Boston Radio Ratings: September 2023

[pjc1961]

Covering the survey period from Thu. 8/17/2023 thru Wed. 9/13/2023, age 6+ overall:

Boston - RadioInsight (refresh page if not updated immediately)

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

OR https://www.urbaninsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/BOSTON.htm

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis from Research Director Inc.:
(scroll down to see Boston market)

RADIO RATINGS ROUNDUP SEPTEMBER 2023 PART 2 | Research Director, Inc.

As promised – we’re back. And we’re glad you found the new home for The Radio Ratings Roundup (formerly a part of the All Access empire). The R

researchdirectorinc.com

25-54: 1. WBZ-FM 2. WXKS-FM 3. WWBX 4. WZLX (up from #8) 5. WBUR 6. WBWL (up from #10) 7. WBOS 9. WMJX
18-34: 1. WXKS-FM 2. WBZ-FM 3T. WBQT 3T. WJMN (up from #9) 5. WMJX 6. WKLB
_______ 9T. WBGB (down from #2) 9T. WWBX (down from #3) 9T. WBWL (up from #13)
18-49: 1. WBZ-FM 2. WXKS-FM 3. WWBX 4. WZLX 5. WMJX 6T. WBQT 6T. WBUR 8. WROR (down from #4)

 

[Fenway1912]

WBZ-AM is now in a death spiral. IHeart has to find them a FM signal

 

[pjc1961]

In the sports radio battle for the Summer 2023 quarter (July-August-September PPM months - males 25-54), 98.5 The Sports Hub still reigns, but WEEI's Greg Hill Show makes gains in morning drive (2nd with 11.6, up from 7th with 5.2 a year ago) while Toucher + Rich lose a bit off the top (1st with 15.3, 1st with 24.2 a year ago).

Sports Hub is comfotably ahead of 'EEI in the other dayparts.

In summer radio ratings, The Sports Hub remains in top spot; WEEI’s morning show makes gain

98.5 The Sports Hub remained in the top spot overall and in mornings, midday, and afternoons, but one WEEI program made notable headway.

www.boston.com

Barrett Sports Media gives slightly more details with other demos mentioned:

98.5 The Sports Hub Delivers Strong Summer Ratings But WEEI’s ‘Greg Hill Show’ Closes The Gap in Mornings

"98.5 The Sports Hub remained the top overall station in the summer book but WEEI's Greg Hill Show made up significant ground in morning drive."

barrettsportsmedia.com

 

[raccoonradio]

As it stands iHR has 94.5, 97.7, 100.7, 101.7 and 107.9--who winds up as home of WBZ newsradio? If it were 101.7 for example, they lose one revenue stream. If they feel NewsRadio is important enough to do this, they could. I think if they wanted to keep news-talk on 1030 as well they'd have to do a 100% simulcast, for ratings.
Or change 1030 to...what?
What used to be Entercom moved EEI to FM--two years AFTER CBS launched sports hub, and now 850 is a home for gambling talk.
(EEI's former sister station having a different owner, RKO, has one show late nights to cover that...)

If it's a resistance by listeners to AM holding them back, then yes, a move would make sense. iHR's situation has led to cost cutting and things like news-rerun-all-night. People do have the option to simply hear 1030 online (or on 107.9 HD2) as it is.
Or: sell RKO, move Kuhner/Grace/Carr etc to 1030 and do all news on 101.7. Lose the earnings from the country signal. Inconvenience some area listeners who would want news on 1030 and can't pick up 101.7--or, no, make it 1030 & 101.7

Radio-Locator.com

Radio Station Search Engine

radio-locator.com

Or do news-talk on 1030 and 101.7 and move the Bull to 680? AM radio hot country....uh....

 

[johnster]

WBZ is already on WXKS-FM HD2 from the top of the Pru. I hear them to Worcester and Cape bridges in my car like many others in full digital FM quality. Most new cars have HD radios. Year by year the numbers will increase. 1030 retains some value with the main signal there.

 

[AerieAlso]

I've been thinking that WBZ and WRKO should exchange frequencies. WBZ has the big Class A signal that covers most of New England, but concentrates on Boston news, Boston weather, Boston traffic, Boston sports that many people outside of Rte 128 don't care about. 680 could adequately cover all that. Moving the talk programming to 1030 would give them a far bigger reach and maybe inspire some better programs.

