Buffalo & Rochester November ratings

[ckg279]

From ****************. 12+ only. Buffalo goes first....same formula; top 5 then assorted notes:

1. WBLK(Power 93.7) 9.3(up .6 from October)
2. WGRF(97 Rock) 8.0(up .4)
3. WBEN(NewsRadio 930) 7.6(up .7)
4. WYRK/106.5 7.5(down .5)
5. WHTT/104.1 6.1(up .3)

Now the notes:

*WECK(The Big Weck)was down .2 to 3.1 .
*In the battle of the Christmas music stations, WTTS(Star 102.5)& WMSX(96.1 the Breeze)are literally neck and neck; Star has a 4.6 rating while the Breeze is a tenth of a point behind.
*"The next generation of classic rock" sure as hell isn't listen to WBUF; they pulled a 1.9 .
*WBFO continues to track upwards ever so slightly to a 3.0 in this book.
*Oh, and about 107.7/104.7 the Wolf: They pulled a 1.4 in the November book.

Down the Thruway to Rochester we go....

1. WBEE/92.5 8.5(up .3 from October)
2. WDKX/103.9 8.2(up .8)
3. WHAM/1180 7.8(up .2)
4. WCMF/96.5 7.2(down .5)
5. WPXY/97.9(98PXY) 4.2(up .1)

Notes:

*The HD2 subchannel for WLGZ, 105.5 the Beat, pulled in a 3.0 rating. Which isn't bad, considering WDKX has long been a powerhouse in Rochester, ratings-wise.
*WYRK/106.5 makes an appearance here with a .5 rating.

So....have at it!

 

[davideduardo]

From ****************. 12+ only. Buffalo goes first....same formula; top 5 then assorted notes:

Remember, the November numbers are actually Sept-Oct-Nov as the monthlies in diary markets are 12 week rolling averages.

 

[ckg279]

Remember, the November numbers are actually Sept-Oct-Nov as the monthlies in diary markets are 12 week rolling averages.

Duly noted; Radio-Online includes the previous 3 months as well as the current month.

 

[AceBiscuits]

105.5 doing well isn't very surprising. The station does less R&B and more hip-hop than WDKX, giving it more younger appeal.

 

[SirRoxalot]

A little context: Most "movement" has been within the statistical margin of error. Of course, these are the 12+ "beauty pageant" numbers. What's most meaningful to me are trends in station numbers. One book may not mean much, but when you stack them up they may indicate the direction of some stations.

WBLK has now been #1 for three books in a row. 98.9 "The Vibe" (AM1120, WBBF) goes mostly unnoticed.

WYRK has been steadily dropping for several months in a row now. "The new guy" has some work to do.

WBEN had a lot more election excitement in Buffalo than WHAM had in Rochester. Byron Brown's write-in campaign likely helped WBFO tick up a bit as well.

WHTT has a little uptick. Whether it's a trend or an anomaly remains to be seen. Their music focus is a bit younger these days.

The Bills are good for WGR. Maybe the Sabres help a little. Probably not much lately.

Star and "The Breeze" are in a dogfight. WMSX has been coming on lately.

Kiss has had four downward books in a row. That's a trend - and not a good one for Audacy.

Maybe WECK lost a few listeners to All Christmas All the Time. Maybe not. Demographics would tell the story there.

People have noticed that Shredd and Ragan went to 97-Rock. That's not good news for "The Edge". They're apparently still putting together a morning show. They're apparently not the alternative for the handful of old Alt 107.7 listeners.

WBUF is down four books in a row. Not much, but they haven't got much to lose.

The Wolf is not at the door, let alone in the building. They're still soliciting air talent. Maybe they're waiting for January. Or Santa.

 

[RadioGuy1864]

98.9 "The Vibe" (AM1120, WBBF) goes mostly unnoticed.

Their signal is one of the worst Translators in the market. They go unnoticed because most of the market can't get a listenable signal, even in the car.

 

[Buddy Shula]

A little context: Most "movement" has been within the statistical margin of error. Of course, these are the 12+ "beauty pageant" numbers. What's most meaningful to me are trends in station numbers. One book may not mean much, but when you stack them up they may indicate the direction of some stations.

WBLK has now been #1 for three books in a row. 98.9 "The Vibe" (AM1120, WBBF) goes mostly unnoticed.

WYRK has been steadily dropping for several months in a row now. "The new guy" has some work to do.

WBEN had a lot more election excitement in Buffalo than WHAM had in Rochester. Byron Brown's write-in campaign likely helped WBFO tick up a bit as well.

WHTT has a little uptick. Whether it's a trend or an anomaly remains to be seen. Their music focus is a bit younger these days.

The Bills are good for WGR. Maybe the Sabres help a little. Probably not much lately.

Star and "The Breeze" are in a dogfight. WMSX has been coming on lately.

Kiss has had four downward books in a row. That's a trend - and not a good one for Audacy.

Maybe WECK lost a few listeners to All Christmas All the Time. Maybe not. Demographics would tell the story there.

People have noticed that Shredd and Ragan went to 97-Rock. That's not good news for "The Edge". They're apparently still putting together a morning show. They're apparently not the alternative for the handful of old Alt 107.7 listeners.

WBUF is down four books in a row. Not much, but they haven't got much to lose.

