Nielsen audio AQH shares for April

[MWmetalhead]

Monster book for WCSG; perhaps their biggest ever!

Blunder 107.3 and Mix 95.7 reached new all-time lows.

How does a monster signal near the middle of the dial with (supposedly) mass appeal pop music earn only a 2.3? It's time to either flip it to country or to restore the heritage W-Lite brand.

It takes incredible talent to earn such terrible numbers with COUNTRY on a 50,000 watt signal in West Michigan. A nonstop loop of flatulence would earn stronger numbers on 107.3.

Big 101.3 cracked a 4 share; not bad! I wonder how they fare in A25 to 54?

Star 105.7 is winning the secular AC battle handily.

WLAV rebounded a little but remains well off historical pace.

WKLQ enjoyed a nice bump and nearly tied WLAV.

https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb127

[TC Talks]

One AM station in this book. (.3 isn't worth mentioning). I remember when WLUP 1000 had more listeners in GR than a .3 share.

[48125er]

i cant remember the last time 95.7 got lower than 100.5 since the w blight days, A Variety hits type format like 106.5 in Kalamazoo is what I would like for 95.7

How the hell does the Ghetto rap music peashooter 104.9 get a 0.5% higher share than 100kw 107.3 on country in deep red west michigan. Hell, I bet WFUR 92.9, Strong tower 89.7 or BBN 102.9 has more listeners lol, maybe even Jethro 94.9 has more, Or how does Indie Alternative music have 0.8% higher share than top 40 105.3

[MWmetalhead]

94.5 is a half point ahead of 105.3.

94.5 plays a ton of music heard nowhere else on the FM dial in the Grand Rapids area. 105.3 shares a lot of music with 95.7 and 104.5.

Those who enjoy current Top 40 hits and are under the age of 35 primarily obtain their music from sources other than FM radio. That's why it seems silly to me that three (!!!) stations locally play so much of that music.

Variety Hits didn't end well for 96.1 years ago. Some iterations of that format sound better than others. I do enjoy 106.5 in Kalamazoo - aside from the crappy audio processing (someone needs to fix that already!) and preemptions for ultra boring WMU athletics. I do not like 101.7 in Lansing nor did I ever like 93.1 in Detroit.

[riggs]

i cant remember the last time 95.7 got lower than 100.5 since the w blight days, A Variety hits type format like 106.5 in Kalamazoo is what I would like for 95.7

How the hell does the Ghetto rap music peashooter 104.9 get a 0.5% higher share than 100kw 107.3 on country in deep red west michigan. Hell, I bet WFUR 92.9, Strong tower 89.7 or BBN 102.9 has more listeners lol, maybe even Jethro 94.9 has more, Or how does Indie Alternative music have 0.8% higher share than top 40 105.3

Not as Deep Red as you think, actually. Much of the area is made up of suburbs. "Indie Alternative"? What? Look at their playlist. Not as Indie as you seem to think. Take a good look at the Meijer Gardens summer lineups every year. It's basically the "Indie Alternative" playlist.

This Summer alone they've booked.

OAR
Black Pumas
Ronnie Raitt
My Morning Jacket
Amos Lee
The Wallflowers
Gin Blossoms
Blues Traveller
Fitz & The Tantrums
Grace Potter
Michael Franti & Spearhead



They wouldn't book those artists if they didn't think they could sell tickets. Those artists are far more mainstream than you believe. A lot of CHR music is basically interchangeable - so much of it is the same feel. The Indie Alternative (LOL) has variety in their playlist. If you want to take a look at adults over 30's listening habits, look at their Spotify accounts - you will see a ton of variety. People kind of outgrow that top 40 mishmash when they get out of college and start working.

And what the hell do you even mean by "ghetto rap" ?

[riggs]

One AM station in this book. (.3 isn't worth mentioning). I remember when WLUP 1000 had more listeners in GR than a .3 share.

