Atlanta Radio Ratings: May 2023

[pjc1961]

Covering the survey period from Thu. 4/27/2023 thru Wed. 5/24/2023, age 6+ overall:

Atlanta - RadioInsight

Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Atlanta (Market #7) Population: 5,153,500 Black: 1,844,400 – Hispanic: 595,000 Average Quarter Hour Share for Persons 6+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid All ratings are Copyright © 2005-2023 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen radio audience estimates and data...

radioinsight.com

or Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News

WNNX trends down to 2.8 trailing off from the high of 3.8 in February.
Rising are WAMJ, WUBL, WWWQ, WLKQ.
Falling are WSTR, WABE, WBZY.

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis will be available via AllAccess.com on Tue. 6/13/2023.

 

[101tm]

WNNX will end up in the low-mid 2’s most likely (which would be a point ahead of what the disaster known as Rock 100.5 did).

The CHR and country competition doesn’t seem like it will end anytime soon. While 101-Five and Q are ahead of their iheart competitors, Bull and Power aren’t necessarily failing. La Raza has pulled ahead (barely) of Z-105.7. I’m surprised 105.7 and 96.7 aren’t simulcasting again. Seems like normally when that simulcast is broken, after a year or two it’s always reunited. The only thing that’s ever going to work for 96.7 is simulcasting 105.7. It’s definitely not a signal for regional Mexican.

 

[CTListener]

Atlanta seems like the kind of market that really needs only one country station because of its large Black population, but instead has two stations duking it out in the middle of the pack. Does there come a point where one of these competitors blinks and tries another format (or goes classic country), or is there enough money in the Atlanta market for both ownership groups to be satisfied with whatever their station is billing?

 

[RadioDoogie]

Atlanta seems like the kind of market that really needs only one country station because of its large Black population, but instead has two stations duking it out in the middle of the pack. Does there come a point where one of these competitors blinks and tries another format (or goes classic country), or is there enough money in the Atlanta market for both ownership groups to be satisfied with whatever their station is billing?

Or…one of the competing CHRs goes Hot AC?

 

[upstate29651]

Or…one of the competing CHRs goes Hot AC?

There's more to Atlanta than blacks and gays.

This is Georgia. Country is BIG here. As for Hot AC, well, we all know what happened the last time that was tried here.

 

[101tm]

There's more to Atlanta than blacks and gays.

This is Georgia. Country is BIG here. As for Hot AC, well, we all know what happened the last time that was tried here.

I have to hand it to Cumulus. WKHX seemed to almost be on its death bed a couple of years ago, constantly being beaten by 94.9 - but a while after the 101-Five rebrand, it seems to have pulled ahead of The Bull. And country is a format iHeart knows, so Cumulus is obviously leveraging the heritage of country on WKHX to their benefit. Maybe the “Kicks” brand was tired.

Hot AC was tried, unofficially, in some way shape or form on Q, Star, and B in the late 2000s/early 2010s and after that on Star. It never got anywhere. With B98.5 being more modern than some Hot AC’s (many are actually digging back in to the 90s now, while B98.5 is almost entirely from the last 20 years), they are almost hot AC other than the spin count for currents. I think they fill the hot AC void in the market - much like Cox’s Magic 94.9 in Tampa does, with IHeart’s Mix 100.7 being the “true” AC.

 

[pjc1961]

Top 5+ demo rankings analysis for ages 25-54, 18-34 + 18-49:

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25-54: 1. WAMJ 2. WSRV 3. WVEE 4. WHTA 5. WSB-FM 6. WWWQ
18-34: 1. WSRV 2. WHTA 3. WVEE 4T. WSB-FM 4T. WWPW (up from #10) 6T. WALR 6T. WWWQ 11. WFSH (down from #4)
18-49: 1. WSRV 2. WAMJ 3. WHTA 4. WVEE 5. WSB-FM

 

[tragic1027]

For all the gays we supposedly have in Atlanta, I wonder if a station like KGAY Palm Springs would work. It's a little bit of what Star is doing but more emphasis on dance music than the R&B star plays to death. Star was playing more dance when they flipped then dropped it almost all overnight. KGAY plays the synth pop stuff too that Star ignores mostly now.

