NY PPM RATINGS RELEASED AUGUST 2009

[pjc1961]

The publicly released overall 6+ PPM data for August 2009 covering the period Thu. 7/23/09-Wed. 8/19/09 can be found on the www.radio-info.com link here: New York Ratings Grid.

The next ratings period is for September 2009 (Thu. 8/20/09-Wed. 9/16/09) with the data to be released on Wed. 10/7/09.

 

[nd2023]

Pulse 87's cume increased over 100,000!

 

[oldies76]

WCBS-FM (June) 5.2 4,153,300 (July) 5.5 4,193,000 (August) 5.7 4,279,100

Steady increases since June, cume at 125,000 increase! Wonder how the Top 500 will affect September? Should actually help, since CBS-FM does these sort of specialties on a seasonal basis.

 

[d21ofnj]

Pulse 87's cume increased over 100,000!

Indeed, 900,000+ and still on 1.0, pretty damn good for a low powered station, but that STILL won't matter to the big dogs and haters. I noticed WFME's numbers and for a huge powerful signal, only 170,000 tune in. I don't see why Pulse and WFME can swap frequencies. If Pulse is making an impact on 87.7 with how small the coverage is, imagine what they can do on 94.7.

 

[neo11]

The haters (or self-proclaimed experts) will always have the same tired, often-repeated comments dismissing Pulse's numbers as some sort of fluke, or as not actually being as good as they seem. Then they'll pat each other on the back for their incredible, expert insight into the radio business, and proceed to then belittle and insult the intelligence of everyone who disagrees with them. It seems to be a winning strategy here on Radio Info, particularly when discussing Pulse or dance music in general.

Anyhow, back to the ratings: no one has noted Lite FM's rise above a 7 share. Yes, these are the 12+ numbers, but that is still huge, as those numbers have normally been seen for 106.7 only for their Christmas music. CBS-FM is also way way up...can anyone confirm if these are the best 12+ numbers the station has ever seen? I wonder what the dentist has to say about these most recent numbers, in light of his "Bill O'Reilly moment" a week or so ago regarding CBS-FM's music.

Ah, and Q104.3 breaks into a 5 share...I'm pretty sure that's the highest they've ever been as well. On the flip side, RXP seems to have leveled off for now after small incremental increases in the past few ratings periods.

It does seem to me that 92.3 Now (up to a 2.3 but with a lower cume) and, yes, Pulse, are eating away a very small share of the Z100 and KTU audiences (again looking at the 12+ numbers, as always).

How about the decline of Amor 93.1? They're down to a 2.1. There was a time not too long ago where they were near the top, under the diary system of course. And the numbers have continued to decline even after the implementation of the PPM system in NYC. Seems to me there's something more to be blamed here than just an allegedly faulty methodology "hurting" Spanish-language stations.

 

[d21ofnj]

How about the decline of Amor 93.1? They're down to a 2.1. There was a time not too long ago where they were near the top, under the diary system of course. And the numbers have continued to decline even after the implementation of the PPM system in NYC. Seems to me there's something more to be blamed here than just an allegedly faulty methodology "hurting" Spanish-language stations.

Well, La Mega Is still above a 3, while La Kalle is still a 1.5, and let's not forget Que Buena also getting a chunk of listeners.

 

[DToTheJ]

I wonder what the dentist has to say about these most recent numbers, in light of his "Bill O'Reilly moment" a week or so ago regarding CBS-FM's music...

Interestingly, not a single peep on that board about the PPM's, and it's been over 12 hours since they've been released. Give it time, though, I'm sure someone will eventually start a thread about it later today...

 

[Jay F]

One of the poor performing ethnic stations, either Urban or Spanish, could flip to gold based soft AC and take audience away from the top two stations.

 

[davideduardo]

How about the decline of Amor 93.1? They're down to a 2.1. There was a time not too long ago where they were near the top, under the diary system of course. And the numbers have continued to decline even after the implementation of the PPM system in NYC. Seems to me there's something more to be blamed here than just an allegedly faulty methodology "hurting" Spanish-language stations.

There is nothing "allegedly" wrong or faulty... there is simply the fact that the MRC has not yet accredited the PPM survey in New York! And that means that the methodology and implementation don't yet meet the MRC's criteria for a proper survey.

 

[neo11]

How about the decline of Amor 93.1? They're down to a 2.1. There was a time not too long ago where they were near the top, under the diary system of course. And the numbers have continued to decline even after the implementation of the PPM system in NYC. Seems to me there's something more to be blamed here than just an allegedly faulty methodology "hurting" Spanish-language stations.

There is nothing "allegedly" wrong or faulty... there is simply the fact that the MRC has not yet accredited the PPM survey in New York! And that means that the methodology and implementation don't yet meet the MRC's criteria for a proper survey.

What we've been hearing for so long is that the PPM methodology hurts ethnic/urban formats the most...and that very well seems to have been the case, but, my point was that a station like Amor 93.1 has been showing a continued decline even after the PPM methodology was implemented, whereas the other Spanish-language stations saw an initial drop but have remained more or less consistent since then.

 

[stationless listener]

I tip my hat off to WCBS-FM for finding a winning formula again, but even more to WLTW-FM for finding ways to add listeners to that station. I don't get it. This is not the Lite FM of old. They now mix in a harder AC with occasional old uptempo songs and some of the old AC songs that used to get a heavier rotation there. I guess it's because of the state of the culture today that the definition of "Lite" has changed. WFAS sounds much more like the old Lite FM, as are WCTZ and WEBE. Perhaps there is a "Suburban Lite" and an "Urban Lite" that could help explain why Fresh 102.7 has not been able to make a permanent dent into Lite FM's numbers. Lite has found a way to keep themselves relevant.

With the on-again, off-again drama wrt Pulse 87, I think that with the latest cume numbers, even if they don't save Pulse in the end, does give some proof that a radio station can attract people at that frequency. That should encourage any future ventures for providing formats not covered in the mainstream Class B stations. There are many that I would like to hear: Electronica, Brit pop, non-CHR dance, classic Brit pop, Latin house/garage/Chicago house, classic hiphop, Alternative 80s. Just not religious as that would be it's very hard to get out of.

It will be interesting to see how Mega would fare now that La Kalle will be going on a much stronger signal. I don't think Mega would suffer much, if going by the past few months. What happens if Univision can't improve on the numbers for La Kalle? That 96.3 signal could be worth watching in the future now that 'QXR and their very-devoted classical music fanbase are out of the way.

 

[DesiArnez6]

One of the poor performing ethnic stations, either Urban or Spanish, could flip to gold based soft AC and take audience away from the top two stations.

Absolutely. I don't doubt this at all. Something similar to the old "classic Lite 106.7 HD2" on regular FM could do SERIOUS damage to 106.7 AND 101.1 I mean not enough to sink them (of course not ) But enough to topple them from the throne.

It is a perfect mix of both target audiences, and would at the very least lead to some "channel switching" back and forth in that group.