Buffalo Buffalo & Rochester January trends

[ckg279]

The disclaimers: 12+ only. As reported on RadioInsight.com . Covering Nov. '24-January of this year. Top 5 in each market only. Having said that....let's talk about it!

Buffalo

1. WYRK/106.5 8.7(down .1 from December)
2. WBLK/93.7 8.6(no change)
3. WGR/550 7.0(up 1.1)
4. WHTT/104.1 6.7(up .3)
5. WBEN/930 6.5(up .1)

Rochester

1. WDKX/103.9 8.8(up .6)
2. WRMM/101.3 7.1(up 1.2)
3. WBEE/92.5 6.4(down .3)
WHAM/1180 6.4(down .1)
5. WCMF/96.5 5.6(down 1.2)

General thoughts:

-What on EARTH is happening at BOTH WGRF & WCMF? Each station has been drops in their overall audience over the last 3 trend books.
-The Christmas music buzz has worn off at The New 96.1 in Buffalo, while it was pretty obviously in full effect at Rochester's Warm 101.3 .
-It's nice to see that WEDG seems to found a happy niche, ratings-wise. Ditto WBFO, but I fully remember when it was doing MUCH better ratings wise. Insofar as WXXI in Rochester, the only ratings we're seeing are for the AM side. Does their 105.9 signal not get any ratings, despite providing a better signal over the market? (Maybe Scott Fybush can answer this question.)

 

[tbolt909]

No significant changes in this report. The bottom dwellers like WLKK and WBUF would have flipped format by now when Radio was still relevant...

 

[musicianslegacy]

Seems like overall shares keep getting smaller, meaning less people are listening. I remember decades ago stations having shares in the teens and 20’s . Now, the top station has an 8.7?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Seems like overall shares keep getting smaller, meaning less people are listening. I remember decades ago stations having shares in the teens and 20’s . Now, the top station has an 8.7?

Shares should add up to 100%. If they don't it's because not all stations are being reported. Is radio more fragmented than in the past? Yes. What you remember as shares in the teens and 20s wasn't the 12+, it was in specific demographics and generally teens and 12-24 back in the days when Rock was the music of rebellion.

 

[SirRoxalot]

You really need to look at more than the top 5. Here are the 12+ numbers for all reporting stations:

Buffalo/Niagara Falls

Nielsen Audio Monthly Ratings Buffalo/Niagara Falls (Market #59) Population: 1,011,800 Hispanic Population: 57,100 - Black Population: 133,100 Average Quarter Hour

radioinsight.com

Rochester

Nielsen Audio Monthly Ratings Rochester (Market #60) Population: 974,700 Hispanic Population: 79,300 - Black Population: 116,600 Average Quarter Hour Share

radioinsight.com

Remember, these are Nov-Dec-Jan numbers. It seems pretty plain that WGR benefitted from big numbers generated by the Buffalo Bills and their foray into the playoffs, likely taking men 35+ away from 97-Rock. It was also a big December for the "New 96.1" with the WTSS call letters from the old Star pumping out Christmas tunes. It will be April or May before the numbers return to "normal" although we should be able to detect some trends a bit earlier than that.

WYRK made a nice recovery over the last 6 months and is back near a 10-share after dropping as low as the 7s.

There's no question that there have been changes at 97-Rock in the last few months. Whether they're really shedding listeners, or if people are just more into the Bills during the playoffs has yet to be determined. Demographics might tell a different story, but we don't have those breakouts.

If the shares don't add up to 100% it's because some stations haven't bought the book. They still get rated, but we don't get to see their numbers.

 

[TheBigA]

If the shares don't add up to 100% it's because some stations haven't bought the book. They still get rated, but we don't get to see their numbers.

We all know of one Top 10 station that doesn't buy the book. And I don't see EMF there either.

 

[tbolt909]

We all know of one Top 10 station that doesn't buy the book. And I don't see EMF there either.

