Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > October > 22
Monday, October 22, 2007
10/22: Viva Laughlin canned, Amazing Race back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CBS’s ill-fated and ill-conceived “Viva Laughlin” pretty much guarantees actors breaking out in song are not going to be making a comeback on broadcast TV anytime soon.
The so-called drama, which featured the likes of Melanie Griffith and Hugh Jackman humiliate themselves, was cancelled after two airings, including just one last night in its regular time slot of 8 p.m. The overall viewership numbers were bad enough at about 6.8 million but the 18-to-49 year old demo figures were so miniscule, CBS must have had to haul out a microscope to read them.
With “Viva” gone, “CSI” repeats will air it its place until November 4, when Emmy-winning reality show “The Amazing Race” makes an early return visit. The 12th edition of the show was originally supposed to air early next year but it’s good to have it back sooner. It’s definitely one of my top 5 reality shows.
10/22: The Bull can’t kick Kicks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Bull can’t quite get a full head of steam in the country music ratings game.
Kicks remains the dominant leader in the country music scene, according to the summer Arbitron ratings book, covering the time period June 28 to Sept 19. The impact of the Bull’s arrival last December has been modest on Kicks so far after the station suffered a brief dropoff in the winter. Kicks is ranked 8th among 25 to 54 year olds and 4th overall.
In comparison, the Bull is ranked 17th among 25 to 54 year olds and 18th overall, which hasn’t changed much since its launch. Its overall audience in a given week is 362,400 vs. 477,600 for Kicks. And it had one of worst rankings for “time spent listening” among all stations, ranking 28th with the typical listener checking in for 4 hours and 15 minutes a week. The Braves helped the station’s night and weekend numbers a bit but it won’t have that benefit this fall and winter.
The station does skew younger than its predecessor, soft rock Lite 94.9. For most advertisers, that’s perceived to be a good thing.
Eagle beat the Bull in overall listeners, ranking 16th, but brought in a much older audience, which isn’t a surprise given its older music mix.
Here are some other notable results:
V-103 remains top dog As usual, V-103 is truly the people’s station, a solid No. 1 in virtually all key demographics. Porsche Foxx’s first appearance in several years didn’t immediately bump up the ratings, but the station is still a solid No. 1 during the middays among 18 to 34 year olds and 25 to 54 year olds.
Long-time leader slips For years, WSB-AM has been a regular No. 2 behind V-103 among 25 to 54 year olds and would often beat the R&B/hip-hop station among all listeners. But for the second quarter in a row, the news/talk station slipped to third (behind Kiss) among 25 to 54 year olds. The station has also lost steam among 18 to 34 year olds, ranking 18th vs. 5th a year ago. And it had one of its weakest overall ratings (a 7.8 share) in recent years.
Bert Show rocks Q100’s Bert Show has been the biggest start-from-scratch morning show success story this decade in Atlanta. And what’s amazing is it keeps improving in viewership numbers. The show has been a regular top 5 presence among 18 to 34 year olds for a couple of years (No. 2 this past summer) but its appeal has expanded over time. It now has landed top 5 among 25 to 54 year olds for the third time in four quarters, hitting fourth place for the first time. It doubles the numbers of the rest of the station (though the station is #2 middays among women 18 to 34 and #3 from 3 to 7 p.m.)
Fish floundering Christian pop station the Fish has been struggling the past year. Among 25 to 54 year olds, its ratings have dropped four quarters in a row to its worst performance in several years. It now ranks just 17th overall and 12th among 25 to 54 year olds. Mid-days are the biggest problem right now, where the station ranks 22nd compared to 8th a year ago.
Rock competition remains the same There was no real change in the battle for rock listeners. Classic hits 97.1/The River is still the winner among 25 to 54 year olds while active rock Project 9-6-1 has kept its dominant role for younger listeners. 99X and Dave FM battle over the scraps. 99X’s strongest daypart is Axel’s afternoon show while Dave FM’s weekend numbers are far stronger than its weekday figures.
Randy & Spiff’s final figures Before Spiff Carner was fired earlier this month, news/talk station WGST-AM’s summer numbers were very weak, hamstrung as always by a horrible signal before the sun rises. (But that impact is a lot worse in the winter.). The station ranked only 27th in the mornings compared to 22nd a year ago with Tom Hughes.
I’ll update this later when I get some gender breakdowns, which weren’t available when I got these numbers Friday.
The overall ratings can be found here.
Among 25 to 54 year olds, the top 10 are: V-103, Kiss, WSB-AM, the River, B98.5, Grown Folks, Praise, Kicks, Star, Project. (Cox Radio has four of the top five stations.)
Among 18 to 34 year olds, the top 10 are: V-103, Hot 107.9, El Patron, 95.5/The Beat, Project, Q100, Viva, Grown Folks, 99X, WAOS-AM (this is a quirk because the AM Hispanic station didn’t even chart the previous three quarters)
Among morning shows, 25-54: V-103’s Frank & Wanda, WSB-AM’s Scott Slade, Kiss’s Tom Joyner, Q100’s the Bert Show, Grown Folks’ Steve Harvey, Star 94’s Steve & Vikki, Praise’s Yolanda Adams, The River’s Lexie Kaye, B98.5’s Kelly & Alpha, Kicks’ Cadillac and Kristen
Among morning shows, 18-45: V-103’s Frank & Wanda, Q100’s The Bert Show, Hot 107.9’s The “A” Team, El Patron’s Rosy & El Tigre, Grown Folks’ Steve Harvey, Viva’s Panda & Brenda, Kiss’ Tom Joyner, 95.5/The Beat’s Murph Dawg & CJ, Project’s music morning show (this was before Giant Brian came along), Star 94’s Steve & Vikki
Note: Arbitron polled 3,761 metro Atlantans using paper diaries, each covering one week. The company struggles to get enough 18 to 34 year olds to participate and as a result, those numbers tend to be more volatile. And like all polling companies, Arbitron is hamstrung by the fact it can’t reach people who only own cel phones.
