Winter 2019 Ratings

[tbolt909]

Winter Book results -- WYRK slips to #3 in this survey continuing a downward trajectory. The "New" Breeze was stagnant with just a slight upward draft. KISS, STAR, and Breeze are all in a Mid 4 share scrum.

WBFO had a 3.9. WNED 2.9. WECK 2.7
Cumulus stations are not included, hence they didn't pay to play in the Nielsen Palace...

 

[davideduardo]

Winter Book results -- WYRK slips to #3 in this survey continuing a downward trajectory. The "New" Breeze was stagnant with just a slight upward draft. KISS, STAR, and Breeze are all in a Mid 4 share scrum.

WBFO had a 3.9. WNED 2.9. WECK 2.7
Cumulus stations are not included, hence they didn't pay to play in the Nielsen Palace...

Cumulus only buys the Spring and Fall books but not Winter and Summer and trend reports.

Of course, this will change when dairy markets switch to the new system in June.

 

[TheBigA]

Here is a link to the report. Big jump for WBEN, thanks to the always balmy Buffalo winters.

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

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Here is a link to the report. Big jump for WBEN, thanks to the always balmy Buffalo winters.

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

Interesting! How many markets have 2 AM stations in the top 4?

 

[davideduardo]

Interesting! How many markets have 2 AM stations in the top 4?

There are not that many markets that have two very good, full market, AM stations.

But there are some markets where there are two top 10 AMs... Detroit, Cincinnati, New York City are a couple of these.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Interesting! How many markets have 2 AM stations in the top 4?

Buffalo doesn't have two AM stations in the top 4. The Cumulus stations are missing.

No Cumulus numbers, but the composites indicate that they're likely to be similar to the last quarter.

​

Still, WBEN continues to hang in. Color me stunned that so many people aren't sick to death of political blather. Meanwhile, WGR benefits from Buffalo's love of sports and they're the station that carries the Bills and Sabres. I suspect that their increasing focus on sports gambling and fantasy stats will appeal to Mensa numbers-crunchers those who also flip houses in search of wealth.

As noted above, WMSX has joined the Star and Kiss in a scrum instead of lagging. Each will be claiming wins in slightly different demos.

WYRK is making Wendy Lynn look more like a genius every book. You have to wonder if one of the other major players isn't smelling an opportunity to cut a 3-share out of their herd with a second country station. If Buddy gets the FM he keeps talking about, watch out.

 

[Element9]

How many years have we poked this pinata?

It's Persons 12+.

Yes, it's amusing to speculate, but Persons 12+ and five Cumulus stations not shown = more uncertainty than ever.

The 12+ Kiss-Star-Breeze logjam will be sorted out Persons 18-49 and 25-54.

A few twelve-plus-takeaways.

The Breeze is up, Kiss is flat and Star is down. Meh. Bet there's some interesting give and take in Persons 25-54. It wouldn't be a surprise to learn that all three stations placed top five or six in the money demo.

That WGR is down is a surprise because the demise of Sabres generated a lot of (mostly negative) talk. Maybe most Sabres fans just threw in the towel and left it to 37 regular callers to represent.

WBEN? Sorry, but much as this station isn't my cup of broth, its performance doesn't surprise me in the least: crappy weather, traffic messes, local events and the local and national political climate drive WBEN, which is to radio listening conservatives as Fox News is to television viewing conservatives. WGOP.

Good to see WBFO and WNED-FM are listed and healthy. I suspect their qualitatives and 35+ are quite healthy.

WYRK is a head-scratcher. Its 12+ slide might point to current product, just like CHR ebbs and flows. Again, it's 12+ ... break out the dayparts and demos, and it wouldn't be a surprise if WYRK remains top five, maybe even top three.

WBLK is down 12+ but Buffalo's urban legacy probably smokes the market 12-34 and 18-49.

WECK is up four tenths.

The mystery is 97 Rock and WHTT. Wouldn't be a surprise if 97 Rock especially had a good book. Did 97 Rock beat WGR in Persons 25-54 Men?

It would be interesting to see what Persons 25-54 looks like and discover what effect, if any, The Breeze may have had on WHTT. My guess is The Breeze may have had some impact on WHTT and to a lesser effect, WECK, but made its gains at the expense of WTSS.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Buffalo doesn't have two AM stations in the top 4. The Cumulus stations are missing.

No Cumulus numbers, but the composites indicate that they're likely to be similar to the last quarter.

​

Still, WBEN continues to hang in. Color me stunned that so many people aren't sick to death of political blather. Meanwhile, WGR benefits from Buffalo's love of sports and they're the station that carries the Bills and Sabres. I suspect that their increasing focus on sports gambling and fantasy stats will appeal to Mensa numbers-crunchers those who also flip houses in search of wealth.

As noted above, WMSX has joined the Star and Kiss in a scrum instead of lagging. Each will be claiming wins in slightly different demos.

WYRK is making Wendy Lynn look more like a genius every book. You have to wonder if one of the other major players isn't smelling an opportunity to cut a 3-share out of their herd with a second country station. If Buddy gets the FM he keeps talking about, watch out.

Country is down all over the nation, not just Buffalo. It’s a combination of the music, and far more devices to listen too. I am a P1 country fan and have not listened to YRK in ten years. I listen to satellite. That said, YRK is still the top billing station in the market, because advertisers like it

As far as AM stations being in the top 4, that’s true, but they are both 5k watts with huge dollars to back them. Weck , a 1kw, most likely has some of the best ratings in the country for an oldies station, let alone a 1kw station. With a 2.7 winter and a March trend of 3.4 12 plus, 4.5 middays, a lot can be said for that. Mist Buffalo stations were in the 3,4 and 5 share range. WECK has a 3.4 March. And that is even way out of our demo!

