The All-News Ratings Scoreboard

[Gregg.]

I saw a report in Inside Radio about the top News and News-Talk stations in the country. But it mixed up All-News, News-Talk and even non-commercial NPR News and Information stations. It omitted WABC which would have been #6 with a cume of 560,000. I guess that's because WABC is only a Talk station. It isn't considered News-Talk, even though it does an hour of all-news at 5 a.m. and has newscasts with a local news anchor around the clock. That News-Talk vs. Talk dividing line is blurred.

I figured I'd use the cume ratings to compare stations. But only those stations that are either All-News or do All-News in AM and PM drive time.
.

1. WINS-AM-FM.................New York...........Audacy..............All-News..........................................................1,622,100

2. KNX-AM-FM...................Los Angeles.......Audacy.............All-News..............................................................986,700

3. WBBM/WCFS (FM).......Chicago................Audacy.............All-News..............................................................809,200

4. WTOP (FM).......................Washington.......Hubbard...........All-News.............................................................772,700

5. KCBS/KFRC (FM)............San Francisco......Audacy.............All-News.............................................................563,300

6. KYW/WPHI (FM).,,.........Philadelphia.........Audacy............All-News..............................................................483,500

7. WWJ (AM)........................Detroit....................Audacy............All-News.............................................................415,900

8. WBZ (AM).........................Boston......................iHeart..............All-News with talk evenings......................331,300

9. KSL-AM-FM....................Salt Lake City........Bonneville......All-News in AM, PM and Noon.................305,700

10. KNWN-AM-FM.............Seattle....................Lotus...............All-News with some weekend talk............211,500

11. KRLD (AM)......................Dallas......................Audacy...........All-News in AM and PM drive.....................172,000


.

 

[davideduardo]

I saw a report in Inside Radio about the top News and News-Talk stations in the country. But it mixed up All-News, News-Talk and even non-commercial NPR News and Information stations. It omitted WABC which would have been #6 with a cume of 560,000. I guess that's because WABC is only a Talk station. It isn't considered News-Talk, even though it does an hour of all-news at 5 a.m. and has newscasts with a local news anchor around the clock. That News-Talk vs. Talk dividing line is blurred.

I figured I'd use the cume ratings to compare stations. But only those stations that are either All-News or do All-News in AM and PM drive time.
.

1. WINS-AM-FM.................New York...........Audacy..............All-News..........................................................1,622,100

2. KNX-AM-FM...................Los Angeles.......Audacy.............All-News..............................................................986,700

3. WBBM/WCFS (FM).......Chicago................Audacy.............All-News..............................................................809,200

4. WTOP (FM).......................Washington.......Hubbard...........All-News.............................................................772,700

5. KCBS/KFRC (FM)............San Francisco......Audacy.............All-News.............................................................563,300

6. KYW/WPHI (FM).,,.........Philadelphia.........Audacy............All-News..............................................................483,500

7. WWJ (AM)........................Detroit....................Audacy............All-News.............................................................415,900

8. WBZ (AM).........................Boston......................iHeart..............All-News with talk evenings......................331,300

9. KSL-AM-FM....................Salt Lake City........Bonneville......All-News in AM, PM and Noon.................305,700

10. KNWN-AM-FM.............Seattle....................Lotus...............All-News with some weekend talk............211,500

11. KRLD (AM)......................Dallas......................Audacy...........All-News in AM and PM drive.....................172,000


.

Interesting list. Remember, though, that advertisers who use ratings data seldom if ever look at cume numbers. They look at “rating” (not “share”) or Average Quarter Hour Persons to evaluate buys.

 

[TheBigA]

I saw a report in Inside Radio about the top News and News-Talk stations in the country. But it mixed up All-News, News-Talk and even non-commercial NPR News and Information stations.

Here's a link to that article:

WINS New York Rules America’s Top 10 News Radio Stations.

The latest edition of Inside Radio’s TOP 10 focuses on the most listened-to news and news/talk-formatted stations in Nielsen PPM markets, based on cume. Half of these 10 are Audacy

www.insideradio.com

 

[Weiserguy]

I saw a report in Inside Radio about the top News and News-Talk stations in the country. But it mixed up All-News, News-Talk and even non-commercial NPR News and Information stations. It omitted WABC which would have been #6 with a cume of 560,000. I guess that's because WABC is only a Talk station. It isn't considered News-Talk, even though it does an hour of all-news at 5 a.m. and has newscasts with a local news anchor around the clock. That News-Talk vs. Talk dividing line is blurred.

I figured I'd use the cume ratings to compare stations. But only those stations that are either All-News or do All-News in AM and PM drive time.
.

