JANUARY PPM RATINGS OUT NOW

[gregg75]

http://www.radio-info.com/markets/atlanta

Now we're back to V-103 #1 and WSB/Talk #2.

Gospel WPZE is third. Wow, what's their secret? Something is working for them.

Q-100 is also doing well and are now #6. They have moved from a 4.7 in October
to a 5.4.

B-98 lost their Christmas boom and are now back in 7th place with about the same
audience they had in October.

WZGC has moved up from a 3.2 in October to a 4.5.

Changes at Star 94 moved it from a 3.3 October to a 3.8.

WUBL October was 4.9 and now is 3.2 What happened?

The River went from a 4.2 to a 2.8. Is something not working for them?

Oldies 106 from a 2.9 to 2.0. Their new format is yet to jell. They have
turned off some folks, but should slowly improve. 80% of the time they're right on track.

Intreresting that WWWQ HD2 signal is doing a lot better than all but one
of the AM/FM bottom feeder stations. What's the format there?

 

[secondchoice]

http://www.radio-info.com/markets/atlanta

Now we're back to V-103 #1 and WSB/Talk #2.

Gospel WPZE is third. Wow, what's their secret? Something is working for them.

This is the South and part of the “Bible Belt”, There is a large number of Christians (Black or White) that like Christian music be it Gospel or “Christian Rock” (like 104.7 the Fish). What Praise has been able to do is satisfy the “Urban or Black” Gospel folks while they have taped into a “Urban Christian Rock” crowd. Historically there has been an R & B influence on Rock almost from the start so I guess Christian Rock can have an “Urban or B & B” branch too. Could this station have more listeners per watt than any Atlanta Station?

 

[thefirstgenesis]

Now we're back to V-103 #1
Atlanta has always been a mecca and a heavy lean for Urban/Hip Hop music, thus WVEE will mostly be in the top. If you have an urban format in Atlanta, there is an absolute chance that your station will be in the top 5. If you own 5 radio stations that have an urban format, there's a great chance that at least 2 or 3 of the stations would be in the top 5.

B-98 lost their Christmas boom and are now back in 7th place with about the same audience they had in October.
Station is brought down to earth with ratings in the 4.5-5.4 range. If another AC station was created, the ratings would be even lower. Good for 98.5 that they own the monopoly of the AC (if I really can call that AC) market here.

"The River went from a 4.2 to a 2.8. Is something not working for them?"
Would 106.7 have some effect? It looks like 106.7 is sounding a little bit similar to the River but with a few 1960's songs sprinkled in. Still, the River is still on top compared to 106.7.

Thanks for keeping us with the updates on the ratings gregg75. Finally some normal ratings after two months of Christmas B98.5 rating inflation known as Christmas music

 

[jabba17]

Intreresting that WWWQ HD2 signal is doing a lot better than all but one
of the AM/FM bottom feeder stations. What's the format there?

99X, alt, simuled at [email protected].

 

[kilamanjero]

Now we're back to V-103 #1
Atlanta has always been a mecca and a heavy lean for Urban/Hip Hop music, thus WVEE will mostly be in the top. If you have an urban format in Atlanta, there is an absolute chance that your station will be in the top 5. If you own 5 radio stations that have an urban format, there's a great chance that at least 2 or 3 of the stations would be in the top 5.

That's part of the reason, but dayparting of song choices are one of the main reasons (if not the main reason) why V-103 has survived in this crowded urban format market as #1 station as long it has. Actually, the multiple stations of Radio One has actually hurt its UAC outlet (WAMJ/WUMJ) because they are splitting themselves in multiple directions trying to capture the urban music audience.

 

[atlantaboy]

A 4.5 for a AAA station is almost unheard of! - Not sure how much is Falcons-related, Mumford & Sons/Indie-related, etc., but Dave-FM is definitely doing something right

 

[gregg75]

"The River went from a 4.2 to a 2.8. Is something not working for them?"
Would 106.7 have some effect? It looks like 106.7 is sounding a little bit similar to the River but with a few 1960's songs sprinkled in. Still, the River is still on top compared to 106.7.

