New February Ratings

[Greg Buben]

If I saw the new February ratings I thought for sure that one of our regulars would have posted the link and given some
commentary. All I can say is I found it interesting that the ratings came out on Good Friday and that the non commercial
Christian station WCSG beat out all of the commercial stations including B-93. I look forward to reading the posts regarding
the February ratings.

[Greg Buben]

I thought that was strange that somebody reacted to the January ratings with one of my comments instead of saying
something about the new February ratings. As I was saying according to Nielsen WCSG is number one overall with their
non commercial Christian format. WCSG went up by 1.3% while B-93 dropped down to number two and dropped down by
1.3%. When a non commercial Christian station does better than all commercial stations including B-93 that seems to me
a sign that the commercial broadcasters in the market are lacking something when it comes to relating to the market.
As I said B-93 was number two with a 6.8% share and their sister stations also were ranked just under them. WSNX,
WOOD, and Star 105.7 FM were third, fourth, and fifth. I thought for sure somebody who makes posts quite often would
have discovered this and perhaps put a link to it so that all can see. I was really looking forward to that and was hoping
that I could get some interesting reactions to the February Nielsen ratings. I like to read what others think of each months
ratings especially if they live in the Grand Rapids area that again includes both Kent and Ottawa counties. I'm also very
interested in any theories as to what should be done with any given station based on each monthly ratings.

[Barry Sanders]

When a non commercial Christian station does better than all commercial stations including B-93 that seems to me
a sign that the commercial broadcasters in the market are lacking something when it comes to relating to the market.

Comparing WCSG to any commercial station is a complete waste of time. This is not rocket science.

[Reese K Rickards]

February 2024 Trends 12+ Mon-Sun, 6a-12mid
Population: 820,000 (Black: 68,100) (Hispanic: 81,100)
Last Updated: 03-28-24 (Nielsen Subscribing Stations Only)

Station Format Owner Nov 23 Dec 23 Jan 24 Feb 24
WCSG-FM Christian CHR Cornerstone University 5.5 6.2 7.4 8.7
WBCT-FM Country iHeartMedia 7.2 7.7 8.6 6.8
WSNX-FM CHR iHeartMedia 4.7 5.4 5.4 6.3
WOOD-AM News/Talk iHeartMedia 5.5 5.2 5.6 6.0
WSRW-FM AC iHeartMedia 3.2 5.2 5.1 5.8
WGRD-FM Rock Townsquare Media 7.0 5.9 5.4 5.1
WUOM-FM Public Radio University of Michigan 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.3
WLAV-FM Classic Rock Cumulus Media 4.2 3.6 3.5 3.6
WLHT-FM Hot AC Townsquare Media 3.7 3.6 4.1 3.1
WTRV-FM AC Townsquare Media 2.2 2.3 2.9 2.9
WBFX-FM Classic Hits iHeartMedia 3.2 2.9 2.5 2.7
WHTS-FM CHR Cumulus Media 3.0 2.3 2.4 2.6
WFGR-FM Classic Hits Townsquare Media 2.8 2.9 2.4 2.4
WJQK-FM Christian CHR Lanser Broadcasting 2.5 2.1 2.2 2.2
WKLQ-FM AAA Cumulus Media 2.7 1.8 1.7 1.7
WMAX-FM Sports iHeartMedia 1.3 1.5 1.9 1.7
WNWZ-AM Hip Hop Townsquare Media 2.0 1.6 1.7 1.5
WTNR-FM Country Cumulus Media 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.2
WGVU-FM Public Radio Grand Valley State University 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.0
WJRW-AM Sports Cumulus Media 0.8 0.7 0.2 0.2
WTKG-AM Talk iHeartMedia 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
WYGR-AM Classic Country WYGR

[Greg Buben]

In the February ratings WGRD came in number 6. I still say that WGRD plays the best variety of rock with their active
rock format. The fact that significant 70's classic rock is included in the format of WGRD is probably the main reason why
Town Square wouldn't consider flipping WLHT to classic rock as has been discussed. Since Cumulus owns WLAV the only
classic rock station in G.R. what might be an interesting idea is for Cumulus to add more variety of rock from the 80's and
beyond on WKLQ. I could see Cumulus going for WGRD's audience from both sides.

[MWmetalhead]

Variety Hits would be an interesting idea for 94.5, but I think returning Country there may be a better idea.

B93's playlist is garbage, in my opinion. It has devolved into a pop music station pretending to be a country station. Cumulus needs to make it easier for B93 P1s to find Thunder.

[Greg Buben]

As much as I would love to have somebody with a commercial FM station of 50,000 watts compete with WLAV with a
better classic rock station I know that would require another company in the market to purchase an already existing sta-
tion. Without that happening it looks to me like classic rock on G.R. commercial radio will decline with WLAV who hasn't
had over a 4% share for quite some time. Does anyone really believe that WLAV will ever make the top five once again
and with a 5% share or better?

[Graham Wellington]

Does anyone really believe that WLAV will ever make the top five once again
and with a 5% share or better?

As long as they keep playing the exact same playlist they've had for the last 30 years featuring the same lame overplayed butt rock - no, they will continue to drop into irrelevancy.