WQMX and WNWV are now ahead of CHR/Gold 96.5 Kiss FM in the 12+ ratings. I understand one could say in certain stats Kiss might be doing ok in its target audience. But it's got to be one of the absolute worst CHR stations I've ever heard. Twenty year old Beyonce, Rihanna and other one hit R&B wonders from the 2000s mixed with a very limited selection of current CHR product does not sound good at all. And, Iheart insists on doing this in quite a few markets without any success. What ever happened to just playing the hits of today?
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Rubber City now ahead of some Cleveland stations....
- Thread starter Les Talk
- Start date
The folks who just want “the hits of today” are getting their hits via Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, and many other apps. I don’t have the specific numbers, David Eduardo does, but FM listening among 18-34 year olds is down a lot. Not much use targeting people who won’t listen.
By playing more golds, they’re bringing in the audience who still listens to some FM, albeit less than they used to.
I rarely listen to WAKS but when I have the signal sometime breaks up, Looking at where they're antenna is at [WTAM site on Snowville rd] there should be no reason they're breaking up and I am in the Akron area
Ratings have not been good for stations just playing the hits of today, Plus, a lot of music has splintered into different formats and music services.
WAKS is trying to boost their numbers with more throwbacks, but faces an uphill battle with WQAL. KISS-FM is now, if you take away the newer songs, another station with throwbacks along with WMJI and WHLK.
WQMX seems to be catching on more lately in the Cleveland area as an alternative to WGAR. Listeners appear to prefer live and local on the syndicated and voicetracking.
I believe the local aspect might be a factor in WQMX rising in Cleveland ratings along with a more adventerous music selection.
Country radio here has a long history of memorable local personalities going back to WHK and WSLR and WGAR before it was recently gutted. Makes no difference to IHeart, WGAR is just a small cog in their wheel of fortune.
Country radio here has a long history of memorable local personalities going back to WHK and WSLR and WGAR before it was recently gutted. Makes no difference to IHeart, WGAR is just a small cog in their wheel of fortune.
PD Sarah Kay does a great job. WMQX's signal is pretty strong, esp north west CLE 'burbs. I've driven it all the way to Catawba.
The reason why you are seeing weak ratings from Kiss and The Wave is that young people (their audience) have generally moved away from broadcast radio to streaming stations. As far as Z107.9's weak ratings, you can add the fact that streaming stations play the unedited versions of the items on their playlist.
I'm not sure about nowadays but decades ago when it was WDMT the signal sucked anywhere to the southwest. I was told it was because they was a ridge to the west/southwest that the signal had difficulty getting over. I know the tower's been moved off to the side of the station and wonder if they upped the antenna height also. Anyways, if they still have signal issues that could be one reason why the ratings blow. Since I don't listen to them [that music they currently play makes me break out in hives] I don't know if that is still an issue.
From what I understand, they built the tower up higher (or built a new one at the same site, not sure) because they had the same problem as high power WDBN years ago which is all that power didn't make up for a low tower. When 107.9 went up higher, they had to take a power cut, just like when WDBN/WQMX had to take a power cut when they moved to the TV tower from their relatively low tower in Medina.
Always have been surprised that Rubber City hasn't done more to market WQMX to both Akron and Cleveland. They're already a big fish in a small pond in Akron and are now competitive in Cleveland without really trying.
WQXK is a class B, as is WNCI. The only class C in Ohio in 104.1 in Portsmouth.
It's a new tower off to the side. The old one was right behind the station and was shorter than the current one. Still, when the beacon light on top went out years ago, we wandered out and looked at it and management said "$50 if you climb up and change it." Told them they couldn't tack enough zeros on to the end of that figure to get me to climb up anywhere beyond 10 feet.
WQMX and WONE, broadcasting from the TV towers in Akron, do not adaquately reach the entire Cleveland metro survey area (Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, Geauga and Medina counties) due to blockage from the Parma ridge to the north. Any numbers that you see from both stations in the Cleveland Nielsens probably come from Medina county and the southern reaches of Geauga county.
KISS-FM and Z107.9 are also weaker because of less local programming. Both stations have more voicetracked and syndicated shifts that are making the two unlistenable.
There are probably lots of reasons why WAKS doesn't have a great showing. That station hasn't had good ratings for a while, but iHeart won't flip because it's "heritage station."
I don't think I'd consider Kiss Cleveland a heritage station. It's the second newest "brand" in the iHeart Cleveland cluster (not counting translators) and has no unique history to the area. It *was* a fantastic example in its early days of how excellent jocks and great programming can overcome a doldrum period of music in the CHR format. I'd argue the station was its strongest from its 104.9 sign on through the 2006/2007 time period, and the early 2000s is often considered one of the low periods for CHR after the late 90s resurgence.
They'd flip it if they thought they could do better with something else.
They'd flip it if they thought they could do better with something else.