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First Columbus PPMs - September 2010

N

Nu_Roo_2

I see the first public Columbus PPM's have arrived, namely September!

No big surprises in the upper tiers.  Share-wise things don’t look all that different than they have traditionally, except maybe for CKX getting hurt some.

To me the biggest news is that Gen-X did indeed do great, besting both the Brew's and 93.3's shares.  In fact, these numbers drive home what I said before:  CC would be nuts not to move Gen-X to 93.3.  Gen-X’s 3.8 share  handily bested 93.3’s 3.2, and its cume wasn’t even much lower than 93.3’s -- all despite 93.3’s far superior signal!  (For that matter, the Brew's signal is a lot better than 106.7's, too.)  So the Time Spent Listening for Gen-X must be excellent (and that's despite listeners -- myself included -- who tune it out when going into areas where 106.7's signal struggles, like the Short North.) Gen-X would be a slam-dunk top-tier player if it could take advantage of the 93.3 signal to grow its cume substantially -- especially given that the demos must be excellent.  Instead, CC STILL continues to waste all that potential with the dreary, highly under-performing AC on 93.3.  Get on the stick guys (or should I say, get the right station on the right stick)!  And strike while the iron’s hot, instead of losing momentum by putting it off in an attempt to first milk 93.3’s traditional Q4 (Christmas) uptick.

There was plenty more of interest, especially in the bottom half.  But for now I’ll leave my comments with the big story here:  It would be foolhardy *not* to move Gen-X to 93.3!  (OK, I'll also note that the Rewind -- WNND+WNNP -- bested Mix 107.9 by more than a point.)
 
All I can say was I was more surprised than I thought I would be. I so did not expect some stations at the bottom to be well at the bottom.

As everyone has said .. PPM Changes Everything! I would not be surprised if we don't see some changes in columbus coming..

As ones can see, Clear Channel's change to 106.7 and Saga's change to 103.5/104.3 were right moves... on both companies part.

It was also interseting to see how the non com's in the market stand up against the coms.
 
xiradiodotcom said:
They already have 101.1 Classical... should WWCD and WCVZ be combined for the real number for CD101 er 1025?
Click to expand...

The  September PPM's cover the period Aug 19 - Sep 15.  I believe WWCD was still on both frequencies through at least 9/15 (someone please chime in if I'm wrong), so yes, they should be combined (the shares, not the cumes).
 
xiradiodotcom said:
They already have 101.1 Classical... should WWCD and WCVZ be combined for the real number for CD101 er 1025?
Click to expand...

Yes the numbers for 101.1 and 102.5 both rep the format for CD101 @ 102.5 currently. The ratings are broken out as each station has its own PPM Encoders I assume.

Re the format listing... It's the same as WNCI being listed as "HotAC" It's just how the site lists it.

(or as R-I has WBNS-FM listed as hot ac and it hasnt been that format at all this year) :)
 
My favorite part is being able to see the actual 0.1 rating for stations like WYTS. Before, you could only assume that it was either 0.0 or 0.1, but now we know for sure! How wonderful.
 
Good to see Saga and RadiOhio included this time. Speaking of RadiOhio, check out that 5.4 for WBNS-FM. I'm sure Buckeyes season helped them get that 5.4, but as much as I hate the Sports format, you have to give the Devil its due.
WLVQ and WRKZ did better than I expected, especially Q-FM. Q almost doubled their ratings. Looks like bringing back "The Blitz" name was the right move for 'RKZ.
WCGX did extremely well. Makes me wonder how well they'd do if they were on that huge 93.3 signal.
WVMX did horribly. That small signal is killing them, as well as the small amount of attention paid to them by Saga(or so it seems). The Rewind duo(On two of the crappiest sticks in town)did better with stale 80s tunes. WSNY did well...once again the leader of the pack for Saga.
WNCI is the clear-cut winner here...TWO whole points between them and WTVN. Congrats to Tony Florentino, Sean Cage, Chris Davis, The Morning Zoo, and the rest of the team at WNCI! 8)
 
Clear Channel wins big. WNCI has been sounding GREAT with Sean Cage behind MusicGen and they have the right sound for Columbus. They could end up being Top 40 Station of the Year again.

As for Gen X, wow! I hope it doesn't get tired fast, but it's possible. That's what happens when you only play one era of music. They need to go deeper into the 90s like the 90s station out of Sacramento.

Power 1075 - what the hell! It's only catering to the urban community which I don't think is smart to do in Columbus when you don't have the urban community being a majority. They should've kept it rhythmic like they had it about a year-2 ago.

Mix 1079 - Ya know... they did better than I thought! They only grabbed a 1.9, but their cume was better than I thought. They need to keep it the same format, but market the station! It needs to lean more to attack NCI and they need to market it... the signal's not the best, but it can do better than a 1.9 - REWIND did better than the hot ac? Not good, but makes sense in Columbus.

