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Latest Chicago Radio Ratings
- Thread starter Dr Wayne
- Start date
Let's see, new morning show from out of town. Still being syndicated back to where it came from, which leads me to believe they're probably talking more to their previous market than they are Chicago to an extent.
Only local jock aside from the morning show they have on is in the midday.
CHR in general not doing all that great here lately in the 6+
Don't think they can expect much. But as long as it bills.
What does 103.5 have that 96.3 does not?
An established morning show.
Local Midday jock (10-Noon)
Local Afternoon jock
More energetic imaging
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For the survey period from Thu. October 13 thru Wed. November 9,
AllAccess Top 5+ demo rankings for 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49: Scroll down to see Chicago market
(Holiday programming is mostly absent from this survey.)
25-54: 1. WOJO 2. WLIT 3. WXRT 4. WTMX 5. WBEZ 7. WDRV (down from #2)
18-34: 1. WOJO 2. WLS-FM T3. WDRV T3. WLIT (up from #11) 5. WUSN 6. WGCI 7. WKSC T9. WKQX T9. WPPN
18-49: 1. WOJO T2. WBMX T2. WBEZ 4. WXRT 5. WLIT (up from #10) 6. WDRV 7. WKSC 13. WLS-FM
AllAccess Top 5+ demo rankings for 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49: Scroll down to see Chicago market
(Holiday programming is mostly absent from this survey.)
25-54: 1. WOJO 2. WLIT 3. WXRT 4. WTMX 5. WBEZ 7. WDRV (down from #2)
18-34: 1. WOJO 2. WLS-FM T3. WDRV T3. WLIT (up from #11) 5. WUSN 6. WGCI 7. WKSC T9. WKQX T9. WPPN
18-49: 1. WOJO T2. WBMX T2. WBEZ 4. WXRT 5. WLIT (up from #10) 6. WDRV 7. WKSC 13. WLS-FM
The breaking point would have to be if the revenue declined to an intolerable level in addition to poor ratings. I don't know how well WBBM-FM bills, but I can't imagine if 6+ shares really continued to tank (around 1.3-1.0) that some action wouldn't be taken, whether it be a revamp or a format change.
Some inaccurate information above that I will clear up about B 96 before getting into my opinion.
The new morning show actually moved to Chicago. If you look at B 96's IG page, they sometimes record bits and you can tell it is in the Chicago studio and that the windows have big buildings that do not look anything like Phoenix.
Although, the problem might be that if they sound mid major market, it may not be getting much of an increase in ratings than the previously well liked Gabe and Nina or J-Niice/Showbiz Shelly/Julian morning show before it. Minus a few exceptions, Chicago likes their morning show local not shared.
Kenzie K and Julia I believe still do a good portion of their shows in Chicago. They are being voice tracked to so many different places, it is hard to tell when they are here or at another affiliate.
What used to make B 96 cutting edge and great a long time ago (music, jocks, image, promotions) was that it felt and sounded like Top 40 radio programmed for Chicago. That went from Eddie & Jobo, CoCo Cortez/Brian Middleton, Terry Foxx, Julian, Tim & Candi to the Street Mixes and remote broadcasts. It's partially why House music here exploded post WBMX in the 90s. Those days are long gone thanks to Audacy assisted by CBS in its later years. Once the Street Mix ended right around the pandemic, it basically killed anything left that made the station original like its heyday. It's pretty sad. At least I have my mixes on tape & MP3 from that era.
Yes Top 40 radio is not doing well across the country, but if you look at NY, LA, Boston, and some other cities, it is doing better than here. Why? Cause it is probably programmed and catered for the city and the jocks make up for the bad overall music product. (Z 100 NY 4.8 rating, 99-7 Now SF 4.5 rating, Kiss Dallas 4.3, Kiss Boston 6.1).
Kiss FM is a tad more local so people by default I think went there. These corporate companies cut costs all the time, but don't care or realize local DJs are more appealing to the masses. And 104-3 Jams never was never good imo however many people like retro music these days so they will always get some audience to tolerate the nostalgia over their horribly confined and repetitive playlist. Plus they have more local DJs than B 96.
I wonder how much longer can B 96 take this ratings dive. This time it looks more permanent. Just sad how this was the standard station to follow back in the day.
Just my 2 cents.
