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Which Hartford FM will flip formats to talk/news?

P

progressivetalk

Reading about all these FM stations that are flipping from music to talk/news, which one would be a likely flip in Hartford? WMRQ?, WCCC?, La Bomba? WPLR? None?

I just saw the latest ratings and was wondering why so many stations that had ratings in February have none in March?? WPOP loses over half its ratings?? Strange!!!
 
1) Nobody flips, WTIC can't be beat. It'd be crazy to try to challenge them.

2) Arbitron has a new policy beginning with the March PPM's where they will no longer release the 6+ top line rankers for stations that don't subscribe to that market's book.

http://www.radio-info.com/news/with...gets-tough-with-cumulus-other-non-subscribers

The two Hartford groups that aren't subscribing are WDRC AM/FM, and WMRQ and its translator W246CC running Bomba 97.1. You can also see that the Springfield, New Haven, Bridgeport, and NYC stations aren't buying the Hartford book. If someone was ranked last month, and is no longer showing any ratings, you can bet the numbers just aren't being reported anymore.

I'm not surprised WPOP lost half its ratings, they're encouraging everyone to listen to ESPN 97.9. The listeners have migrated... However, we don't see what the numbers are because while CC Hartford is subscribed, WUCS-FM is not part of that subscription.
 
I'm not surprised WPOP lost half its ratings, they're encouraging everyone to listen to ESPN 97.9. The listeners have migrated...
Click to expand...

The migration to 97.9 wouldn't show up until the next book, though, won't it?
 
reelyreal said:
1) Nobody flips, WTIC can't be beat. It'd be crazy to try to challenge them.

2) Arbitron has a new policy beginning with the March PPM's where they will no longer release the 6+ top line rankers for stations that don't subscribe to that market's book.

http://www.radio-info.com/news/with...gets-tough-with-cumulus-other-non-subscribers

The two Hartford groups that aren't subscribing are WDRC AM/FM, and WMRQ and its translator W246CC running Bomba 97.1. You can also see that the Springfield, New Haven, Bridgeport, and NYC stations aren't buying the Hartford book. If someone was ranked last month, and is no longer showing any ratings, you can bet the numbers just aren't being reported anymore.

I'm not surprised WPOP lost half its ratings, they're encouraging everyone to listen to ESPN 97.9. The listeners have migrated... However, we don't see what the numbers are because while CC Hartford is subscribed, WUCS-FM is not part of that subscription.

Thank you for the info. I wasn't aware of that. I suppose that if you don't subscribe you can fudge the actual listening numbers, however wouldn't a station GM want to know how well/badly the station is doing? You may be right about WTIC but a lot of under performing FM stations are flipping from music to news/talk.
Click to expand...
 
CTListener said:
I'm not surprised WPOP lost half its ratings, they're encouraging everyone to listen to ESPN 97.9. The listeners have migrated...
Click to expand...

The migration to 97.9 wouldn't show up until the next book, though, won't it?
Click to expand...

97.9 ESPN came on back toward the end of January, which is when they began to heavily promote it. The March PPM's cover March 1-28. You'd definitely see migration by now.
 
Then let me tweak my original post ever so slightly: If no FM signal, then any candidates to switch formats on AM?? WRYM, WNEZ, WPOP (now that the ratings for Fox sports are out and the station's ratings crashed).,WKND, (I'll leave WDRC AM alone for now), WLAT, WCTF???
 
progressivetalk said:
Then let me tweak my original post ever so slightly: If no FM signal, then any candidates to switch formats on AM?? WRYM, WNEZ, WPOP (now that the ratings for Fox sports are out and the station's ratings crashed).,WKND, (I'll leave WDRC AM alone for now), WLAT, WCTF???
Click to expand...

It costs serious money to run a news format, unless you're just going to simulcast cable TV news all day (I'm pretty sure there are no 24/7 news services available for radio anymore. AP only provides top and bottom of the hour newscasts these days). I doubt any of those stations have the financial wherewithal or, in the case of WRYM, WNEZ and WCTF, desire by management to do anything but the on-the-dirt-cheap formats their stations are currently running. Another satellite-fed talk station? Unlikely, and progressive talk has yet to win a significant audience in even the bluest of blue states and there's plenty of Corporate America that, unfortunately, considers that sort of talk un-American and won't spend its advertising dollars on it, so that's not even a possibility.)

No, it will have to be a big-signal, big-ownership FM. And I'm still convinced it will happen, as the existing AM audience dies out and the younger generations increasingly do their listening on devices that don't tune the AM band. It will be much easier to blow up 'ZMX or 'TIC-FM for a transplant of WTIC (AM)'s programming when a critical mass of the potential audience has no way to hear 1080, noi matter how much power it's running or how lengthy its history. I give AM 10 years, maximum.
 
In the NYC area, WEMP 101.9 switched to all news last fall and has had terrible ratings ever since. They are trying to compete with heritage AM all-news stations WCBS and WINS. So at least in NYC, nobody is migrating away from AM.
 
At this point, I don't see news/talk coming to FM in Hartford....until CBS decides to move 1080's format to FM. It will happen eventually. The question is when, and on what frequency. The second part is easy. 93.7. While WZMX puts up decent numbers, WRCH and TIC-FM bill much better. That leaves the question of when. Considering how under-radioed Hartford is in comparison to other similar-sized markets, it may be awhile. If 1080 takes a severe drop in 25-54 numbers, it could be sooner.
 
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