Philadelphia PPM Ratings: April 2015

[CTListener]

Does anybody know how many people in this market can listen or do listen to HD sub-channels? And how does that compare to SiriusXM?

There are about 30 million SXM radios out there -- some of which are unactivated, sitting in unsold cars on dealer lots, or duplicate radios belonging to a single subscriber who never has both on at the same time. I believe the average listenership in major markets is around a 1 share for all channels combined. No way of knowing how many HD receivers are in use. Millions have been sold, either as stand-alone units or in OEM car radios. The snark brigade (largely, as far as I can tell, made up of whiny DXers who've lost their fringe adjacent-channel favorites) will tell you 3 or 4 listeners per market. The true believers will tell you thousands. The truth lies in between.

 

[davideduardo]

• AMP Radio (2.4 - 2.3 - 2.7) is 18th in the market, below such stellar performers as WHYY, WPHI, and WPPZ. Seriously, it's gonna take more that commercial-free weekends. Cume is up, which should come as no surprise since they're marketing the name change. But even at 975,700 (8th place), they're nowhere near Q102.

Amp launched on the 10th of April. The April Book began on March 26. So Amp was only on the air for the last 10 days of the book, definitely not enough time to make any judgement at all about the merits of the change.

 

[TGunn]

I hope 96.5 will beat Q-102 in the ratings, someday. But its going to take a lot of effort by everyone that runs the station for 96.5, to be number 1 for top-40 in this market.

It doesn't take alot of effort to give cash away.. ratings are bought.

 

[Bob Eubanks]

Hardly the sole, nor primary, factor in success/failure.

 

[Oscar Madison]

How does anybody promote anything in radio any more? Except for people here, nobody is paying attention. And not that many are listening. Radio has no buzz. Other media don't cover it much. IHeartBillboards can put up road signs. Stations can get in on special local events but that's a fairly limited pool of people. That's about it. With digital tuners, people won't stumble on stations. No matter how much somebody spends, it's pretty much hopeless.

 

[Bob Eubanks]

What was Q's cume (just picking one example)? A million something? That's not "no one." Extend that to nationwide numbers, and it's also not "no one." Different than one, two, three or four decades ago? Sure. But how many industries aren't?

 

[davideduardo]

How does anybody promote anything in radio any more? Except for people here, nobody is paying attention. And not that many are listening.

Obviously this is a classic troll post: say something outrageous and see how it upsets people.

The effect here is the opposite. You just look ignorant. Around 93% of all persons in the US listen to radio at some time during the week. This is only about 2% less than it was when Arbitron began surveying radio in 1965. While we all know that the amount of time spent listening is lower today, radio is a very significant part of American's media consumption.

Radio has no buzz.

For you.

Other media don't cover it much.

They never did. If you knew a bit about the history of radio, you would know that at one time newspapers did not carry radio program schedules because they were frightened of the new medium. It takes an exceptional happening for traditional media such as TV and print to cover radio stations. On the other hand, radio has a good social media presence and that is what is important today.

IHeartBillboards can put up road signs.

There is no such thing as "iHeart Billboards". There is a separate, public corporation called "Clear Channel Outdoor" which is partly owned by iHeart and partly owned by investors.

Stations can get in on special local events but that's a fairly limited pool of people. That's about it. With digital tuners, people won't stumble on stations. No matter how much somebody spends, it's pretty much hopeless.

Outdoor, TV, social media. Stations use them all. It's been decades since anyone thought print was of much use to radio stations trying to reach 18 to 54 year olds.

 

[Unregistered]

WAMU-HD2 has a translator on 105.5 in Fairfax County, VA. It's a safe bet that more people hear bluegrass that way than through the HD-2 signal.