June 18, 2010, by
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
In May Arbitron ratings, R&B/hip-hop V-103 was tops overall and among 25 to 54 year olds but fell to a rare second place behind Q100 with 18 to 34 year olds.
The “People’s Station’s” ratings were at its lowest since April of last year.
News/talk station WSB-AM used to compete with V-103 for the helm. Not anymore. It has seen its overall ratings slip 29 percent from April, 2009. It had an 8.4 rating then, a 6.0 rating this past May. That’s the lowest for the station since the new people meter system in early 2009, not counting this past Christmas.
The 18-34 numbers almost every month shows an anomaly or two, indicating some flaws in sampling. This month’s turn was 97.1/The River, which plays mostly 70s rock and targets 35-plus listeners, had a stronger rating among 18 to 34 year olds than 25 to 54 year olds for the second month in a row. In fact, it doubled its 18 to 34 numbers over December and ranked a whopping No. 5. It actually beat the Beat, which aggressively targets younger listeners.
Let’s look at stations by format:
R&B/hip hop: As noted, V-103 was on top. Praise ranked No. 2 for the first time, bringing broad appeal among younger and older listeners. Kiss, after some slippage late last year, has been slowly gaining back lost ground, ranking fifth overall. Hot 107.9 has been more or less flat, except in mornings, where Rickey Smiley has seen his ratings jump 40 percent since January among 18 to 34 year olds. Majic, Groove and the Beat held more or less steady from April.
News/talk: As noted, WSB-AM has been slipping steadily for the past year but is still ranked in a tie for fourth overall. WGST, with Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, has been losing steam throughout the year. WABE-FM's Morning Edition hit yet another high among 25 to 54 year olds. Those numbers have nearly tripled from a year ago.
Sports talk: I only get 25-54 and 18-34 numbers, not by gender. (Both stations target 25 to 54 year old men and do well in that demo.) But based on my limited data, the Fan is soundly beat the Zone, which had a weaker-than-normal month.
Pop/Top 40: Q100's dominance hasn't changed, especially in mornings. The Bert Show quadruples Cindy and Ray's numbers over at Star 94 among 25 to 54 year olds and nearly that much among 18 to 34 year olds. B98.5, with no direct competitor, held at No. 3. The only concern: Vikki Locke, minus Steve McCoy for a third month, has seen an 18 percent dropoff among 25 to 54 year olds since February. Fish 104.7, which is doing a heavy billboard campaign with Kevin & Taylor ("Good Clean Fun!"), had its best ratings since people meters began, not counting Christmas, ranking ninth overall and fourth among 25 to 54 year olds. True Oldies had its worst 18-34 numbers (ranking 24th) since PPMs began but that's not its target audience.
Country: Kicks, after a couple of weak months among 18 to 34 year olds, bounced back. The station remains is sixth overall, seventh among 25 to 54 year olds. The Bull had its best numbers since October, ranking 13th overall and a tie for 10th 25 to 54.
Rock: The River was the top overall rock station across the board. Project 9-6-1 had its best 18 to 34 numbers since February, 2009, ranking fourth. Rock 100.5. had its best 25-54 numbers since January, 2009. Nothing too exciting up or down for either Dave or 99X.
Spanish: El Patron has its worst numbers since last June.
Top 25 radio stations in May, covering April 29 to May 26
1. V-103
2. Praise 102.5
3. B98.5
4. WSB-AM
5. Kiss 104.1
6. Kicks 101.5
7. WABE-FM
8. Q100
9. Fish 104.1
10. 97.1/The River
11. True Oldies 106.7
12. Majic 107.5
13 (tie). Hot 107.9, 94.9/The Bull
15. 95.5/The Beat
16. Project 9-6-1
17. Star 94
18. 92.9/Dave FM
19. El Patron 105.3
20. Rock 100.5
21. Groove 105.7
22. 680/The Fan
23. 640/WGST-AM
24. (tie) J93.3, 790/The Zone
Top 20 stations 18-34
1. V-103
2. Q100 (tie), Hot 107.9
4. Project
5. The River
6. The Beat
7. Praise
8. Fish
9. El Patron
10. Kicks
11. Star
12. Groove
13. (tie) B98.5, Kiss, The Bull
16. Majic
17. Dave
18. Rock 100.5
19 (tie) WABE, WSB-AM
Top 10 morning shows 18-34
1. The Bert Show, Q100
2. Frank & Wanda, V-103
3. Rickey Smiley, Hot 107.9
4. Kevin & Taylor, Fish 104.7
5. CJ & Murph Dawg, the Beat
6. Kaedy Kiely, The River
7. Yolanda Adams, Praise
8. (tie) Regular Guys, Rock 100.5; Patrones de la Manana, El Patron
10. Shaffee & El Jefe, Project
Top 10 18-34 midday
1. Elle Duncan, V-103
2. Deborah Reece (noon to 3), The River
3. Aly, Project 9-6-1
4. Maria More (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)/Searcy (2-3 p.m.) Hot
5. Darlene McCoy, Praise
6. El Sinverguenza, El Patron
7. Sari Rose, Kicks
8. Heather Branch/ Ryan Seacrest, Star 94
9. K-Dubb, The Beat
10. Brittany, Q100
Top 20 radio stations 25-54
1. V-103
2. Kiss
3. B98.5
4. (tie) Q100, Fish, Praise
7. Kicks
8. WSB-AM
9. Majic
10 tie The River, Bull
12 tie Dave, Hot
14. WABE
15. El Patron
16. Project
17. Star
18. Rock
19. True Oldies
20. The Beat
Top 10 morning shows 25-54
1. Frank & Wanda, V-103
2. Bert Show, Q100
3. Scott Slade, WSB-AM
4. Tom Joyner, Kiss
5. Kevin & Taylor, Fish
6 (tie) Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks; Morning Edition, WABE
8. Yolanda Adams, Praise
9. Vikki Locke, B98.5
10. The Regular Guys, Rock 100.5
Top 10 mid-day 25-54 (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – note, the mid-day music stations in the top 10 are virtually all female)
1. Elle Duncan, V-103
2. Jordan Graye, B98.5
3. Cynthia Young, Kiss
4. Sari Rose, Kicks
5. Darlene McCoy, Praise
6. Parks Stamper, Fish
7. Neal Boortz/Clark Howard, WSB-AM
8. Carol Blackmon, Majic
9. Mara Davis (2 to 3 is Sully), Dave FM
10 (Tie) Brittany, Q100; Deborah Reece (noon to 3), The River
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