Q100 and the ratings

[RadioDeamon]

Since the Q100 attention diverters tried to take these facts I posted and water down the thread with non-radio related banter, I thought I would re-post it and get some response from people who actually have something intelligent to add. This is not an opinion, just a statement based on facts. I thought I would share my perspective on the most overrated/underperforming station in America.

Moderators... please do something with these posts that are put up for the sole purpose of distracting us from the facts. The Q fans try to bog down the site when they don't have any way to defend themselves.

----------------------------------------------------

Here we go again. Looks like all you Q100 flag wavers have seen that there is no silver lining to the beating your cherished little radio station has just been delivered. All the interns and radio wannabes have been very quiet over the past 24 hours.

Star 94 took a nail..... whacked it a few times to set it...and 95.5 The Beat delivered the final strike, embedding it deep into the coffin that Q has been laying in since its inception. Over 4 years and still no progress. That hurts. If you average every one of their books since the beginning, they are ranked around 20th, and are below a 2 share.

I'm sure the excuses will start flying... Oh our signal is too bad... diary returns were down.... it's all SPIN. Q100 would be a HUGE radio station, if it were located in a town the size of Eau Claire Wisconsin, and if there was no competition.

They are just way out of their league. All they do is hire the rejects from other stations in town. Just look at their roster of people who were axed from The Beat and star that have graced the airwaves of the Mighty Q!

Tracy StGeorge
Nicky Nite
Denzell
Jamie Massey
Jen Hobby

I'm sure i have left off at least one name, but it's hard to remember the people that have been through that revolving door of a radio station.

Sorry I had to vent, but I just couldn't allow it to go unnoticed that the Q100 followers have been so quiet. And I have looked at the demos, and there is nothing good to take from it for Q, so don't even start with the whole "they did great in their demo" nonsense.

I wonder how the new owners will react to them almost being in the top 5 in their target demo, and getting beat by their closest competitors in a demo they don't even try for?

 

[SquiggyFM]

First off, thanks for posting again. Upset that my Dr Pepper comment got more of a reply than your topic?

Where's the spin? I see no spin. We're in a no spin zone. HA! It was a bad book. If you're looking at the 12+. Come on guys...that was the first thing I learned in my internship, "12+ isn't a demo!" I haven't seen the breakdowns, and from the fact you're only referencing 12+, you haven't either.

 

[Cowboy]

> First off, thanks for posting again. Upset that my Dr
> Pepper comment got more of a reply than your topic?
>
> Where's the spin? I see no spin. We're in a no spin zone.
> HA! It was a bad book. If you're looking at the 12+. Come
> on guys...that was the first thing I learned in my
> internship, "12+ isn't a demo!" I haven't seen the
> breakdowns, and from the fact you're only referencing 12+,
> you haven't either.
>
But with 95.5:The Beat in the Top 10, there might go a lot of the 18-34 argument. Q100 is doing something wrong, and I predict a slight rebound when July shows up before the final plummet into oblivion.

 

[middlega]

Umm ...

M-Su 6a-12m
P18-34 = T10th AQH / T7th Cume
W18-34 = T7th AQH / 5th Cume

M-F 6a-10
P18-34 = 4th AQH (just behind 99x, just ahead of Star)They also trail V & Viva.
P18-34 = T7th Cume
W18-34 = 2nd AQH (only V-103 beat them & the gap down to a 3-way tie for 3rd between WHTA/WSTR/WWVA is rougly 50%)
W18-34 = 5th Cume (behind V, Star, WBTS, & WHTA)

I'd be close to unable to care less about Q one way or the other, but I'm having a tough time figuring out how this is a nail-in-the-coffin kind of book, I've certainly seen worse.

To move up, they've obviously got to find a way to convert the morning strength into better numbers the rest of the day, but they aren't the first station to
face that battle.

The thing that might be disturbing that I _did_ find was their MUCH poorer performance when you apply an income qualifier to their audience (I checked at HHI $50k+) even in the morning. I suspect that the qualitative isn't a pretty picture & that can cost you some buys for certain advertisers/products.

edited to add: The other interesting thing that I found, that seems worth some concern for Q-100 (and for 99X, and for Star) is the way the two AC's made inroads into the W25-34 demo vs a year ago. If that's a trend instead of a quirk in the book, you might be looking at a situation where W18-34 on the whole get split up so many ways that none of the stations has a big slice of the pie to work with -- if Viva/V/X take one end of the musical spectrums & B/Lite/Star take the other end, Q might find themselves caught in the middle.

