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Surprises in Philadelphia's 25-54 Ratings

G

Gregg

According to an article in All Access, two Rock stations lead the Philadelphia ratings, 25-54...

http://www.allaccess.com/arbitron-p.../june-ppm-analysis-for-houston-washington-d-c

Here's the breakdown...

1) WMMR
2) WRFF
3) B101
4) WOGL
5) WUSL
6) WDAS-FM tied with WXTU

Now to me this is odd. B101 is #1 overall. And they key into the 25-54 ratings. But they're not #1 in their favorite demo, as Lite-FM is in NYC. Also, notice the two Rock station that are on top. They're not Classic Rock. In fact, WMGK doesn't make this list. While I don't have the entire list, obviously they rank no higher than #8. WMMR is mostly Contemporary Rock with a Classic on occasion but not too often. And WRFF is Alternative Rock, again, with maybe a David Bowie or REM song once in a while, but again, not too often.

Also notice that an Urban Contemporary station, WUSL, beats Urban Adult WDAS-FM. That's odd as well. You'd think in the 25-54 race, WDAS-FM, with all its heritage, would be higher. They are having some ratings slippage. Overall, they're down to #7, 6+. They're usually in the top 3.

And no WIP-FM in the top 7 either. The Phillies are doing OK, but that's not drawing listeners to WIP-FM.
 
I also wonder if KYW had an FM simulcast, would they score better in the 25-54 race? Here, they're not in the top 7, even though 6+ the station is ranked second. Is their audience currently so old that, despite excellent ratings, they're not among the top stations 25-54? In Washington DC, All-News WTOP, on FM, is #1 25-54.
 
Gregg said:
I also wonder if KYW had an FM simulcast, would they score better in the 25-54 race? Here, they're not in the top 7, even though 6+ the station is ranked second. Is their audience currently so old that, despite excellent ratings, they're not among the top stations 25-54? In Washington DC, All-News WTOP, on FM, is #1 25-54.
Click to expand...

To paraphrase Senator Lloyd Bentsen: KYW is no WTOP. KYW is no 1010 WINS either. KYW is a local favorite, to be sure, but coasting on past glories. Apparently much of its audience is people old enough to remember those past glories. KYW is a hodgepodge of the Group W and CBS all news formats with the drawbacks of both and the advantages of neither. It sounds stodgy and bloated and cluttered with features that don't quite fit (Exhibit A: Reporters' Round-up). Putting KYW as is on FM would be putting old wine in new skins.

WTOP also has the advantage of being in a company town and that gives them focus, which KYW doesn't have.

Stay tuned as KYW Kool-Aid Drinkers go postal.

Interesting that OGL is drawing so well in the money demos. Clearly they've done a good job at tweaking their playlists to keep the money demos in their sights as Oldies listeners age out.
 
FredLeonard said:
KYW is no WTOP. KYW is no 1010 WINS either.
Click to expand...
KYW isn't even WCBS either.

KYW is a local favorite, to be sure, but coasting on past glories. Apparently much of its audience is people old enough to remember those past glories. KYW is a hodgepodge of the Group W and CBS all news formats with the drawbacks of both and the advantages of neither. It sounds stodgy and bloated and cluttered with features that don't quite fit (Exhibit A: Reporters' Round-up). Putting KYW as is on FM would be putting old wine in new skins.

WTOP also has the advantage of being in a company town and that gives them focus, which KYW doesn't have.

Stay tuned as KYW Kool-Aid Drinkers go postal.
Click to expand...

I largely agree with all of this. KYW is ok, but it's hard to compare it to DC or NY, Philly by comparison generally just has less news in sense so the flow isn't the same. The pacing is also better on the other stations mentioned.
 
FredLeonard said:
KYW is a hodgepodge of the Group W and CBS all news formats with the drawbacks of both and the advantages of neither. It sounds stodgy and bloated and cluttered with features that don't quite fit (Exhibit A: Reporters' Round-up).
Click to expand...

