Two months since FM addition, WSB Radio ties V-103 in monthly ratings

By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, filed Nov. 4, 2010

The power of FM helped News/Talk WSB return to the top, tying R&B/hip station V-103 on the Arbitron monthly ratings ending Oct. 13.

Here's a format-by-format breakdown

TOP 40/pop

Q100 is tops, ranking third among 18 to 34 year olds and fifth among 25 to 54 year olds. The Bert Show, for the fourth time in six months and third month in a row, was No. 1 among 18 to 34 year olds. Star 94 remains far behind ranked 14th overall and among 25 to 54 year olds. The best news: Cindy & Ray ranked seventh among 18 to 34 year olds, its best ranking since December, 2009.

B98.5 is steady, ranked sixth overall and among 25 to 54 year olds. A year ago during the same period, the station ranked fourth. After five months of drooping ratings since Steve McCoy left, the morning show with a solo Vikki Locke has been recovering. Ranked sixth among 25 to 54 year olds in February, the show fell to 15th by July but is back to 9th in the most recent ranking.

True Oldies 106.7, which had been doing better than expected since it came into existence in February 2008, had its worst ratings since the people meters arrived in Atlanta in early 2009, falling to 17th overall and 21st among 25 to 54 year olds.

COUNTRY

Kicks 101.5 continues to pull in strong numbers, ranking fifth overall. But its 25 to 54 ratings have slipped a bit this year, falling to a tie for ninth. Those ratings are the lowest since May 2009.

Where are younger country fans going? 94.9/The Bull, once far behind Kicks, led the long-time leader among 25 to 54 year olds for the second month in a row and 18 to 34 year olds for the third month in a row. Its overall ratings of 4.9, ranked seventh, is its highest ever.

R&B/HIP HOP

V-103 is tops as usual but had to share the lead with WSB. Otherwise, it was a typical strong month for the "People's Station," leading in all primary demographic breakdowns except mornings 18 to 34 (thanks to Bert.)

Hot 107.9 holds at a  solid second among 18 to 34 year olds. (The station has been second or third all year in that demo.)

Kiss 104.1 tied its best ratings of the year overall, ranking third again. The R&B station was also third among 25 to 54 year olds. Rival Majic 107.5/97.5 slipped back after its strongest month of the year but still ranked seventh among 25 to 54 year olds.

Groove 105.7 has taken over 95.5/The Beat's space and has seen its numbers rise accordingly. Its 2.5 rating is its best since it debuted a year ago. Among 18 to 34 year olds, it ranked in a tie for sixth. And the Elvis Duran morning show cracked a 2 rating for the first time since it debuted earlier this year.

ROCK

How competitive is the rock scene? Not a single station made it into the top 10 overall. Project 9-6-1 is the youngest-skewing station, tying for sixth among 18 to 34 year olds. 92.9/Dave FM had a typical month, ranked a tie for 11th among 25 to 54 year olds. The morning show with Jimmy Baron and Yvonne Monet had its lowest numbers in that demo since February.

Rock 100.5's Regular Guys also suffered its weakest ratings among 18 to 34 year olds since November 2009. The rock station's overall ratings were pretty normal, ranking 20th. Its numbers during the day while playing music remain far below those in the morning and during Braves games at night.

97.1/The River has seen its 25-54 numbers improve in recent months while its oddly inflated 18-34 numbers have settled back down. Ranking in the top 10 among 18 to 34 year olds from April through August, the station has slipped to 12th in that demo. Morning host Kaedy Kiely's numbers in that demo were the lowest of the year. 99X at 97.9 ranked a tie for 22nd among 18 to 34 year olds.

NEWS/TALK

As noted, WSB has made a comeback. 640/WGST-AM, ranked 22nd, has shown no major signs of reviving itself. 920/WGKA-AM gets a 0.4 rating.

WABE-FM had its weakest ratings of the year, falling to 13th. "Morning Edition" remains a solid eighth place among 25 to 54 year olds.

SPORTS

790/The Zone had its best numbers this year though it still remained behind 680/The Fan. The Zone's strongest spot is mid-days (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), where the station beat the Fan.

CHRISTIAN

Gospel station Praise 102.5 saw its 18 to 34 year old numbers drop to their worst since May of 2009 (ranked in a tie for 15th) while its overall and 25 to 54 numbers remained firmly in fourth place.

Fish 104.7 dropped out of the top 10 for the first time this year among 25 to 54 year olds, tying for 11th. But its 18 to 34 numbers have recovered after cratering over the summer. Kevin & Taylor, the Fish morning show, is the station's rock, ranking fourth for the third time in five months among 25 to 54 year olds and a tie for eighth among 18 to 34 year olds.

Top 25 overall ratings

1. (tie) V-103, WSB

3. Kiss

4. Praise

5. Kicks

6. B98.5

7. Bull

8. Q100

9. Hot

10. Majic

11. River

12. Fish

13. WABE

14. Star

15. (tie) Project, Dave

17. True Oldies

18. (tie) El Patron, Groove

20. (tie) Rock 100.5, The Fan

22. WGST

23. The Zone

24. J93.3

25. 99X at 97.9

Top 20 25-54

1. V-103

2. WSB

3. Kiss

4. Praise

5. Q100

6. B98.5

7. Majic

8. Bull

9. Kicks