-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Cleveland Radio May 24 Ratings
- Thread starter skiwest
- Start date
Also remember throughout May we had the Cavs playoff run as well
Don't see a 3-way tie for #1 too often (Majic/Buzzard/WZAK all at 8.8)., and we also had a 3-way tie for 7th place (Star 102/WGAR/WKSU all at 5.5)
WNCX got a nice bump, WZAK took a not so nice hit (though were still part of the troika at the top).
WKSU also took a noticeable hit as well...still say the bad publicity/flak they got over their liberal bias is hurting them.
92.3 The Fan had a decent bump...Cavs fired their coach, so now people have something non-football related to talk about.
And the mighty WARF 1350 The Gambler is hanging in there with their 0.1, which is just enough to continue to register placement on the list
5 Iheart + 3 Audacy + 1 Urban One + 1 Ideastream = Top 10
WKSU also took a noticeable hit as well...still say the bad publicity/flak they got over their liberal bias is hurting them.
The irony is that NPR is currently taking flak from BOTH sides. Conservatives claim liberal bias, and liberals say that NPR is caving to conservative pressure.
Anyway, dominantly older demos driving the ratings. Generally speaking, young people don't listen to the radio for music. KISS is a disaster, and WNWV and WENZ are stalled under 3.
The irony is that NPR is currently taking flak from BOTH sides. Conservatives claim liberal bias, and liberals say that NPR is caving to conservative pressure.
Anyway, dominantly older demos driving the ratings. Generally speaking, young people don't listen to the radio for music. KISS is a disaster, and WNWV and WENZ are stalled under 3.
The 6+ Nielsens don't report the demos. The WSJ reports that current pop music is disappointing listeners:
So perhaps young people simply don't like current music.
Go too far left, you hear it from the right.
Try to moderate things (even if just a bit), you hear it from the left.
Which leads to everyone getting P.O.'ed, and the ratings taking a hit.
Whoda thunk NPR would be such a unifying force?
I wouldn't read much into WKSU going from #5 to #9. That seems to be a not-unusual wobble.
One disgruntled NPR employee wrote one article. His complaints were a news story among radio people but not much of a story elsewhere.
NPR and its member stations cater to the people who send in the donations. People who have the money and are inclined to support a non-profit broadcast service are likely to lean a bit liberal. So NPR focuses on the stories they care about.
If an NPR show does a profile of an African-American jazz artist or looks at alcohol abuse on Indian reservations or studies the number of shootings at schools, is that liberal? Or would conservatives simply view those things as liberal?
Looking at the ratings, is IPM ever going to admit that the move to put WCLV on that big 90.3 signal is a failed experiment? CLV numbers are where they have always been, even though the powers that be claimed that moving them to a bigger signal would allow them to reach more people...yes, it does allow them, but it doesn't mean anyone is actually doing it. Classical is a niche format.
As for WKSU-their numbers are better than before they merged with CPN, but basically you have combined the two stations 3.0 ratings into a 6...not a lot of growth.
As for WKSU-their numbers are better than before they merged with CPN, but basically you have combined the two stations 3.0 ratings into a 6...not a lot of growth.
Keep in mind that non-commercial radio isn't driven by ratings, but subscribers. The classical music audience may be small, but they support the station with donations that make the size of the signal important. WCLV is a heritage Cleveland institution.
The jazz artist and reservation stories aren't liberal or even political - they're more niche then anything.
The school shooting story would be most definitely political, and can be bent in any particular direction.
The NPR editor "whistleblower" story was basically putting dirty laundry out in public, and more often than not (as there are exceptions to every rule) when that happens, you take a hit.
Going from #5 to #9 isn't the issue (as that can be separated by very small margins) as much as going from a 6.5 to 5.5 rating. You lose a whole point in 1 book, that says something.
Actually Big A, normally I would agree with what you say...but if you listen to WCLV pledge campaigns, they really struggle...Don't you think there's a reason the station was donated to IPM?
Because they wanted to retain the classical format. This was a way to do it. Several other heritage commercial classical stations did the same thing around the country at the same time. The classical format is now mostly non-commercial. So yes it's a struggle getting people to donate money for radio. Dozens of NPR stations around the country are laying off staff because fundraising isn't meeting expectations. So this isn't a problem that's unique to WCLV or Cleveland.
you are right on all counts...I'm just saying IPM management for years contended that the poor signal at 104.9 impeded their ability to attract listeners and thus increase pledge dollars...now they have a great signal and nothing has changed. It just seems to be a very big signal to use for a station with a tiny audience...but I completely hear what you are saying.
Are you implying radio folks have an excuse for every scenario?
Does anybody see a full report these days? All stations, not just those that subscribe?
Years ago (2010-2011?) they publicly released 6+ ratings for all stations, including all non-comms. I think that was an effort to garner new subscribers.
I think that having a strong signal for a Classical music station can be important, listening-wise. Given that there are a number of low-level, soft passages in the music, the strong signal will help the station have a bigger audio footprint, over a larger area, so radio listeners won't have to deal with, even small, noises associated with weak signals. On other music stations, the music is consistently loud enough to cover up some of the really soft, low-level noise that might occur.
I think it's unique to have stations tied for #1 and #7. It shows a lot of sampling taking place.
Q104 seems to be the strongest of the newer music stations. KISS is trying climb back up, but still a bit weak. Z107.9 is flat and ALT CLE (107.3) is up and could be doing worse.
As for WKSU, I think it will climb back up, especially closer to the election season.
How did WCPN do when it was 90.3 before the merger with WKSU?
Q104 seems to be the strongest of the newer music stations. KISS is trying climb back up, but still a bit weak. Z107.9 is flat and ALT CLE (107.3) is up and could be doing worse.
As for WKSU, I think it will climb back up, especially closer to the election season.
How did WCPN do when it was 90.3 before the merger with WKSU?
- Status