Trend 1 Spring 2019

[Rusty Bridges]

Reading this thread and thinking Dean Wormer put Buddy on DSP... Double Secret Probation. Guess WECK got on too much of a roll. Cough.

 

[four4rock]

Ratings are used as a tool to sell advertising (and for bragging rights on radio boards...). There's no *direct* correlation but stations with better ratings *generally* bill more.

Billings.
Ratings.
Net Income.

All independent of one another. If it's a (for profit) business, the only one that matters is Net Income. But, sure, I get the "bragging rights" aspect of ratings.

 

[davideduardo]

Billings.
Ratings.
Net Income.

All independent of one another. If it's a (for profit) business, the only one that matters is Net Income. But, sure, I get the "bragging rights" aspect of ratings.

From the time I built my first radio station in 1964, I've always believe that it was easier to sell if you were #1.

Being a market leader means you have enough listeners to justify a decent rate. But you need good sellers, good (and frugal) business practices, and decent management to convert ratings to net income.

 

[four4rock]

From the time I built my first radio station in 1964, I've always believe that it was easier to sell if you were #1.

Being a market leader means you have enough listeners to justify a decent rate. But you need good sellers, good (and frugal) business practices, and decent management to convert ratings to net income.

Yeah. That's exactly my point. Just having ratings is meaningless without a complete functional business package. For example, I suspect that WBEN (Entercom), despite strong ratings, is somewhat inefficient. A radio station in Class A office space... really? In that sense, I'd call WECK better managed... sure, 'lower rent' digs aren't as sweet as Corporate Parkway, but do they really need to be? Class A does nothing for ratings (who listens to a station based on the studio zip code?)... but it sure as heck eats away at the bottom line.

 

[Mark1981]

Okay, color me confused! My All-Access email arrived in my inbox late this afternoon, with 12+ numbers markedly different from what Blustery Buddy (if I may be permitted to adopt a nickname like at least one well-known political figure is known to do) posted at the top of this thread. Entercom and Cumulus figures aren’t included. But WYRK topped WBLK. And WBUF ended up higher than WECK. I’m not sure Buddy will respond since he’s listed as being “on vacation.” But the publicly posted Phase 1 spring trend has WECK with a 2.9, not a 3.4. Now, I know these top line numbers can be different from what can be gleaned from someone who has access to drilled-downed numbers. So, I’m assuming in some corner of our region WECK has a 3.4 12+. I’m just saying Buddy’s gloating doesn’t jibe with some of the numbers I’m seeing.

 

[TheBigA]

Okay, color me confused! My All-Access email arrived in my inbox late this afternoon, with 12+ numbers markedly different

Yes you're correct. He posted 18-34 and 18-49. You saw the 12+ numbers, the link to which is below:

https://ratings.****************/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb037

 

[tbolt909]

Okay, color me confused! My All-Access email arrived in my inbox late this afternoon, with 12+ numbers markedly different from what Blustery Buddy (if I may be permitted to adopt a nickname like at least one well-known political figure is known to do) posted at the top of this thread. Entercom and Cumulus figures aren’t included. But WYRK topped WBLK. And WBUF ended up higher than WECK. I’m not sure Buddy will respond since he’s listed as being “on vacation.” But the publicly posted Phase 1 spring trend has WECK with a 2.9, not a 3.4. Now, I know these top line numbers can be different from what can be gleaned from someone who has access to drilled-downed numbers. So, I’m assuming in some corner of our region WECK has a 3.4 12+. I’m just saying Buddy’s gloating doesn’t jibe with some of the numbers I’m seeing.

You are correct. Radio Online also released the Buffalo Spring P1 Trend today. It's the same Nielsen report. WECK has a 2.9. WYRK has a 8.2, not a 7.1 as Buddy posted on page 1 of this thread. Entercom and Cumulus stations are N/A.

It's appropriate that someone has BS for their initials...

