Philadelphia Radio Ratings: March 2023

[pjc1961]

Covering the survey period from Thu. 3/2/2023 thru Wed. 3/29/2023, age 6+ overall:

Philadelphia

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Philadelphia (Market #9) Population: 4,774,100 Black: 971,900 – Hispanic: 499,800 Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid All ratings are Copyright © 2005-2024 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen radio audience estimates and data...

radioinsight.com

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis for ages 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49 will become available via AllAccess.com on Wed. 4/19/2023.

 

[wibgradio99]

I guess the flamethrower 250w lator on 96.1, gave them that little bump, never knew they subscribed...

 

[atthestars]

I guess the flamethrower 250w lator on 96.1, gave them that little bump, never knew they subscribed...

They must have recently started subscribing again. I'm pretty sure back in the day they appeared (around the same general numbers).

The format is well suited for those signals though. Really covers the city proper, not worrying much about the suburbs.

 

[atthestars]

Overall, not a lot of major change. KYW looking great now, and although the company itself isn't doing great, Audacy is doing well in Philly. The re-branding of WOGL to BIG has worked, B101 is solid, KYW is fantastic. WIP with it's usual post-Eagles slowdown (And the Phillies mediocre start doesn't help). Even WTDY showing a spark of life.

While Rumba hasn't majorly taken off, it has suppressed the numbers of WEMG and WHAT and their small signals.

And like I said above, a nice showing for WURD, doing well with where that signal covers.

 

[wibgradio99]

They must have recently started subscribing again. I'm pretty sure back in the day they appeared (around the same general numbers).

The format is well suited for those signals though. Really covers the city proper, not worrying much about the suburbs.

But their super directional signal misses many of the audience they seek and the area it covers is not in the area they desire, after parts of Philly, going into Jersey after the Camden area, right into cherry hill, marlton, medford etc., heard them in Lakehurst. I would imagine a new signal in time maybe even a swap...they recently replaced their AM array, adding more coverage.

 

[Larry]

WIP with it's usual post-Eagles slowdown

I was wondering how much of their dip could also be from Angelo Cataldi’s retirement and the new morning show.

 

[atthestars]

But their super directional signal misses many of the audience they seek and the area it covers is not in the area they desire, after parts of Philly, going into Jersey after the Camden area, right into cherry hill, marlton, medford etc., heard them in Lakehurst. I would imagine a new signal in time maybe even a swap...they recently replaced their AM array, adding more coverage.

That's why I said signals. There's no breakdown of who listens via 900AM vs. 96.1. With a talk format, many may still listen to 900AM if it's clearer where they are.

 

[pjc1961]

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis for ages 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49:

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25-54: 1. WMMR 2. WDAS 3T. WHYY 3T. WBEN 5. WUSL (up from #11) 6. WIP (down from #2)
18-34: 1. WUSL (up rom #5) 2T. WDAS 2T. WIOQ 4. WBEB 5. WOGL 8T. WBEN (down from #2) 8T. WHYY
18-49: 1. WDAS 2. WMMR 3. WUSL (up from #8) 4. WHYY (up from #7) 5. WBEN 6. WIP (down from #3) 7. WBEB

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Just a fellow from the sticks here, about 100 miles NNW of Independence Maul, who wonders where WMGK's numbers went in those demos. A huge 6.9 seems to be a figure that has to come from somewhere.
Same story in New York v their WAXQ. Unless I mis-read a few things, their 6.1 is also MIA in the 'money' demos.
?

 

[anwar]

WPEN's ratings continue terrible. I wonder how much is bad programming or bad signal strength? Down here in Delaware WIP comes in great with a HD signal while WPEN is much weaker. The past 2 nights WKTT in Salisbury MD was on 97.5 with no sign of WPEN. I had to listen to the Sixers game on 97.3 WENJ which was coming in with a good HD signal.

 

[CassChopper96]

Do you see Audacy continuing to sell more and more of their stations to pay off their debt

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

@CassChopper96
Well, Audacy wanted its big-signalled 720 KDWN to go away. That station had someting like a 3 last I looked, and were the top AM in town by a lot.
True, Las Vegas is market #31 while PHL is #9. But one has to wonder, coverage area notwithstanding, about the rusting of the tower, the audience, the whole AM dial, the stock value, and of the apparent market apathy.
And sister WTDY (whose stream I found to be sitthroughable for an AQH or so) looks as though Philly PPM's aren't too excited about CHR ; e.g. WIOQ is not exactly lapping WTDY in the ratings.
Perhaps that Latino Media Network group of gals from the Rio Grande will gladly do Audacy a favor by taking WPHT off their hands. If I'm not mistaken, that group purchased a bunch of AM facilities, a lot of them with rimshot / directional signals. The group probably might like to own one of Pennsykvania's two 50,000 omnis.