1. WINS-AM-FM.................New York...........Audacy..............All-News..........................................................1,622,100

2. KNX-AM-FM...................Los Angeles.......Audacy.............All-News..............................................................986,700

3. WBBM/WCFS (FM).......Chicago................Audacy.............All-News..............................................................809,200

4. WTOP (FM).......................Washington.......Hubbard...........All-News.............................................................772,700

5. KCBS/KFRC (FM)............San Francisco......Audacy.............All-News.............................................................563,300

6. KYW/WPHI (FM).,,.........Philadelphia.........Audacy............All-News..............................................................483,500

7. WWJ (AM)........................Detroit....................Audacy............All-News.............................................................415,900

8. WBZ (AM).........................Boston......................iHeart..............All-News with talk evenings......................331,300

9. KSL-AM-FM....................Salt Lake City........Bonneville......All-News in AM, PM and Noon.................305,700

10. KNWN-AM-FM.............Seattle....................Lotus...............All-News with some weekend talk............211,500

11. KRLD (AM)......................Dallas......................Audacy...........All-News in AM and PM drive.....................172,000


.

The problem with this list is you've left off the NPR flagship programs, and because they're national, I would bet real cash money -- not too much though -- that their cume would put them in the #1 position, well ahead of WINS. But if you want to limit the list to only local stations in local markets, then WNYC (with 633,600 cume) and KQED (612,900) should be in this top 10. They'd be in the #5 and #6 positions, pushing KCBS and all below it down two notches each.

 

[davideduardo]

The problem with this list is you've left off the NPR flagship programs, and because they're national, I would bet real cash money -- not too much though -- that their cume would put them in the #1 position, well ahead of WINS. But if you want to limit the list to only local stations in local markets, then WNYC (with 633,600 cume) and KQED (612,900) should be in this top 10. They'd be in the #5 and #6 positions, pushing KCBS and all below it down two notches each.

But those are shows, not stations. And cume is not the metric advertisers use.

You can not compare the 6AM to Midnight 7 days a week with AM and PM drive news blocks. Apples and oranges….

 

[Weiserguy]

But those are shows, not stations. And cume is not the metric advertisers use.

You can not compare the 6AM to Midnight 7 days a week with AM and PM drive news blocks. Apples and oranges….

David, this is what @Gregg. wrote:

>>I figured I'd use the cume ratings to compare stations. But only those stations that are either All-News or do All-News in AM and PM drive time.<<

WNYC's cume of 633,600 puts it in 5th place. KQED's is 612,900, which would be 6th. By his definition, each is doing All-News in drive times. Unless you think Morning Edition or All Things Considered are not news programs, and if that's so, we should do a forensic audit of WINS, KNX, WBBM or WTOP to see how much of their respective AM and PM drive hours contain something other than hard news. (Which ought to include those 20 minutes-or-so of commercial spots, which the NPR affiliates lack.)

 

[CTListener]

Interesting list. Remember, though, that advertisers who use ratings data seldom if ever look at cume numbers. They look at “rating” (not “share”) or Average Quarter Hour Persons to evaluate buys.

The age breakdown of those listeners also factors into advertisers' decisions, doesn't it? I assume that all these news or news/talk hybrids skew old to some extent, but are any of them succeeding in keeping a significant number of under-55s listening in the face of reliance of other sources for news and general news apathy?

 

[PTBoardOp93]

1010 WINS does OK in the demos. InsideRadio reported in September away that 1010 WINS had a 4 share in both 25-54 and 18-49.

I don't think I've seen such data for all-news outlets in other markets.

 

[TheBigA]

The age breakdown of those listeners also factors into advertisers' decisions, doesn't it? I assume that all these news or news/talk hybrids skew old to some extent, but are any of them succeeding in keeping a significant number of under-55s listening in the face of reliance of other sources for news and general news apathy?

Yes, but we're not talking about a music format. Different rules for news/talk/sports because the audience is paying attention to the speaking.

The bad news is most of the ads are about drugs, insurance, and other older skewing products.

 

[Gregg.]

. But if you want to limit the list to only local stations in local markets, then WNYC (with 633,600 cume) and KQED (612,900) should be in this top 10. They'd be in the #5 and #6 positions, pushing KCBS and all below it down two notches each.

I didn't include the non-commercial NPR affiliates because I just think of them in a different category with talk shows like Fresh Air and Here & Now. But you're right that they are all-news in AM and PM drive with Morning Edition and All Things Considered. I intend to do a similar cume top ten for non-commercial NPR affiliates where WNYC and KQED would be #1 and #2. And for Talk stations where WABC, WSB and KFI would be #1, #2 and #3.