The Spring Book

[RoddyFreeman]

A few random thoughts and questions:

B98.5 had a spectacular book. I hear the main reason was that Jordan Graye felt threatened by Kate McCarthy at The River, and worried Kate would take her job. As a result, Jordan took it up a notch and had a great book.

The rest of 2008 should be smooth sailing for B98.5. The station should have a great summer book with the start of Steve & Vikki. And of course, then comes Christmas music for the fall book.

Star 94 edged out Q100 after being edged out by Q for the first time in the fall. Star appears to have had a great May and June. So is the bleeding over? I haven't seen the internals so I don't know the specifics on demos or whether The Mess grew versus Bert. In my opinion, Star's biggest problem going forward is that morning drive and afternoon drive seem to be targeted to two different audiences. But Star is trapped because Cindy & Ray have been getting stellar ratings.

WAMJ's numbers are amazing given that signal, which is almost unlistenable in the northeast quadrant of the market. Once again, I haven't seen the internals, but I'm betting Steve Harvey is doing a number on Tom Joyner.

I don't know what happened in June at Project, but the spring 12+ share seems a bit fluky.

 

[TheRealOtherNeil]

No surprise here:

Sunny 100 still in first
WGST in a close second
Q100 third but gaining ground
The New 97.1 the River was the best showing of the "new" stations
WSB-FM was voted “Number One To Listen to While Your at Work” for the 55th straight book
Zakk Tyler tripled his audience to a cume 12 (listeners)
Rich Sullivan has officially been kicked out of the Kajagoogoo Fan Club when he forgot to bring the onion dip.
Jordan Graye and Kate McCarthy looked at the book in separate meetings with Cox brass
DAVE had a good book despite not having me as PD
Michael Savage drew a 0.0 on WBS-AM with Autistic listeners
Brisket Shapiro drew a 100 with children living at his address

 

[Insideradio]

No surprise here:

Sunny 100 still in first
WGST in a close second
Q100 third but gaining ground
The New 97.1 the River was the best showing of the "new" stations
WSB-FM was voted “Number One To Listen to While Your at Work” for the 55th straight book
Zakk Tyler tripled his audience to a cume 12 (listeners)
Rich Sullivan has officially been kicked out of the Kajagoogoo Fan Club when he forgot to bring the onion dip.
Jordan Graye and Kate McCarthy looked at the book in separate meetings with Cox brass
DAVE had a good book despite not having me as PD
Michael Savage drew a 0.0 on WBS-AM with Autistic listeners
Brisket Shapiro drew a 100 with children living at his address

You would be the perfect PD - guy that failed as a radio talent telling lame jokes to the real talent. Sorry Neil, I'm sure you put a lot into that post but time wasted.

Project had a very strong spring 12+ book
River down
Rock 100 up some
B98 BIG

Other than Rock and the Regular Guys is there ANYTHING interesting on the FM side?
With the satellite merger, Iphone aps with radio stations, Pandora's deal allowing content on your cell phones, etc..
What will terrestial radio do to make things interesting?

 

[The Flash]

RUMBLINGS FROM THE COX MOTHER SHIP ...

Kate McCarthy and Jordan Graye are no longer on speaking terms!

We'll have more on the Nightbeat! ....

 

[jabba17]

My observations:

1) As I have asked before, where is the country market? Eagle is gone and Bull is stillborn. Yet Kicks only gets an extra 0.1. Did the rimshooters pick up bits of share (WNGC, WEKS, WTSH, etc.)?
2) River is finally taking its beating, probably from Rock 100.5 and True Oldies, and maybe a little cannibalization from B98.5.
3) I'm (finally) impressed with Project. Being able to dump traditional AOR completely for active rock probably helped them to get back to Buzz territory.
4) Rock 100.5 continues to grow.
5) Dave, Viva, and WJZZ are off the hot seat. This has to be the best book for Dave in a while.
6) It's time to stick the picas in the Bull. How does everyone like their cojones de toro?
7) Patron and La Raza sure took a beating. Will CC get rid of Patron? If so, for what?