Why would EMF pay for Nielsen? Listeners who fill out a diary most likely have no idea which stations subscribe and which don't. Nielsen collects the information, but it's of little value. Ratings are theoretically used to impress potential clients...

 

[TheBigA]

Why would EMF pay for Nielsen?

They buy the NYC book for WPLJ:

WPLJ-FM

Christian CHR

Educational Media Foundation

 

[davideduardo]

Why would EMF pay for Nielsen? Listeners who fill out a diary most likely have no idea which stations subscribe and which don't. Nielsen collects the information, but it's of little value. Ratings are theoretically used to impress potential clients...

Subscribers get the numbers of all of them, as do subscribed ad agencies.

Ratings are not used "theoretically" for anything, and definitely not to "impress". Ratings are used to establish a cost per listener ("usually expressed as Cost per Thousand") so that stations with different audience sizes and differing rates can be evaluated together before making an ad buy.

 

[davideduardo]

They buy the NYC book for WPLJ:

WPLJ-FM

Christian CHR

Educational Media Foundation

Yes, they buy a small number of markets. It seems, in the perspective of an outsider, that they buy recent acquisitions for a while and then they buy some representative markets but not all. So they might buy the "book" in each of a number of geographic zones as well as areas they consider more Christian radio friendly and those markets they consider to be less faith-focused.

 

[tbolt909]

They buy the NYC book for WPLJ:

WPLJ-FM

Christian CHR

Educational Media Foundation

Maybe they buy NY City because they have to get all those Godless Liberals to "Come To Jesus". Data is a tool to generate more revenue whether it's via sales or donations...

 

[musicianslegacy]

Subscribers get the numbers of all of them, as do subscribed ad agencies.

Ratings are not used "theoretically" for anything, and definitely not to "impress". Ratings are used to establish a cost per listener ("usually expressed as Cost per Thousand") so that stations with different audience sizes and differing rates can be evaluated together before making an ad buy.

I do not think subscribing stations or agencies get the numbers on "all of them". Nielsen put out what is a "Subscriber-First" policy a few years ago. (You can google this.) It will tell you that subscribing radio stations or agencies do not see the numbers of "non-subscribers" unless the non-subcriber is female or minority owned. I recently spoke to a local ad agency, and she pointed out that what was she seeing with regards to ratings was not a "true reflection" of the market, as some high rated stations did not appear, at all. She was not too happy and was going to discuss this with Nielsen. I also spoke to some radio companies about this and they said the same thing.

Again, just look up "Nielsen Subscriber-First". I applaud this as it helps out the female and minority owned stations

 

[TheBigA]

I recently spoke to a local ad agency, and she pointed out that what was she seeing with regards to ratings was not a "true reflection" of the market, as some high rated stations did not appear, at all. She was not too happy and was going to discuss this with Nielsen. I also spoke to some radio companies about this and they said the same thing.

Here's how Nielsen responds:

Brad Kelly, Managing Director of Nielsen Audio, told Inside Radio in an interview last week that agency clients understand the economics behind the decision. “It isn’t lost on them that non-subscribers are paying less for the radio ratings than the agency is,” Kelly said. “Where’s the fairness in that? The station that is ultimately benefitting from the placement of the buy is paying less for the measurement than the agency that is placing the buy.”

Diary Markets Are Where ‘Subscriber First’ Impact Will Be Felt The Most.

The impact of Nielsen’s controversial “Subscriber First” policy change will be felt much more deeply in the more than 200 diary markets than in the 48 PPM markets. Nielsen’s current

www.insideradio.com

 

[tbolt909]

Nielsen, Radio Stations, and Agencies are all in the same spiral. Nielsen wants subscribers. Radio stations want advertisers. If an entire market drops Nielsen, then nobody gets any ratings data. There's a lot of Puffery in sales anyway. I remember stations that would run promos claiming to be "The #1 Hit Music Station" no matter what the ratings were.

