What happened to WORD?

[AMRocks]

Shocked that ratings went even lower for October. 4.9 overall.
But it probably their highest month ever for making money.

Greenville/Spartanburg

Nielsen Audio Monthly Ratings Greenville/Spartanburg (Market #53) Population: 1,143,400 Hispanic Population: 105,200 - Black Population: 190,200 Average Quarter Hour Share

radioinsight.com

 

[ngriffin]

Probably political fatigue. Early voting numbers were pretty significant, so some may have voted and "checked out." Historically listenership for talk drops when there is a Repoublican administration (less for conservatives to get riled up about).

 

[genius]

Shocked that ratings went even lower for October. 4.9 overall.
But it probably their highest month ever for making money.

Greenville/Spartanburg

Nielsen Audio Monthly Ratings Greenville/Spartanburg (Market #53) Population: 1,143,400 Hispanic Population: 105,200 - Black Population: 190,200 Average Quarter Hour Share

radioinsight.com

We had discussed last month about the daytime schedule changes for WORD causing a negative effect for the station along with the lackluster reception of adding Mike Gallagher back to the station after being gone from a decade (and trash talking him for Salem putting him on 94.5)

 

[genius]

@101tm

Btw I see WHZT and WFBC did their annual flip flop. I don’t know what it is about but seems every fall is where B93 always gets a bit of a bump (back to school drive?)

 

[101tm]

@101tm

Btw I see WHZT and WFBC did their annual flip flop. I don’t know what it is about but seems every fall is where B93 always gets a bit of a bump (back to school drive?)

That’s all I can think. Each one (although very little of their music overlaps anymore, sadly) always seems left for dead and then bounces back. I don’t attribute this bounce to the new afternoon show; in my opinion, it still sounds very bland and sloppy.

WORD will have tough times ahead. Not to get political, but with republicans controlling almost everything, and in a red state, there isn’t going to be much for them to go on about. I think there’s extreme fatigue as other news/talk stations seem to be underperforming as well. I didn’t even hear many political ads on there when I listened a few times. They may be billing more, but their ratings are no different than when they were on 106.3. Gallagher is weak, Frady is just not a good talk show host, and Tara is extremely polarizing. Levin screeching every night and clipping the audio can’t help either.

It appears that WMYI could settle in to the #2 spot regularly, breaking the long running tradition of iHeart having one of their country stations in that spot. Also, it’s notable WESC’s classic country format has been outperforming WSSL’s new/gold country format despite new country being a hot format for radio right now.

0.2 for 106.3. LOL. 104.9 continues to be a zombie signal. Is it just me, or has The Block steadily lost share over time? Did 99.5 peel off some listeners?

One more thing: Magic on HD/95.1/101.5 got a 0.1 share. That’s a first.

 

[AMRocks]

That’s all I can think. Each one (although very little of their music overlaps anymore, sadly) always seems left for dead and then bounces back. I don’t attribute this bounce to the new afternoon show; in my opinion, it still sounds very bland and sloppy.

WORD will have tough times ahead. Not to get political, but with republicans controlling almost everything, and in a red state, there isn’t going to be much for them to go on about. I think there’s extreme fatigue as other news/talk stations seem to be underperforming as well. I didn’t even hear many political ads on there when I listened a few times. They may be billing more, but their ratings are no different than when they were on 106.3. Gallagher is weak, Frady is just not a good talk show host, and Tara is extremely polarizing. Levin screeching every night and clipping the audio can’t help either.

It appears that WMYI could settle in to the #2 spot regularly, breaking the long running tradition of iHeart having one of their country stations in that spot. Also, it’s notable WESC’s classic country format has been outperforming WSSL’s new/gold country format despite new country being a hot format for radio right now.

0.2 for 106.3. LOL. 104.9 continues to be a zombie signal. Is it just me, or has The Block steadily lost share over time? Did 99.5 peel off some listeners?

One more thing: Magic on HD/95.1/101.5 got a 0.1 share. That’s a first.

Audacy GAVE WMYI that position. Magic just handed it over. Foolish business move. Between the two country stations and WMYI, iHeart could be the market leader.

 

[genius]

That’s all I can think. Each one (although very little of their music overlaps anymore, sadly) always seems left for dead and then bounces back. I don’t attribute this bounce to the new afternoon show; in my opinion, it still sounds very bland and sloppy.

WORD will have tough times ahead. Not to get political, but with republicans controlling almost everything, and in a red state, there isn’t going to be much for them to go on about. I think there’s extreme fatigue as other news/talk stations seem to be underperforming as well. I didn’t even hear many political ads on there when I listened a few times. They may be billing more, but their ratings are no different than when they were on 106.3. Gallagher is weak, Frady is just not a good talk show host, and Tara is extremely polarizing. Levin screeching every night and clipping the audio can’t help either.

