Nielsen audio AQH shares for April

[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

[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.

[Greg Buben]

Although WLAV went up to a 3.1% share in the April ratings I couldn't help but notice that all recent ratings for WLAV have
been under a 4% share. I still believe that WLAV should update the playlist by eliminating hits that are too pop for the
classic rock audience of 2024. They should also stop running their mouths off by calling themselves "The Legend" when
over the years they haven't remained the same. I still think that classic rock competition would be nice but I also know
that neither I-Heart nor Town Square are willing to change the two possible stations with the potential of competing with
WLAV so therefore it is up to WLAV to look over their current playlist and get rid of some songs that are too pop for the
classic rock audience of 2024. After all if somebody wants pop hits of the past they can hear those on WFGR (70's and
80's) and The Big 101.3 FM (mid 60's to mid 80's) so therefore WLAV should put the emphasis on songs that were more
AOR hits from the mid 60's through the 90's instead of chart topping pop hits from the past heard on "The Big 101.3 FM"
and WFGR.

[craigrussell100]

Greg, why do you have such a hard on for a station to compete with LAV? Or want them to change so much? Is it simply because their "ratings" are so low? I hate to break it to you and so many others on this board who dont really understand how radio works, but "ratings" arent the end all to end all when it comes to running a radio station. Money is. And believe it or not, not ALL advertisers care about ratings. Some do, and big regional advertisers do, but alot dont. They either like the programming and the station, or they have a good relationship with the sales rep from the station, or they have had good success with advertising on a certain station in the past.

You remind me of a sports talk host in a city who is hell bent on getting a coach fired. If you say "fire the coach" enough, people start to hear and start to echo "fire the coach". Soon other news media are pressing the teams management if they are going to "fire the coach". If you complain about LAV's music choices enough, maybe they will change. Except I doubt a whole lot of people from LAV (or Cumulus for that matter) are on this board to see your rants. There are probably some, and to be honest, I know a few people who post on here regularly who you would be surprised to know are on here (and surprised they have time to spend as much time on this board as they do, and arent spending that time running their stations)

Long story long, its great you have an opinion. Its the hallmark of the country. But dont expect to make 2-3 posts a month about the same thing over and over and it expect it to change anything.