Moving Gen X to 933? I suppose but the 1067 signal isn't that bad. I think it's time for Soft Rock to flip, it's not working out. Sunny is the powerhouse. What could you flip to though? Urban to attack Power? Urban isn't a big PPM player... I suppose Rhythmic... they could bring all the possible hip-hop listeners to CC and leave Power in the dust. Maybe a Hot AC format?? Would that be too much like Gen X though? There's not many options... I love MOViN but won't happen here.

I think we need to ask ourselves... what does 933 need to do?
 
I disagree about the 106.7 signal.  If you go by the coverage map it *looks* like it should be solid in Franklin and Delaware counties, but the reality doesn't seem to fit that at all.  Lots of problems south of 161.  In fact sometimes 106.7 seems to be struggling even where one of the "lesser" north-located signals is sounding OK.

Assuming CC doesn't make the logical move of shunting Gen-X over to 93.3 -- ASAP -- other options in addition to those you suggested would be any of a variety of pre-90's greatest-hits types formats.  While I admire what Saga is doing with Rewind, CC could probably blow them out of the water with a similar format.  That way they would both chip away at Saga's cluster share *and* create a pretty powerful franchise in its own right -- something they've sure never been able to do with that almost-embarrassing, please-make-it-finally-go-away, eternally-under-performing me-too AC on 93.3.  Greatest-hits for 93.3 could also take the form of the type of 70's/80's/60's Classic Hits format that's topping the PPMs, and getting good demos, on good signals in almost every Top 50 market except good 'ol Columbus..

As for Mix, I would guess Gen-X hurt them some, since Mix plays plenty of 90s.  Remember when Gen-X started up and Florentino posted  a "hereby putting my friends at Mix on notice" warning here?
 
lovejamminoldies said:
Power 1075 - what the hell! It's only catering to the urban community which I don't think is smart to do in Columbus when you don't have the urban community being a majority. They should've kept it rhythmic like they had it about a year-2 ago.

Moving Gen X to 933? I suppose but the 1067 signal isn't that bad. I think it's time for Soft Rock to flip, it's not working out. Sunny is the powerhouse. What could you flip to though? Urban to attack Power? Urban isn't a big PPM player... I suppose Rhythmic... they could bring all the possible hip-hop listeners to CC and leave Power in the dust. Maybe a Hot AC format?? Would that be too much like Gen X though? There's not many options... I love MOViN but won't happen here.
Click to expand...

WCKX is still a reporter to the BDS and Mediabase Rhythmic panels. In other words they're like the Columbus equivilent of WZMX/Hartford.

As for anyone trying to go after WCKX, that will take a prayer.

Meanwhile, I'm surprised to see WXMG make the top 5. One might guess that Urban AC is more popular in Columbus than Urban.
 
Magic has done well here for the last few years. WCKX flirts with rhythmic, but isn't a true one like they were a few years back.

If Gen X goes to 933, what do you do with 1067? I like a Rhythmic-type format here.
 
lovejamminoldies said:
Magic has done well here for the last few years. WCKX flirts with rhythmic, but isn't a true one like they were a few years back.

If Gen X goes to 933, what do you do with 1067? I like a Rhythmic-type format here.
Click to expand...
I'd just put 'LZT on 106.7 in exchange for 'CGX going to 93.3, or just try something else altogether. Looks like The Brew isn't brewing too many ratings on 105.7. Time for it and 'LZT to go away...or at least tweak The Brew('LZT needs to go away PERIOD). The female-leaning approach isn't working. Hell, just do all 80s and go after Rewind, or put 'TVN on FM, which CC would probably love since it'd save them money.
 
Nu_Roo_2 said:
I disagree about the 106.7 signal. If you go by the coverage map it *looks* like it should be solid in Franklin and Delaware counties, but the reality doesn't seem to fit that at all. Lots of problems south of 161. In fact sometimes 106.7 seems to be struggling even where one of the "lesser" north-located signals is sounding OK.

Assuming CC doesn't make the logical move of shunting Gen-X over to 93.3 -- ASAP -- other options in addition to those you suggested would be any of a variety of pre-90's greatest-hits types formats. While I admire what Saga is doing with Rewind, CC could probably blow them out of the water with a similar format. That way they would both chip away at Saga's cluster share *and* create a pretty powerful franchise in its own right -- something they've sure never been able to do with that almost-embarrassing, please-make-it-finally-go-away, eternally-under-performing me-too AC on 93.3. Greatest-hits for 93.3 could also take the form of the type of 70's/80's/60's Classic Hits format that's topping the PPMs, and getting good demos, on good signals in almost every Top 50 market except good 'ol Columbus..

