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WPHT's Awful Ratings

G

Gregg

In the current ratings (Holiday '09), 1210 WPHT has dropped to #19! Is there another talk station in the nation that

--has Rush, Hannity and Beck
--has a popular local morning host (Michael Smerconish)
--is 50,000 watts non-directional clear channel
--is owned by CBS
--has such awful ratings?

OK, the holiday book is unusual in that many talk listeners may have been tuning into the Christmas music on WBEB. Some of B101's amazing holiday numbers must have come from WPHT.

But Christmas music didn't hurt CBS's other two AM stations in Philly. KYW Newsradio 1060 was #2 in the Holiday book, with three times more listeners than The Big Talker 1210. And WIP was #10 in the Holiday '09 book with double the listeners as its new FM competition WPEN 97.5.

Maybe Philly is too liberal a city to run Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity back to back to back? When 96.5 WWDB was all live and local talk radio, it got great ratings (usually around #6) with a mix of liberal, moderate and conservative talk hosts. A few miles to the north of Philly, WKXW-FM dominates New Jersey radio with all local hosts who are relatively moderate and who all have a good sense of humor. Maybe the day of the very far right talk host in Philadelphia has come and gone?

Clearly Philadelphia radio listeners much prefer an AM station simply reporting the news (KYW) than one that most of the day only broadcasts a far right point of view (WPHT). I also wonder why the CBS talk station in Market #8 doesn't run CBS News at the top of the hour, they run Fox? (Yes, I know KYW uses CBS audio but they don't carry the newscasts.)



Gregg
[email protected]
 
Gregg said:
In the current ratings (Holiday '09), 1210 WPHT has dropped to #19! Is there another talk station in the nation that

--has Rush, Hannity and Beck
--has a popular local morning host (Michael Smerconish)
--is 50,000 watts non-directional clear channel
--is owned by CBS
--has such awful ratings?
Click to expand...

I don't know if there IS one, but I think I can safely predict where there WILL BE one (OK, the station is 50 kW-U, but is not ND, and though it is on a clear channel, it is a Class B AM, not a Class A). The station is Clear Channel's WKOX 1200 Newton (Boston) MA, which, when it flips to talk next month, will take the WXKS (AM) call sign (from CCU's other Boston-area AM). Whether WXKS will carry Limbaugh is also not known at the moment. Supposedly, CCU wants to take the program away from Entercom's WRKO (AM), which reportedly has the show under contract until next year. WRKO has much the better signal, but even with Limbaugh's great popularity nationwide and Scott Brown's recent victory in the special Senate election, I do not believe that Limbaugh is in the top five (25 to 44) in his daypart in this market.

But in your post, you probably should have put in another qualifier: isn't WPHT Philadelphia's only talk station on AM or FM? WXKS (AM) will be Boston's third full-time talker (after WRKO and WTKK-FM)--the fourth if you add WWZN (AM) 1540, which is also 50 kW-U and does Progressive talk 21 hours a day. WWZN does not encode for PPM, however, so it is unrated. but would probably have a bare-minimum share if it did encode.
 
Gregg said:
In the current ratings (Holiday '09), 1210 WPHT has dropped to #19! Is there another talk station in the nation that

--has Rush, Hannity and Beck
--has a popular local morning host (Michael Smerconish)
--is 50,000 watts non-directional clear channel
--is owned by CBS
--has such awful ratings?
Click to expand...

There's "Newsradio 840 KXNT" in Las Vegas, they have Rush & Hannity, they're owned by CBS, have a 50,000 watt signal (Class B), and their morning host is Alan Stock. KXNT used to be on top of the ratings but they fell down to a #15.
 
To be honest, I will never understand how ANYONE can listen every day to show after show where the opinions are the same and are ALL predictable. With exception to Smerconish, the station is an echo chamber, fit for people incapable of critical thought.

I wish more stations like this would tank. Maybe we'll get more interesting and unpredictable talk. God knows the format could use an influx of normal people as listeners..
 
Because a bunch of intellectually shallow types need to hear similarly inellectually shallow, bombastic personalities telling them over and over again why the 'other side' is to blame for everything? Not to mention the reassurance of knowing that Joe from Tulsa totally agrees with them. ;)
 
"Holiday" book. You'll find that virtually all of the popular hosts who drive the numbers on WPHT were not doing shows for much of that period of time. Guest hosts and reruns filled the schedule, hence the decline in ratings. The "Holiday" period is the most unimportant ratings period of the year.
 
I stand corrected on WPHT's top-of-the-hour news. A few years ago WPHT ran Fox and WNTP ran Salem news but I guess 990 is now Fox and 1210 is now CBS.

And as noted above, WPHT's only talk competition is the Salem talk station, which airs second-rung conservative hosts. Most big cities have a talk competition... WABC & WOR NYC, KFI & KABC LA, WGN & WLS Chicago, WRKO and WTKK Boston. But other than that Salem station, WPHT has no serious compeition in Philadelphia, and still has low ratings.

