Rochester September ratings

[SirRoxalot]

The September monthly average for Rochester is out. Here's the Top 10:

Subscriber	Format	JUL 25 (MAY-JUL)	AUG 25 (JUN-AUG)	SEP 25 (JUL-SEP)
WDKX-FM	Urban Contemporary	8.0	8.1	8.9
WBEE-FM	Country	7.9	8.3	8.5
WCMF-FM	Classic Rock	5.9	6.1	5.6
WHAM-AM	News Talk Information	5.9	5.4	5.4
WRMM-FM	Adult Contemporary	4.8	5.4	5.1
WPXY-FM	Pop Contemporary Hit Radio	3.5	3.8	3.7
WBZA-FM	Adult Contemporary	2.2	2.4	2.9
WAIO-FM	Talk/Personality	2.8	2.7	2.4
WKDL-FM	Contemporary Christian	1.8	1.9	2.2
WDVI-FM	Country	2.7	2.5	2.0
WFKL-FM	Adult Hits	1.6	1.7	2.0

WDKX regains the top spot. Otherwise, no major moves. See the rest of the 3 month rolling average here:

Rochester

Nielsen Audio Monthly Ratings Rochester (Market #60) Population: 974,700 Hispanic Population: 79,300 - Black Population: 116,600 Average Quarter Hour Share

radioinsight.com

 

[Buddy Shula]

Give credit to Andre at WDKX. A total good guy. Independently owned, and just a few hundred FM watts, but those few watts are high up, so they get the coverage they need.

It is surprising how the shares are so low with all of these stations. Every station but 2, have a 5.6 or below.

 

[Oldbloodandguts]

Must be a lot of stations that keep the shares of the contender stations low.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Must be a lot of stations that keep the shares of the contender stations low.

That's a good way of putting it.

I've been using a "pie" analogy ever since 80-90 put all those borderline viable small FMs into already crowded markets, four decades ago.

Presume that the pie represents all of the advertising dollars available in the market. Originally, a typical market might have had three or four really successful stations, with at least 15% of the revenue. That's four of the possible slices, with around half of the revenue combined.

Now, let's add in the lesser stations. If two or three of those are the more successful smaller players, they might take another 25% of the pie.

Every station you add to that is competing for the remaining 25%. The more stations, the smaller the pieces of pie. Some of those will fail, some will get bigger pieces by finding ways to better compete for ad dollars and reduce the slice size of the larger stations. Pretty soon you have the dominant stations only getting a third of the pie in total, while an increased number of stations carve up the other two-thirds.

The other part of the equation is that increased competition for ad dollars in other media means the pie itself is a lot smaller than it used to be.

Using the rankings posted above, WDKX and WBEE are the stations getting the biggest slices of pie and they combine for the largest amount of the ad revenue's distribution. WCMF, WHAM, and WRMM are those mid-tier stations, who are together getting the second largest amount of the pie. All the rest are fighting for what's left and getting considerably smaller slices.

 

[fybush]

It would be nice if the ad revenue actually followed the ratings proportionately.

Having worked for WDKX for going on seven years now, one of the first things its owner would tell you if you asked is that it doesn't.

 

[SirRoxalot]

That's a good way of putting it.

I've been using a "pie" analogy ever since 80-90 put all those borderline viable small FMs into already crowded markets, four decades ago.

Presume that the pie represents all of the advertising dollars available in the market. Originally, a typical market might have had three or four really successful stations, with at least 15% of the revenue. That's four of the possible slices, with around half of the revenue combined.

Now, let's add in the lesser stations. If two or three of those are the more successful smaller players, they might take another 25% of the pie.

Every station you add to that is competing for the remaining 25%. The more stations, the smaller the pieces of pie. Some of those will fail, some will get bigger pieces by finding ways to better compete for ad dollars and reduce the slice size of the larger stations. Pretty soon you have the dominant stations only getting a third of the pie in total, while an increased number of stations carve up the other two-thirds.

The other part of the equation is that increased competition for ad dollars in other media means the pie itself is a lot smaller than it used to be.

Using the rankings posted above, WDKX and WBEE are the stations getting the biggest slices of pie and they combine for the largest amount of the ad revenue's distribution. WCMF, WHAM, and WRMM are those mid-tier stations, who are together getting the second largest amount of the pie. All the rest are fighting for what's left and getting considerably smaller slices.

Your analogy would be correct if each station had a separate owner, but in these consolidated days and packaging multiple station to get a buy, it's more about how owners are doing than stations. iHeart has a composite 13.8. Audacy has fewer stations but their composite is 21.1. Stephens Media has 3 stations with a composite of 8.2. WDKX is a standalone with an 8.9. Buyers these days buy packages that address a target demographic more than they buy stations. iHeart or Audacy can put together packages that make it tough for smaller operators to compete.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Your analogy would be correct if each station had a separate owner, but in these consolidated days and packaging multiple station to get a buy, it's more about how owners are doing than stations.

That does indeed complicate the analogy. But there is, in general, still a correlation between audience size and pie slice size. The fact that these days the owners want second helpings of pie (and then thirds and fourths) just means that if all their slices were combined, there would be fewer -- but larger -- slices.

And yes, a three-station cluster with a combined 8.2 rating is at a disadvantage against clusters with higher combined ratings. But a standalone 8.9 should still be a good sell, and would likely get a lot of national agency buys.

My analogy does point out the flawed wisdom in Docket 80-90, though. And even though I consult (and program) AM-translator combinations, I still think the "AM Revitalization Act" was misnamed.

 

[davideduardo]

And yes, a three-station cluster with a combined 8.2 rating is at a disadvantage against clusters with higher combined ratings. But a standalone 8.9 should still be a good sell, and would likely get a lot of national agency buys.

And also consider that not every cluster is sold "all together". Nor are the packages of stations offered to one client the same as offered to another. It all depends on the buy that is being proposed.

If a client wants 25-44 men, they are not going to be offered the mostly-female stations or the 45+ ones, either. Or if the buy is against Hispanics, then the cluster might offer a package of the rhythmic CHR, maybe an Urban format and any Spanish language ones that they own.

 

[SirRoxalot]

And also consider that not every cluster is sold "all together". Nor are the packages of stations offered to one client the same as offered to another. It all depends on the buy that is being proposed.

If a client wants 25-44 men, they are not going to be offered the mostly-female stations or the 45+ ones, either. Or if the buy is against Hispanics, then the cluster might offer a package of the rhythmic CHR, maybe an Urban format and any Spanish language ones that they own.

Please note that I did say:

Buyers these days buy packages that address a target demographic more than they buy stations. iHeart or Audacy can put together packages that make it tough for smaller operators to compete.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Please note that I did say:

Buyers these days buy packages that address a target demographic more than they buy stations. iHeart or Audacy can put together packages that make it tough for smaller operators to compete.

I don’t agree. I am a media buyer as well, and never buy packages. I buy stations that align with client demo, and I negotiate to get those spots at the best efficiency possible.

Packages are built by the station, for the station. They are not client focused.

I take a very micro look at how to get the very best for my client, while appreciating that the media company has expenses to.

I try to create a win-win