Philadelphia Radio Ratings: September 2016

[Jul]

Philadelphia Radio Ratings: September 2016 (August 11 - September 7)
http://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb007

http://www.allaccess.com/nielsen/q/market/89/philadelphia-pa

Any thoughts on the numbers and do you foresee any changes with any of the radio stations in town as a result of the latest ratings?

October ratings (September 8 - October 5) will be released 10/24/2016

 

[radiodx10]

Well, it is cool to see WRFF Radio 104.5 break to 5. I suspect some of that increase is due to classes being back in session and there are more teens driving to and from school or college. WIP broke to 4- probably with football starting again. Ben FM and Amp Radio (WZMP) are still the same. Not too bad, but not amazing ratings. WPHT dropped .5 back to 3. That is interesting with the elections and all, that you would think they'd be doing alright for political talk. WPEN 97.5 is just dismal at 1.7, but it is a .2 increase. Now that WPHI and WPPZ have swapped frequencies, I wonder if their ratings will change? They are basically neck and neck. Last but not least- WDAS-AM 1480. How on earth has smooth jazz JJZ been able to keep it up? They maybe, MAYBE, have 100+- listeners? I will admit I tune in to 1480 every now and then, beings that I do like jazz. However, their AM signal is directional away from philly.

And now the best part- format switch speculations!

I can see WDAS-AM switching to some religious, ethnic, or spanish format within the next year or so. I am sure WDAS- AM is being ran as cheaply as possible. Yet, after a while, it just becomes almost a joke. It is a shame they couldn't get an FM translator for 1480. I think if JJZ really wanted to put smooth jazz back on the radio dial in Philly, they would try to get it on FM. Other than that, though not listed on the ratings, WNWR 1540 has been running on 1-5kW recently, as I could tell on my SDR. I feel something might be up there. I think for now, the FM band will stay the same.

 

[atthestars]

Well, it is cool to see WRFF Radio 104.5 break to 5. I suspect some of that increase is due to classes being back in session and there are more teens driving to and from school or college. WIP broke to 4- probably with football starting again. Ben FM and Amp Radio (WZMP) are still the same. Not too bad, but not amazing ratings. WPHT dropped .5 back to 3. That is interesting with the elections and all, that you would think they'd be doing alright for political talk. WPEN 97.5 is just dismal at 1.7, but it is a .2 increase. Now that WPHI and WPPZ have swapped frequencies, I wonder if their ratings will change? They are basically neck and neck. Last but not least- WDAS-AM 1480. How on earth has smooth jazz JJZ been able to keep it up? They maybe, MAYBE, have 100+- listeners? I will admit I tune in to 1480 every now and then, beings that I do like jazz. However, their AM signal is directional away from philly.

And now the best part- format switch speculations!

I can see WDAS-AM switching to some religious, ethnic, or spanish format within the next year or so. I am sure WDAS- AM is being ran as cheaply as possible. Yet, after a while, it just becomes almost a joke. It is a shame they couldn't get an FM translator for 1480. I think if JJZ really wanted to put smooth jazz back on the radio dial in Philly, they would try to get it on FM. Other than that, though not listed on the ratings, WNWR 1540 has been running on 1-5kW recently, as I could tell on my SDR. I feel something might be up there. I think for now, the FM band will stay the same.

WRFF jumping back to a 5.0 I doubt has to do with college kids. A.) Do college kids count in the ratings? (I don't know if in PPM if they're polled since they're not "residents" of the area.) B.) WRFF was at a 5.0 in June when the kids were gone.

Otherwise, a pretty uneventful book... the market has been pretty damn steady for a while now. The WPPZ/WPHI switch I think will have little effect. Radio One knows both stations are flailing ratings-wise (dunno about billing though).

As for WDAS-AM... I believe they have a translator app in to bring JJZ back to FM (Moving 99.3 Vineland to Philly at 102.5: https://************.com/translator-round-two/).

 

[davideduardo]

A.) Do college kids count in the ratings? (I don't know if in PPM if they're polled since they're not "residents" of the area.)

Keep in mind that a large percentage of college students are local residents. If you look at the combined enrollment of all the community colleges and the local enrollment of the four-year universities, I think you'd find it very high.

A college can be on a PPM panel based on where that person is a permanent resident.

 

[davideduardo]

Well, it is cool to see WRFF Radio 104.5 break to 5. I suspect some of that increase is due to classes being back in session and there are more teens driving to and from school or college.

That is a good point, but not the real underlying reason for any increase.

The core constituency for the station is 25-44, not teens. The station averages #2 in rank in that demo and everything else is spillage.

The point about driving is valid, though. Women produce about 15% to 20% total market quarter hours than men do, and the difference is that they do not have the additive quarter hours in the car because there is a lower percentage of women in the workforce... so you can see that driving is a very critical contributing factor to TSL.

 

[atthestars]

Keep in mind that a large percentage of college students are local residents. If you look at the combined enrollment of all the community colleges and the local enrollment of the four-year universities, I think you'd find it very high.

A college can be on a PPM panel based on where that person is a permanent resident.

Didn't think of that... I went away to a college that pulled very few from the local area. So I didn't think of it that way. Thanks!