Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2008 > October > 19
Sunday, October 19, 2008
10/19: Summer ratings - True Oldies, Jazz, Praise, Kiss, River, Steve & Vikki up; Rock 100.5, country, Q100, Viva down
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The summer radio ratings book had more strange fluctuations than usual. But then again, the summer book isn’t as important as spring or fall. Plus, this is the final quarterly book using paper diaries, a technology dating back decades. So I doubt radio station execs will sweat these numbers too much, especially those who had relatively poor results.
Right now, Atlanta is being measured by a new “people meter” technology, the first results coming November 5. About 1,350 metro Atlantans are being used at any one time vs. 400 weekly diaries. And the panel won’t change much over time so in the future, ratings won’t fluctuate as much, a good thing for everybody involved. Results will also come out more quickly in monthly doses instead of quarterly. Radio stations will know if new shows or format shifts are working much quicker. And that’s a good thing, assuming radio station management doesn’t over-react or micromanage with more information flooding in.
Good news:
- Steve & Vikki had a great debut, opening in fourth place among 25 to 54 year olds. A year ago, Steve & Vikki on Star 94 ranked 6th in that demo.
-True Oldies 106.7 had an enormous summer book. I don’t think its predecessor Eagle had such a great book for years. I don’t think Cool 105.7 had such numbers during its life and Fox 97.1 didn’t do nearly as well in its final years either. Fluke? Who knows. The growth mostly came in time spent listening, the more volatile measure. The station ranked 12th overall vs. 20th in the spring.
-Mayhem in the A.M. The Mike Bell-less morning show had one of its best ratings books ever, ranked 4th among men 25-54, beating 680’s The Rude Awakening.
-Two stations that have had relatively week ratings books in the past 18 months, Smooth Jazz and Fish did better than they have in ages. Kiss 104.1 also bounced back while Grown Folks 102.5 retreated. (Tom Joyner beat Steve Harvey among 25 to 54 year olds after losing for the first time ever in the spring.) Praise also found its footing with its best ratings in at least a couple of years.
Not-so-good-news:
-The Bert Show took a hit, falling from 5th to 8th among 25 to 54 year olds, with “time spent listening” falling sharply among 18 to 34 year olds, though the show remained at No. 2 there.
-The Regular Guys also lost momentum after a promising opening. Ratings among 18 to 34 year olds dropped in half, from 2nd to 9th. Among 25 to 54 year olds, the station fell from 6th to 11th.
-Giant Brian slipped back among older listeners, going from 9th to 17th among 25 to 54 year olds but held up just fine in its target 18 to 34 year olds, ranking 10th, just behind the Regular Guys.
-Country had a tough summer as both major metro country stations sang the blues. Kicks 101.5 slipped out of the top 10 for the first time in recent memory while 94.9/The Bull had the lowest ratings of any of the local 100,000 watt FM stations, ranking just 19th with a very low amount of time spent listening.
-VIva 105.7 had its worst performance ever overall. Once a top 5 station among 18 to 34 year olds when it first aired a few years, it has slipped off big time, especially since sister station El Patron began a couple years back. It’s ranked 10th, a slight improvement over the past two quarters among 18 to 34 year olds but dropped from 15th to 21st among to 25 to 54 year olds.
Here are the top 5 stations in terms of total listeners (dubbed “cume” in the industry):
1- V-103: 847,100 (vs. 824K a year ago)
2-WSB-AM: 732,500 (vs. 752,700 a year ago)
3- 95.5/The Beat 602,800 (vs. 552,900 a yr ago)
4- 97.1/The River 567,300 (vs. 551,200 a yr ago)
5- Kiss 104.1: 559,100 (vs. 454,800 a yr ago)
Here are the top 5 stations in terms of “time spent listening,” which tends to be more volatile in measurement terms than cume. It also tends to favor formats that are relatively ‘exclusive’ (like Hispanic stations or oldies) though V-103 proves the power of arguably the most powerful brand in town.
1- La Raza 102.3: 11 hours 30 minutes (though only 31,800 cumulative listeners)
2- True Oldies 106.7: 8 hours 30 minutes (up from 5 hours 45 minutes in the spring)
2 (tie) - V-103: 8 hours 30 minutes (vs. 7:45 in spring and 8:15 a year ago)
4- El Patron: 8 hours, 15 minutes (though the station has lost half its listeners in a year and 20 percent of listening among those who stuck around)
5- 96.7/The Legend: 8 hours (this is the only country station in the metro area to show signs of life though its signal is very limited)
The top 10 morning shows among 25 to 54 year olds: rank, show, station, format (spring rank)
1- Frank & Wanda, V-103, R&B/hip-hop (1)
2- Tom Joyner, Kiss 104.1, R&B (4)
3- Scott Slade, WSB-AM, news/talk (2)
4- Steve & Vikki, B98.5, soft rock (7, as Kelly & Alpha)
5- Steve Harvey, Grown Folks 102.5, R&B/talk (3)
6- Yolanda Adams, Praise 97.5, gospel (9)
7- The River (no regular morning show host in summer, now Kaedy Kiely), rock (11)
8 (tie) - Kelly & Taylor, 104.7/The Fish, Christian pop (12)
8 (tie) - The Bert Show, Q100, top 40 (5)
10 - Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks 101.5, country (8)
Among 18 to 34 year olds
1- Frank & Wanda, V-103, R&B/hip-hop (1)
2- The Bert Show, Q100, Top 40 (2)
3- The “A” Team (now gone, replaced by Rickey Smiley), Hot 107.9, hip-hop (4)
4- Yolanda Adams, Praise 97.5, gospel (12)
5- Steve Harvey, Grown Folks 102.5, R&B/talk (6)
6 (tie) - Steve & Vikki, B98.5, soft rock (9-tie when it was Kelly & Alpha)
6 (tie) - C.J. & Murph Dawg, 95.5/The Beat, R&B/hip-hop (5)
8 - Patrones de la Manana, 105.3/El Patron, Spanish pop (9-tie)
9- Regular Guys, Rock 100.5, rock (2)
10- Giant Brian & Shaffee, Project 9-6-1, rock (11)
SOURCE: Arbitron, covering summer, June 26 to Sept. 17, 2008
