non-comm ratings

[BoscoGoldBear]

I'm surprised nobody noticed that the non-comm ratings have come out, as seen on www.rrconline.com. To no surprise WBUR topped these ratings, followed by 'GBH and 'ERS. A few notes about these ratings:

WBUR is #7 overall and - if their 25-54s are still 20-25% above their overalls - #4 in the 25-54 demo, in between #3 Kiss and (official) #4 Jam'n but closer to Kiss than Jam'n.

WGBH, with its classical/news/jazz blend, is #19 overall (including 'BUR as one of the 18 which top 'GBH). 'GBH just loses to out-of-town signal WPLM but is one arm ahead of perrenial loser WBOS.

WERS is the only other station which has over half of 1% of metro Boston's listeners, tying itself with Manchester-based WZID and two illegal alien stations (WNNW and WUNR, which would both be destroyed by an FM illegal alien station).

Only four other stations have crumbs for ratings, including WUMB, WEVO (Concord, NH), WFCR (the people's republic of Amherst) and WICN (Worcester). The rest of the stations listed (including Albany, NY's WAMC) had some cume but no listeners per quarter hour.

 

[webcastboy]

Ouch, WZBC and WMBR don't even make the list. I mean, it's no surprise all the teeny ~10-100 watters out there don't, like WMFO and WMLN, but WZBC and WMBR have no excuse of "not enough power"; both have better signals than WUMB does!

Interesting how WERS's ratings have dropped (not hugely, but they've definitely dropped from the Fall'06 book) in light of their new "Music for the Independent Mind" format (aka quasi-freeform). I wonder if that reflects unhappiness with the new format, or just the new format is reaching a different demo than the free RRC numbers reflect?

FWIW, I haven't seen the most recent numbers, but I have seen past results...and IIRC in recent years WBUR has been trading the top slots with WMJX and WBZ for the 25-54 demo; Kiss & Jam'n have usually placed lower. Still good, mind you...but lower.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

I'd like to know what WGBH-FM's 12+ and 25-54 numbers are from 7:00 pm till midnight Monday thru Friday. What IS the audience for repeats of "The World" and jazz?

 

[mgpt6]

I would think that WMBR and WZBC would have some numbers in the 18-24 demo. But from 12+ or 24-54 would the 5000-10000 listensers that they have show up in the ratings.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Ouch, WZBC and WMBR don't even make the list.

That's because they're not Arbitron subscribers. The rrconline site only lists Arbitron subscribing non-comms.

It's been over a year since I was last privy to the ENTIRE ratings breakdowns of all Boston stations including non-subscribers, but in the few times that I've had the chance to see them over the past few years, WMBR and WZBC pulled consistent .1 shares overall in the 12+, with certain time slots up to .2. WMBR had one show that pulled a .3 the last time I saw them.

WMFO and WBRS were both under .1. Though they did have small numbers in the listener counts showing that their limited signals are not transmitting to a complete void, their ratings percentages showed up as 0.

These college stations are not concerned with ratings and don't feel that it's worth paying Arbitron subscription fees.

 

[webcastboy]

I would think that WMBR and WZBC would have some numbers in the 18-24 demo.

I'd be shocked. At most gatherings those stations hold, the audience tends to be white Cantabridgians in their 40's and 50's. Not universally, of course, but the majority seems to fall into that camp. In other words, the hippie radicals that listened to WZBC and WMBR back in the 1960's and 70's when they were kids are still the main listeners today.

It's often disheartening how few college-age kids even HAVE a radio these days...much less listen to a radio station (online or otherwise).

I would imagine WGBH's numbers for after 7pm are similar to WBUR's (and most stations)...they drop off a cliff once afternoon drive ends. Although Eric in the Evening probably has enough fans that I wouldn't be surprised if WGBH's numbers are suddenly a lot more competitive to WBUR's once 8pm hits.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I would think that WMBR and WZBC would have some numbers in the 18-24 demo.

I'd be shocked. At most gatherings those stations hold, the audience tends to be white Cantabridgians in their 40's and 50's. Not universally, of course, but the majority seems to fall into that camp. In other words, the hippie radicals that listened to WZBC and WMBR back in the 1960's and 70's when they were kids are still the main listeners today.

The heyday of popularity for both of those stations was not so much the '60s/'70s "hippie radical" era ('ZBC wasn't even on until 1974), it was the late 70's/early 80's "punk" and "new wave" era. Those stations were right at the vanguard of the genre. WBCN and WLYN-FM/WFNX were even using those stations to judge which "new" punk/new wave releases they would claim to "break" half a year later.

Much of their current audience is either listeners from that scene now 25 years older, or somewhat younger people who were spawned from that same scene as it continued over the years.

 

[webcastboy]

Much more elegantly (and accurately) put, Eli. I am shamefaced in forgetting that WZBC wasn't even on the air until then. :-[

 

[Signpost]

Much of their current audience is either listeners from that scene now 25 years older, or somewhat younger people who were spawned from that same scene as it continued over the years.

Ouch.. that hurts.. but it's accurate.

FWIW.. Birch ratings (remember birch?) used to list all stations comm and non-comm - back then they had 'ZBC and 'MBR with 12+ cumes of around 40,000. WERS had a cume of around 80,000. No idea if those numbers persist today.

 

[mgpt6]

signpost: Those numbers sound right from what I remember from about 10 years ago.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

The last time I got to see the complete non-comm ratings a year and a half ago, the WMBR show that got their highest Arbitron ratings was not their longtime weekday morning alt-rock shows that they are best known for. It was their Haitian shows which air 6-10 AM Sunday mornings.

However, because the audience for those shows is generally not very affluent, they are not WMBR's highest pledge draws during fundraising week, despite having the highest Arbitron ratings. Certain editions of their morning alt-rock shows with longtime hosts, certain editions of their noontime 1960s/'70s music show, and their Saturday blues/roots music shows best them on fundraising.