Ratings posting on RadioOnline

I know RadioOnline.Com changed the classifications of some of their formats in their listings of the ratings, but two in Hartford are completely wrong. WMRQ is Modern Rock and is listed as AC. WMRQ HD2 is listed as AC. Previously they were listed as Tropical. (Or Spanish Tropcical). Anyway AC is wrong again and they are still Spanish. Whatever you call the format. Spanish CHR I guess. WMRQ HD2 shows in the ratings because they have 3 Hartford-area translators.

https://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb061

DavidEduardo said:

It's not the stations or Nielsen that provide radio-online with format names... it is radio-online itself.

Station owners don't have any real interest in having their 12+ numbers posted as they don't use 12+ for sales or much of anything else. And stations generally don't have contact with those websites, which is why different sites have different format names.

Very often sites will look at rotations to determine flavor. The main difference between a Hot AC and a CHR is usually rotation on currents. I have seen plenty of Spanish language CHRs (by the standards of Hispanic programmers) like WMRQ HD2 classified as AC because CHR's in Spanish have more gentle rotations. And, of course, in the case of that station, they incorrectly classify it as Tropical!

Click to expand...

There is no way to explain a modern rock station being listed as an AC, though. Anyone who's ever listened to the station can tell you it's not an AC. I can't even think of a song that might be a crossover -- maybe a Lumineers track.

Who is behind Radio-Online, anyway? Billboard has a long history in print, as does Variety, and as did Radio & Records before its demise. Does Radio-Online have its roots in print, or is it an internet startup? Run by professionals with industry connections and/or solid journalistic backgrounds or the stereotypical 26-year-old in his Mom's basement? I ask because these mislabelings, while only being done to ratings radio stations and advertisers consider nearly worthless, are still unprofessional and cast doubt on the reliability of other information the website puts out.

Radio-Online also tags WFCR incorrectly as "news." It is a music-dominant public radio station owned by a consortium of five colleges and universities in Western Massachusetts (FCR = Five Colleges Radio), running NPR's morning drive and evening drive news/features shows but filling the rest of the day and the overnights with either classical or jazz.

I tried to report incorrect formats. They never get corrected. WSMW Greensboro NC has never been AC. It was Hot AC with different letters some years ago. It has been "Variety Hits" ("We play everything") for as long as anyone can remember. WJMH Greensboro was Rhythmic CHR in the 80s and is STILL listed that way even though it has been hip-hop for decades.

vchimpanzee said:

I tried to report incorrect formats. They never get corrected. WSMW Greensboro NC has never been AC. It was Hot AC with different letters some years ago. It has been "Variety Hits" ("We play everything") for as long as anyone can remember. WJMH Greensboro was Rhythmic CHR in the 80s and is STILL listed that way even though it has been hip-hop for decades.

Click to expand...

Maybe Mr. Chase ought to find an obsessive 26-year-old radio geek in some basement to keep an eye on details like this, then.

CTListener said:

There is no way to explain a modern rock station being listed as an AC, though. Anyone who's ever listened to the station can tell you it's not an AC.

Click to expand...

Another site that lists ratings has WMRQ (incorrectly) listed as Modern AC. That must be where Radio Online got AC from. I don't listen to WMRQ often, but I listen enough to know they go by "Radio 104.1 Connecticut's Modern Rock Alternative."

DavidEduardo said:

Generally, stations are not “Hip Hop” formatted. Urban stations are hip hop and R&B and rhythmic CHR stations are hip hop and rhythmic pop.

Each of the websites that post ratings have different criteria for format determination.

Click to expand...

Okay, WJMH is urban. But WIKS Greenville NC is actually listed as "hip hop" on that site. Which is strange considering I don't know of an urban AC in the market. There might be one that isn't showing up in the ratings.

And WIKS has been corrected. A lot of format changes has been made, though I doubt that many stations actually changed. An R&B oldies station in Greenville NC is now "classic hits" (meaningless). An R&B oldies station in Charlotte is now "oldies". At least the station in Greensboro NC that plays "everything" is now "Hot AC", though "classic hits" would be better.