Chicago Radio Ratings: August 2023

[pjc1961]

Covering the survey period from Thu. 7/20/2023 thru Wed. 8/16/2023, age 6+ overall:

Chicago

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Chicago (Market #3) Population: 8,004,000 Black: 1,343,100 – Hispanic: 1,913,500 Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid All ratings are Copyright © 2005-2024 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen radio audience estimates and data...

radioinsight.com

or Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis by Research Director Inc. is posted on their own "Hot Topics" blog page.

Press release:

https://researchdirectorinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Radio-Ratings-Roundup-Is-Moving-to-Hot-Topics-August-31-2023.pdf

Blog page: RADIO RATINGS ROUNDUP AUGUST 2023, PART 1 | Research Director, Inc.

(scroll down to see Chicago)

25-54: 1. WLIT 2. WOJO 3. WUSN 4. WBMX 5. WXRT
18-34: 1. WOJO 2. WLIT (up from #6) 3. WXRT 4. WDRV (up from #7) 5. WKSC 6. WGCI 7. WUSN (down from #3)
18-49: 1. WOJO 2. WLIT 3. WBMX 4. WXRT 5. WUSN 6. WDRV

 

[MarkW]

WXRT proves AAA can still be very viable for advertiser friendly demos!

Kudos to them, and kudos to Audacy for not wrecking a good thing!

WBMX also continues to impress!!

 

[101tm]

Doesn’t look like 96.3’s format tweak has done much for them at all.

Rock 95.5 seemed like it may finally bring some success to the seemingly cursed 95.5 frequency at first, but that seemed short lived.

 

[davideduardo]

WXRT proves AAA can still be very viable for advertiser friendly demos!

It does well, but has a power ratio of about .75 and is around 12th or 13th in billing. It's not unusual to see this type of format under-perform in this manner.

 

[MarkW]

(duplicate post; please delete.)

 

[MarkW]

In a market with as many stations as Chicago, 12th place is respectable. If they (WXRT) sustain their ratings strength for a prolonged period, I suspect they will begin to move up in rank.

Rock 95.5's playlist is utter trash. The log from today is the worst mix of music I've seen yet from them.

 

[davideduardo]

In a market with as many stations as Chicago, 12th place is respectable.

It's not bad, but is certainly less than other formats with the same 25-54 share would get.

Ad dollar reallocation seems to move at a very slow pace in Chicago relative to ratings changes.

That happens in lots of markets, first because agencies don't buy off single books but off 6 book or more averages and, second, because some companies have better sales efforts than others.

 

[davideduardo]

In a market with as many stations as Chicago, 12th place is respectable. If they sustain their ratings strength for a prolonged period, I suspect they will begin to move up in rank.

They have had a power ratio of around .75 for a decade. It's apparently about the owner's sales efforts and the lesser appeal of the format to clients and buyers.

 

[MarkW]

The example that really sticks out to me - and I know I've mentioned it on occasion in the past - is Kiss 103.5 versus B96.

It took Kiss forever to be in the same ballpark as B96 revenue wise.

 

[Nearby]

WXRT proves AAA can still be very viable for advertiser friendly demos!

I'm kind of surprised WXRT ranks better 18-34 than 25-54. Still, it shows XRT is bringing younger demos, when many in that format are trying not to age out.

 

[scanman1]

I'm kind of surprised WXRT ranks better 18-34 than 25-54. Still, it shows XRT is bringing younger demos, when many in that format are trying not to age out.

93XRT has an excellent playlist of older and newer songs that can appeal to a variety of age groups.

Rock 95.5's playlist is utter trash. The log from today is the worst mix of music I've seen yet from them.

They really should fire whoever programs that mess and get an actual rock fan to program the music.

 

[RadioJ55]

93XRT has an excellent playlist of older and newer songs that can appeal to a variety of age groups.



They really should fire whoever programs that mess and get an actual rock fan to program the music.

The program director for WKSC programs WCHI. Honestly I think it's just there because they don't know what to fill it with they probably package it to sell with WLIT and WVAZ . Whereas they package WKSC with WGCI . WCHI is not even getting a 2.0 share. But they have all local hosts as well , so maybe there trying but they just don't know what they're doing . The second they start tracking jocks is when we'll know they threw in the towel and it's just passive income for IHeart and something to package with another station, until they can find a better fit that is. They gave country a very half assed attempt. No local morning show tracked night jock, But they probably won't do that again.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

The program director for WKSC programs WCHI. Honestly I think it's just there because they don't know what to fill it with they probably package it to sell with WLIT and WVAZ . Whereas they package WKSC with WGCI . WCHI is not even getting a 2.0 share. But they have all local hosts as well , so maybe there trying but they just don't know what they're doing . The second they start tracking jocks is when we'll know they threw in the towel and it's just passive income for IHeart and something to package with another station, until they can find a better fit that is. They gave country a very half assed attempt. No local morning show tracked night jock, But they probably won't do that again.

95.5 has a Sag-Aftra contract. They need a certain amount of live jocks as a result. The Country format initially had a local morning show but they went syndicated toward the end. If I remember right, they had to have someone local running it in order to keep Sag-Aftra happy.

I believe 95.5 is packaged with 103.5 and 93.9. Female target audience

 

[macattack]

93XRT has an excellent playlist of older and newer songs that can appeal to a variety of age groups.



They really should fire whoever programs that mess and get an actual rock fan to program the music.

WXRT runs a specific style of AAA that I’ve seen informally referred to as “world-class rock”. The style broadens the selection to include a variety of classic rock and beloved grunge tracks in addition to what’s typically found on a standard AAA station. I think this lets WXRT comfortably sit as a P2 for WDRV listeners as WXRT does share some songs with WDRV.

WXRT also likes to jump on Alternative songs that are breaking out as Q101 continues to be rather slow in adding them - as a recent example, WXRT added “Pull Me Through” by Royal Blood and I think they are the first AAA in the country to give any song by Royal Blood serious spins. So this tendency lets them be a P2 for Q101 listeners.

So in addition to those they’ve converted into P1 listeners WXRT has likely convinced many others into becoming their P2 from both the younger and older ends of their target demos.

WCHI has excellent DJs but the music they run is both boring and stagnant. They either need to jump into Q101’s lane and go “hard Alternative” or get a lot edgier because they come off almost as a harder-edged adult contemporary station in some sets. They’re doing a smidgen better than the old country format but not by much and I think the music is likely the problem here.