While 6+ numbers are not what WPHT may sell to advertisers, the fact that co-owned KYW has three times the listeners WPHT has, and co-owned WIP has 1 1/2 times the listeners, is still a fair comparison. If you're #19 in a given market and you're on AM, I can assure you, you're not in the top 5 25-54 and probably not in the top 10 in that demo, the one most talk stations care about.



Gregg
[email protected]
 
And even though it was a Holiday book and hosts were taking vacation time, WABC was #6 in NYC, KFI #4 in LA, WGN #3 and WLS #5 in Chicago, KGO #3 in SF, etc.
 
The Holiday period is no period to use for comparisons. Yes, KYW will continue to do well, as people will continue to listen "2, 3, 4 times a day" then will switch to a music station even if they would normally switch to 1210. WIP would not be hurt as much since people are still into football, even with the tanking Eagles.

With the daily repeated conversations on "Obamacare" there was little reason to tune to WPHT In December. People return to normal around the end of January, so February is the month to watch.
 
Gregg said:
I stand corrected on WPHT's top-of-the-hour news.  A few years ago WPHT ran Fox and WNTP ran Salem news but I guess 990 is now Fox and 1210 is now CBS.
Click to expand...

1210 has alway run CBS news. They are a CBS O&O. They have alway run CBS news exclusively through their entire 53 year history owned & operated by CBS. WCAU/WOGL/WGMP/WPHT, (And since even before 1957 when they were purchased by CBS). They have never run and never will run FOX news.  

While 6+ numbers are not what WPHT may sell to advertisers, the fact that co-owned KYW has three times the listeners WPHT has, and co-owned WIP has 1 1/2 times the listeners, is still a fair comparison.   If you're #19 in a given market and you're on AM, I can assure you, you're not in the top 5 25-54 and probably not in the top 10 in that demo, the one most talk stations care about.
Click to expand...


Uh, no, that is not an accurate or a 'fair' comparison. (Except, perhaps maybe to a novice). It is all about specific and cumulative demographic targets. Lumping everything 6+ simply doesn't define the story.....This has been a recording.
 
jerry367 said:
To be honest, I will never understand how ANYONE can listen every day to show after show where the opinions are the same and are ALL predictable. With exception to Smerconish, the station is an echo chamber, fit for people incapable of critical thought.

I wish more stations like this would tank. Maybe we'll get more interesting and unpredictable talk. God knows the format could use an influx of normal people as listeners..
Click to expand...

Your opinion, to which you are entitled, still, in America.

Smerconish, an Obama supporter, obviously fits your political views more than the rest of the 'PHT lineup.

And just how do YOU define 'normal?' Someone who agrees with the Left? The format had such a network, Air America. Note the 'had.' Went belly up, made no money. No listeners. Guess not enough 'normal' people were interested.
 
And just how do YOU define 'normal?' Someone who agrees with the Left? The format had such a network, Air America. Note the 'had.' Went belly up, made no money. No listeners. Guess not enough 'normal' people were interested.
Click to expand...

... and whose only clearance in most markets was on small, forgotten signals. In Philadelphia, a 1 kW Class C AM that carried only two shows a day.

Before the syndication-consolidation era, most talk radio stations reflected the political makeup of their markets. Liberal towns had more liberal stations (with perhaps a token conservative to stir the pot). Conservative towns followed the opposite formula. An ideology out of alignment with the market may not be the only reason talk struggles in Philadelphia, but it is likely a factor. Certainly historical factors such as the outsized success of KYW and the self-imposed implosion of WWDB play a part.

Back to the topic: If any of you were building a talk station on a COMPETITIVE signal to compete with WPHT, what would you put on it?
 
Don said:
The format had such a network, Air America. Note the 'had.' Went belly up, made no money. No listeners. Guess not enough 'normal' people were interested.
Click to expand...

Air America's problems began and ended with gross mismanagement. Yes, their audience was small, in part because they had no clue about whom to hire as talent. But they were undercapitalized and spent money like drunken sailors. The network was also the victim of right-wing campaigns to choke off advertising. Still Air America was its own worst enemy. The fact that Dial Global (formerly Jones Radio) is making some money with Progressive talk (and unlike Air America, D-G is not driven by ideology--they just want to make money) proves that Progressive talk CAN succeed. There IS an audience--not a huge one but enough, apparently, to support the format.
 
[/quote]they were undercapitalized and spent money like drunken sailors.
[/quote]

In other words, the liberals who ran Air America attempted to solve their problems the way liberal politicans try to solve problems. Put incompetent people in charge of bad programs and then when problems develop, simply throw more money down the crapper.
 
smedge2006 said:
And just how do YOU define 'normal?' Someone who agrees with the Left? The format had such a network, Air America. Note the 'had.' Went belly up, made no money. No listeners. Guess not enough 'normal' people were interested.
Click to expand...

... and whose only clearance in most markets was on small, forgotten signals. In Philadelphia, a 1 kW Class C AM that carried only two shows a day.
Click to expand...

I must have missed something. What pery tell, Philadelphia station carried 2 Air America shows a day? And Scranton doesn't count.
 
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