The Wolf is not at the door, let alone in the building. They're still soliciting air talent. Maybe they're waiting for January. Or Santa.

Some good insight here. I was reading the actual diaries yesterday for Buffalo, and simply could not believe how many people in the comment section wrote that they listen to satellite. This is absolutely fragmenting terrestrial radio.

It’s also amazing how many diary comments did not match the quarter hours they wrote down. As an example, people would write that they listen to 97 rock 24 hours a day, but they gave 97 rock no quarter hours. They gave them all to YRK . Same with Oldies. They say they the the Golden Oldies that 92.9 plays, and gave all quarter hours to WBUF

Just makes me wonder how seriously diary keepers take this responsibility.

I can tell you from the trend, the Wolf is affecting nothing. Infact, according to unweighted quarter hours , they will be down to about a 1 share next book.

Another person in the beginning of Nov said that they listen to “Rock 102” , but not anymore because they are playing Christmas music too early.

An 88 year old woman said Oldies 104 played all the old music of her generation, and gave HTT all quarter hours.

But what really stuck out, and I went thru all stations diary comments was XM radio . They like it.

Kinda scary, but not totally unexpected.

WBUF, WEDG, and WLKK continue to plummet, and Kiss and Star are getting to the abysmal point. BLK in pretty much owning the day in every demo.

The older demo stations like mine, are where you would expect them. Pretty good shape. Something I noticed about WECK , it’s getting younger, and obviously, while we have some pretty good translators, the signal can be an issue where the translators get fuzzy.

Another thing I noticed, are a few people wrote about AM quality in general. They thought that all the AM stations sound noisy and not good from a sound quality standpoint. That’s something we have to work on to the extent we can. In terms of the trends I saw, WECK will again tick up a few notches next book. Probably a 3.5, but we seem stuck in that area.

YRK will be up, WBEN will be slightly down. WBFO for news is preferred by a lot of diary writers. WECKS 2 biggest competitors are HTT and BEN. Same thing with their stations . WECK is a P2 or P3 for those stations.

I thought is was kind of funny that the Wolf was not a P2 or P3 for YRK.

Just some of my thoughts looking at these…..diary placement is everything

 

[tbolt909]

WBUF is down four books in a row. Not much, but they haven't got much to lose.

The Wolf is not at the door, let alone in the building. They're still soliciting air talent. Maybe they're waiting for January. Or Santa.

WYRK is fading. They were once consistently #1 or 2 by a wide margin. The new PD obviously has been tasked with trying to fix the issue. The Wolf is irrelevant. They aren't gaining from WYRK's slide. If Audacy is still "soliciting" for air talent, that's just for EEO reports. Unlikely they'll hire more staff for this moribund station.

WBUF is the poster child for everything that's bad about Radio. The "Next Generation" isn't interested...

 

[davideduardo]

If Audacy is still "soliciting" for air talent, that's just for EEO reports. Unlikely they'll hire more staff for this moribund station.

An EEO report covers actual hiring and recruiting. If you are not hiring, the report covers the existing staff.

And you don't know if they have plans for either local staffing or out-of-market voice tracking. Neither do I and that is because we don't work for the owner.

Right now, many companies are still on pandemic hold regarding hiring. And the surprise immense increase in inflation worries station owners about its effect on the ad market, as it affects certain radio heavy advertisers severely, such as new car dealers.

 

[davideduardo]

Duly noted; Radio-Online includes the previous 3 months as well as the current month.

There are no "separate" months. Each column heading is for the "issue month" or last month of a 12-week period.

So if Radio-Online shows October, it means the three months ending with October. Only the PPM has discreet, self-contained months.

 

[Buddy Shula]

An EEO report covers actual hiring and recruiting. If you are not hiring, the report covers the existing staff.

And you don't know if they have plans for either local staffing or out-of-market voice tracking. Neither do I and that is because we don't work for the owner.

Right now, many companies are still on pandemic hold regarding hiring. And the surprise immense increase in inflation worries station owners about its effect on the ad market, as it affects certain radio heavy advertisers severely, such as new car dealers.

I actually do know that they will not be hiring. Quarterly Profits. Thats all is about. Cut your way to prosperity

 

[DN14224]

And you don't know if they have plans for either local staffing or out-of-market voice tracking. Neither do I and that is because we don't work for the owner.

Oh, c'mon. Don't be naïve. A simple look at what's happened in other markets shows what's in the works for the Queen City.

 

[TheBigA]

.

 

[ckg279]

Oh, c'mon. Don't be naïve. A simple look at what's happened in other markets shows what's in the works for the Queen City.

Consider Cumulus; the Edge's morning team of Cass & Anthony voicetrack co-owned WXKC(Classy 100)in Erie, Pa. Cass has middays, while Anthony gets PM drive. Kiss has already gone that route; save for AM drive, all of their on-air talent is coming in from other markets(I've mentioned it in another thread). Same for The Wolf. Nik Rivers is the only live & local voice at WBUF weekdays. Likewise, Brandi's the only local voice at The Breeze. Half of WBLK's airstaff is imported(Steve Harvey in mornings and WHTT has Heather Perry middays. WGRF & WEDG are about the only stations I'm aware of where the vast majority of their on-air lineup is live & local.