Major changes in May 2020 Nielsen Audio #'s - Grand Rapids

[Deleted User 12047]

Sports radio is dead everywhere... due to the overriding lack of actual sports

[Reese K Rickards]

If I may offer a few humble observations on these numbers.

Listeners in cars were probably much fewer than normal.

B-93 always hit a high point this time of year. I had always assumed in was part of Birthday Bash and people tuning in to see where tickets were available. With Bash pushed back to fall, clearly I was wrong.

WOOD AM takes a small dip. That could be tied to the Presidents diminished popularity. His poll numbers are much smaller than 4 years ago,

The Christians stations never change by much more than a share and a half.

LAV had a nice monthly.

SNX with no local talent on the air was flat.

Outside of a morning show, that is getting long in the tooth (I know) GRD doesn't have much to brag about.

The rest of the list doesn't have much to brag about. It'll never happen, but if the decision were mine.......

IMHO a bold and really fun move would be hiring a real go-getter young staff and taking on B-93. I would do the things B used to do. A real Birthday Bash with real artists, not the much diminished stuff happening at the ball park.

once a year I would do a solid week of all request radio. Put the listeners on the air. $25 bucks a cut. Let em plug a business if they like. The total would go to a real heart string pulling local charity where a big donation would make a real difference.

I would get the staff out to meet people, shake hands and kiss babies. I would be the deer hunting station again and send a group of widows to Paris. i would pay my staff nothing to start, but sign H*** big bonus checks for winners at the book party.

But all that will never happen unless someone gets a hold of a decent signal, and grows a pair.

IMHO

[ftballfan]

Unusual to see puny WFGR leading the Townsquare group. Has that ever happened before?

Flipping 94.5 to Alternative was a good move IMHO. The combined shares for WKLQ and WTNR are higher than what WTNR and WBBL combined for before Thunder came back on 107.3.

Which iHeart station will flip first, 96.1 or 101.3?

[Reese K Rickards]

I don't believe WFGR has ever led the Townsquare stable. They caught a nice trend and GRD and LHT each got little sock in the eye. I'd have liked to have seen Matt still there to savor the moment. But I am thrilled for Moose's Dad.

With respect, I don't see BFX or Max ever changing format. Sports will eventually resume and MAX will go back to it's 2 share existence. I Heart gave up on BFX many many years ago. It is one of those signals that when concentrating on Kent and Ottawa counties alone, could under the right circumstances give B-93 a run for it's money.

You should keep in mind the I Heart mind set ( At least it was when I was asked to ride the elevator down four years ago) for it's GR properties. B-93 must always win. No wiggleroom. WOOD AM must come in second. No wiggleroom. WSNX must come in third. WSRW will come in 4th and has been a major ratings disappointment for decades. That signal was owned 20 years ago as a WOOD AM WOOD FM operation. But ever since Bruce Holberg sold out to Clear (I Heart) Channel, I Heart has refused to make it competitive or put it in another format where it could compete. The rest of the I Heart holdings do what they are supposed to do, and that is languish near the ratings bottom. They are owned for the sole purpose of making sure no one else owns them. Other owners would make them competitive. They probably make a little money, but they absolutely do not cost much to run WTKG is there solely as a garbage can. If I Heart has to run spots and no one is looking, that's where the spots go.
IMHO