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Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Radio Ratings: Holiday 2014

AM band and Spanish language stations are not doing well.
 
ai4i said:
AM band and Spanish language stations are not doing well.
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I went back 2 years and then back to 2010 and the Spanish language shares in 18-49, 25-54 and 12+ the total share for Spanish language is well inside the margin of error to be considered "flat" over this 4-year period.
 
DavidEduardo said:

Spanish language is well inside the margin of error to be considered "flat" over this 4-year period.
Click to expand...
I have not kept up on ratings, but why are there only three Spanish language stations in the top ten, and is it Broward county that throws the 35/65 English/Spanish population ratio out the window?
 
ai4i said:
I have not kept up on ratings, but why are there only three Spanish language stations in the top ten, and is it Broward county that throws the 35/65 English/Spanish population ratio out the window?
Click to expand...


The market is measured as a single entity consisting of Miami Dade and Broward, and it has been that way since we voted to consolidate the markets in 1981.

The percentage of Hispanics is over 50% in the total market, but there are more stations and greater fragmentation. Nonetheless, 4 of the 6 Spanish language FMs are in the top 10 in 25-54 in December's book. We ignore the Holiday book as the holiday season is far more disruptive in the Hispanic community than in the general market.
 
Did any station in the market go "All Christmas?" Maybe Lite FM? I'm curious because in almost every other market, this holiday book as one CLEAR leader -- sometimes with double digit shares and a big upset. But not Miami/Fort Lauderdale. Is is because: 1) no station did the all-Christmas thing? 2) because it's such a Hispanic market that English language Christmas tunes don't really work? or 3) it's South Florida, warm all the time and no one really understands music about sleigh rides and snow men?
 
AMRocks said:
Did any station in the market go "All Christmas?" Maybe Lite FM? I'm curious because in almost every other market, this holiday book as one CLEAR leader -- sometimes with double digit shares and a big upset. But not Miami/Fort Lauderdale. Is is because: 1) no station did the all-Christmas thing? 2) because it's such a Hispanic market that English language Christmas tunes don't really work? or 3) it's South Florida, warm all the time and no one really understands music about sleigh rides and snow men?
Click to expand...

I don't keep up to date on the English language stations unless they are of significant Hispanic appeal.

However, the #2 point you list is a definite factor. The "Christmas" music phenomenon has not applied to Spanish language radio in the US and it has not been done in Latin America. The traditions, while becoming more like those in the US (exchanging Santa Claus for the 3 Kings, etc), don't include a lot of Christmas theme music on the radio.

The only interesting exception is Puerto Rico, where Christmas music is really traditional Puerto Rican music some with Christmas themes, but mostly about parties, "asaltos" and eating roast pig and such. Many of those songs are full of double entendres, too. It does not translate into the diverse national origins in Miami.

Christmas music does well in Houston, Pheonix and LA.... so it is not the climate... but it could be the Miami "mood" which makes the all-Christmas thing less viable.
 
Oddly, no commercial Miami station went All-Christmas this year. Maybe the non-commercial Christian AC stations did but they are not a factor in the Miami ratings. I say odd because in nearly every other major market, the station that goes All-Christmas zooms to #1, usually by double digits. Maybe the local programmers in Miami agree with David that it isn't important to the Latino community.

I believe WLYF did at one time but no more. And Cox doesn't do it in Miami at WFEZ. For that matter, Cox didn't do it in Tampa at WWRM this year either, even though in years past WWRM would always hit #1 in the Holiday book in Tampa. Meanwhile, WBEB Philadelphia topped a 15, WMJX Boston topped a 16 and KKCW Portland topped an 18. So stations that don't go All-Christmas might be missing an opportunity, even in Tropical-flavored Miami.
 
Gregg mentions "I believe WLYF [played all Christmas music during the holidays] at one time but no more." WLYF has never gone 100% holiday-music during November and December as a ratings stunt. Certain pre-Christmas weekends -- and for 36 hours beginning at 12 noon Christmas Eve -- are the only times WLYF runs all-holiday. (You might recall WFLC tried the gimmick in November and December 2011; they didn't do *that* again.)
 
I dont remember what year it was, but 93.1 and 93.9 were BOTH all Christmas music. I think it was the year that Cox flipped 93.1 to this new soft AC format. It was rumored that Clear Channel flipped 93.9 to try to steal some listeners, being right next to them on the dial. If you remember, 93.1 advertised pretty heavily on TV that they were playing all holiday music.
 
The year of dueling mistletoe was 2010 -- indeed, just before WFEZ launched. Both 93.1 and 93.9 flipped to holiday music within hours of each other the weekend before Thanksgiving (93.9 on Friday night, 93.1 Saturday morning). While 93.1 did run a solid TV schedule to promote the holly-jolly, it would appear 93.9's ratings benefited that season. Perhaps folks recalled hearing about some station at "93-something" playing Christmas music ... ventured down the dial ... the first thing they hit was Burl Ives at 93.9 ... and that's where they stayed.
 
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