Many stations with strong ratings are struggling to find advertisers these days. The business model has changed, so great ratings no longer guarantee revenue...

 

[WJPYAMFM]

I think it is funny that the old star 102.5 still exists and has ratings on WLKK HD2. Also still to this day 1520 must have a huge electric bill and if they went dark it would be sad but who would notice? I never understood why they keep the R&B at 745watts on 1400 when they could move it to 1520 at 50kw and sell or shutdown WWWS. Am I crazy to think that? No crazy would say put classic hits back on 1520 to compete with 104.1 and turn the AM stereo back on! Us gen z people love our 80s stuff! This is the problem with corporate radio. They seem to just cut, cut, cut they don’t try to fix a problem where there are no listeners. It is more about the advertising getting out and less about the audience or quality of the program. I refuse to stream radio because it is harder to switch station streams to other station streams in a car when the 6 min commercial break comes on. Too many commercials that is really what I call crazy! Back in the day radio had magic to make the commercials blend with programming. Now the push is to listen to our stream….here are some commercials to listen to before you listen to the commercials on the stream. Listen to our station on the iHeart app! How about no thank you, I prefer a radio if I want to listen to the radio.

 

[davideduardo]

I do not think subscribing stations or agencies get the numbers on "all of them".

They get "all that matters". The non-subscribed stations that don't appear don't have a 0.1 rating or better, meaning a share in the 1.8 to 2.0 range. Most of those would not get agency buys to begin with.

Nielsen put out what is a "Subscriber-First" policy a few years ago. (You can google this.) It will tell you that subscribing radio stations or agencies do not see the numbers of "non-subscribers" unless the non-subcriber is female or minority owned. I recently spoke to a local ad agency, and she pointed out that what was she seeing with regards to ratings was not a "true reflection" of the market, as some high rated stations did not appear, at all. She was not too happy and was going to discuss this with Nielsen. I also spoke to some radio companies about this and they said the same thing.

Stations with a 0.1 rating will appear in the agency and station releases. Again, that is a level at which, in most markets, you would not get on any... or few... buys from n

Again, just look up "Nielsen Subscriber-First". I applaud this as it helps out the female and minority owned stations

And, again, a station with a rating below the break point of 0.1 won't get on agency buys anyway.

That is, of course, why those low rated stations don't subscribe: they can't monetize the ratings so why incur the expense?

 

[davideduardo]

Nielsen, Radio Stations, and Agencies are all in the same spiral. Nielsen wants subscribers. Radio stations want advertisers. If an entire market drops Nielsen, then nobody gets any ratings data.

Or they buy a less expensive rating service, meaning Eastlan.

Here is their current market listing: Eastlan Ratings

In the distant past, I was in a top 20 market that lost its local ratings company and nobody came in to replace them. For about three years, there were no ratings. Ad agencies reduced rate offers as no station could prove it was worth more than any other. Radio revenues declined by about 50% for the whole market and many stations were losing money. But that was a large market, almost entirely dependent on agency buys; in a smaller market where direct sales are the bulk of all revenue, ratings are of decreasing importance.

There's a lot of Puffery in sales anyway. I remember stations that would run promos claiming to be "The #1 Hit Music Station" no matter what the ratings were.

That is on-air positioning, not sales. If you are the only CHR station in town, you are, of course, the "#1 hit music station".

Many stations with strong ratings are struggling to find advertisers these days. The business model has changed, so great ratings no longer guarantee revenue...

Yes, they do. What they don't guarantee is enough agency revenue to be profitable. Most local direct sales is not ratings based as local accounts have their own ratings device, called a "cash register".

 

[radiofan2023]

It is more about the advertising getting out and less about the audience or quality of the program. I refuse to stream radio because it is harder to switch station streams to other station streams in a car when the 6 min commercial break comes on. Too many commercials that is really what I call crazy!

How do you think stations make money? Also can’t you use voice commands with your phone to change station streams?