Some cars don't even have AM radios anymore, right?

[48125er]

i cant remember the last time 95.7 got lower than 100.5 since the w blight days, A Variety hits type format like 106.5 in Kalamazoo is what I would like for 95.7

How the hell does the Ghetto rap music peashooter 104.9 get a 0.5% higher share than 100kw 107.3 on country in deep red west michigan. Hell, I bet WFUR 92.9, Strong tower 89.7 or BBN 102.9 has more listeners lol, maybe even Jethro 94.9 has more, Or how does Indie Alternative music have 0.8% higher share than top 40 105.3

Not as Deep Red as you think, actually. "Indie Alternative"? What? Look at their playlist. Not as Indie as you seem to think. Take a good look at the Meijer Gardens summer lineups every year. It's basically the "Indie Alternative" playlist.

OAR
Black Pumas
Ronnie Raitt
My Morning Jacket
Amos Lee
The Wallflowers
Gin Blossoms
Blues Traveller
Fitz & The Tantrums
Grace Potter
Michael Franti & Spearhead

They wouldn't book those artists if they didn't think they could sell tickets. Those artists are far more mainstream than you believe. A lot of CHR music is basically interchangeable - so much of it is the same feel. The Indie Alternative (LOL) has variety in their playlist. If you want to take a look at adults over 30's listening habits, look at their Spotify accounts - you will see a ton of variety. People kind of outgrow that top 40 mishmash when they get out of college and start working.

Another factor is less 18-24s than a decade ago, and even less listen to terrestrial radio anymore.

[TC Talks]

One AM station in this book. (.3 isn't worth mentioning). I remember when WLUP 1000 had more listeners in GR than a .3 share.

Some cars don't even have AM radios anymore, right?

Yep, NAB was trying to strong arm congress to make it a legal requirement to have AM radio in cars.

[Graham Wellington]

It takes incredible talent to earn such terrible numbers with COUNTRY on a 50,000 watt signal in West Michigan. A nonstop loop of flatulence would earn stronger numbers on 107.3.

Agreed. Seems that without even trying, they should at least be able to grab a 2.5 with that format.

[Greg Buben]

I expected WCSG, B-93, WSNX, WGRD, and WOOD to be top ranked stations. The top five are run professionally with loyal
audiences. What seemed interesting is how Star 105.7 FM didn't decline that badly after Christmas and still is in the top
ten. What also seems interesting is that "The Big 101.3 FM" jumped up to number seven with a 4.1% share. What I wish they
would do is drop "The New" and just say "The Big 101.3 FM" because November of 2020 is way in the past when they started
their format. They should also drop calling their music "Fun Hits" because not all pop hits from the mid 60's- mid 80's are
fun. The only way I could tolerate the term "Fun Hits" is if they got rid of that Mike in the afternoon with his voice tracks and
his talking about topics that don't need to be talked about none of which has to do with music. In place of that I still say
that I-Heart should hire Tone "The Fun Guy" Gates to do the afternoon drive live. It would be worth the investment to have
a fun guy play fun hits if that's what they want to call it. If I were head of I-Heart in G.R. that's what I would do or else I would
just drop the term "Fun Hits". Also if I were head of I-Heart of G.R. I would continue the B-93 Birthday Bash just to show my
appreciation for the listeners who continue making B-93 the successful station it is.

[ChrisWL1980]

They're not bringing back W-Lite on 95.7 with 100.5 now doing mainstream AC. If they revive the W-Lite name anywhere, it'll be on 100.5. I'd almost bet my life on 95.7 going Country at this point.

[handbanana]

It's outstandingly bad how 95.7 and 107.3 are performing. It's really unbelievable that anyone would pay any salaries on these frequencies at this point. Plug in a satellite and call it a day.

[MWmetalhead]

107.3 uses voicetracking (an entire shift can be recorded in less than an hour) and syndicated programming for all dayparts.