Guess you haven't listened to 106.7 lately. They sound more like B-98 than The River since they made their format tweek. At this point with 106.7 down I don't think they are having any effect on The River (which is more like Rock 100). My only guess is that the same old songs on the River over and over are wearing thin.

As for 106.7 some were turned off by their inclusion of R&B Crossover and Dance tracks. They like pure Rock and pure "old fashioned oldies". I have always liked the R&B and Crossover songs and think at this day and age there is no reason to discriminate..........especially with an oldies format. 106.7 seems to be going for a younger audience (35-40) and although older, my musical tastes are younger than most 35 year olds.

My V-103 comment only meant that we're now back to where we left off in October with Vee #1.

 

[rho01]

This is the strongest book Dave has had in its seven-year history. Dave FM had huge no's 25-54 (no. 3!) and some of it has to do with the Falcons (weekend no's were huge) but its music portion did well, too. It beat Project 18-34 (a rarity) and Mara was No. 2 in a tie overall 25-54.

 

[gregg75]

Going back to WPZE.....I think it is very unusual for a Gospel station to be in third place.
They must have some great talent there or SOMETHING. Of the top 10 markets there
are 3 cities where Gospel is #14 in all 3 (Dallas, Houston, Washington DC). That's it.
I know we're in the Bible Belt, but taking it to #3 almost seems like a miracle.

 

[jabba17]

Rock100.5 and the NEW 97.1 The River are sounding about the same these days...with both stations playing classic rock (Rock100.5 goes a bit harder and deeper than "classic hits" River). Wonder if they are fighting over the same narrow bucket of listeners, hence the poor ratings for both? To put it another way, Rock100.5 may have driven off their younger listeners to other stations, while stealing older listeners from River. Dave and 99X (but not Project) seem to be the beneficiary of the older playlists on those two stations.

ATL Greatest Hits sounds good with their new format (if not their processing), but they may have lost the older baby boomers and flown straight into B98.5's buzzsaw in their pursuit of older GenXers with the 80s stuff. Lower ratings vs. a more attractive demo? It sounds like B98.5's doubling down on 80s (98.5 The Point?) is paying off as a defensive move. Side effect: it has enabled Star to go full hot AC to pick off B98.5's younger listeners (indeed, one could say that Star is becoming a younger version of B98.5), which has enabled Q100 to go full CHR and pick off Star's younger listeners.

 

[thefirstgenesis]

"The River went from a 4.2 to a 2.8. Is something not working for them?"
Would 106.7 have some effect? It looks like 106.7 is sounding a little bit similar to the River but with a few 1960's songs sprinkled in. Still, the River is still on top compared to 106.7.

Guess you haven't listened to 106.7 lately. They sound more like B-98 than The River since they made their format tweek. At this point with 106.7 down I don't think they are having any effect on The River (which is more like Rock 100). My only guess is that the same old songs on the River over and over are wearing thin.

As for 106.7 some were turned off by their inclusion of R&B Crossover and Dance tracks. They like pure Rock and pure "old fashioned oldies". I have always liked the R&B and Crossover songs and think at this day and age there is no reason to discriminate..........especially with an oldies format. 106.7 seems to be going for a younger audience (35-40) and although older, my musical tastes are younger than most 35 year olds.

My V-103 comment only meant that we're now back to where we left off in October with Vee #1.

You may be right. I haven't fervently touched the radio dial since they took away 94.9 Lite FM four years ago, so WYAY may have changed quite a bit, but they are more closely related in music choice and targeting the River's listening audience than 98.5. I only go by what yes.com says. We'll see if the River improves during the next month. If it continues to drop, then you can't rule out what affect, if minor, 106.7 is doing to 97.1

 

[wooder]

A 4.5 for a AAA station is almost unheard of! - Not sure how much is Falcons-related, Mumford & Sons/Indie-related, etc., but Dave-FM is definitely doing something right

I don't think any of it is Falcon-related as the Falcons were out of the playoff picture before the book started.