 

[RadioJ55]

Do you see Audacy continuing to sell more and more of their stations to pay off their debt

Yes im I'm the minority by think so but , I think they are going to sell off stations with the most amount of air talent and if they can't centrally program operations even if it's billing well because they need cheap operating costs. People say oh there not going to sell sports or news stations because they bill well but when the rubber meets the road they will probably do what they have to do to avoid bankruptcy. It's like selling your brand new iMac you may not want to but your going to if you need the cash.

 

[davideduardo]

Well, Audacy wanted its big-signalled 720 KDWN to go away. That station had someting like a 3 last I looked, and were the top AM in town by a lot.
True, Las Vegas is market #31 while PHL is #9. But one has to wonder, coverage area notwithstanding, about the rusting of the tower, the audience, the whole AM dial, the stock value, and of the apparent market apathy.

KDWN was turned off so they could sell the land, which was worth more than the station by a huge margin.

Perhaps that Latino Media Network group of gals from the Rio Grande will gladly do Audacy a favor by taking WPHT off their hands. If I'm not mistaken, that group purchased a bunch of AM facilities, a lot of them with rimshot / directional signals. The group probably might like to own one of Pennsykvania's two 50,000 omnis.

LMN has not bought further stations, despite many offers.

While the AMs they bought are all directionals, none are rimshots. Several, such as the two in Miami, NYC, Dallas, McAllen, and LA, are high power and have very adequate signals for the Hispanic market they intend to serve. Chicago is adequate, San Antoion and Las Vegas and Houston are OK daytime, kind of defective at night

 

[davideduardo]

Yes im I'm the minority by think so but , I think they are going to sell off stations with the most amount of air talent and if they can't centrally program operations even if it's billing well because they need cheap operating costs.

Audacy has EBITDA of nearly $150 million a year on actual operations. Their problem is debt, not operations.

And talent is not the only and not always the major cost in running a station. In fact, at most stations commissions on sales are greater than talent costs.

People say oh there not going to sell sports or news stations because they bill well but when the rubber meets the road they will probably do what they have to do to avoid bankruptcy. It's like selling your brand new iMac you may not want to but your going to if you need the cash.

They can only sell operations that are worth more sold than operated. There are some markets where they may want out, because their cluster is not complete or it is like Buffalo with too many AMs and not enough FMs.

 

[CassChopper96]

If Audacy sell to much of their stations it will hurt their bottom line. They might just do what cumulus did and file for bankruptcy

 

[davideduardo]

If Audacy sell to much of their stations it will hurt their bottom line. They might just do what cumulus did and file for bankruptcy

Exactly. They need the most profitable clusters. Where they may find the sale value to be greater than long-term profitability, then disposal will be the right thing to do.

When companies were wildly consolidating in the later 90's, many real dogs were bought along with the good properties. Some of those can be disposed of without sacrificing good cash flow, but keeping most clusters intact (or trading to get out of small clusters and getting more stations in good ones) is important.

 

[CassChopper96]

Audacy dumping FM 100 in Memphis is a mistake. No way the wolf outbills WMC-FM

 

[MarkW]

Audacy has EBITDA of nearly $150 million a year on actual operations. Their problem is debt, not operations.

Both are a problem. When the deal with CBS Radio was made, I assure you the investment thesis was not rooted in an expectation of only $150 million in per annum EBITDA.

The EBITDA number has tanked compared to pre-COVID levels. In 2019 after adding back non-cash impairment charges, Audacy/Entercom was about a $300 million to maybe $325 million per year EBITDA generator.

Will $150 million in annual EBITDA be the bottom, or will the proverbial ice cube keep melting?

This big decline in EBITDA occurred after the company made massive capex outlays in recent years to build out its digital platform, too. I wonder what the ROI has been so far on those initiatives?

To simply suggest the company's issues are solely limited to "too much debt" is an oversimplification of the full situation, in my view.

 

[101tm]

Exactly. They need the most profitable clusters. Where they may find the sale value to be greater than long-term profitability, then disposal will be the right thing to do.

When companies were wildly consolidating in the later 90's, many real dogs were bought along with the good properties. Some of those can be disposed of without sacrificing good cash flow, but keeping most clusters intact (or trading to get out of small clusters and getting more stations in good ones) is important.

I don’t have access to the data, and this may just be a hunch - but I’ve felt for a long time that the highest concentration of successful Audacy clusters today are likely the old Entercom markets that predate CBS. CBS I’m sure brought successful and profitable stations/clusters to the table, but they also had a lot of stations that weren’t doing well…mainly it seems in the CHR and country formats. Granted, most of those CHR’s are now gone, but there are some still lingering around for various reasons, such as 96.5 TDY or 102.9 The Wolf in Minneapolis.