The Block comes in well down on Wall Street . As for Midtown there is a strong work force so it's anyone's guess who is driving a cab, making deliveries, working in a stockroom or office. I would have said a decent numbers both uptown and downtown since a massive amount of people in Manhattan don't represent rhe demographics of the area. The fact that 94.7 has signal issues certainly doesn't help numbers
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94.7 The Block
- Thread starter BJSteigner
- Start date
It's just a common sense way of looking at it. How much more of a rating improvement can you expect if the Block transmitted from Manhattan? It comes in clear in most of Northern/Central NJ, the other 4 boroughs, Westchester, Rockland, Orange County, NY. To me, it would only make up to a .3 difference, if transmitted from Manhattan. 1.5 or 1.6 would still be very low ratings.
I think that one big issue is that the adjustments in the gold that Pio Ferro made at Hot have significantly blocked the unique appeal of the Block format.
It's important to note that only 8% of the NYC metro population is in what Nielsen calls "New York" which is among the 19 counties and boroughs that make up the MSA. They divide the City into "New York" and "Queens", with the boroughs being allocated to those subsets; "Queens" is the part of NYC that is technically on Long Island.
The total population of the MSA is now about 19.5 million.
Were the station on Manhattan, they would add Nassau and much of Suffolk to the coverage. Those are part of the Nielsen Metro.
By Central Park East, I think you meant the Upper East Side? Yes, those are affluent neighborhoods, but then, they likely don't have a high percentage of people who listen to hip hop, current or classic. Certainly, none of the people I knew who lived in those neighborhoods did.
Sussex County is not in the station's target area. Geographically, Sussex County is further west from the tower than Queens is to the east. Audacy isn't selling spots to advertisers in Sussex Country, so they don't care if the format doesn't connect there. Just because a signal can be heard doesn't mean they're the intended audience. A "listenable" signal is also a function of the receiver.
Another detail people don't see in the 12_+ free ratings is the specific breakdown of where the actual listeners to the station are. It's very likely the demographic breakdown is showing a lot more audience in Manhattan and Brooklyn than we know about.
Sussex County is not in the New York City Nielsen Metro Survey Area.
And, based on the playlist, the station is targeting across ethnic groups, including Hispanic, Black and non-Hispanic whites. The idea that this is just a Black format is totally wrong.
there is a massive amount of people that travel to Manhattan daily from outside the city. I think it would be foolish to say that a limited signal in Manhattan has no bearing on the overall ratings of a targeted NYC station. Perhaps it's ratings wouldn't sky rocket but when huge swaths of the city can't clearly pull in a station, that affects overall ratings
The likely listeners to that format are also likely public transit users. They don't listen while commuting.
The NYC market has historically had the lowest in-car usage going back to the diary rating days where we got home-work-car breaks. That is because most people who work in The City use public transportation. And if they move about in Manhattan, they use taxis or take the subway, too.
Again, what Nielsen calls "New York City" are The Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan. And that area is just 8% of the metro population. (And remember, Nielsen's metro is not the same as the OMB / Census Bureau's metro. Radio Metros are based on station usage, not commerce)
Once again, you're guessing based on the 12+ free numbers everyone sees. What you don't see are the very specific numbers the station sees. Those will show the neighborhoods where the PPMs are that register listening to their station. Those numbers, in the context of the whole NYC Metro, may not amount to much. But in the context of who and where they're targeting, it may be just fine. It's their money, and obviously they're satisfied with what they're getting. In point of fact, the signal may not be as limited as you think it is.
Maybe. We don't know what they know. My point is they have more detailed information on their audience.
It was the same exact issue and signal when 94.7 was Country. It still pulled in twice the ratings as The Block. The limited signal in parts of Manhattan isn't the biggest issue for The Block's success.
When Cumulus bought 94.7 from Family Radio the ratings of WNSH were no better than they are now after the format change. It has been 2 full books, they changed formats just before the holidays and in a pandemic. My guess, they're already making more money as throwbacks than country
Fair enough but from my perspective the poor signal in Manhattan hinders my listening. While that may not change the numbers, I can't be the only one. Of course one could listen online but there are many choices I'd choose over the Block if I wanted online radio.
Oh and sorry you had to repeat yourself since you said, "Once again". I had no recollection of you and I already discussing this. Apparently that's my bad
But you could be the only one with your specific circumstances. I suspect of you asked other people in your building, they might have a different experience. It's very possible that signal quality in Manhattan can vary from block to block and neighborhood to neighborhood.
I live in Manhattan so am well aware of how New Yorkers move around. I also know that many who work in parking garages, stock rooms, delivery trucks, back offices and offices in general listen to radio. While 94.7 may reach many of NYCs more ethnic residential areas and suburbs there would be some loss of numbers with a limited signal in any case albeit perhaps not enough for Audacy not to make money.
It does absolutely but the signal is inferior. I'm a radio nerd. I test it.
If this had a full market signal, where could you see the ratings peaking at with time?
No idea. It'll never be a top rated station but looking at other markets with the format I would think it could get a 2.0. It does relatively well in Chicago for example
It's a niche format.
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