Latest Radio Ratings

[Dr Wayne]

Here is the May 15, 2017 Chicago Radio Ratings.

http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb005

 

[staggmovie]

It seems like WBBM is slipping, they were reported 6.3 on January 17th, and now they are reporting at 4.9 after 2 months in a row at 5.4. And I even notice that WDCB that is owned and on the campus of College of DuPage gets so low ratings that it is not even worth reporting them. Do they need to make a change in their schedule or are they that small of a station, that ratings doesn't really matter to them?

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

I know that David will never take it seriously, but really, how high do the ratings have to get for MeTV FM to be taken seriously? Here we have an out of band FM station with ratings as high as or higher than many middle of the FM band signals, and it gets no respect amongst the radio industry pundits. Does the AARP membership have to start demonstrating in front of iHeart and CBS headquarters?

 

[staggmovie]

That is a good question, that i wish i could attempt to answer, I have a love/hate relationship with the station, I love that they can play songs or artists that you don't hear on either WLS FM or K-Hits, but then they do play some garbage songs in my opinion like Brown Eyed Girl and Saturday in the Park, yes I know I bet I am going to hated by this. And I also love that if you look at their website, for the past 5 songs that they have played, if there is a song that you want to hear more of, you hit play more, and then if you are on Facebook, and even witter, you can share it with your Facebook friends, or Twitter followers or both. And if there is a song that you want to hear less of, you click the play less button.

 

[davideduardo]

I know that David will never take it seriously, but really, how high do the ratings have to get for MeTV FM to be taken seriously? Here we have an out of band FM station with ratings as high as or higher than many middle of the FM band signals, and it gets no respect amongst the radio industry pundits. Does the AARP membership have to start demonstrating in front of iHeart and CBS headquarters?

Here is the situation...

Chicago is a market where most of the revenue is generated based on ratings. That means agency accounts, both local and regional / national. There are essentially no agency buys specifying 65+. There are few that specify something like 35-64.

About 80% of the WRME AQH listening is over 55. About 20% is under 50. In 55+, the station is ranked around 5th. In 18-49 it is around 30th (I say "about" because at the rank varies by many positions due to wobble).

In smaller markets, a top-heavy station can sell to local direct accounts. Not so much in big markets, as operating costs are high and the near full market coverage is much more than needed by smaller non-agency local businesses. It's more efficient to buy Google, Yelp and FB that is geotargeted, or to use traditional direct mail, local cable or localized billboards or mini boards.

Agencies know that older consumers are a harder sell and that it takes more ad impressions to make the sale... which makes the cost per sale increase. So they go for more impulsive consumers. And the folks that do market for seniors go for visual media, not radio... and they are national accounts.

Were they in Peoria where most clients don't use ratings, they would do well. But not in Chicago.

In the same vein, look at WGN. It's now down to about 20th in 25-54, and in the last 8 years, its revenue is off by about half. That's because it is not delivering the audience that agency accounts want.

CBS Television has been trying for over 3 years to get TV buys to recognize 35-64. TV is all based on 18-49, and while they have spent millions trying to win over advertiser marketing departments and agencies, nothing has changed. Apparently they have not found any way to change the ROI data that major advertisers depend on.