 

[davideduardo]

You are correct. Radio Online also released the Buffalo Spring P1 Trend today. It's the same Nielsen report. WECK has a 2.9. WYRK has a 8.2, not a 7.1 as Buddy posted on page 1 of this thread. Entercom and Cumulus stations are N/A.

It's appropriate that someone has BS for their initials...

Just guessing, but the numbers that Buddy posted may have been extrapolations, which are mathematically derived single month numbers. We can do those by hand, but many stations use X-Trends from Cornerstone to see what each month of a trend represents.

 

[Element9]

Okay, color me confused! My All-Access email arrived in my inbox late this afternoon, with 12+ numbers markedly different from what Blustery Buddy (if I may be permitted to adopt a nickname like at least one well-known political figure is known to do) posted at the top of this thread. Entercom and Cumulus figures aren’t included. But WYRK topped WBLK. And WBUF ended up higher than WECK. I’m not sure Buddy will respond since he’s listed as being “on vacation.” But the publicly posted Phase 1 spring trend has WECK with a 2.9, not a 3.4. Now, I know these top line numbers can be different from what can be gleaned from someone who has access to drilled-downed numbers. So, I’m assuming in some corner of our region WECK has a 3.4 12+.

The same thought crossed my mind when I saw the Persons 12+ Phase 1 numbers published in All Access. A cross check of Radio-Online matched those published by All Access. Cumulus and Entercom don't subscribe to the trends, so the ratings for those clusters' stations are absent. According to All Access and Radio-Online reports, WMSX and WBUF actually are up. Two more more months of tabulation remain.

 

[davideduardo]

Yeah. That's exactly my point. Just having ratings is meaningless without a complete functional business package. For example, I suspect that WBEN (Entercom), despite strong ratings, is somewhat inefficient. A radio station in Class A office space... really? In that sense, I'd call WECK better managed... sure, 'lower rent' digs aren't as sweet as Corporate Parkway, but do they really need to be? Class A does nothing for ratings (who listens to a station based on the studio zip code?)... but it sure as heck eats away at the bottom line.

A station owned by a multi-market group is going to want to be in a modern building with up to date wiring and services.

While WECK does traffic, continuity, production, music library storage, technical operations and accounting locally, most larger groups do much or all of that work at remote, centralized sites via high speed data connections. Older and cheaper buildings are not built for such infrastructure, or are very costly to update. So when the total cost of operations is calculated, it's cheaper to be in an efficient (and often energy saving) building that facilitates connectivity than in a cheaper and less equipped structure.

 

[Element9]

A station owned by a multi-market group is going to want to be in a modern building with up to date wiring and services. While WECK does traffic, continuity, production, music library storage, technical operations and accounting locally, most larger groups do much or all of that work at remote, centralized sites via high speed data connections. Older and cheaper buildings are not built for such infrastructure, or are very costly to update. So when the total cost of operations is calculated, it's cheaper to be in an efficient (and often energy saving) building that facilitates connectivity than in a cheaper and less equipped structure.

True, many large operators centralize their back-office operations such as accounting and traffic. According to engineering posts on Facebook, the 2900 Genesee Street operation is state of the art and well-equipped. Following 9-11, the building was renovated by CBS as secure back-up, self-powered "disaster studios" for WBLK, WBUF, WMSX and WYRK.

 

[four4rock]

A station owned by a multi-market group is going to want to be in a modern building with up to date wiring and services.

While WECK does traffic, continuity, production, music library storage, technical operations and accounting locally, most larger groups do much or all of that work at remote, centralized sites via high speed data connections. Older and cheaper buildings are not built for such infrastructure, or are very costly to update. So when the total cost of operations is calculated, it's cheaper to be in an efficient (and often energy saving) building that facilitates connectivity than in a cheaper and less equipped structure.

"...a modern building with up to date wiring and services." That is VERY different than Class A. Of course folks want proper infrastructure. One does not need premium to operate. Radio Sales people need a reliable car (I'd imagine)... they do not need a Bugatti or McClaren... neither of which will boost ratings.