The new morning show actually moved to Chicago. If you look at B 96's IG page, they sometimes record bits and you can tell it is in the Chicago studio and that the windows have big buildings that do not look anything like Phoenix.
Although, the problem might be that if they sound mid major market, it may not be getting much of an increase in ratings than the previously well liked Gabe and Nina or J-Niice/Showbiz Shelly/Julian morning show before it. Minus a few exceptions, Chicago likes their morning show local not shared.
Kenzie K and Julia I believe still do a good portion of their shows in Chicago. They are being voice tracked to so many different places, it is hard to tell when they are here or at another affiliate.
What used to make B 96 cutting edge and great a long time ago (music, jocks, image, promotions) was that it felt and sounded like Top 40 radio programmed for Chicago. That went from Eddie & Jobo, CoCo Cortez/Brian Middleton, Terry Foxx, Julian, Tim & Candi to the Street Mixes and remote broadcasts. It's partially why House music here exploded post WBMX in the 90s. Those days are long gone thanks to Audacy assisted by CBS in its later years. Once the Street Mix ended right around the pandemic, it basically killed anything left that made the station original like its heyday. It's pretty sad. At least I have my mixes on tape & MP3 from that era.
Yes Top 40 radio is not doing well across the country, but if you look at NY, LA, Boston, and some other cities, it is doing better than here. Why? Cause it is probably programmed and catered for the city and the jocks make up for the bad overall music product. (Z 100 NY 4.8 rating, 99-7 Now SF 4.5 rating, Kiss Dallas 4.3, Kiss Boston 6.1).
Kiss FM is a tad more local so people by default I think went there. These corporate companies cut costs all the time, but don't care or realize local DJs are more appealing to the masses. And 104-3 Jams never was never good imo however many people like retro music these days so they will always get some audience to tolerate the nostalgia over their horribly confined and repetitive playlist. Plus they have more local DJs than B 96.
I wonder how much longer can B 96 take this ratings dive. This time it looks more permanent. Just sad how this was the standard station to follow back in the day.
Just my 2 cents.
I think what you described is the big problem with the morning show.
Julia was in Chicago, but she's based in Detroit now. She's on their CHR stations across the country.
I should point out, both 103.5 and B96 are not getting the same ratings they used to. A couple years ago, 103.5 was getting Mid 3s and B96 was getting 2s. 103.5 was generally above B96 but sometimes they would get slightly better numbers. It seems the share of CHR in general is not what it was
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Honestly, considering how desperate Audacy is getting, I wonder if they might sell B96. I could see Hubbard or Cumulus wanting that signal for one reason or another.
Or they take the option of throwing WSCR on 96.3
It’s crazy how many low rated CHR stations Audacy inherited from CBS. Many of them are no longer too 40 stations
The reason is simpler than a change in taste... much of the 18-34 audience in pop and urban music has gone to streams, so the remaining listeners in that age group are at more adult formats.
Much of the reason is that many of the current hits in those formats can't be played on the radio, so listeners have to go to streams for the songs they want to hear.
That is also being reflected in the increasing number of 18-34s listening to country radio.
It's really sad that the younger audience is so coarse that they would rather hear obscenity than censored versions. It's just one more symptom of what's wrong with people today. I could never even listen to that kind of tracks. To look at the Billboard Hot 100 today, Casey Kasem probably couldn't even stand to count them down, even censored.
This has been going on for years with the younger female audience, gravitating to Country and CCM. That's why many artists are moving to Nashville.
Mike Joseph must be turning over in his grave.
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I mean, try listening to the censored versions. There's barely any lyrics left.
Case in point: #7 on the Hot 100 (#2 if you take out all the Christmas songs) is Drake feat. 21 Savage, "Rich Flex". There are 42 censored words in a 3:59 runtime, or one every 5.5 seconds.
It would not be a viable transaction for any of the companies involved. Audacy would lose the revenue stream that it provides, regardless of the format, and Hubbard and Cumulus are not doing financially great either.
I think this is the ultimate fate of either WBBM-FM or WBMX. This is a signature format for Audacy, and I think the brand and the teams that it would carry could benefit from an FM presence.
I know it doesn’t matter to anyone outside of this board, but if WSCR was put on 96.3, the WBBM-FM calls could slide over to 105.9 and finally put the WCFS (“Chicago’s FreSh”) calls out to pasture.
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