 

[BarryATL]

I am a gay man, so if any of this is politically incorrect, I will own it.

According to a 2022 UCLA study there are "about" 194,000 LGBT adults (study does not include the + folks) in the Atlanta MSA. The Atlanta gay population is a mature one. That means Atlanta has a lot of older gays because this was the only place in the south to go if you were gay in the 1970s, and 1980s.

As one of those "mature" gays, I am no longer interested in riding around in a thong with dance music blaring from the car radio. The point I am trying to make is Atlanta has one of the most "assimilated" gay communities in the country. For many years Atlanta had the most gay owned businesses of any MSA in the USA. The buying power and demos are there, but because of the assimilation into everyday life, there is not a big "bar" influence in the music as there is in other metro areas.

I am happy to stay home on Friday night, cook some fried chicken, and watch TV. When I am driving around I listen to books on tape (antiquated term) and the news at the top of the hour on WSB. Actually, I do not even tune in to WSB to listen to the news. I just say "Hey Google, play the news." With that command I get the first eight minutes of the top of the hour on WSB.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I am a gay man, so if any of this is politically incorrect, I will own it.

Good analysis. Here in the Palm Springs metro we have a smaller market of just under a half-million. As a vacation and relaxation destination, it was always an LGBTQ favored place. So now, we have a huge older and retired population as well as lots of visitors.

It's the visitors who make the various events so extremely popular, but the local community can be seen in the parades and parties, too. In other words, there is a certain "strength in numbers" that allows everyone to enjoy all the activities. So you hear lots of dance and disco, even in stores. But away from the clubs and hotels, we don't see non-stop party scenes.

What is nice is that the traditional retired couple that came to the area to play pickle ball and golf and learn line dancing has often made lots of friends in the LGBTQ community because the area has such a huge concentration of alternative lifestyles and most people have learned "that gays make pretty good friends".

Back to radio, and because this is known as a party town, there is room for a stereotypical "gay station" that will play Village People... but that station here also has a pretty wide music selection and some really entertaining on air personalities who who are also involved in everything going on and talk about a lot of the LGBTQ community events... everything from that pickle ball to a gay marching band.

It sounds like a community has to have a critical mass of the lifestyle for the whole market to be "out" and for the straight folks to become part of the LGBTQ events.

 

[jabba17]

Atlanta seems like the kind of market that really needs only one country station because of its large Black population, but instead has two stations duking it out in the middle of the pack. Does there come a point where one of these competitors blinks and tries another format (or goes classic country), or is there enough money in the Atlanta market for both ownership groups to be satisfied with whatever their station is billing?

Now this raises an interesting idea...

Would the rimshot stations (105.7, 105.3) be better alternatives for country, and free up an intown signal for something else? WCON 99.3 is already pitching itself to the NE suburbs, not unlike country WCHR-FM 105.7 did 30 years ago.

Of course, this would be a BIG gamble for iHeart and against conventional wisdom.

Now, as with any current-based format, the question has to be asked: is the problem with country the product coming out today? This has always been an off-and-on problem for current AOR, CHR, current alternative, current urban, etc.--I wouldn't expect country to be any different.

 

[CTListener]

Now this raises an interesting idea...

Would the rimshot stations (105.7, 105.3) be better alternatives for country, and free up an intown signal for something else? WCON 99.3 is already pitching itself to the NE suburbs, not unlike country WCHR-FM 105.7 did 30 years ago.

Of course, this would be a BIG gamble for iHeart and against conventional wisdom.

Now, as with any current-based format, the question has to be asked: is the problem with country the product coming out today? This has always been an off-and-on problem for current AOR, CHR, current alternative, current urban, etc.--I wouldn't expect country to be any different.

