Charlotte Ratings Updated 04/20/23

[amfmradio1]

https://ratings.****************/content/arb093

 

[tylerSC]

Beasley doing good in the top 3. Urban AC going strong for WBAV but WPEG has really dropped off in the main Urban format. Wonder what is going on there? WSOC-FM doing better again, and WKQC still strong. CHR seems to be declining, wih WNKS ahead of WHQC which has dropped down to almost rock bottom. Concede the hits to 95.1 and time for a change at 96.1.

 

[eacalhoun1]

I love Classic Country -- but MY definition is 60s-80s, and 90s if it's as traditional as the previous 3 decades. Typically as I and everyone else ages, "Classic Country" gets newer and can now include early 2000s -- EEEkkk, cough, gag, hack to that. Could Classic Country do ANY worse than WHQC's "Hits 96.1"? I know it'll never happen - if any oldies works it's Rock, and not Country. But I can always fantasize -- NO, I can listen to Spotify to my OWN Classic Country station

 

[vchimpanzee]

I love Classic Country -- but MY definition is 60s-80s, and 90s if it's as traditional as the previous 3 decades. Typically as I and everyone else ages, "Classic Country" gets newer and can now include early 2000s -- EEEkkk, cough, gag, hack to that. Could Classic Country do ANY worse than WHQC's "Hits 96.1"? I know it'll never happen - if any oldies works it's Rock, and not Country. But I can always fantasize -- NO, I can listen to Spotify to my OWN Classic Country station

WAME is already doing what you're talking about (though some of Shania and Garth's stuff sounds out of place), though it is 35 miles to the north. 550 AM is at the left end of the dial and has a strong signal if you're willing to put up with AM sound quality. Of course, it's gone at night. There is a translator but it's too far away and being at 92.9 even if it wasn't, WFNZ at 92.7 will keep that from being heard.

 

[101tm]

Ouch. That’s pretty low for The Fox.

 

[CLTRadio]

WHQC had higher cume than WNKS this cycle. They've been up in the demo a couple of weeks too. I don't think iHeart is going to make any changes right now. They're trying to make it work.

WKKT is inching closer to WSOC. Sounding better too, but still not as strong as they were early last year/late 2021.

WLNK is on an upward trend. They were #3 in cume.

Beasley was still the strongest cluster, but all of their stations were down or flat. iHeart fell behind Urban One in AQH share primarily thanks to WRFX. I believe that is a first.

There was a lot of consolidation in the market. We'll see if anybody breaks out for the Spring sweeps.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

The cume for WBT doesn't look good at all.

 

[Gregg.]

Hey, WBT is very much improved from where it was not long ago, often out of the Top 10, sometimes around #15. I'm wondering what it did to improve its numbers? It's currently tied for #4. That's better than I've ever remembered it in this century. I have heard, despite its ratings, it often is the best billing station in Charlotte.

Yes, the cume is low. But with Talk stations, that's often the case. People put it on and leave it on for a long time. In NYC, most of the FM stations in the top 10 have cumes from 1.5 to 3.4 million. But #9 Talk Radio WABC has a cume just over 500,000.

 

[eacalhoun1]

WAME is already doing what you're talking about (though some of Shania and Garth's stuff sounds out of place), though it is 35 miles to the north. 550 AM is at the left end of the dial and has a strong signal if you're willing to put up with AM sound quality. Of course, it's gone at night. There is a translator but it's too far away and being at 92.9 even if it wasn't, WFNZ at 92.7 will keep that from being heard.

Yeah, but I rarely -- if ever -- hear Roy Clark, Buck Owens, etc, on WAME - I hear primarily 80s, 90s. Regarding WAME's translator -- since WCSL moved its translator to Gaston County (Crowder's Mtn, I assume) and moved to 92.9 a year or so back that has put a bit of a kibosh on WAME 92.9's SE fringe reach. The BEST variety of Classic Country I've heard on a "local" station is WKXR, Asheboro - I listen to their stream quite a bit.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Yeah, but I rarely -- if ever -- hear Roy Clark, Buck Owens, etc, on WAME - I hear primarily 80s, 90s. Regarding WAME's translator -- since WCSL moved its translator to Gaston County (Crowder's Mtn, I assume) and moved to 92.9 a year or so back that has put a bit of a kibosh on WAME 92.9's SE fringe reach. The BEST variety of Classic Country I've heard on a "local" station is WKXR, Asheboro - I listen to their stream quite a bit.