 

[raccoonradio]

If so, they could do a call swap as WBZ identified with news-talk [tho also associated for years with the 1030 freq...]--WBZ 680, WRKO 1030 if they did do this.
WBZ-FM calls--now with a separate owner--have bounced all over, though.
46.7, 100.7, 92.9, 106.7, 98.5

WBZ-FM

This article is about radio stations during their time as WBZ-FM. For 98.5 in Boston before WBZ-FM in 2009, see WBMX-FM. For 106.7 in Boston after WBZ-FM in 1981, see WMJX WBZ-FM is a sports radio station known as "98.5 The Sports Hub" and broadcasting on 98.5 MHz in Boston, Massachusetts. Owned...

weatherchannel.fandom.com

 

[vmorrison99]

I've been thinking that WBZ and WRKO should exchange frequencies. WBZ has the big Class A signal that covers most of New England, but concentrates on Boston news, Boston weather, Boston traffic, Boston sports that many people outside of Rte 128 don't care about. 680 could adequately cover all that. Moving the talk programming to 1030 would give them a far bigger reach and maybe inspire some better programs.

I doubt you will ever see that happen. IHEART seems satisfied with the one 4 hour program a day and 20 hours of syndicated, paid and Howie Carr produced content. Given the demographics that listen to talk radio and the obstacles selling it, I doubt IHEART would move Boston's Conservative Talk or whatever they call themselves over to 1030. But if they move BZ to an FM signal what would they air on 1030?

I find BZ difficult to listen to, to me it is a traffic station along with news headlines. I get so much news content from other sources by the time I tune into BZ very little is new or of interest to me. Although tragic the 3 alarm fire the night before is of no interest.

When I was there in the 80's BZ had a beat reporter at the Federal Court House, the State House and Boston City Hall. Today it seems that a donut shop in Saugus that was just named one of the best donut shops in New England or a group of Senior Citizens traveling by bus to see 80 for Brady is the type of story they send a reporter out to cover.

I used to listen more often when there was more talk programs. I doubt we will ever see a return to overnight or more weekend talk programs.

 

[Least]

As it stands iHR has 94.5, 97.7, 100.7, 101.7 and 107.9--who winds up as home of WBZ newsradio? If it were 101.7 for example, they lose one revenue stream. If they feel NewsRadio is important enough to do this, they could. I think if they wanted to keep news-talk on 1030 as well they'd have to do a 100% simulcast, for ratings.
Or change 1030 to...what?
What used to be Entercom moved EEI to FM--two years AFTER CBS launched sports hub, and now 850 is a home for gambling talk.
(EEI's former sister station having a different owner, RKO, has one show late nights to cover that...)

If it's a resistance by listeners to AM holding them back, then yes, a move would make sense. iHR's situation has led to cost cutting and things like news-rerun-all-night. People do have the option to simply hear 1030 online (or on 107.9 HD2) as it is.
Or: sell RKO, move Kuhner/Grace/Carr etc to 1030 and do all news on 101.7. Lose the earnings from the country signal. Inconvenience some area listeners who would want news on 1030 and can't pick up 101.7--or, no, make it 1030 & 101.7

Radio-Locator.com

Radio Station Search Engine

radio-locator.com

Or do news-talk on 1030 and 101.7 and move the Bull to 680? AM radio hot country....uh....

I theorize that Kiss and Jamin are out of the running. WZLX swings up and down in ratings, and draws in more than WBOS, so I would suspect if WBZ-AM was to come to FM, and on 100.7, WZLX is finding a new home. That leaves Rumba and The Bull, and how I personally would love it to be The Bull that got the axe, and get rid of WKLB while we're at it (hate country music). But if they keep The Bull and WZLX, one of them is moving to 97.7.

 

[Least]

WBZ is already on WXKS-FM HD2 from the top of the Pru. I hear them to Worcester and Cape bridges in my car like many others in full digital FM quality. Most new cars have HD radios. Year by year the numbers will increase. 1030 retains some value with the main signal there.

Here we go again. The "it's on HD-2" argument doesn't equate. It's also on streaming, but streaming doesn't bring in ratings. You guys need to let go of HD Radio being this game changer of a platform. It's a graveyard for formats. If AM went away as a band, newsradio isn't going to survive on HD-2.

 

[TheBigA]

If AM went away as a band, newsradio isn't going to survive on HD-2.

But it won't go away. The federal government won't allow it to go away. It will be there for the foreseeable future regardless of what people think about it, or how often people use it.

The placement of formats on HD or streaming is for user convenience. To make the content available on all platforms. If you chose not to use it there, that's up to you. Radio companies are strictly providing content.

 

[Least]

But it won't go away. The federal government won't allow it to go away. It will be there for the foreseeable future regardless of what people think about it, or how often people use it.

The placement of formats on HD or streaming is for user convenience. To make the content available on all platforms. If you chose not to use it there, that's up to you. Radio companies are strictly providing content.

I agree 100%. What I'm trying to state (and have ad noseum) is that the statements of a station being on HD-2 as a reason to end discussions of placement of an AM station on analog FM is misguided. Assuming that the issue with WBZ-AM is that it's on AM should be moot if enough people were listening to their HD Radios. Those numbers would reflect in the ratings. That it doesn't, and we are making a claim that the issue is that the newsradio format is on AM, my conclusion is that the members here making the argument for it being on HD-2 are only making the argument subjectively, because they prefer HD Radio. I'm not against it, but am rather looking at it objectively.

