the ticket beats qam in their target demos?

[max88]

according to the miaimi herald the ticket beat qam in their target demos. they even beat neal rodgers wow! and i dont have a dog in the fight

 

[barthgimble]

Do you really believe the validity of those numbers? Of course, South Floridians prefer Jorge Sedano to Neil Rogers. Miami has more bogus
books than any other major market in the country. It's kind of like Pat Buchanan winning Palm Beach County.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

I don't have a dog in this fight either. You can say it's bogus, but it's still "THE BOOK". You can't fight that.

 

[max88]

did the re-tooled wftl have any impact?

 

[AM_Rocks]

probably not. But if you look, EVERY AM station in the market dropped. Go to Radio and Records on line and look. (I think there was one small Spanish AM that went up, but ALL others dropped.)

Think Neil will improve his numbers now that he's back in town? Word is that he's staying, too. (All that and a pay cut. lol Gotta love this business!)

 

[livingfruitvirus]

did the re-tooled wftl have any impact?

Which one?

 

[rluvbeach]

neil did his dissection of the ratings and indeed 790 beat them in every demo....his audience is half of what it used to be.......wftl even tho three stations use that id, did not register at all in the book....0.0.

by the way....it is getting impossible to listen to am radio in south fla....there is interference at every intersection now, and in every parking lot you pull into.......i'm enjoying sirius...radio margaritaville

 

[roxy23]

Actually, QAM clobbered 790 in M35-54 and 790 beat QAM in the younger demos. The M25-54 was a virtual tie, 790 slightly ahead when you count the night-time which is really a non-factor in terms of audience, for either station. If anyone actually believes more than half of Neil's audience went away from one book to another, well I have a bridge to sell them... The QAM people can't be pleased but the majority of the advertising dollars spent in the sports radio market aim for the older audience, not the 18-34s so as long as they continue to dominate in that area, they should be OK.
The signal issue remains a big problem for all AM stations particularly at night.

 

[SportsDotCom]

Actually, QAM clobbered 790 in M35-54 and 790 beat QAM in the younger demos. The M25-54 was a virtual tie, 790 slightly ahead when you count the night-time which is really a non-factor in terms of audience, for either station. If anyone actually believes more than half of Neil's audience went away from one book to another, well I have a bridge to sell them... The QAM people can't be pleased but the majority of the advertising dollars spent in the sports radio market aim for the older audience, not the 18-34s so as long as they continue to dominate in that area, they should be OK.
The signal issue remains a big problem for all AM stations particularly at night.

Well you're partially right. I heard 790's PD Steve White say on air that not only did the beat QAM in M25-54, but clobbered them in 25-44 demo. He said, 44-54 is the bulk of QAM's audience. That is accurate and based on their hosts average age being older than the 25-54 demo that shouldn't be much of a surprise.

790 beat them in everyday part except morning drive. Half of Neil's audience gone? No, ofcourse not. Though,, you should look at the fact he went from just under a 5 share (4.8 or 4.9) to an 8 share in the 2 previous books. Are we to believe that he doubled his audience from 1 book to the next? Especially, when you factor in he hasn't had an 8 share in over 2 years until the Fall Arbitron.

His spike last book was obviously due to his drama about staying or leaving. He's not an 8 share guy anymore. I also heard in the same broadcast the guys at 790 saying that Neil's numbers took a huge dump after Noon and that WIOD had a huge spike at that time. People are turning over to Rush b/c Neil has lost a little off his fastball. I'm a huge fan who has always listened & will continue to. I actually, prefer to go back & forth between him & Sedano, just to keep it fresh. He'll probably bounce back with a nice number, but if you think you'll see another 8 share. Do your research. Outside of the fall 07 it hasn't happend in a long time now.

The fact that 790's 18-34 are so strong should be worrisome for QAM's future. The reality in those numbers are these facts. Most of those in that demo that are listening to AM radio are 21 +. Which means they'll be in that target demo in 4 years or less. The reason 790 is strong now and has 3-1-1 in the last 5 books is that reason I just mentioned. That young audience that they started to capture almost 4 years ago when they launched are now in the target demo. With 790 holding a 5-1 lead in that younger demo says the listener of tomrrow has made their choice. Which makes you believe 790 will only continue to get stronger numbers as their audience keeps growing into the demo (while capturing plenty from QAM's current demo) and QAM's audience falls out of the demo (over 54).

QAM also did a horrible job of cultivating younger talent. They buried Alzugaray at the crack of dawn and Damon Amedolara sounds like one of those vanilla ESPN Radio types. They had Curtis Stevenson, but chose to not develop him on his own. This dates back to the Greg Reed days and the current regime (although much better, smarter & cost effective) hasn't done enough to change that.

As far as sales. QAM is certainly light years ahead, but I'm starting to hear a lot of car dealers & old time QAM clients on 790. Everyone else is starting to see this is no longer a trend but a shift in the market place.

I'll say this as an older retired sales guy and radio enthusiast I think it's great to finally have real local competition. I wish WIOD would dump some of the syndicated crap and get in the mix too. Kind of like the old days. Footy is certainly not enough (who can listen anyway...geesh) and Todd Schnitt out of Tampa doesn't count in my book. Don't give me the James Crystal garbage either. We all know it's only a matter of time before they decide to broker their stations or flip formats to garden talk or something nonsensical. Come on WIOD tell CC to put some $ out there.

 

[DJ Oldschool]

You basically have an 18-34 sports station and a 35-64 station. Personally, I'd rather have the 35-64 because that's where the money is. And for all the noise they're making, the
truth is, WQAM clobbered WAXY in the Fall with Football and they had a dead heat in the Winter with Men 25-54. It looks to me like all they're really doing is beating the crap out of each other, because neither of them is really doing well overall. WQAM's saving grace is that they are a "sales machine." As for me, I'll continue spending most of my time listeing to "Magic 102". Can't get enough of those oldies!

