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New stations that absorb an existing station's ratings?

tall_guy1

tall_guy1

I'm looking for examples of times a new station with a format that fills the "gap" a town needs, and absorbs an existing station's ratings. Two examples take place in Kansas City. In 2010, KCHZ (95.7 the Vibe) absorbed the ratings of KMXV (Mix 93.3), beating the station by more than 2 points (6.7 vs. 4.4). Mix recovered, altering their format slightly and absorbing them back. Then, in 2014, the same thing happened as Adult CHR/Hot AC KZPT (99.7 The Point) did the exact same thing, except this time, Mix didn't absorb them back and in recent numbers are beaten by almost 2 points yet again.:p Have any other examples?
 
tall_guy1 said:
I'm looking for examples of times a new station with a format that fills the "gap" a town needs, and absorbs an existing station's ratings. Two examples take place in Kansas City. In 2010, KCHZ (95.7 the Vibe) absorbed the ratings of KMXV (Mix 93.3), beating the station by more than 2 points (6.7 vs. 4.4). Mix recovered, altering their format slightly and absorbing them back. Then, in 2014, the same thing happened as Adult CHR/Hot AC KZPT (99.7 The Point) did the exact same thing, except this time, Mix didn't absorb them back and in recent numbers are beaten by almost 2 points yet again.:p Have any other examples?
Click to expand...

First, I would not use the word "absorb" as generally changes of listening patterns involve listening more or less to stations that are among those a listener uses (average of 6 in PPM). It's all about the time spent with each one.

That said, the biggest change I ever saw was in the San Juan, PR, market in 1978-79. WPRM from the November book to the March book went from a 5.3 to a 0.8 while WZNT (formerly WSRA) went from a 4.0 to a 33.5 after changing format on December 39, 1978.

WZNT would remain #1 until Fall of 1985, when WPRM, under the same programmer who was at WZNT, brought the station back to #1 for the next 22 years.

Usually "worst to first" stories are more gradual, with new station growth and competitor erosion taking more time to take place. And often new formats take pieces out of multiple stations and not all from just one competitor.

Another widely reported cannibalization is the WRBQ - Power Pig battle about 26 years ago in the Tampa Bay area.
 
WKSZ in Green Bay has been CHR "Kiss FM" for years, except for a short disaster known as "Mix 95.9" (a Hot AC) in the mid-2000s. In 2006, after crosstown then-WLYD (now WDKF) dropped rhythmic CHR for variety hits, WKSZ (which was hovering below a 2 share as "Mix 95.9") almost promptly flipped back to CHR and its ratings jumped up five times from its last Mix 95.9 book to its first book back as Kiss FM. Since then, Kiss has usually been toward the top of the Green Bay book despite its inferior signal to its competition.
 
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