 

[RTibbs]

The River is pretty much where they were last spring but I believe they have peaked without some major changes like a morning personality or their playlist. Rock 100.5 in their second book is not far off from where q100 was. I'd be very interested in the breakdowns. Three of the top 4 stations are off a decent amount. This book shows a bunch of big changes. Could be all the changes in the marketplace or a fluke in the book. With all the new morning shows I am wondering what effect that might have on the overall ratings.

 

[mshawnarnold]

The craziest thing about the breakouts is that TRG, on it's 2nd book and carrying about 1/10th the wattage, is slightly behind the Bert Show in 25-54 and slightly AHEAD of the Bert Show in 18-34. That is very strong. Not to mention they are both more than doubling up Star's share in 18-34 and 25-54. Yikes.

Also, Dave's bump is resting squarely on Mara's shoulders as she had a decent 18-34 book and a huge 25-54. One interesting thing as well that I don't think I've seen mentioned here is how timing shifts might affect breakouts. For example, Dave morning show showed a slight bump in 25-54, but those rating are recorded as 6a-10a. That show goes off the air at 9a and Mara comes on. So, is Mara's huge book also giving a little boost to the earlier daypart dince she is on the tail end of their Arb section? It would seem logical that it is.

Also, B98 is strong and we haven't even seen the S&V bump yet. I know that they got a lot of pub and had some advertising pre-launch, but still, they are in great shape and the next book will reflect their appearance.

And Giant Brian's show wins Comeback Player of the Month for a 70% increase or so in their numbers 18-34.

Mr. Tibbs, I hope that gives you a little clearer picture.

 

[rho01]

With so many shows ending at 9 a.m., these are not pure apples to apples comparisons anymore but it's the best we got:

Top morning shows

25 to 54 year olds

Rank, show, station, format (winter rank)

1- Frank and Wanda, V-103, R&B/hip hop (1)

2- Scott Slade, 750/WSB-AM, news/talk (2)

3- Steve Harvey, Grown Folks 102.5, R&B/talk (3t)

4- Tom Joyner, Kiss 104.1, R&B (3t)

5- The Bert Show, Q100, Top 40 (5)

6- The Regular Guys, Rock 100.5, rock (10)

7- Kelly & Alpha, B98.5, soft rock (6t)

8- Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks 101.5, country (9)

9- (tie) Yolanda Adams, Praise 97.5, gospel (8)

9- (tie) Giant Brian Show, Project 9-6-1, rock (19)

18 to 34 year olds

1- Frank and Wanda, V-103, R&B/hip hop (1)

2- The Regular Guys, Rock 100.5, rock (4)

3- The Bert Show, Q100, top 40 (3)

4- The “A” Team, Hot 107.9, R&B/hip hop (2)

5- Murph Dawg & CJ, 95.5/The Beat, hip-hop (6)

6- (tie) Steve Harvey, Grown Folks 102.5, R&B/talk (7)

6- (tie) Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks 101.5, country (10-tie)

8- Scott Slade, 750/WSB-AM, news/talk (5)

9- (tie) Los Patrones de la manana, 105.3/El Patron, Hispanic (9)

9- (tie) Kelly & Alpha, B98.5, soft rock (10-tie)

SOURCE: Arbitron ratings, April 3 to June 25, 2008

More on my blog:

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/sh...otalk/entries/2008/07/31/731_spring_rati.html

 

[RTibbs]

Huge book for TRG. Perhaps they gave the 99.7 blowtorch to the wrong morning show. Interesting how Giant Brian ranks higher among the older demo than the younger demo and TRG ranks higher among the younger demo than they do in the older demo. I suspect that Giant Brian number might be a bit of a fluke. For TRG not bad for a bunch of guys who last week were being called out as old has-beens. In the male demo does TRG beat out Frank and Wanda in 18 - 34? How does Axl rate on Rock 100.5 vs. 99x?