 

[RadioDeamon]

Dillon - I see it took a long 48 hours to find a morsel of facts to show that there is still a faint heartbeat that is fading quickly. You really did some digging. I hope you give Bert a big hug every morning you get to the office, because he is the ONLY reason they can keep the lights on.

Hard to believe such big things can come out of such a small package.



> Umm ...
>
> M-Su 6a-12m
> P18-34 = T10th AQH / T7th Cume
> W18-34 = T7th AQH / 5th Cume
>
> M-F 6a-10
> P18-34 = 4th AQH (just behind 99x, just ahead of Star)They
> also trail V & Viva.
> P18-34 = T7th Cume
> W18-34 = 2nd AQH (only V-103 beat them & the gap down to a
> 3-way tie for 3rd between WHTA/WSTR/WWVA is rougly 50%)
> W18-34 = 5th Cume (behind V, Star, WBTS, & WHTA)
>
> I'd be close to unable to care less about Q one way or the
> other, but I'm having a tough time figuring out how this is
> a nail-in-the-coffin kind of book, I've certainly seen
> worse.
>
> To move up, they've obviously got to find a way to convert
> the morning strength into better numbers the rest of the
> day, but they aren't the first station to
> face that battle.
>
> The thing that might be disturbing that I _did_ find was
> their MUCH poorer performance when you apply an income
> qualifier to their audience (I checked at HHI $50k+) even in
> the morning. I suspect that the qualitative isn't a pretty
> picture & that can cost you some buys for certain
> advertisers/products.
>
> edited to add: The other interesting thing that I found,
> that seems worth some concern for Q-100 (and for 99X, and
> for Star) is the way the two AC's made inroads into the
> W25-34 demo vs a year ago. If that's a trend instead of a
> quirk in the book, you might be looking at a situation where
> W18-34 on the whole get split up so many ways that none of
> the stations has a big slice of the pie to work with -- if
> Viva/V/X take one end of the musical spectrums & B/Lite/Star
> take the other end, Q might find themselves caught in the
> middle.
>

 

[knowsnews]

There is an old expression: statistics are like a bikini; what they reveal is important but what they conceal is vital. This is about more than just a bad book. You can look at Q's ratings and say they're number 17 here or number 10 there. The bottom line is they lost audience badly in every day part, 18-34. Even their vaunted Bert show dropped. And these are not sudden fall offs, indicating that someone else is doing some one-time gimmick to steal listeners. It's more of a slow erosion of audience from Q, and that is trouble. So the question is, can they stop the bleeding, and how?

 

[middlega]

> Dillon - I see it took a long 48 hours to find a morsel of
> facts to show that there is still a faint heartbeat that is
> fading quickly. You really did some digging. I hope you
> give Bert a big hug every morning you get to the office,
> because he is the ONLY reason they can keep the lights on.

"Dillon" ... umm ... who?

I'm guessing that's somebody at Q-100 or something from the way you worded that, but you really are waaaaaaaaay off the mark there.

I'm just the same old ex-radio guy I've been since I started posting here months ago, one that happened to be suffering a little insomnia last night & had nothing better to do than satisfy a little curiosity.

And that wasn't really much "digging", that was all pretty easy stuff to find.

 

[deadman]

> There is an old expression: statistics are like a bikini;
> what they reveal is important but what they conceal is
> vital. This is about more than just a bad book. You can
> look at Q's ratings and say they're number 17 here or number
> 10 there. The bottom line is they lost audience badly in
> every day part, 18-34. Even their vaunted Bert show
> dropped. And these are not sudden fall offs, indicating
> that someone else is doing some one-time gimmick to steal
> listeners. It's more of a slow erosion of audience from Q,
> and that is trouble. So the question is, can they stop the
> bleeding, and how?
>
Stop the bleeding = better signal

 

[RTibbs02]

I guess the reports of 99x's death were premature. Let's start talking about Z93's new format because in a year we will hardly remember are good friend Dave and maybe even hear the last on Atlanta airwaves of Mr. Friendly, Steve Barnes.

 

[SquiggyFM]

> I guess the reports of 99x's death were premature. Let's
> start talking about Z93's new format because in a year we
> will hardly remember are good friend Dave and maybe even
> hear the last on Atlanta airwaves of Mr. Friendly, Steve
> Barnes.
>

I think talking about the death of any station before they stunt is premature. Hasn't X proved that?

