dumping the out of market shows and cleaning up the playlist helped.

Here in Philly, you've got WMMR, WIP, WPEN, WMGK etc. all pulling in the male ears. WRFF isn't going to suddenly steal them away by spiking in "Last Resort" by Papa Roach a few extra times. They're in between a rock and a hard place, but trying to go harder and pull from a legendary rock station with a legendary morning show that just prints money? They're not going to be successful.

Just my 2 cents though.

 

[Miguelito]

Again, the population and market history of Pittsburgh is different than Philly. Same with Charlotte and Dallas.

In Pittsburgh, there's WDVE and KDKA-FM pulling in Male numbers, but no other current rock station. Mixing in some harder tracks makes sense there.

In Charlotte, there's classic rock WRFX, but no other station focusing on current rock. Mixing in some harder tracks makes sense there.

In Dallas, you've got Active Rock KEGL ranked lower than KVIL. Not exactly a formula you want to emulate. Dumping the out of market shows and cleaning up the playlist helped.

Here in Philly, you've got WMMR, WIP, WPEN, WMGK etc. all pulling in the male ears. WRFF isn't going to suddenly steal them away by spiking in "Last Resort" by Papa Roach a few extra times. They're in between a rock and a hard place, but trying to go harder and pull from a legendary rock station with a legendary morning show that just prints money? They're not going to be successful.

Just my 2 cents though.

What is WRFF's target demo anyway? I would have sworn I had read that when they launched, they were not-so-secretly going after female listeners. I mean, in the current (and recent-past) landscape, trying to peel off male Rock listeners in Philadelphia is a fool's errand. They simply have too many already-extremely-well-established options. I'll bet there are plenty of guys with pre-set buttons for WIP and/or WPEN, WMGK, and WMMR (and maybe WBEN or WXTU)--who don't even bother setting any others.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Not to mention those who have satellite or use their phone in the car. No one has it easy, some have it even less easy.

 

[radiodx10]

It's good to be Beasley in Philly!

 

[radiodx10]

The current playlist formula on WRFF's is failing spectacularly.

May I suggest WZML 92.9 for your alternative rock needs A small but mighty classic alt station nestled just outside of Philadelphia

 

[davideduardo]

• WMMR is in first place, having jumped .5 to 7.6?

That is a statistical wobble. It is hardly a "jump". 0.5 is well within the margin of error.

• WHYY is in second place(?!?!), having jumped a whopping 1.5 from (5.9 to 7.4)?!?!

January often brings big adjustments. Audience is disrupted for multiple reasons over the holidays, and the panel always has high (over 10% turnover in "Holiday" so things change.

• WDAS is in third place, having dropped 1.2 points (8.5 to 7.3)?!?!

That is still within the margin of error.

• WXTU inexplicably jumped from 2.9 to 5.3 and is now in 5th place?

Again, January brings lots of changes. Disrupted habits, new PPM panelists.

And, this year, not just the pandemic but also a lack of new PPM meters to give to new panelists, so the panel may be unbalance and undersized.

• B101.1 crashes down to earth, returning to the same share they had before Christmas music. They dropped nearly 10 points! Their cume is far less than it was in the months leading up to Christmas.

All all-Christmas stations do that. They take advantage of two months for big Christmas sales opportunities.

It's been that way with all-Christmas stations since the mid-90's.

• WOGL, meanwhile, jumps a full point from 3.5 to 4.5.

Post Christmas recovery for a format that tends to lose a lot to the market's Christmas station(s).

• WPEN nearly doubles (1.6 to 3.1). Their stream jumped from 0.7 to 1.9. (Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.)

At those low levels, very possible.

• WPHT scores a lowly 1.3. The WPHT stream, meanwhile, scores...a matching 1.3?!?!

Also very possible. AMs are getting more streaming numbers as the quality is better and coverage much better.

• WTDY continues basically flatlining.

I don't really see how this can be right.

Since ad buyers don't use just one book, this will level out or become the new norm as America gets into new habits as the pandemic declines. Ad buyers average 4, 5, 6 or more books and exclude the Holiday and December books so right now they are averaging September, October, November and January at least...

And remember, they buy rating, not share. As an example, in NYC there are 8 stations tied for #1 in 18-34 based on rating.

Agencies don't even see those share point wobbles as they don't look at share. And they generally look at 6 AM-/PM M-F, so different data there, too.