Radio briefs: January ratings, Justin Bieber, L.A. Reid & V-103

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, February 17, 2016

January tends to be a strange month for radio ratings as people settle back into their normal routines.

Fish 104.7 goes back to Christian hits after the all-Christmas format. The news/talk stations, which usually lose audience over the holidays, typically bounce back. Sports stations ride the tide of football. And last month, a few minor changes happened on the dial. 99X returned, Old School 87.7 arrived and Boom added 97.5, which had previously been a simulcast of Majic.

Here are a few quick takes from the month, which covers the first four weeks of January (December 31-January 27) for Nielsen Audio:

• WSB packs a punch. News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB had its best month ever since Nielsen Audio installed people meters in 2009 with a 9 share. The presidential race has made a positive impact on the station. It was No. 1, ahead of V-103 and Kiss 104.1.
• Powerful month. Top 40 station Power 96.1, which debuted in August, 2012, has been having a great build over the past 18 months and just finished with its best month ever. It brought in a 5.7 share, ranked No. 4. It also came in third 18 to 34 and the morning show of Scotty Kay and Riley Couture had its strongest showing ever in that demo with an 8.5 share, ranked second. That was only behind Q100's Bert Show and ahead of Ryan Cameron and Wanda Smith on V-103.
• Hot times in the city. Hot 107.9 landed the top spot among 18 to 34 year olds for the first time in nearly two years with an 8.5 share, besting V-103.
• Sports battle. 92.9/The Game, even with the Falcons' out of the playoffs, held on with a strong January, drawing a 3.4 share, down from its station peak of 3.6 in December. I can't reveal 680/The Fan's numbers because the station does not pay for the ratings service, but the Fan did beat the Game mid-days among 25-to-54 year olds (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and was neck-in-neck with the Game in the afternoons (3 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
• Boom, clap. Classic hip-hop Boom at 102.9 added the stronger 97.5 signal partway through January and immediately nabbed a 0.9 share on that new signal, plus another 0.6 on the 102.9 signal for a combined 1.5 share. The station's double punch immediately ran past jockless Cumulus classic hip-hop station OG 97.1 with a 1.2 share.
• Welcome back, 99X. The previous format on 98.9, country Nash ICON, barely registered a whisper in the ratings during its brief 16 months on the air. The revamped 99X, which focuses on new alternative rock music, immediately drew ratings among younger listeners, bringing in a 0.9 share (including a 1.4 share mid-days.)
• Fishy? The month after Christian pop station Fish 104.7 returned back to its normal programming from Christmas, its ratings took an unusually sharp nosedive, falling from 5 share and eighth place to a 3.1 share and 16th place.
• No Magic here. Majic 107.5, after losing its 97.5 signal to Boom, clearly sacrificed a few listeners, falling from a 5.4 share in December to a 4.1 share in January.
• Rock comeback? The year-old Jason Bailey and Southside Steve show on Rock 100.5 struggled to maintain the Regular Guys crowd last year. But in the most recent book, the show had its best numbers since March of last year among 25 to 54 year olds and its best among 18 to 34 year olds since May.
• R&B oldies at 87.7. The new Old School 87.7 brought in a 0.4 share about the same as what the prior format drew a month earlier at 0.3.

The top 25 stations last month

1- WSb

2-V-103

3-Kiss 104.1

4- Power 96.1

5- B98.5

6- Hot 107.9

7- Q100

8- (tie) Majic 107.5/Praise 102.5

10- 97.1/The River

11- 94.9/The Bull

12- Kicks 101.5

13- 92.9/The Game

14- Star 94

15- 90.1/ WABE-FM

16- Fish 104.7

17- Radio 105.7

18- Rock 100.5

19- El Patron 105.3

20- Some sports talk station I can't reveal because they don't subscribe to Nielsen Audio

21- Streetz 94.5

22 (tie) - NewsRadio 106.7/ Boom 97.5/102.9

24- 91.9/WCLK-FM jazz

25- OG 97.9

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Justin Bieber - who we could charitably dub a part-time Atlantan - a couple of years ago looked like a petulant child star reeling in a world of juvenile, questionable behavior.

After some introspection and image reconstruction (including a Comedy Central roast that was meant to exorcise those demons), Bieber has released a new album that has created some big hits. He shows up regularly joshing with James Corden in caraoke and performed on the Grammys this past Monday.

On Atlanta radio, he has two simultaneous songs getting massive airplay.

"Sorry" was the most played song over the past week on Atlanta radio. (In four months, the song has been seen on YouTube 858 million times.). Locally, it was heard 364 times on five stations: B98.5 (33 spins), Star 94 (100 spins), V-103 (four times), Power (128 times) and Q100 (99 spins).

Bieber just beats out Twenty One Pilots' "Stressed Out." His other single "Love Yourself" is at No. 3 in Atlanta with 296 spins, though it's restricted to three stations: Q100, Power and Star.

Power and Q100 are both giving two Bieber singles at one time maximum spins. It's unusual for any station to give the same artist two slots on high rotation. (Most stations only have five or six maximum rotation slots to offer any given week.)

Here are the top 10 most spun songs in Atlanta, based on Mediabase 24/7 tracking

1. Justin Bieber "Sorry"
2. Twenty One Pilots "Stressed Out"
3. Justin Bieber "Love Yourself"
4. Adele "Hello"
5. Shawn Mendes "Stitches"
6. Rihanna "Work"
7. Ellie Goulding "On My Mind"
8. The Weeknd "In the Night"
9. Chris Brown "Back to Sleep"
10. Yo Gotti "Down in the DM'

Current song spun on the most stations remains Drake's "Hotline Bling," heard at least once on Kiss, Majic, Hot, Star, V-103, Power and Q100. That's seven stations, one more than Adele's "Hello."

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V-103 is hosting a talk next week with former Atlantan L.A. Reid on Feb. 24. You can attend the event by winning tickets or coming to a couple of MetroPCS locations Saturday.