I'm in range but I did happen to hear the station once. I liked it, but I mostly listen to WBRF when I am in the area. I have a button for their translator because one of the good stations in Myrtle Beach is on the frequency.

I've been happy with WAME on the way to the mountains but I rarely listen otherwise. WMNC in Morganton is better.

 

[tylerSC]

Hey, WBT is very much improved from where it was not long ago, often out of the Top 10, sometimes around #15. I'm wondering what it did to improve its numbers? It's currently tied for #4. That's better than I've ever remembered it in this century. I have heard, despite its ratings, it often is the best billing station in Charlotte.

Yes, the cume is low. But with Talk stations, that's often the case. People put it on and leave it on for a long time. In NYC, most of the FM stations in the top 10 have cumes from 1.5 to 3.4 million. But #9 Talk Radio WABC has a cume just over 500,000.

I think WBT has good ratings for the morning show with Bo Thompson and Beth Troutman. And like it or not, apparently Pat McCrory also generated good ratings and he still appears on Wednesdays. Beth Troutman was a nice local addition, and nice to hear John Hancock back on Friday mornings. Not sure how the other shows perform, but Vince Coakley may be familiar going back to his TV days on Channel 9.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Moving WFNZ to FM hasn’t helped.

 

[101tm]

Moving WFNZ to FM hasn’t helped.

I wonder if it will help or has helped their billing increase? The consensus across these boards seems to be that the ratings aren’t a true reflection of how sports does as a format since they generally bill well.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I wonder if it will help or has helped their billing increase? The consensus across these boards seems to be that the ratings aren’t a true reflection of how sports does as a format since they generally bill well.

I never quite understood that claim. Can someone explain it?

Put the Block on 92.7 and sports back on 610. Having The Block on 610 makes no sense to me (yes I know 610 has a flea power FM translator).

 

[davideduardo]

I never quite understood that claim. Can someone explain it?

Sports is pure adult men. Nearly no women. So the 12+ is almost always quite low compared to the 25-54 male share.

For decades, WFAN in NYC was around 15th in 12+ and 1st in revenue. It was at the top in men, and also got tons of sports marketing revenue.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Sports is pure adult men. Nearly no women. So the 12+ is almost always quite low compared to the 25-54 male share.

For decades, WFAN in NYC was around 15th in 12+ and 1st in revenue. It was at the top in men, and also got tons of sports marketing revenue.

Okay point taken and thank you for that. Still hard to see the advantage of having a sports station on a weak FM, a format that doesn't require High Fidelity, while an urban contemporary format sits on an AM and an even weaker translator that's likely running in stereo thus limiting it's coverage even more.

I'm not a fan of either format but what genius thought this was a good idea?

 

[CLTRadio]

Okay point taken and thank you for that. Still hard to see the advantage of having a sports station on a weak FM, a format that doesn't require High Fidelity, while an urban contemporary format sits on an AM and an even weaker translator that's likely running in stereo thus limiting it's coverage even more.

I'm not a fan of either format but what genius thought this was a good idea?

WFNZ's ratings and billing have been up since moving to the 92.7 signal. The Block often operated at a loss and was never competitive with WPEG from a ratings or revenue perspective. Moving the urban format to the 102.5 translator allowed R1 to keep some of the limited business they had. I don't see any benefit in the AM simulcast, though. Young people don't listen to AM.

 

[101tm]

I think The Block is just on 610 now to transmit something although they could file an STA. I’m sure if anybody wanted it that had a little cash, U1 would let go of it in a heartbeat. I’m sure they’re shopping it around or it’s available but probably no takers yet. It’s weird they didn’t leave the sports format on there as a simulcast, but maybe they anticipated selling it quickly and wanted to go ahead and get the audience migrated.

92.7 does seem to have posted some of the best numbers in ages, or ever since it became WFNZ. It never had much of a chance against 97.9 and/or 101.9.