June 2018 Ratings

https://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb011

WCSX remains on top, extending its lead despite a slight drop owing to a bigger drop at WOMC. I wonder if the new morning show at WOMC isn't clicking with listeners? I hope not, as I think Purtan and Clark are putting on a good broadcast. WRIF jumps to third, WWJ stays strong at 4th and The Ticket is in 5th. WYCD, with a solid jump is in 6th. WNIC, WDVD, WMXD and WKQI round out the Top 10. WJR saw both a drop in cume and in position to 12th. WDVD was a slight bright spot for Cumulus Detroit, but the WJR drop was accompanied by a drop at NASH-FM with the distance between NASH and WYCD about the widest its been since NASH signed on in the market.

Hard to believe a full power FM could drop below a 0.7, but WDET did to a 0.6. WUOM also saw a slight drop while WRCJ was flat. Clearly, listeners are finding alternatives to this content.

Despite 910-AM's bringing on the air seemingly any person involved in a major local controversy, it remains mired at almost zero listening at a 0.2. 106.7 dropped to a 1.5. I think iHeart could do better with almost any other format, including Smooth Jazz.

umfan said:

Hard to believe a full power FM could drop below a 0.7, but WDET did to a 0.6. WUOM also saw a slight drop while WRCJ was flat. Clearly, listeners are finding alternatives to this content.

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Maybe. Maybe the alternatives are within the public broadcasting universe itself, as promoted actively by those stations. Remember, these stations aren't shaped by traditional radio ratings.

If people aren't listening, then what is the point? If your contention is that content that people will listen to doesn't matter, I will contend that it's a sub-optimal use of an increasingly crowded FM spectrum. Of the three stations, two broadcast much of the same content at the same time of the day, All Things Considered as an example. WCRJ does air unique content that otherwise wouldn't have a home and I can by the argument that they bring something unique to the table.

umfan said:

If people aren't listening, then what is the point?

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The Nielsen ratings only measure traditional real-time radio listening. It doesn't measure the various other online content both stations offer and promote, including podcasts and the ability to listen to shows like ATC on demand. What matters is if the people who use the station become members, and the station seems to have a healthy membership. As for two stations playing the same content, WYCD and Nash basically play the same songs. You see how that's working out.

That's not entirely true. Neilsen has begun measuring streaming for stations that do subscribe. Their PPM equipment is capable of measuring it. Your analogy on WYCD and NASH supports my point that two stations playing the same, lousy NPR content are not needed. WDET should turn in its license. They could provide a learning environment as an AM station. Free up the bandwidth for something worthwhile.

NASH likely provides some positive cash flow to Cumulus, considering it pulls ratings as high, or higher than WUOM in Detroit and WDET COMBINED, despite having a competitor with the same format means they are doing something far better than WDET. Further, NASH isn't wallowing in a taxpayer subsidy, so it's more of a concern for its owners if they need to change formats.

umfan said:

That's not entirely true. Neilsen has begun measuring streaming for stations that do subscribe.

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I'm not talking about streaming at all. I'm talking about on demand listening, which is a very different thing. As I said, the station doesn't measure its value by ratings but by membership, and its membership is healthy. Just as EMF, which now owns WPRZ, will likely see a drop in the ratings. But they don't care. They base their value on donations, not ratings.

umfan said:

WDET should turn in its license. They could provide a learning environment as an AM station. Free up the bandwidth for something worthwhile.

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As I said, the licensee has determined it is providing a useful service, and sees no reason to turn in its license. The FCC doesn't base who gets licenses on its Nielsen ratings, or whether the station is the optimal use of spectrum. For Wayne State, the use of bandwidth is as worthwhile as any other station, including EMF's recent purchase of WPRZ. They have taken valuable spectrum space in the commercial band and will instead use it for non-commercial religious music. There are lots of better uses for that frequency as well, but how the frequency will be used didn't enter into the decision.

And as far as I can see, no station that receives CPB funding "wallows" in it. They qualify for the funding in the same way as any other government beneficiary. The Congress continues to provide the funding, regardless of the party in power, and the station provides the service that the law intended it to provide. You personally don't like it, but that's your personal opinion.

David,

I was aware streaming was trackable by PPM, just wan't sure of when they began use of it.

As usual, you are a wealth of useful information.

As I recall reading, many decades ago, WDET was donated to Wayne State by the UAW with a lifelong clause in the contractual agreement between the parties that the station always be maintained as a non-commercial station. (Would be interesting to see what recourse, if any, the UAW would have if Wayne State were to breach that agreement.)

I agree that WUOM is a far superior station. WUOM has a lousy signal across half of Metro Detroit, if not more. WDET has a great signal across most of the market.

So, here's my proposed solution - Wayne State should lease WDET's signal to WUOM so that it can be used to simulcast WUOM programming. Wayne State gets guaranteed cash flow. U-M doesn't have to fork over the cash to buy the station outright. If simulcasting on WDET isn't accretive to Michigan Radio from a cash flow standpoint, they can terminate the lease upon conclusion of its term.

MarkW said:

So, here's my proposed solution - Wayne State should lease WDET's signal to WUOM so that it can be used to simulcast WUOM programming.

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From what I can see in the financials, the operations of WDET are not costing Wayne State any money, so I don't see why they would do this. As we've discussed previously, WDET raises $4 million a year, half of it from its listeners, the other half from corporate donations.

MarkW said:

If simulcasting on WDET isn't accretive to Michigan Radio from a cash flow standpoint, they can terminate the lease upon conclusion of its term.

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The biggest negative I'd see to this idea is that WDET's mission (perhaps from the UAW donation) is to be the voice of Detroit, and to create content from the city and its people, rather than simply simulcast programming from Ann Arbor. I see WDET creates 60 hours a week of local programming. That's likely where a lot of the expense comes from. So certainly they could save a lot of operating expense by simulcasting, but it wouldn't serve the mission. Of course none of that has anything to do with the Nielsen ratings.

MW, If WDET could maintain sufficient original programming time to use to educate its students, that would be a fine idea. I think the station should also remain non-commercial. The ratings do indicate that they are making very poor programming choices that clearly aren't resonating with anyone. For a full power FM to perform as poorly as they are indicates mismanagement of a large degree. This is likely endemic with most stations on the CPB gravy train.