 

[RhubarbFan]

Rodney Ho had on his blog this morning that the Regular Guys had a good showing for the spring and that mid-days on Rock 100.5 is doing well with Erin. She is such a hottie,I talk to her all the time on My Space.

 

[Kabrich]

A few random thoughts and questions:

Star appears to have had a great May and June. So is the bleeding over? I haven't seen the internals so I don't know the specifics on demos or whether The Mess grew versus Bert. In my opinion, Star's biggest problem going forward is that morning drive and afternoon drive seem to be targeted to two different audiences. But Star is trapped because Cindy & Ray have been getting stellar ratings.

so you haven't seen the numbers, but you say Star appears to have had a great May and June.

so exactly how do you come up with that statement (which is wrong, btw)?

 

[Kabrich]

With so many shows ending at 9 a.m., these are not pure apples to apples comparisons anymore but it's the best we got:

Top morning shows

25 to 54 year olds

Rank, show, station, format (winter rank)

1- Frank and Wanda, V-103, R&B/hip hop (1)

2- Scott Slade, 750/WSB-AM, news/talk (2)

3- Steve Harvey, Grown Folks 102.5, R&B/talk (3t)

4- Tom Joyner, Kiss 104.1, R&B (3t)

5- The Bert Show, Q100, Top 40 (5)

6- The Regular Guys, Rock 100.5, rock (10)

7- Kelly & Alpha, B98.5, soft rock (6t)

8- Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks 101.5, country (9)

9- (tie) Yolanda Adams, Praise 97.5, gospel (8)

9- (tie) Giant Brian Show, Project 9-6-1, rock (19)

18 to 34 year olds

1- Frank and Wanda, V-103, R&B/hip hop (1)

2- The Regular Guys, Rock 100.5, rock (4)

3- The Bert Show, Q100, top 40 (3)

4- The “A” Team, Hot 107.9, R&B/hip hop (2)

5- Murph Dawg & CJ, 95.5/The Beat, hip-hop (6)

6- (tie) Steve Harvey, Grown Folks 102.5, R&B/talk (7)

6- (tie) Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks 101.5, country (10-tie)

8- Scott Slade, 750/WSB-AM, news/talk (5)

9- (tie) Los Patrones de la manana, 105.3/El Patron, Hispanic (9)

9- (tie) Kelly & Alpha, B98.5, soft rock (10-tie)

SOURCE: Arbitron ratings, April 3 to June 25, 2008

More on my blog:

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/sh...otalk/entries/2008/07/31/731_spring_rati.html

25-54
6am-9am
1) WVEE
2) WSB-A
3) WAMJ
4) WALR
5) WWWQ
6) WABE
7) WNNX
8) WSB-F
9) WKHX
10) WPZE

18-34
6am-9am
1) WVEE
2) WWWQ
3) WHTA
4) WNNX
5) WBTS
6) WAMJ
7) WKHX
8) WSB-A
9) WKLS
10) WBZY

fwiw, the 8) is not a comment - but apparently one cannot post the number eight and then a ) without getting a smilly face.

 

[agentUrge]

Can someone explain to me how they get these numbers and how accurate they are?

 

[Insideradio]

Can someone explain to me how they get these numbers and how accurate they are?

Arbitron sends a paper brouchure looking thing to your address... on the form are 7 days, beginning on Thursday... you are supposed to write down what you listen to for a week. STINKS!!!
Problem is Arbitron sends the diary to YOU but maybe someone else in your household filled it out. So instead of the getting the accurate listen habits of a 34 yr old man, you get the listening habits of a 32 yr old female etc...

People Meters hit Atlanta in September. Beeper like devices that monitor exact listening habits direct from the station signal. Again, depends if the subject is wearing them or if its sitting in your car when your 17 yr old daughter drives to her friends house.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Problem is Arbitron sends the diary to YOU but maybe someone else in your household filled it out. So instead of the getting the accurate listen habits of a 34 yr old man, you get the listening habits of a 32 yr old female etc...