WBZ-AM in Boston also has the Reporters Round-up feature every day @ 12:30. Is it dictated by corporate?

WBZ also carries the CBS Evening News which I believe is being dictated by CBS higher-ups. Does KYW do the same. IMHO, carrying a TV newscast on radio is never good.
 
>>>WBZ also carries the CBS Evening News which I believe is being dictated by CBS higher-ups. Does KYW do the same. IMHO, carrying a TV newscast on radio is never good.<<<

When Mel Karmazin was head of CBS he wanted "synergy" from his different divisions. And that included the CBS All-News stations simulcasting the first 8 minutes or so of The CBS Evening News. And also airing 60 Minutes. Mel may have left but the practice continues.

I agree that TV on radio is an awful idea, in most cases. Those radio stations that simulcast a full half hour of their local TV station's newscast are shooting themselves in the foot, especially when a meteorologist starts describing what's on the weather map we can't see, or a voice suddenly pops up in the middle of a story. (The speaker is identified with a subtitle, but you can't see that on radio.)

However, simulcasting the two or three top stories on the CBS Evening News, airing 60 Minutes and airing the Sunday political shows, such as Face The Nation, is a plus if listeners, probably in the car, would be viewing these shows if they were at home.

By the way, is KYW really that bad? Is it really that different than CBS's 9 other All-News stations? Is there really that much less news in Philadelphia than in Dallas, Boston or Detroit? KYW sounds good to me. I wish other stations were live 24/7 and staffed so well.
 
Gregg said:
When Mel Karmazin was head of CBS he wanted "synergy" from his different divisions. And that included the CBS All-News stations simulcasting the first 8 minutes or so of The CBS Evening News. And also airing 60 Minutes. Mel may have left but the practice continues.

By the way, is KYW really that bad? Is it really that different than CBS's 9 other All-News stations? Is there really that much less news in Philadelphia than in Dallas, Boston or Detroit? KYW sounds good to me. I wish other stations were live 24/7 and staffed so well.
Click to expand...
WBZ carries the full half hour of the CBS Evening News.

And although WBZ tags itself as Newsradio 1030, they air two nightime talk shows.
 
What are the 25-54 numbers for WPHT and WWIQ? Those are the numbers we really need to know.
 
For what it's worth, KYW 1060 remains the most-cume'd station up here, 90 miles north or so, on the portable radio at my odd jobs. It's a good :45 mins or :60 mins listen, daily, in between the music stations I seek.

This, despite them having two anchors (no names mentioned) who make me yell at the radio : 'WAKE UP !!!'

But balancing that torpor nicely are the lilting, debutante voices of the Channel 3 meteorologists who do the weather for 1060 in the afternoon. I think I'd pay a monthly fee to have them call up and talk dirty to me.

We all listen to radio stations for various reasons. Obviously, KYW has enough listeners from all walks of life to continue quite comfortably.
 
I'm not surprised that WMMR and WRFF are rated highly among 25-54. So much of the music they play is music that was new in the 1990s, especially WRFF. Someone who was 14 in 1995 is 31 now. Right square in the demo.

I am, however, surprised that such a huge portion of B101 listeners are older than 54 or younger than 25. The music mix wouldn't appeal to either, I'd think.

I think that might be attributable to the PPM now picking up listenership of people who don't know what they're listening to. Like people in stores or offices (including medical offices) where B101 is on. I think the same phenomenon, in reverse, might explain WOGL's better than expected showing.
 
Julius May said:
What are the 25-54 numbers for WPHT and WWIQ? Those are the numbers we really need to know.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree the numbers for WWIQ are bad. Basically it has fewer listeners than many stations that have lower ratings. How can that be?

The few listeners it does have never turn the radio to another channel and never turn it off. Apparently they abide by the famous infomercial king, Ron Popei. They "set it and forget it." Literally.. we're talking about an old audience.
 
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