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October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
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MWmetalhead
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October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by MWmetalhead » Wed Nov 11, 2020 12:57 pm

How much longer until Cume-u-Less cleans house or pulls the plug on Blunder 107.3? Their ratings are dead in the water. Yet another survey in the low 1's, this one tying their all time record low - a 1.2 share.

Other news -
A return of sports action is helping ESPN 96.1 - a 2.0 share. That ties WFGR, whose numbers have been on an extreme roller coaster ride this year.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the horrible showing of Star 105.7; that brands 2.3 share is perhaps the worst performance ever for any programming found at 105.7 FM since FM radio use became commonplace.

WCSG for the second book in a row saw big gains, nudging out WOOD AM/FM for second place overall, and B93 continues to ride in first place. Numerous stations have seen their numbers move around a lot since March, but not B93. They've been a model of consistency for the most part.

B93 defeated Blunder by a greater than 7:1 margin! :lol

Reporting stations only represent about 65 percent of total listening activity.

When Country was on 94.5 and Sports was on 107.3 - the two stations represented about a 4% to 5% combined share of total metro listening.

For the past six months, the combo of Q 94.5 and Thunder 107.3 have been at the low end of the above range. Q is pulling its weight; the problem very clearly is Thunder 107.3.



radioandtventhusiast
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by radioandtventhusiast » Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:00 pm

I'm kind of surprised to see an AC that low. Usually, Star has very good ratings.



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SteveL
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by SteveL » Wed Nov 11, 2020 2:00 pm

I blame the slide at FGR on the changes made to middays in March! :wink:



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MWmetalhead
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by MWmetalhead » Wed Nov 11, 2020 3:48 pm

I forgot to post the link; sorry about that:

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



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Reese K Rickards
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by Reese K Rickards » Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:22 pm

I am surprised the most to see WOOD AM/FM to slide into third place, and third place in an election year. I am sure that WOOD made it's nut on political spots. (I'd have loved to be that order taker on the I Heart 8th floor.) And that is another topic. Does I Heart really need three floors anymore.?

And again God, Please let me Program Thunder. Please......


If I Heart GR really wanted to save money, it would sublet two of it's three floors at 77 Monroe Center.

ChrisWL1980
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:35 pm

Wow... 265kw WSRW in a dead heat with 3kw WTRV and getting beaten by an AM/translator combo. I know the pandemic has been pretty tough on listen-at-work formats, but their sister stations WNIC and WRVF are still pretty healthy in their respective markets. Then again, WNIC and WRVF aren't all Premium Choice (except during the Christmas season), don't speed up their music, and lean slightly older/softer than Premium Choice.

Not surprising WCSG picked up a lot of listeners given a lot of listeners' need for spiritual comfort this year. I'd be interested to see what Joy 99.3's and Smile FM's numbers look like (if Smile has any numbers). WVGR's as well, given WOOD's strength on the other side of the political aisle. WGVU-FM isn't doing too bad considering its signal.



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48125er
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by 48125er » Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:55 pm

I Haven't listened to 105.7 in a long time, Now I only listen to 94.5 or 101.3 or my spotify.

Im surprised 107.3 with a powerful signal in a rural area that should garner a good rating is that pitiful, I bet WION could pull better numbers on 107.3 than Blunder could.



BayCityJohn2337
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by BayCityJohn2337 » Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:53 am

That's a great idea. Blunder becomes the new WION with the owner and Jim Carlyle in the morning...... Live from the Lamplight Grill in Beautiful downtown Ionia.



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MWmetalhead
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:32 am

A station that hypertargets Ionia County does not need a 50 kW FM transmitter (nor the electric bill associated with it).

Trying to battle B93 with essentially the same music playlist on a signal with mediocre indoor reception in places such as Grandville, Jenison, Hudsonville, the entire lakeshore, Allegan County, etc. is a moronic move that only clueless corporate radio asshats could support.

The country audience for the most part doesn't live in Kentwood, Cascade or Ada; it largely lives in the places I named earlier.

True, Cedar Springs and Lowell are places where Country does well, but the population in those places doesn't offset the loss of strong signal in the places I named earlier.

On top of all of the above, the clueless Cumulus asshats did a piss poor job handling the frequency switch. The two week simulcast between 94.5 & 107.3 never mentioned that programming would be heard exclusively on 107.3 after a certain date!!! When Country disappeared from 94.5, a lot of listeners probably thought Nash/Thunder was completely toast.

I say flip WTNR to a mid 80's to mid 00's focused Country format, promote the hell out of it, go local in morning drive, and watch the ratings rise.



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Reese K Rickards
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by Reese K Rickards » Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:26 pm

Many times I have wondered about the viability of a mid 80's to 2010 Classic Country Format. But especially in the 80's you must be extremely careful with the music. In 1984 for every 'Judds why not Me?" there are five John Schneider "I've been Around Enough to Know's", and Vern Gosdin "dead on arrival" songs for any kind of a reasonable target audience. Number one for 1985? Kenny Rogers, Morning Desire" Bleh... 1986? Billy Vera, At this Moment, Jeff Lorber, Facts of Love, Roseanne Cash, Never be You, Lionel Richie, Deep River Woman But at Number 8 that year, Hank Junior and Reba with Mind your own Business. Now we are talking. Up till the early 90's, Every song that charted would need a long hard look, and any thing like a ballad would never see the light of day.

To pull this format off you simply MUST do a music test. Get a 25 to 54 group of 500 or more in a high school gym and play at least a thousand hooks. At the same time, ask research questions. What is the best thing you can win from a radio station. What do you want from the DJ's, Should the station have sports, traffic and weather? How important are those things? What is your current favorite station, and why? How much radio do you listen too. Where do you listen?

And now, the hardest part. BUILD YOUR STATION AROUND THE RESEARCH. We did it in Milwaukee in the mid 80's., and shot to #1.

Finally I would do everything B 93 used to do right, and then resurrect it, and do it right again. Birthday Bash is the best example. Year one, it was free. Joe Diffe and Sawyer Brown. The show kicked ASS> Year 17? The tickets were free, but parking was 60 bucks and limited to 10,000 cars. That's 600 thousand dollars just to show up. I Heart reached the point where it could not walk away from that kind of money.

Thunder covers Kent and half of Ottawa like a glove. MW's idea can work. Are we the only two who see it?
Oh well, back to the Masters....


If I Heart GR really wanted to save money, it would sublet two of it's three floors at 77 Monroe Center.

BayCityJohn2337
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Re: October Nielsen #'s - WCSG soars; WFGR & Star 105.7 tank; WTNR remains in the gutter.

Post by BayCityJohn2337 » Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:04 pm

It's all free till ya have to eat, drink or go to the bathroom. Then they take a Jack Hammer to your head. I remember paying 9 bucks for a personal pizza at Birthday Bash back in 1999. Or better yet the guy at the bathroom door with a tip jar.



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