Fm country is not my plan, just FYI

 

[TheBigA]

Country is down all over the nation, not just Buffalo.

Not true. WBEE is still #1 in Rochester. Up almost 2 points from the fall book.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Not true. WBEE is still #1 in Rochester. Up almost 2 points from the fall book.

Totally true - Rochester may be an exception. Talk to your Neilson reps like I do. Country is seeing a downturn across the country, with the exception of Rochester I guess. And like you said, it was up 2 points for Fall.....that was 12 weeks ago. The diaries went to the right people. In PPM markets, where ratings are more accurate and reliable, the country format is down.

 

[Buddy Shula]

How many years have we poked this pinata?

It's Persons 12+.

Yes, it's amusing to speculate, but Persons 12+ and five Cumulus stations not shown = more uncertainty than ever.

The 12+ Kiss-Star-Breeze logjam will be sorted out Persons 18-49 and 25-54.

A few twelve-plus-takeaways.

The Breeze is up, Kiss is flat and Star is down. Meh. Bet there's some interesting give and take in Persons 25-54. It wouldn't be a surprise to learn that all three stations placed top five or six in the money demo.

That WGR is down is a surprise because the demise of Sabres generated a lot of (mostly negative) talk. Maybe most Sabres fans just threw in the towel and left it to 37 regular callers to represent.

WBEN? Sorry, but much as this station isn't my cup of broth, its performance doesn't surprise me in the least: crappy weather, traffic messes, local events and the local and national political climate drive WBEN, which is to radio listening conservatives as Fox News is to television viewing conservatives. WGOP.

Good to see WBFO and WNED-FM are listed and healthy. I suspect their qualitatives and 35+ are quite healthy.

WYRK is a head-scratcher. Its 12+ slide might point to current product, just like CHR ebbs and flows. Again, it's 12+ ... break out the dayparts and demos, and it wouldn't be a surprise if WYRK remains top five, maybe even top three.

WBLK is down 12+ but Buffalo's urban legacy probably smokes the market 12-34 and 18-49.

WECK is up four tenths.

The mystery is 97 Rock and WHTT. Wouldn't be a surprise if 97 Rock especially had a good book. Did 97 Rock beat WGR in Persons 25-54 Men?

It would be interesting to see what Persons 25-54 looks like and discover what effect, if any, The Breeze may have had on WHTT. My guess is The Breeze may have had some impact on WHTT and to a lesser effect, WECK, but made its gains at the expense of WTSS.

WECK did not make gains at the expense of STAR. IT is not at the expense of anyone - its an exclusive format. By the way, I know the Cumulus numbers. 97 rock did great, HTT had a 6 share, Edge was down again, and the AM's did nothing

 

[TheBigA]

Country is seeing a downturn across the country, with the exception of Rochester I guess.

WBBS is still #1 in Syracuse. Country saw a downturn during the holiday book but was back up in January. It's cyclical, and happens every year. It happened last year at YRK. WBEN had a big jump in the winter because of the weather, but WYRK will be back at #2 in the spring.

 

[TheBigA]

WBLK is down 12+ but Buffalo's urban legacy probably smokes the market 12-34 and 18-49.

I think you will see BLK at #1 for a while. The minority population in Buffalo is rising. I expect minorities to be the majority in the 2020 census. That's for the city of Buffalo.

 

[SirRoxalot]

I don't think it's "the minority population", it's the music. Have you noticed that a lot of listeners under 40 are listen to urban music? The City of Buffalo population is less than a third of the MSA, let alone TSA. It ain't about minorities. It's about the reach of the music that they play and the fact that the only "competition" - Kiss - skews older than most CHRs.

 

[TheBigA]

It ain't about minorities. It's about the reach of the music that they play and the fact that the only "competition" - Kiss - skews older than most CHRs.

I agree with that too.

 

[davideduardo]

WBBS is still #1 in Syracuse. Country saw a downturn during the holiday book but was back up in January. It's cyclical, and happens every year. It happened last year at YRK. WBEN had a big jump in the winter because of the weather, but WYRK will be back at #2 in the spring.

Country station, particularly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, seem to be vulnerable in the Winter book to AC stations that go All-Christmas for the season. As you say, they snap back but in the diary markets they get off to a weak start to the Winter book.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Country station, particularly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, seem to be vulnerable in the Winter book to AC stations that go All-Christmas for the season. As you say, they snap back but in the diary markets they get off to a weak start to the Winter book.

FYI, in the month of March 2019, YRK has started the spring book with a 7.3 12 plus. Its not trending up

 

[Element9]

WBLK although a legacy Urban station, doesn't solely rely on minorities for its share. As noted by Sir Roxalot, the station is very popular with "white folks in the 'burbs" in large measure due to what it plays and what's popular. Memo to our Buddy: "My guess is the Breeze may have had some impact on WHTT and to a lesser effect WECK, but made its gains at the expense of WTSS." It was a compound sentence, the reference being the Breeze as compared to WTSS.

 

[davideduardo]

FYI, in the month of March 2019, YRK has started the spring book with a 7.3 12 plus. Its not trending up

March is not part of the Spring book. And in the diary, every release is a 3-month tabulation, whether it is a trend or a book.

 

[TheBigA]

WBLK although a legacy Urban station, doesn't solely rely on minorities for its share

However, as I said, the minority population will likely become the majority in the next census.