New York Metro Radio Ratings: July 2023

[TheBigA]

Ed Lover is a pro. I respect the talent far more than the format which so many members here knew was was poorly conceived right from the outset, and has been borne out by Nielsen.
It's hard to believe they conducted proper market research before coming up with it, based on the results seen month after month. Maybe they did a push poll.

Once again, it's not about Nielsen. You're looking at the wrong barometer. Nielsen is a tool. You use it when you're in the Top 10. Otherwise, you sell other things. I'm not privy to their sales strategy. I can guess that it somehow fits with the other stations in the cluster. This is a cluster that bills over $100 million dollars a year. So they're not idiots.

Market research is not always about the audience. It can also be aimed at the client base. I can easily imagine a sales department going to their client base, and polling them on which formats they'd support with money.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Market research is not always about the audience. It can also be aimed at the client base. I can easily imagine a sales department going to their client base, and polling them on which formats they'd support with money.

I think I'm beginning to understand why radio has lost 30% of its audience in the past 20 years.

Anyway, there were plenty of people in the forums who kept justifying WPLJ's terrible ratings for years by saying the same sort of thing, that it was all about sales, and look where it got them.

 

[TheBigA]

I think I'm beginning to understand why radio has lost 30% of its audience in the past 20 years.

So you're saying none of us have smartphones or computers? Are you saying the playing field hasn't changed in 20 years?

Audacy is a traditional radio company built around local staffs and local sales. Other companies might view this same situation differently.

Anyway, there were plenty of people in the forums who kept justifying WPLJ's terrible ratings for years by saying the same sort of thing, that it was all about sales, and look where it got them.

The WPLJ situation was complicated by the inability of Cumulus to compete against much bigger and more diverse opponents. That's what they said when they left the market. They might have done better if they had at least one cash cow. They didn't have one. A cluster like Audacy can better afford a station like that in its cluster. You could have brought up WNYL.

 

[dcowboy7]

Reminds me when i got into an argument with the dentist cause he insisted country would NEVER come back to NY.
Then NASH started.
& wow did the excuses why it did come outta the woodwork then.
But thats like telling fanduel i shouldve won my bet even though the kicker missed that chipshot 21 yrd FG because he always makes it & it was windy & it was a bad snap/hold.
Doesnt matter - it happened.

 

[luperm]

Reminds me when i got into an argument with the dentist cause he insisted country would NEVER come back to NY.
Then NASH started.

LOL! Haven't you learned by now that the dentist is never wrong? And when he is, he deletes the evidence.

 

[Weiserguy]

LOL! Haven't you learned by now that the dentist is never wrong? And when he is, he deletes the evidence.

Message board inside baseball? Thank you! Funniest thing I've read all week!

 

[MassMusicMan]

If you want currents, change to KTU. This station has a narrower target.

"If you want (blank), change the station" should not be their strategy.

 

[TheBigA]

"If you want (blank), change the station" should not be their strategy.

It's not their strategy. Their strategy is not to play currents.

 

[mjb1124]

I'm 38 and a fan of '90s/early 2000s hip-hop who listens to The Block fairly regularly, and I certainly don't want to hear anything on the current Urban or Rhythmic charts. I don't even like when they play stuff from the late 2000s or early '10s like Drake. Maybe if it was new music from the old artists and/or in the older style, I'd be open. But trap beats, mumbly rapping, and autotune are an instant turnoff - and to me they'd feel no less sonically out of place than, say, the Temptations.

I'd like for The Block to stick around, but if they needed to play currents to survive, then perhaps they'd be better off throwing in the towel.

 

[davideduardo]

I realize money is the sole objective of many in this forum, as well as some owners. However, when you have no passion for the product you're trying to sell it usually ends up being bad. A bad product deserves bad results.

Passion for the product does not mean you have to like the station you sell for and listen to it.

Don't care about the creative side? How about selling insurance instead. Too many entertainment executives seem to forget what business they're actually in.

When I moved a station in a top 20 market from last on FM to #1 with double the share of the #2 station, I was able to have my pick of sellers in the market. As it ended up, none of them listened to the station at all. But they loved selling a top rated station, and we provided the most extensive research and sales materials for them to present to clients.

Those sellers were not interested the details of our format. As sellers, they were interested in showing advertisers how they could reach a huge percentage of the market with their message and help those clients increase their sales.

 

[davideduardo]

Is it perhaps too narrow?

It's a top 10 station, with comparable billing. It is also a complement to its cluster with demos that can be packaged with one or more of the other stations for a guaranteed sale in most demos.

 

[brokentuner]

Surprising WINS hasn’t really moved the needle in demos outside of 35-64.

 

[davideduardo]

Surprising WINS hasn’t really moved the needle in demos outside of 35-64.

But 35-64 is their specific target, and about the only sales demo that all news can generate.

 

[TheBigA]

Surprising WINS hasn’t really moved the needle in demos outside of 35-64.

I'm not aware that all news does well outside of older demos in any city. WTOP in DC isn't Top 10 25-54, and it's top rated 6+

I read a lot of complaints that radio doesn't target older demos, but here's an example of where they do.

 

[davideduardo]

I read a lot of complaints that radio doesn't target older demos, but here's an example of where they do.

And it works in DC where the economy revolves around the government and companies and organizations that deal with the government.

Just checking the age of the average Senator or lobbyist shows where the money is. Many clients of WTOP advertise to reach people in those activities. A listen to WTOP shows a client list that is quite different than that of any other station anywhere.

 

[Barry]

It's a top 10 station, with comparable billing. It is also a complement to its cluster with demos that can be packaged with one or more of the other stations for a guaranteed sale in most demos.

So you’re saying that The Block is quite successful, in terms of billing and positioning?

 

[davideduardo]

So you’re saying that The Block is quite successful, in terms of billing and positioning?

I was talking about WKTU as in the post that said "If you want currents, change to KTU. This station has a narrower target."

As to The Block, it is gradually improving despite a deficient signal. As part of a cluster, it is sold in "combo" with other stations and it's always hard to determine individual station sales in those cases.

 

[DOB]

The block has comparable ratings to what Country got, and in New York the people who work for the agencies who buy spots on the radio don't have a Germany 1933 hatred for the audience and lifestyles of those who listen to the Block.
Hard to sell a station whose audience is the enemy that must be punished. I'd have justified fear if I had to represent the Country audience and lifestyle in New York, especially to elites or the ones who serve them, and I had a family living here.

 

[MarkW]

WKTU is doing a great job occupying the 90s / 00s gold lane, albeit in a more of a pop/rhythm fashion than classic hip-hop.

I think KTU's music adjustment (I forget when it occurred but I believe it was around the time 94.7 became The Block) has made it more difficult for 94.7 to amass an audience.

 

[CTListener]

The block has comparable ratings to what Country got, and in New York the people who work for the agencies who buy spots on the radio don't have a Germany 1933 hatred for the audience and lifestyles of those who listen to the Block.
Hard to sell a station whose audience is the enemy that must be punished. I'd have justified fear if I had to represent the Country audience and lifestyle in New York, especially to elites or the ones who serve them, and I had a family living here.

This might be the strangest introduction of Nazi Germany into an internet discussion I've ever seen.