 

[ShawtyBlack_ATL]

Going back to WPZE.....I think it is very unusual for a Gospel station to be in third place.
They must have some great talent there or SOMETHING. Of the top 10 markets there
are 3 cities where Gospel is #14 in all 3 (Dallas, Houston, Washington DC). That's it.
I know we're in the Bible Belt, but taking it to #3 almost seems like a miracle.

In Montgomery, Clear Channel's "Urban Gospel" HALLELUJAH 104.3 is the #1 station with a 12.6 overall. Same format in Memphis owned by Clear Channel, HALLELUJAH 95.7 is 4th place 12+.

 

[DToTheJ]

WUBL October was 4.9 and now is 3.2 What happened?

If it were October into December, I'd say Christmas happened, as country has a tendency to struggle during the holiday book. This is just unheard of; they seemed to be on somewhat of a roll of late, as well.

What's Cledus doing these days?

 

[RoddyFreeman]

WUBL October was 4.9 and now is 3.2 What happened?

If it were October into December, I'd say Christmas happened, as country has a tendency to struggle during the holiday book. This is just unheard of; they seemed to be on somewhat of a roll of late, as well.

What's Cledus doing these days?

Cledus is part of a morning show in Florida, I think at the station he left to come to The Bull.

 

[jabba17]

WUBL October was 4.9 and now is 3.2 What happened?

If it were October into December, I'd say Christmas happened, as country has a tendency to struggle during the holiday book. This is just unheard of; they seemed to be on somewhat of a roll of late, as well.

Has any country station ever gone all-country-Christmas, the way so many AC stations do? There is certainly library to do that, as most big country stars have come out with a Christmas album at some point.

As I have said before, the more-adult format stations (AC, oldies, country, maybe classic rock, others) tend to get hit harder versus an all-Christmas station. Country is in a unique position to join them if they can't beat them.

And ATL having 2 country stations would be a good market for the underdog to give it a whirl (although the current battle between Bull and Kicks may have prevented one of them from conceding the fight for the lead position and trying something different). It would have been great for Legend to have tried.

 

[BarryATL]

I find it really interesting that a class A station can be the #3 station in the Atlanta market. WPZE is not even a full class A. A full class A is 6000 watts ERP at 300 meters HAAT. WPZE's application was in process for more than a decade so the station did not get the opportunity to upgrade with the rest of the class As. WPZE is under the old rules with 3000 watts ERP at 300 meters HAAT.... keep in mind that if HAAT is raised above 300 meters, then the ERP has to go down.

Still, for a station whose signal only covers about half the market, the ratings are amazing.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

I find it really interesting that a class A station can be the #3 station in the Atlanta market. WPZE is not even a full class A. A full class A is 6000 watts ERP at 300 meters HAAT. WPZE's application was in process for more than a decade so the station did not get the opportunity to upgrade with the rest of the class As. WPZE is under the old rules with 3000 watts ERP at 300 meters HAAT.... keep in mind that if HAAT is raised above 300 meters, then the ERP has to go down.

Still, for a station whose signal only covers about half the market, the ratings are amazing.

You have to consider though that WPZE's signal is strong in exactly the right areas for that format. That signal would not be successful with most other formats.

 

[taylorengineer]

Praise did very well(top 5)when it was at 97.5 and the signal was worse than it is now at 102.5! If you remember that first trend they came out of the box at #3 12+.
102.5 is 3,000 watts but at around 450 feet - they are the equivalent to 6,000 watts at 300 feet.

 

[atlantaboy]

A 4.5 for a AAA station is almost unheard of! - Not sure how much is Falcons-related, Mumford & Sons/Indie-related, etc., but Dave-FM is definitely doing something right

I don't think any of it is Falcon-related as the Falcons were out of the playoff picture before the book started.

Yeah, in that case, this should kind of be a signal to Cumulus that 99X belongs back on a full-blown signal (since WZGC is leaning Alternative and probably overlaps more than half their playlist)