 

[ticoSD]

> > There is an old expression: statistics are like a bikini;
> > what they reveal is important but what they conceal is
> > vital. This is about more than just a bad book. You can
> > look at Q's ratings and say they're number 17 here or
> number
> > 10 there. The bottom line is they lost audience badly in
> > every day part, 18-34. Even their vaunted Bert show
> > dropped. And these are not sudden fall offs, indicating
> > that someone else is doing some one-time gimmick to steal
> > listeners. It's more of a slow erosion of audience from
> Q,
> > and that is trouble. So the question is, can they stop
> the
> > bleeding, and how?
> >
> Stop the bleeding = better signal

To be honest, I think we've beaten the signal thing like a dead horse. With that said, I'd like to see how Q does once the signal is expanded to take in more of Gwinnett County and if that doesn't work, then I think maybe a consideration of a new format could be in order.
<P ID="signature">______________
"...and the countdown continues until the neanderthals that govern college football do something about their pathetic postseason."--Tim Brando, Sporting News Radio</P>

 

[SquiggyFM]

Woah! They have a signal issue???

 

[Upton]

The problem here IS the erosion of the audience. This is being caused by, in my opinion, offering the same product as their competitors but with a much weaker signal. I get some country station bleeding into their frequency when I'm in Roswell...and once you're a mile north of Alpharetta, forget about it. When I was working in an office I had a choice between X, Viva, and Dave. 100.5 wasn't even static. The solution? Offer a different product. ElectronicQ and Cardio Radio are the only shows of their type in this entire market. [Save 95.5's sorry excuse for a weekend mixshow] Maybe they should concentrate on that and finally give this market a terrestrial dance station. It would be the only station I'd be listening to, I can tell you that. When I want to hear CHR/AC I can find another station with a better signal, but I'd be willing to forgive some static here and there for a good dance station.
--Upton--

It's more of a slow erosion of audience from Q,
> and that is trouble. So the question is, can they stop the
> bleeding, and how?
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"It's cuz I'm Irish!"</P>

 

[RadioDoogie]

> Since the Q100 attention diverters tried to take these facts
> I posted and water down the thread with non-radio related
> banter, I thought I would re-post it and get some response
> from people who actually have something intelligent to add.
> This is not an opinion, just a statement based on facts. I
> thought I would share my perspective on the most
> overrated/underperforming station in America.
>
> Moderators... please do something with these posts that are
> put up for the sole purpose of distracting us from the
> facts. The Q fans try to bog down the site when they don't
> have any way to defend themselves.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> Here we go again. Looks like all you Q100 flag wavers have
> seen that there is no silver lining to the beating your
> cherished little radio station has just been delivered. All
> the interns and radio wannabes have been very quiet over the
> past 24 hours.
>
> Star 94 took a nail..... whacked it a few times to set
> it...and 95.5 The Beat delivered the final strike, embedding
> it deep into the coffin that Q has been laying in since its
> inception. Over 4 years and still no progress. That hurts.
> If you average every one of their books since the beginning,
> they are ranked around 20th, and are below a 2 share.
>
> I'm sure the excuses will start flying... Oh our signal is
> too bad... diary returns were down.... it's all SPIN. Q100
> would be a HUGE radio station, if it were located in a town
> the size of Eau Claire Wisconsin, and if there was no
> competition.
>
> They are just way out of their league. All they do is hire
> the rejects from other stations in town. Just look at their
> roster of people who were axed from The Beat and star that
> have graced the airwaves of the Mighty Q!
>
> Tracy StGeorge
> Nicky Nite
> Denzell
> Jamie Massey
> Jen Hobby
>
> I'm sure i have left off at least one name, but it's hard to
> remember the people that have been through that revolving
> door of a radio station.
>
> Sorry I had to vent, but I just couldn't allow it to go
> unnoticed that the Q100 followers have been so quiet. And I
> have looked at the demos, and there is nothing good to take
> from it for Q, so don't even start with the whole "they did
> great in their demo" nonsense.
>
> I wonder how the new owners will react to them almost being
> in the top 5 in their target demo, and getting beat by their
> closest competitors in a demo they don't even try for?
>
Q100 has really nowhere to go. If they alter formats, someone else who has lower numbers is just going to snatch up the CHR/POP Top 40 format to get Q's higher numbers. Unless they go full-blown hot AC, there really is no other format out there to put in the Atlanta market that will actually work or pull any higher numbers than Q. Many markets with similar demographics like ours just don't do well with Top 40 formats. Hot AC stations tend to squeeze out the top 40 stations. Look at Memphis right now, its top 40 station Q107.5 is trying to get pushed out for the second time by its two popular hot AC stations(FM100 and 94.1 the Buzz). It is sad because I think Q is a great station and we need a "true" top 40 station here. I think it has just entered a time when there is a great deal of competition out there and not many people are listening to top 40 radio especially here.