The current country product is doing very well. Country music has the same problem it's always had: little to no appeal to Black and first-generation Hispanic listeners and several ethnic minorities. But it has made gains in recent years through increased appeal to younger non-Hispanic whites while still retaining a decent portion of the upper segment of 25-54. It's also developed several big stars who sell lots of music and have potential to cross over to other radio formats, or already have. Those aren't the trends we see in rock, CHR and alternative.

 

[WCDukenfield]

I'm thinking 99X can last with a 3 share only if their personnel costs are very low. Which will be relatively boring in the long run.

 

[DavidEduardo]

The current country product is doing very well. Country music has the same problem it's always had: little to no appeal to Black and first-generation Hispanic listeners and several ethnic minorities.

Country generally takes multiple generations to have impact among Hispanics. The first generation is limited by not understanding the lyrics and not being "of the lifestyle" of country. But generally Hispanics in the next generation or two migrate to rhythmic formats like Rhythmic CHR and Urban or to pop based formats like mainstream CHR, Hot AC and AC.

Country does well with Hispanics in markets like Albuquerque, San Antonio, McAllen/Brownsville and the like where the Hispanics go back 8, 10 or more generations. But where most Hispanics are of much more recent generations, you don't see a lot of country interest.

 

[TheBigA]

Now, as with any current-based format, the question has to be asked: is the problem with country the product coming out today?

Depends on if you think there's a problem. Radio stations target specific demographics. So do advertisers. So playing music that targets demographics fits radio's business model. If record companies homogenize country music to broaden its appeal, there's no guarantee it would all get played, because it doesn't target the country demo.

I've seen similar comments about women & country music. The fact is that the country format is driven by women listeners. They want to hear from hunky men, not other women. So that's why there are more men in country radio. The opposite is true for rock radio.

As far as using rimshots to reach the country audience, iHeart can see very clearly where their listeners are. If they thought it would help The Bull to put it on a rimshot instead of a full signal FM, that's what they'd do.

 

[101tm]

I'm thinking 99X can last with a 3 share only if their personnel costs are very low. Which will be relatively boring in the long run.

I’m thinking a 3 share is generous. There’s still a bit of a novelty factor and sampling going on. I won’t be surprised if they end up adjusting the music or reducing some of the air talent costs if they go closer to Rock 100.5 ratings territory and stay there, although I don’t think it’ll ever do as badly as the dumpster fire known as Rock 100.5 did for much of its run.

Didn’t Alt 105.7/96.7 go out with around a 1 share?

 

[101tm]

I've seen similar comments about women & country music. The fact is that the country format is driven by women listeners. They want to hear from hunky men, not other women.

This was something I’ve been thinking about. I don’t know all of the current country artists, but some of the new stars that are blowing up everywhere are against the trend. I say this in the nicest way possible, but Jelly Roll and Luke Combs aren’t exactly fitting country’s “pretty boy” image that’s been prevalent over the past couple of decades on country radio.

 

[TheBigA]

I say this in the nicest way possible, but Jelly Roll and Luke Combs aren’t exactly fitting country’s “pretty boy” image that’s been prevalent over the past couple of decades on country radio.

Those are both cases of where the music overcomes appearance.

 

[CTListener]

Those are both cases of where the music overcomes appearance.

Shane Proffitt, who has already had a hit with "How It Oughta Be," and Dalton Dover, a graduate of "The Voice" now signed to one of the UMG labels and beginning to get a push, appear to be attempts by labels that don't have a Luke Combs of their own to synthesize one. Both are pushing 300 pounds and approach country music with a rough-edged, everyman attitude.

I think Nashville recognizes that there's a ceiling on the success of pretty-boy acts, especially when it comes to touring. No matter how many No. 1s that female-friendly "boyfriend country" acts like Dan + Shay, Old Dominion and Thomas Rhett may accumulate, they're never going to pack arenas unless their music can pull in male listeners as well.

 

[TheBigA]

Both are pushing 300 pounds and approach country music with a rough-edged, everyman attitude.

There's also a female version: Priscilla Block.