As for Mix, I would guess Gen-X hurt them some, since Mix plays plenty of 90s. Remember when Gen-X started up and Florentino posted a "hereby putting my friends at Mix on notice" warning here?
Click to expand...
I was over in Columbus a few months back around Downtown and I was picking up 'CGX just fine. It never flickered or faded for me. I can also pick it up a TAD where I live, usually with static in the car or in mono at the house. Some signal's better than no signal I guess! I could also stream it, but I hate being stuck in the computer room just to listen to the radio.
Mix is in deep trouble here. They might as well do a Modern AC-type deal like when 97.1 first went Hot AC back in July, 2001. Let Rewind have the 80s and Gen X have the 90s and try to be the alternative to WNCI, much like Hot 105/Kiss-FM was back in the early '90s. However, the crappy 107.9 signal will always hinder them. It looks like the audience that used to listen to 97.1 as a Hot AC mostly went to WNCI and a few of them went to 107.9, but not many. It almost seems like someone is NOT minding the store over at 107.9 and it's hurting them. TJ Holland better make some adjustments, and fast.
 
WLZT - URBAN - 93-3 The Beat with Rickey Smiley in the morning... best move for CC to get some ratings.

Mix 1079 - I agree... Modern Hit Music... 97.1 was this same format and it beat Sunny in a book. The signal really sucks for them, so the best thing they can do is market it like it's a threat to NCI.

T.J. Holland - DON'T FORGET MIX.
 
WLZT as a classic hits would be an interesting move. Tough not to hurt Brew if that is even a consideration. It would be a premium choicer so why would you expect something more than TDA? Would they market it? Take away money from WNCI to market it? C'mon. Never happen. It would be another soulless CC canned format playing The Doobies.

Speaking of soulless.

GenX has already lost momentum. It's a shame that so little goes into programming that station. Nothing happening between the records. Are CC PD's not allowed to break from a template? Absolutely boring radio on Brew and X. You can play by the PPM rules and still have an interesting station. My God, have some pride in your products. Heck, the PD probably doesn't have time between all the other non-programming crap the corporate boys put them through. 'NCI sounds interesting, why can't the rest of their FM's?

Mix is a station without a position. It doesn't own any musical image, does it? What? Rob Thomas? Atta boy Mix!

Give PPM time to gel in this market. You already have seen some fluctuations between the first 3 months. Let's see if Q is still huge with women come February. Every PPM market takes time to settle in as will Columbus. The GenX and Rewinds will be around long enough to see them come off their initial highs.

You could give some merit to moving sports to WLZT. More units and money for sports versus AC. At some point WTVN is going to need a real partner and not something tossed in. You'd make more money on a 1.5 FM sports than a 3 share AC in this market. 45+ females ain't what they used to be to buyers. Then again, I don't know how many sports dollars are in this town.

Sorry, I meant to say WLZT should go urban/AAA/movin/arrow/honey radio/soul train/young country on that stick and finally give Columbus what it really needs! Just trying to fit in.
 
I could see them bringing WTVN to FM if they can Soft Rock... but, WTVN already has powerful numbers, putting it on FM, is that really neccessary?

WLZT - Classic Hits - FAIL. It'd be exactly like WTDA which does nothing btw.
Gen X: I agree... it gets tired FAST. It needs jocks, more risky songs, and better imaging. WNCI is CC's best-sounding station, and brings in the bacon.
Mix: A lot of people do comment on how Mix is the same boring station it was when it signed on... the music could REALLY use worked on, but the imaging is being updated and it's almost as good as 971's. The music is pretty blah though... like I said in my other post, it needs to go Modern AC to survive in this city.

It may take a few months to see the real changes happen. Maybe not until 2011. Some stations are in emergency:

Mix 1079
WTDA
I hope CD 101's numbers are just hurt from the frequency merge...
933 needs to flip, but it's not in emergency mode yet, it's still generating numbers... but I'd give up with Sunny rockin' like that...
 
Classic Hits on 93.3 would make perfect sense. For one, 103.9 isn't a true classic hits. It's a rock leaning classic hits. Secondly, the Class F signal they have also ruins chances of ratings and cume. A true classic hits on 93.3 would do spectacular, and I have no idea why they don't flip to it. Just look at any city with a Class A signaled classic hits, and you'll see a station that performs very well in both ratings and cume. Btw, I'm going on high school grades to "Class" my stations lol. "F" meaning failing, and "A" meaning superior.
 
While I agree that 93.3 as a Classic Hits IS a good move, you guys are all missing the big picture here. Like it or not, it's a cluster move.
If WLZT weren't cranking out the AC tunes, where would those 3 shares go? WSNY.
It's designed to keep Sunny out of the top spot and keep WNCI #1

Plus, look at their cume. Whether it's passive listening or not, it's obviously playing in a lot of places. People are being exposed to it.

As for WVMX. You can't fight WNCI with a tiny little signal, and Hot AC is having some tough years with CHR so strong. AAA? That would give them their own niche, but is it strong in the right areas of Columbus for that to work? Probably not.
 
Makes sense for WLZT and the same can be said for Mix though...

Mix doesn't have the signal to even come close to WNCI but it can hurt them some. The adult listeners. EVEN THE TEENS can listen to a Modern AC if done right. WZPL or even Mix 94.1 Canton
 
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