Other than WWFX, WFNX, WCTK (which, oddly enough, doesn't appear in the Cape Cod ratings where it is more of a local) and (depending on definition) WAAF/WXLO, there aren't any out of market stations in the ratings. However, in my experience, WSRS and WSNE (and, at a slightly less frequency, all the other Providence market stations) do get enough listeners in the ratings. On a related note, WPLM-FM doesn't appear in the Boston, Cape Cod, NBFR, Providence or even Worcester ratings despite getting strong 45+ listenership. Have these (or other) out of market stations been in the Boston ratings before, and, in your experience, what other out of market stations have enough listenership to place a (usually minor) share in the Boston ratings, or another nearby market's?
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Out of market stations in the ratings
- Thread starter Tomgsinger
- Start date
Either "strong" is the absolute wrong word to describe the station's listenership or the station doesn't pay for the Nielsens. Where is the evidence that large numbers of people in any market, in any demo, are listening to WPLM-FM?
If the stations do not subscribe they don't show in the ratings. I don't even know if WPLM is encoded for PPM reception.
Little Plimmy DOES show up
Hmmm...this got my attention, I pulled out of my file some ratings from July 2016 and they definitely DO show up in the ratings.
Hmmm...this got my attention, I pulled out of my file some ratings from July 2016 and they definitely DO show up in the ratings.
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It is very, very rare for a station not to encode, even if it is not subscribed. Not encoding makes radio usage look lower than it really is, so it is counterproductive not to do so.
All broadcasters in Nielsen PPM MSAs are given encoders for no cost, so it is not a burden or hardship (other than installation) for any station.
Stations that don't subscribe show up in the ratings. They just are not "published" in the publicly released total ratings that Nielsen gives away. Subscribers see all stations, irrespective of whether those stations are subscribed to use the data.
WPLM is not subscribed, but it definitely shown in the subscriber data. In the Oct-Dec three book period last year, it averaged a 1.6 in 12+. Since it is home to the MSA, agencies and subscribers will see the data.
When a friend of mine that works at 99.1 wanted to know what their ratings were, they asked a someone that worked at another station for the information.
What other stations are "subscriber only"? WATD? WBOQ? WFNQ (I think it is technically part of the Boston market)? Has WPLM ever showed up in the Cape's ratings? I've heard it is very popular with the older tourists (and Strictly Sinatra really gets the retirees!)
Those 3 you mentioned probably do not subscribe. Ed Perry has a unique hyper local focus WRT WATD, so he does not subscribe
WFNQ subscribed when they were owned by Nassau, but when Binney bought them they stopped showing up on the charts.... they did show in the Boston ratings as they are in the DMA.
As for 104.9 ..... probably a money thing, what are they going to get out of it if they pay? Not much IMHO, they know their area and who they can sell to.
I bet WPLM used to show in the Cape books, pre PPM 12+ public numbers, just like they used to show in the Boston ratings before PPM and the change in policy not to show unsubscribed stations in the 6+ public beauty queen numbers
Any station licensed inside the Boston Metro Survey Area (MSA) is included in the ratings that subscribers receive as long as they meet the minimum reporting standards (which means that they had a very minimal amount of listening equivalent to just under a 0.1 share).
The MSA is made up of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk and Worcester Counties in MA and Hillsborough in NH. There are 63 commercial stations and 53 non-commercial stations in those counties.
WPLM shows in the Cape Cod market with anywhere from a 1.3 to a 1.7 and in the New Bedford market with an average of a 1.3 last year. Both of those are diary markets surveyed only in Spring and Fall.
I thought only northern Worcester County was part of our market, no?
Most student-run non-commercial college stations don't encode, such as WMBR, WZBC, WMFO, WMWM, WBRS, WRBB, etc.. in the Boston area.
Some college stations that seem to try to compete with commercial formats, such as in Boston, WERS's alt-rock based AAA format, do encode.
I doubt that many (if any) LPFM's encode.
That's too bad. You do harm to the whole industry by not encoding, thus reducing the figures of total radio usage.
Quite a few LPFMs encode. 8 of them show in individual markets.
Have any (other) Worcester, Manchester, Providence, Portsmouth, or Cape Cod stations been on the Boston ratings?
Speaking of the Providence market, how good does/did WMNP/WJZS do in their ratings? I saw that right before the flip to CHR, they got a measly 0.2, but have they gotten higher than a 0.5? Have they shown in the New London or NBFR ratings?
Speaking of the Providence market, how good does/did WMNP/WJZS do in their ratings? I saw that right before the flip to CHR, they got a measly 0.2, but have they gotten higher than a 0.5? Have they shown in the New London or NBFR ratings?
well ( and we can ask Bob) IIRC he got screwed by a couple of good books that put his ASCAP/BMI fees into a higher bracket when 740 showed good numbers in the paper books back in the day
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