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WSB the Most Listened to News/Talker in U.S.?

R

RoddyFreeman

Yesterday, I heard Erick Erickson say WSB is the most-listened-to News/Talk station in the U.S. Of course, we know that WSB is #1 in average audience among Persons 6+ in the Atlanta market. But sometimes the top station in Atlanta could have less listeners than say the #10 station in New York or L.A.

When someone refers to "the most-listened-to" station, that means cume to me, e.g. number of different listeners in a week. Of course, it also could mean total hours of listening.

I checked out Mr. Erickson's claim by looking up the cumes of WSB, WABC/New York, KFI/Los Angeles and WGN/Chicago (in November). Keep in mind News/Talk as a format in general has been getting older and has been eroding to an extent. But you would never know that from WSB's #1 ratings.

As to the WSB claim, it's very close to being the #1 News/Talker in the U.S. Actually, WABC in New York, which ranks #13 in average audience, has a weekly cume of 932,300 compared to 915,900 for WSB. And WSB beat KFI (762,400) and WGN (760,500).

Not quite the most listened to in the nation but very close. Impressive, WSB.
 
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Could WSB average their cume over several books and claim #1?

How does TSL compare?
 
jabba17 said:
Could WSB average their cume over several books and claim #1?

How does TSL compare?
Click to expand...

The answer to your first question is no. I guess by TSL you mean average audience, which is a combination of cume and TSL. I don't have those numbers, but WSB's share is 8.1% and WABC's is 3.4%. But New York has a much higher population so I'm not sure.
 
I have enjoyed listening to WSB online as this storm hit. A great example of radio can do. As for "most listened" claims, program directors will pull key demographic segments and compare them. You are looking at persons 6+, an interesting number but with little meaning in terms of sales. If you had access to full Nielsen Audio data, you might find that WSB has a larger cume audience among adults 25-54 than WABC or KFI.
 
Who cares if WSB is or is not the most listened to News Talk station. Only thing that counts is WE SHOULD BE PROUD
TO HAVE WSB doing what they do. A SUPERB job of coverage during the ice storm. I don't think any other station anywhere could have done it better. Hats off to Chris Camp and his very qualified staff. You should get an award for the service you provided Atlanta last week.
 
It will be interesting when the "post Rush" WABC ratings come in. I know sometimes stations "see" the ratings before they are released. Maybe Eric has info we don't.
 
Cave Man 77 said:
Who cares if WSB is or is not the most listened to News Talk station. Only thing that counts is WE SHOULD BE PROUD
TO HAVE WSB doing what they do. A SUPERB job of coverage during the ice storm. I don't think any other station anywhere could have done it better. Hats off to Chris Camp and his very qualified staff. You should get an award for the service you provided Atlanta last week.
Click to expand...

If you don't kick ass during a weather emergency, will you ever? An industry acquaintance whose seen the ratings says WSB was listened to by nearly 600,000 people on the day of the ice storm compared to WYAY's 178,000 people, the following day WED was even more dominant 273,000 people to 33,000 people. Gotta wonder if a music format that is far less expensive to operate would perform better than that year round. Might be time to throw in the towel.
art
 
Check out the latest ratings. WSB is second only to WVEE, which is almost always the case. HOWEVER,
All News is way down on the list, around #19, with only a 1.5. Artiemad1 may be correct. The all
news format is not working in the Atlanta market. How much longer can the Dickeys continue their push
to unseat WSB as the absolute number one news operation not only in Atlanta, but probably in the entire
southeast....
 
I'm sorry. While I'm glad that WSB is doing well in Atlanta, I don't see what difference it makes in how well a station in one market does compared to a different station in a different market. When a talk station in one market beats another talk station in the same market, that's impressive. When a station in one market, regardless of format, beats other stations in other markets, so what?
 
Avid Listener said:
I'm sorry. While I'm glad that WSB is doing well in Atlanta, I don't see what difference it makes in how well a station in one market does compared to a different station in a different market. When a talk station in one market beats another talk station in the same market, that's impressive. When a station in one market, regardless of format, beats other stations in other markets, so what?
Click to expand...

It gives WSB bragging rights and a selling point to listeners. Nothing wrong with that.
 
I gave up on AN106.7 when they started adding the most annoying talkers, which is ironic, because WSB has more right wing mouth pieces- but they do news and they do it well, and have for decades. They are a force to be reckoned with and their coverage during the storm(s) were outstanding, as was their TV. You have to give it to their weather team (which I am sure the TV side does most of the work here). They called BOTH of these storms to the letter. Even the governor and our "sleeping on the job" state EMA director admitted this. So, I guess WSB has the body to cash those checks their mouth writes.
 
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