 

[SportsDotCom]

You basically have an 18-34 sports station and a 35-64 station. Personally, I'd rather have the 35-64 because that's where the money is. And for all the noise they're making, the
truth is, WQAM clobbered WAXY in the Fall with Football and they had a dead heat in the Winter with Men 25-54. It looks to me like all they're really doing is beating the crap out of each other, because neither of them is really doing well overall. WQAM's saving grace is that they are a "sales machine." As for me, I'll continue spending most of my time listeing to "Magic 102". Can't get enough of those oldies!

That's a pretty myopic view. Short term view at that. Magic? Oldies stations going down all across the country. You could be in for a realiy check my friend.

 

[roxy23]

sports dot com makes some good points but if you think any programmer/station can be looking 4+ years ahead in this business, that's pretty naive. It's about today, right now and no company board of directors is going to be satisfied with long-term future planning spin...funny, but I didn't hear Steve White on the air after the Fall book when his station was crushed in every demo, even 18-34.
Numbers go up, numbers go down...the key is who can sell it and for how much. Cheap spots on 790 are just that...and they will never be profitable if that's the route they continue to go...now that they have a real owner in Lincoln Financial, someone is going to have to look at that modeal and make significant changes at that station one way or another

 

[davideduardo]

The fact that 790's 18-34 are so strong should be worrisome for QAM's future. The reality in those numbers are these facts. Most of those in that demo that are listening to AM radio are 21 +. Which means they'll be in that target demo in 4 years or less. The reason 790 is strong now and has 3-1-1 in the last 5 books is that reason I just mentioned. That young audience that they started to capture almost 4 years ago when they launched are now in the target demo. With 790 holding a 5-1 lead in that younger demo says the listener of tomrrow has made their choice. Which makes you believe 790 will only continue to get stronger numbers as their audience keeps growing into the demo (while capturing plenty from QAM's current demo) and QAM's audience falls out of the demo (over 54).

The AM share 25-54 is 14.4 in this book. In 18-34 it is 8.1 shares. The total long-term viability of AM is the real issue, not the long range planning of WQAM. As long as QAM focuses on 45-54, they will have some good years ahead, but banking on the younger demos is not userful.

 

[davideduardo]

...now that they have a real owner in Lincoln Financial, someone is going to have to look at that modeal and make significant changes at that station one way or another

Lincoln has had the stations since early 2006, and the same operating division (Lincoln acquired Jefferson Pilot) has owned it since 1985.

 

[SportsDotCom]

sports dot com makes some good points but if you think any programmer/station can be looking 4+ years ahead in this business, that's pretty naive. It's about today, right now and no company board of directors is going to be satisfied with long-term future planning spin...funny, but I didn't hear Steve White on the air after the Fall book when his station was crushed in every demo, even 18-34.
Numbers go up, numbers go down...the key is who can sell it and for how much. Cheap spots on 790 are just that...and they will never be profitable if that's the route they continue to go...now that they have a real owner in Lincoln Financial, someone is going to have to look at that modeal and make significant changes at that station one way or another

Considering they're beating QAM and have been for the better part of a year I would say their more than just competative. Looking ahead isn't the model, but it should be factored in. That Fall book has been the aberration for QAM. I totally agree & stated earlier sales is the biggest disparity. Though, you brought up a great point with Lincoln now running the show and not LMA'ing it to Feinburg it's only a matter of time before they blow out that sales staff & bring in their own. Programming is light years ahead of sales at that place. That's pretty apparent. Again, my point as someone who enjoys LOCAL talk regardless of format. I enjoy the competition & wish there were others who would jump in the fray. Maybe, WIOD (who's HD-2 channel is 94-9) will go FM talk one day down the road and make it real interesting. Though, with Clear Channel at the helm I doubt the braintrust (or lack there of) would do something like that.

 

[max88]

"The AM share 25-54 is 14.4 in this book. In 18-34 it is 8.1 shares. The total long-term viability of AM is the real issue, not the long range planning of WQAM. As long as QAM focuses on 45-54, they will have some good years ahead, but banking on the younger demos is not userful".



what share of the market did the am stations get in the last book and which major market has the most am listeners, LA. Ny or SF?

 

[davideduardo]

"The AM share 25-54 is 14.4 in this book. In 18-34 it is 8.1 shares. The total long-term viability of AM is the real issue, not the long range planning of WQAM. As long as QAM focuses on 45-54, they will have some good years ahead, but banking on the younger demos is not userful".



what share of the market did the am stations get in the last book and which major market has the most am listeners, LA. Ny or SF?

This is not a book to book thing, as the margin of error in the given sample size is greater than the long term trending. In general, AM listeners age 1 year every 18 months... so in another 6 to 7 years about two-thirds will be out of the 18-54 sales demos.

Share in 18-54 goes down proportinally.

San Francisco retains a higher percentage of AM listeners overall... about 21%. LA has around 17%. The factors include the number of good signals, where Miami is severely lacking in full coverage stations. Second is ambient noise level, where Miami is very high due to being in the tropics. Third is that in one market, SF, there is no FM that covers the whole market so AMs have an advantage, while in LA they are at parity (5 or 6 decent signals on AM) and in Miami they are inferior.

There are markers where total AM listening is now below 10% 12+, such as Scranton, and many around 10 to 12 percent, like Houston. That's why sports in Portland is moveing from a 50 kw AM to FM in the next few weeks... AM is not seen as usable by younger demos, and the coverage on FM is often better.