Ok, I know it's only a trend and they're 12+ numbers, but I found it interesting that out of the nine local FM commercial signals, the bottom three were....WZMX, WKSS and WPHH. All the youth-targeted formats took it on the chin this time around. It will be interesting to see if this is a "trend," or maybe hip-hop is entering a down cycle.
I can't help but notice how big of a fall Hot has taken over the last couple of years--and the slow and steady rise of Power. Everyone on these boards was critical of CC's flipping Radio 104 from alternative to Urban, but it has been a rousing success. The station has nearly twice the overall share it had when the flip occurred and it has sliced WZMX's market share in half. Now WPHH is less than a share and a half away from Hot, and they have the inferior signal. Taking out WZMX has broken up the stranglehold Infinity had on the market and now CC has two stations in the top five. From a cluster standpoint, 104.1 is doing it's job well, despite all the naysayers. While Hot was up slightly in this trend, I'm sure Infinity can't be pleased with it's current performance. Lets see how Hot responds.
Anyone else notice that WDRC-FM is now listing itself in the Arbs as a "classic hits" station? I guess Hartford doesn't have an true oldies station anymore. Obviously their musical changes are working since they had the biggest rise of any station in the market this trend.
Just a few random thoughts. Discuss further....
--Mike Thomas
> WRCH claims the top spot in the market, followed by WTIC-AM,
> WWYZ, WCCC & WHCN
>
> Discuss...