-
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
March Radio Ratings
- Thread starter Dr Wayne
- Start date
Format and audience still unpalatable to advertisers, but WRME-LP shows that its solid rating last book wasn't a "wobble."
Perhaps you can find a way to break the news gently to WBBM.
Of course, they have the benefit of an FM simulcast.
Does Nielsen indicate to stations like WBBM how many people, and in what demographics, are listening to AM and how many are listening to FM? Does the encoded data on the signal the PPM picks up even indicate AM or FM? After all, the programming (and advertising) on both frequencies is identical, so there's no real reason for the station to know who's listening to what, but what if the data were available and showed far fewer people still listening to AM with the rest having migrated to FM? Would you see management turning in the AM license and going dark on 780?
Here is Feder's take!
http://www.robertfeder.com/2018/04/...7/chicago-radio-ratings-another-victory-v103/
http://www.robertfeder.com/2018/04/...7/chicago-radio-ratings-another-victory-v103/
Not really a big surprise as WGN Radio is getting the ratings that they deserve. Somebody asked Robert Feder about Roe Conn's ratings, and he reported tied for 22 with a 1.9 share, and neither Roe Conn's show or Steve Cochran's show are in the top ten from what Robert Feder is reporting for the 10 afternoon and morning shows. I asked what Steve Cochran's show ratings were, and Robert Feder replied back and said WGN is tied for 15th in mornings with a 2.7 share.
Turning in the license for a class A AM station would be a surprising move.
Every signal (in PPM Markets) in in a simulcast is encoded with a unique identifier.
The owner of a station may acquire from Nielsen granular data on the listening by signal in simulcasts.
WJMK 1250 Bridgeport/Saginaw/Bay City Michigan is now on the air with the MeTV format. They also have a nondirectional 250 watt 121 meter AGL translator on 98.5. The AM is 5/1.1 DA-1/U3. I wish them well, and hope to see more stations with the format soon.
Last edited:
Remarkable what WRME has been able to accomplish. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else doesn't try that TV audio trick in another market.
Hard to argue for the complete demise of AM when WBBM is a solid #2. I'm not at all arguing that the band is going to grow, but with FM becoming ever more crowded, all-news programming still finding a sizable audience and a need to clear other spoken word programming, AM is not going anywhere soon. I have no idea how WLS or WGN are leveraged, but suspect both show positive cash flow on an EBIDTA basis and would still do so even with some interest and depreciation factored in. I think, while lower than WLUP was, WCKL has maintained the share they have with a Christian Contemporary format. I'd be interested to know what EMF actually expected, but suspect they are happy with the result thus far.
Hard to argue for the complete demise of AM when WBBM is a solid #2. I'm not at all arguing that the band is going to grow, but with FM becoming ever more crowded, all-news programming still finding a sizable audience and a need to clear other spoken word programming, AM is not going anywhere soon. I have no idea how WLS or WGN are leveraged, but suspect both show positive cash flow on an EBIDTA basis and would still do so even with some interest and depreciation factored in. I think, while lower than WLUP was, WCKL has maintained the share they have with a Christian Contemporary format. I'd be interested to know what EMF actually expected, but suspect they are happy with the result thus far.
Considering that the FCC could close the Franken-FM loophole at any time and make what WRME and similar analog LPTVs are doing illegal, it's unlikely anyone elsewhere wants to sink serious money into such an operation.
There are many, many Channel 6 analogue TV stations doing the same thing, ranging from Spanish language religious (San Fernando Valley, CA) to foreign language (New York City),
WBBM is a simulcast, with the assumption that most of the listening has now migrated to FM.
There are very few AM stations that are capable of covering their market well enough day and night to be viable today. Even venerable WSB in Atlanta had to add FM to remain competitive in an area where even 50 kw non-directional on AM is not enough. Markets like Washington, DC and Houston have no station that truly covers the Nielsen MSA perfectly day and night, and many other markets only have one or two competitive, full coverage signals.
I don't think that is enough to keep people coming back.
I doubt WLS is profitable; if I am wrong, it is only marginally profitable on a cash flow basis. WGN has lost nearly 2/3 of its billing over the last 15 years and at some point will not be profitable; it bills half of what WBBM bills with the help of the FM simulcast.
The ratings list WBBM-AM. By all means, David, tell me if I'm wrong, but I thought when the rating said WBBM-AM, it is referring only to the AM station.
High powered AMs that do not have to lower their power for a night pattern will continue to endure. In no way did I even suggest that the band was growing only that it was not facing an imminent demise.
In any case, FM bands continue to be tightly packed. HD radio has not, and likely will not, reach the critical mass necessary to allow the overflow to be placed on sub-channels. If some AM licenses are turned in, it provides the opportunity to allow more high power, omnidirectional signals that don't need to be subjected to night pattern lower power. The band ensures, albeit with fewer stations, but those that remain have an actual business reason to exist.
High powered AMs that do not have to lower their power for a night pattern will continue to endure. In no way did I even suggest that the band was growing only that it was not facing an imminent demise.
In any case, FM bands continue to be tightly packed. HD radio has not, and likely will not, reach the critical mass necessary to allow the overflow to be placed on sub-channels. If some AM licenses are turned in, it provides the opportunity to allow more high power, omnidirectional signals that don't need to be subjected to night pattern lower power. The band ensures, albeit with fewer stations, but those that remain have an actual business reason to exist.
I know that I am not David, and nor am I claiming to be him, but I have taken the look at the ratings, it does say WBBM AM, and I also see WBBM FM as well, but the FM is not as high as WBBM AM. And I hope that is not referring to as B96.
FYI The FM simulcast of WBBM-AM is WCFS-FM 105.9. WBBM-FM is in fact B96. Two different stations.
WBBM and WCFS-FM have asked for Single Line Reporting, so the listing for "WBBM AM" includes both.
Similar situation in DC, where WMAL-FM includes WMAL-AM. But the FM is where the listenership is.
Thanks
- Status