Why are so many Full Power formats nationwide missing from Pittsburgh radio?

[Huff]

*P1 (old school radio term) traditionally was the group ( audience ) that you tested music on and your sales people pitched to advertisers.

P1 is a term for preference level.

If I listen to Station A more than any other station, then I am a "P1" for Station A. Doesn't matter how much I listen to them, just that I listen to them more than any others.
If someone else listens to Station A twice as much as me, but they listen five minutes more to Station B, then they are P1 to Station B, and P2 to Station A, even though they give twice as much listening to Station A than me.
Testing will usually look beyond just "P1s" and set minimum listening thresholds to ensure that low-level listeners are not included.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Another factor is that in addition to our black population being a smaller percentage of the whole Pittsburgh's demographics skew towards the older end (we're one of the oldest markets outside of Florida). People involved in advertising sales have no doubt looked at that and concluded that an older white audience is not looking for those formats. No guarantee they are right about that, but they are going to place their bets elsewhere.

 

[secondchoice]

P1 is a term for preference level.

If I listen to Station A more than any other station, then I am a "P1" for Station A. Doesn't matter how much I listen to them, just that I listen to them more than any others.
If someone else listens to Station A twice as much as me, but they listen five minutes more to Station B, then they are P1 to Station B, and P2 to Station A, even though they give twice as much listening to Station A than me.
Testing will usually look beyond just "P1s" and set minimum listening thresholds to ensure that low-level listeners are not included.

I was almost always told before I was hired who the target demo was. They were called P1s by the sales manager at more than one station I worked. I guess you should never trust a salesperson to tell the whole truth.

 

[Fighting Irish]

Minneapolis/St. Paul has somewhat similar African-American demographics as Pittsburgh does. Which answers the question of how the Land of Prince has such a lousy history when it comes to urban radio. Community-supported KMOJ has been around since the late 70s, and various stations have dipped their toes in the water, only to quickly move back to safer ground.

To their credit, IHeart switched one of their translators to hip-hop as Hot 102.5 a number of years ago. It obviously doesn't get huge numbers (most recent 12+ is 1.8, and it's usually less than that), as a 250 signal is not enough to cover that vast market. But it covers the core part of the market, costs very little to run, gives them something extra to sell, gives them another big market clearance for The Breakfast Club, and takes a little pressure off KDWB, one of their cash cows.

But, the lack of a strong African-American population base and business community has been a reason why urban radio has had problems there, and in similar cities.

 

[Gregg.]

I guess we can say Pittsburgh is one of the whitest large markets in the U.S., even more so than Minneapolis. According to Nielsen, Pittsburgh only has a 9% black population and an amazing 2% Hispanic population. Minneapolis is 10% black and 6% Hispanic.

Another factor to remember. There are only so many commercial FM signals available. I counted 12 in Pittsburgh. 11 in Minneapolis. Similar-sized markets like Phoenix and Salt Lake City have close to 20 plus a few strong rimshots. They get to try new ideas that a market with fewer signals can't.

 

[VicRadio]

I guess we can say Pittsburgh is one of the whitest large markets in the U.S., even more so than Minneapolis. According to Nielsen, Pittsburgh only has a 9% black population and an amazing 2% Hispanic population. Minneapolis is 10% black and 6% Hispanic.

Another factor to remember. There are only so many commercial FM signals available. I counted 12 in Pittsburgh. 11 in Minneapolis. Similar-sized markets like Phoenix and Salt Lake City have close to 20 plus a few strong rimshots. They get to try new ideas that a market with fewer signals can't.

A lot of black folks moved to New York, Atlanta, Texas and LA

 

[VicRadio]

Before anyone takes this the wrong way, I am not undermining Pittsburgh radio that does local well and is successful at doing so. But I've wondered for years why so many formats that are in a large amount of markets on full power signals (Urban, Urban AC, Rhythmic, Classic Hip Hop/Rhythmic AC, etc.) or translators (Spanish, Soft AC, Gospel, etc.) are not here. I think the general response would be "there's not a large enough audience for these formats". But how can a market like Youngstown have more of these formats with its size? With urban specifically, "WAMO is there" but it misses a lot of the audience it could reach with its bad FM signal. I think the radio dial here needs something new, a lot of the stations have kept the same old same old in what seems like a long time

I agree with you to an extent. I think Pittsburgh should have a throwback station. Boston has hot 96.9 and they do very well in the ratings.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Youngstown has WAKZ for Mainstream Urban, WLOA/W272EI Loud 102.3 Rhythmic with a Hip Hop emphasis, and Star 94.7 WGFT/W234CH Urban AC. Also WKTX 99.7/830AM which is a mix of R&B, Urban Gospel, and Urban Talk. Plus in parts of the market WENZ from Cleveland, which when I've listened at times will get listeners from the NW section of the area.

I'm wondering if WAMO barely has a audience due to the lack of signal. They still manage to register a 1.2-1.4 on average in ratings and the translator around the city has weak spots in downtown. I wonder if the addition of Y108 HD-2 has helped with that

I'm surprised I-heart hasn't tried to feed at least a HD-2 signal and put in a translator to compete, mainly surprised since this is done in markets with less of a average demographic for the format

No more urban on WGFT

WGFT To Flip To Sports

Bloom Broadcasting has flipped Adult R&B "Star 94.7" 1330 WGFT Campbell and 94.7 W234CH Girard/Youngstown OH to Sports "ESPN Mahoning Valley".

radioinsight.com

 

[DavidEduardo]

P1 is a term for preference level.

And the term is definitely not obsolete. P1’s are, on average, about half of all listeners but responsible for around 80% of all time spent listening.

 

[DavidEduardo]

*P1 (old school radio term) traditionally was the group ( audience ) that you tested music on and your sales people pitched to advertisers.

I never heard of P1s being part of a sales pitch. That would be like saying “half of my listeners are of no value’. Sales, when using ratings, pitches AQH/Share/AQH Persons (all being the same thing) and not TSL.

 

[secondchoice]

I had to tell a buyer to look up our our female under 55 audience once when he got really pickly about "cost per" compared to other stations. He actually wanted a lower rate than our local annual contract customers. After a long pause he said never mind and hung up.
Next week the order came in. It was actually bigger than what I pitched. You are correct in that I never did say "P1" once but the fact that enough females in three countries had us as their first or second choice worked back in the dairy days.

If you don't "know" your audience, sales would be difficult back in dairy days. I bet it is impossible in a PPM market nowadays.

 

[khoculock]

Before anyone takes this the wrong way, I am not undermining Pittsburgh radio that does local well and is successful at doing so. But I've wondered for years why so many formats that are in a large amount of markets on full power signals (Urban, Urban AC, Rhythmic, Classic Hip Hop/Rhythmic AC, etc.) or translators (Spanish, Soft AC, Gospel, etc.) are not here. I think the general response would be "there's not a large enough audience for these formats". But how can a market like Youngstown have more of these formats with its size? With urban specifically, "WAMO is there" but it misses a lot of the audience it could reach with its bad FM signal. I think the radio dial here needs something new, a lot of the stations have kept the same old same old in what seems like a long time

That's because Y-Town is 45% African-American, and almost 10% Hispanic. Whites make up about 47%.

 

[DavidEduardo]

That's because Y-Town is 45% African-American, and almost 10% Hispanic. Whites make up about 47%.

"Youngstown" in radio is 12.4% Black and 4.3% Hispanic.

(12+ MSA population, Fall 2024)