 

[TheBigA]

I agree 100%. What I'm trying to state (and have ad noseum) is that the statements of a station being on HD-2 as a reason to end discussions of placement of an AM station on analog FM is misguided.

The reason it's misguided is because iHeart is not going to blow up any of its FMs to simulcast any of its AM formats. We know this is true because it's not something iHeart does. If the station was still owned by CBS or Audacy, we could point to examples in NY, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco where they simulcast news on FM. But Audacy spun off WBZ to iHeart.

The HD feed has nothing to do with it. It's just there for convenience, not as a reason or an excuse or even as a way to make money.

 

[EnterCommunicator]

I used to listen more often when there was more talk programs. I doubt we will ever see a return to overnight or more weekend talk programs.

It's depressing. I'm 48 and grew up going to sleep at night with a pair of headphones on listening to obscure call in shows on AM. Listening softly is how I could fall asleep even though some of the shows were stuff I knew nothing about, ie financial advice. There was just something about the cadence of the host and the callers from across the country that was fascinating. Nowadays if I can't sleep I'll try and find Coast to Coast but too often it feels like there's an extended commercial break every 5 minutes which is jarring when you're trying to drift off to sleep.

 

[sacredcod]

I do not have an HD radio in my vehicle and it is of the newer ilk (2020). If WBZ were to go away from AM I would not likely turn on the stream nearly as often. I am sure I am not alone.

The stories on WBZ do not always make sense for me in how they arrange things. Silly headlines over what I care about. Washington and my 401K, what is happening with state government. Local news. Silly is fine once in a while but not all the time. I know they need young listeners and must evolve to stay relevant. It seems the social media is part of that. I am concerned iheart will look at these ratings see this is not working for them. We need WBZ. I worry it will go away.

 

[Methuselah]

Nowadays if I can't sleep I'll try and find Coast to Coast but too often it feels like there's an extended commercial break every 5 minutes which is jarring when you're trying to drift off to sleep.

I listen to Frank Morano on WABC radio overnight, 1a-5a. He has some interesting guests from time to time.

I simply can't listen to C2C.

 

[Gregg.]

>>>WBZ-AM is now in a death spiral. IHeart has to find them a FM signal.<<<

That's a bit dramatic. But yes, iHeart will have to find WBZ an FM simulcast sooner rather than later. There's no thought to move talk to 1030. It doesn't get the billing that WBZ does. I'm sure you'd find WBZ's billing to be equal to or better than some of iHeart's FM stations in Boston. The billing for talk radio is not as good and will stay on 680 and 1200 AM.

So where does iHeart put WBZ's All-News simulcast? Maybe on 101.7. Or move the Hip Hop format on 94.5 WJMN to 101.7, since that signal covers the more urban areas of the market and put WBZ's simulcast on 94.5, which has a full Class B signal. I'm guessing that 101.7 brings in some revenue but is likely last among iHeart's Boston FM stations.

 

[TheBigA]

So where does iHeart put WBZ's All-News simulcast?

It's on the iHeart app. That's the future of radio, not FM.

iHeart isn't giving up on AM, and it doesn't simulcast AMs on FM unless it's a translator.

WROR had a worse book than WBZ and ROR is not on AM. The sky is not falling.

 

[Least]

The reason it's misguided is because iHeart is not going to blow up any of its FMs to simulcast any of its AM formats. We know this is true because it's not something iHeart does. If the station was still owned by CBS or Audacy, we could point to examples in NY, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco where they simulcast news on FM. But Audacy spun off WBZ to iHeart.

The HD feed has nothing to do with it. It's just there for convenience, not as a reason or an excuse or even as a way to make money.

Much understood. However, I implore anyone to prove either a profitable station that is only HD-Radio and has airstaff, or an AM station that is simulcast on a HD-2/3/4 frequency and performs stronger specifically due to it being on the HD frequency. If such was the case, these HD frequencies would be in tbe reports. I see streams reported, such as the WEEI stream, but in Boston I don't see HD frequencies. Nor do I see any unique HD frequency that is programmed with live air staff, outside an AM simulcast or a format that is cleared nationally (ie. Channel Q). Outside those, HD is a zombie Jukebox. Trust me, I want HD to succeed, because it would bring in more formats. I liked Radio Mojo, Indie 104.1 and Free Form 104.

 

[TheBigA]

I implore anyone to prove either a profitable station that is only HD-Radio and has airstaff, or an AM station that is simulcast on a HD-2/3/4 frequency and performs stronger specifically due to it being on the HD frequency.

Once again, that's not the point.