That could happen, but I was in the sample a few years ago, and Arbitron was pretty meticulous in asking who else was in the home. They wanted to make sure everyone would get and properly fill in a diary. And they followed up by telephone during the survey.

What surprised me was that they would allow someone who buys radio locally for ad agencies to participate. I know some buyers who are vindictive and might try to screw certain stations. But Arbitron said as long as I didn't work for a radio station, TV station or cable system, I could participate.

I found participating difficult because I listen to virtually all stations to hear what's going on. So I tried to be on my best behavior and listen only to stations I actually listened to for my own enjoyment.

 

[agentUrge]

Can someone explain to me how they get these numbers and how accurate they are?

Arbitron sends a paper brouchure looking thing to your address... on the form are 7 days, beginning on Thursday... you are supposed to write down what you listen to for a week. STINKS!!!
Problem is Arbitron sends the diary to YOU but maybe someone else in your household filled it out. So instead of the getting the accurate listen habits of a 34 yr old man, you get the listening habits of a 32 yr old female etc...

People Meters hit Atlanta in September. Beeper like devices that monitor exact listening habits direct from the station signal. Again, depends if the subject is wearing them or if its sitting in your car when your 17 yr old daughter drives to her friends house.

Interesting. So, the number can be misleading? That's an assumption but it almost sounds like what gets documented in the books is assumption too. I work in interactive development...specifically in in the marketing sector....and every website or banner ad we put out has some form of tracking in it which tells us how many people clicked this or that button, if they skipped through a video, if they closed a banner, etc. I got to thinking about the Arbitron ratings (and TV ratings for that matter) after a co worker mentioned that she worked in radio. She said that the way to track that kind of info, while what they're tracking is very different, isn't accurate. I was curious.

 

[Nautel]

The PPM goes into effect in Sept.

Some info:

A pager will be given to everyone in a household 6+, Dad 42, Mom 39, Son 14, Daughter 10.

The codes for the individual station are encoded in the audio, placed in the 1-3kHz portion of the signal, psycho-accoustic.

Just think, only 0.03% of the population holds the fate of the stations well being in their hands.

 

[littlejohn]

Some more information - there's nothing so far besides inherent honesty to keep the person supposedly carrying themeter from simply tieing it to his dog's collarand leaving the radio running at the house all day.

Realistically, the programming types have a new paradigm in which to live. How to reach those few people who supposedly represent the listening audience in the market by making sure the code hits their meter, instead of making sure they put >my< station in the diary. It will be interesting to see how marleting (contesting, TV, billboards, etc) change in response to the new way of measuring listenership.

 

[Fran]

The PPM goes into effect in Sept.

When that day comes, keep in mind that some of your audience will be willing and others not willing to lug around an exceedingly unattractive looking PPM device (that needs charging every night). Maybe a new brilliant PD will figure a way to target get the extremely unhip people to listen to their stations. Perhaps billboards pictured with listeners wearing pocket protectors and knee socks.

Also, when you lock in a PPM listener, keep in mind that many of the very same people will participate in several of the PPM sweeps. . . the random survey is a thing of the past.

 

[davideduardo]

When that day comes, keep in mind that some of your audience will be willing and others not willing to lug around an exceedingly unattractive looking PPM device (that needs charging every night).

There are now dozens of skins an accessories for the PPM, which is now very small.

Also, when you lock in a PPM listener, keep in mind that many of the very same people will participate in several of the PPM sweeps. . . the random survey is a thing of the past.

Arbitron has moved from an often non-proportional weekly sample to a proportional panel. Just like TV.

The members of the panel change after 24 months, or earlier if they do not cooperate or decide to quit. The whole idea is to have same-person data over 2 years.

A sample can be random (but most are actually quota samples) but a survey is not random but proportional due to the sample and the weighting of the survey takers.