The trends from August mostly didn’t change in September.
V-103 has continued its extraordinary run, buildling upon an already hefty lead over fellow urban stations. The R&B/hip-hop mainstay hit its best numbers this year again. Its ratings have improved five months in a row, a rare and unusual run for any station, much less the No. 1 station.
V-103's morning show Frank Ski and Wanda Smith actually pulled in more than 20 percent of the 18 to 34 year old audience, an astounding number in such a competitive market. Majic has been slipping for the past five months while Kiss has seen some modest erosion. Hot 107.9, too, saw its worst numbers since January. 95.5/The Beat rebounded from a year low in August but not back to its earlier-year levels.
Country music (see: Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker) has been on a hot run in Atlanta, with both major country stations building audience all summer into September.
Kicks’ 25-54 ratings are up 60 percent from its year-low in February. The station ranks top 5 or top 6 in major demographics.
94.9/The Bull was written off a year ago as a laggard behind Kicks. But it has shown impressive improvement this year under new management (take a bow, Scott Lindy) and has become a top 10 station (No. 6 18-34, No. 8, 25-54, no. 9 overall). The morning show, with Jason Pullman and Kristen Gates, actually beat Cadillac Jack and Dallas McCadeat Kicks, among 18 to 34 year olds for the first time.
Christian pop station the Fish, after a slow period earlier this year, found momentum over the summer. Its 25-54 numbers were its best of 2009.
Sports station 680/The Fan also took home its best numbers ever in September, continuing a strong string of months, just in time for college football. Its morning show with Christopher Rude beat up on Mayhem over at the Zone and mid-days with Chuck Oliver and Matt Chernoff keep on building. The Zone's saving grace is evenings, where its combo of the 2 Live Stews and Mike Bell and David Pollack beat Buck & Kincade among 25-54 males.
Atlanta is proving to be a tough town for five rock stations. Since 99X came back, the other four stations have suffered dropoffs to varying degrees. Rock 100.5 is in last place in many dayparts. And the station’s saving grace, The Regular Guys, had by far its worst month in PPM history, tumbling to 11th among 18 to 34 year olds and 12th among 25 to 54 year olds.
At Project 9-6-1, Giant Brian Carothers' final full month at Project 9-6-1 was nothing to write home about. His final two months showed the morning show's weakest numbers of the year. Jimmy Baron's first full month at Dave FM showed improvement among 25-to-54 year olds but it's too early to make any real assessment.
The new PPM system is supposed to be more stable since the meter holders don't change much month to month vs. the diary system. But especially among younger listeners, the anomalies do pop up. For instance, True Oldies finished No. 16 among 18 to 34 year olds and No. 10 among morning shows. What??? Randy Cook rejoins Spiff Carner on Monday.
Top 20 radio stations, overall, ages 6 and up
1. V-103
2. WSB-AM
3. Kiss 104.1
4. B98.5
5. Kicks
6. Majic
7. Praise
8. WABE-FM
9. The Bull
10. Fish
11. True Oldies
12. Q100
13. The River
14. Hot 107.9
15. 95.5/The Beat
16. Star 94
17. Project 9-6-1
18. El Patron
19. Dave FM
20. The Fan
Top 20 25-54
1. V-103
2. Kiss
3. WSB-AM
4. Kicks 101.5, Majic 107.5/97.1 (tie)
6. B98.5
7. Q100
8. The Bull
9. Fish
10. Praise
11. The River
12. Hot, El Patron (tie)
14. Star, Dave (tie)
16. Project 9-6-1
17. WABE-FM
18. True Oldies
19. The Beat
20. The Fan
Top 10 morning shots 25-54
1. Frank & Wanda, V-103
2. Scott Slade, WSB-AM
3. Tom Joyner, Kiss
4. The Bert Show, Q100
5. Steve Harvey, Majic
6. Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks
7. Steve & Vikki, B98.5
8. Jason Pullman and Kristen Gates, The Bull; Morning Edition, WABE-FM (tie)
10. Patrones de la Manana, El Patron
Top 20 18-34
1. V-103
2. Q100
3. Hot 107.9
4. El Patron
5. The Beat
6. Star
7. Kicks
8. Bull
9. B98.5
10. Project 9-6-1
11. Majic
12. Fish, Praise (tie)
14. Viva
15. Kiss
16. True Oldies (!)
17. WSB-AM, 99X, the River
20. Dave FM
Top 10 morning shows 18-34
1. Frank & Wanda, V-103
2. Bert Show, Q100
3. Patrones de la Manana, El Patron
4. Ricky Smiley, Hot 107.9
5. Jason & Kristen, 94.9/The Bull
6. Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks 101.5
7. Murph Dawg & CJ, 95.5/The Beat
8. Cindy & Ray, Star 94, (tie) Scott Slade, WSB-AM
10. Spiff and Freddie, True Oldies
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