You’re right, the shipped in audio segments for Dex and Barbie T are terrible and in no way deserved the promotion or attention that it garnered back in late September. WTF was the point looking back now.

The hilarious thing is I delved into Tara’s show a bit today and you can totally tell she definitely has ZERO material for a Trump and Republican win, seems she was all in for Harris and Democrats to win so she could spew endless toxicity. Now she’s left to saying “Well I hope the Republicans don’t become RINO’s”

 

[vchimpanzee]

It appears that WMYI could settle in to the #2 spot regularly, breaking the long running tradition of iHeart having one of their country stations in that spot. Also, it’s notable WESC’s classic country format has been outperforming WSSL’s new/gold country format despite new country being a hot format for radio right now.

Wait, WSSL isn't doing new country?

 

[AMRocks]

The hilarious thing is I delved into Tara’s show a bit today and you can totally tell she definitely has ZERO material for a Trump and Republican win, seems she was all in for Harris and Democrats to win so she could spew endless toxicity. Now she’s left to saying “Well I hope the Republicans don’t become RINO’s”

@genius , you truly are a genius. Yes. This is 100% on point

I remember YEARS ago, listening to Rush Limbaugh the day after (I think it is was) Clinton won. Callers were nearly weeping for him about the GOP loss. I'll never forget Limbaugh's words: are you kidding me? I've got material for another 4 years! (This was a time when Rush wasn't so full of himself and understood that he was an entertainer.) Tara and the rest of the "conservative" talk radio hosts won't have anyone to criticize. Ratings will definitely slip.

 

[vchimpanzee]

@genius , you truly are a genius. Yes. This is 100% on point

I remember YEARS ago, listening to Rush Limbaugh the day after (I think it is was) Clinton won. Callers were nearly weeping for him about the GOP loss. I'll never forget Limbaugh's words: are you kidding me? I've got material for another 4 years! (This was a time when Rush wasn't so full of himself and understood that he was an entertainer.) Tara and the rest of the "conservative" talk radio hosts won't have anyone to criticize. Ratings will definitely slip.

That's right Rush was fun when a Democrat was in office. What was he going to do when a Republican was in charge? Maybe Democrats controlled Congress.

 

[101tm]

Audacy GAVE WMYI that position. Magic just handed it over. Foolish business move. Between the two country stations and WMYI, iHeart could be the market leader.

I still don't understand why Audacy kept The Planet over Magic. They could have gotten similar coverage on 93.3 and kept the higher rated Magic on 98.9. The Planet could have been shoved over to 106.3. Leaving AC on the table in this market is just baffling to me, yet we are oversaturated with Hip Hop and Sports stations.

With Tara and co.'s party having full control, and again in a fully red state, I doubt there's going to be drama like the last time they were in office. Talk show hosts, whether they're good or bad at it, are always seeking the current hot topic to keep the base riled up. Recently it's been more about the politicians and parties than the policies. I suspect a lot of the audience is probably happy they got their way and will tune it out for a while. They could always pivot to local issues, but WORD has never really been keen on covering the local area, instead choosing to focus on national politics and issues. I see them settling in the upper 3's-low 4's.

Regarding WSSL, they ARE new country, with some stuff from the last 20-25 years sprinkled in. WESC is fully classic country, mainly from the 90s and 00s, with some 80s - and occasionally earlier sprinkled in. I'm pretty sure they don't play anything from the last decade.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I still don't understand why Audacy kept The Planet over Magic. They could have gotten similar coverage on 93.3 and kept the higher rated Magic on 98.9. The Planet could have been shoved over to 106.3. Leaving AC on the table in this market is just baffling to me, yet we are oversaturated with Hip Hop and Sports stations.

Huh? There's not a single full power hip hop station.

 

[freqdev]

I still don't understand why Audacy kept The Planet over Magic. They could have gotten similar coverage on 93.3 and kept the higher rated Magic on 98.9. The Planet could have been shoved over to 106.3. Leaving AC on the table in this market is just baffling to me, yet we are oversaturated with Hip Hop and Sports stations.

the planet to 106.3 could not have happened as audacy was required to sell that station as part of their bankruptcy restructuring

 

[101tm]

the planet to 106.3 could not have happened as audacy was required to sell that station as part of their bankruptcy restructuring

Right, I meant Planet instead of Magic when they shoved Magic to 106.3 before the Audacy bankruptcy that triggered the divesture and weren’t planning to sell it (to my knowledge).