Birmingham Nielsen ratings - April '22

[passtheword]

Many stations remain about the same as the month before, with either a tenth of a share up or down. The three big winners this month were WBHK "98.7 KISS", WBHJ "95-7, JAMZ" and WZRR "Talk 99.5". The stations that didn't fare as well (and some of these were quite a surprise, actually)...WERC, WQEN "103.7, The Q", WBPT "106.9, The Eagle", WUHT "Hot 107.7", and WJOX-FM, which had one of its worst numbers (that I recall anyway) on the 94.5 frequency, coming in behind the "105.1 Hallelujah FM" translator and tying with WMJJ HD2 "104.1 The Beat". Of course, WPYA "Mix 97.3" is still floundering at the bottom as usual, but nothing new there...

Oh wait...are we still allowed to give our opinions here on the forum? I was just wondering...

Here are the rest of the ratings for April '22.

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[CTListener]

Opinions are fine, but be prepared to be told that what you're expressing opinions on is meaningless.

 

[tomservo]

Has there ever been any discussion as to why 97.3 just sits at the bottom all the time? I know it has been through quite a few formats at this point, but it seems like nothing has ever resonated with listeners.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Opinions are fine, but be prepared to be told that what you're expressing opinions on is meaningless.

Nobody says that the 12+ numbers from Nielsen are meaningless.

But we do clarify that the rankers are fun for listeners, as they can see how their favorite station is doing. A side benefit is that those numbers that get published on the web do a bit of promotion for OTA radio in general.

But for those of us in the business, we find no useful data in the public releases; they do not give data useful for sales or for management decisions. And when we object to excessive focus on those 12+ numbers is when they are the basis for suggestions that a station change format or make other decisive programming decisions.

 

[passtheword]

Well, initially, 97.3 was a class A which hindered the station quite a bit, IMO. Even after the upgrade to a class C2, it struggled and still does. 97.3 as WEZZ-FM did fairly well with the soft AC/soft oldies format (at least in the age 6+ numbers) and I recall "Easy 97.3" actually beating WMJJ one particular ratings period (of course, those were just the overall numbers and not the key demographics, which I suspect skewed much older). Once WEZZ went to the all-christmas fare for two months later than year, that was their undoing, I believe, and they were never able to gain back their audience after the normal programming returned the following January. As far as 97.3's current format...hot AC has never done well in Birmingham for whatever reason. I'm surprised that Summit Media has retained WPYA's hot AC format for over six years now.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Has there ever been any discussion as to why 97.3 just sits at the bottom all the time? I know it has been through quite a few formats at this point, but it seems like nothing has ever resonated with listeners.

Part of the issue is that, despite being up on the mountain, it is low power and it's 60 dbu only covers about 60% of the full radio metro. Keep in mind that the "inner" city areas tend to be more ethnic, and the format of that station is pretty non-ethnic.

Still, it does not cost much to run and it bills about $60 k a month so, combined with Summit's 4 out of the 5 top market billers and almost 50% of total market revenue, "that ain't bad".

(Spoken as a long-ago PD of WERC AM & FM)

 

[tomservo]

I remember the early days when it was a class A, it definitely struggled in the places that matter for the formats it's had, but as a C2, it seems to hold its own in Jefferson and Shelby Counties, and isn't that where the bulk of the advertising money comes in?

I recall, too, that "The X" was already on its way to being an influential alt rock station while it was still on Ruffner Mountain as a Class A on 105.9, so I don't think signal issues explain all of it. People will listen through the static if it's music they love. Or maybe that was true 20 years ago but not today, since Spotify and YouTube and all that have supplanted radio as the go-to for certain types of music.

Also, is it a case that AC hasn't done well in Birmingham, or just that people have always been happy with Magic 96 and never felt the need to run to the competition? They've had an incredible run with basically the same format since the mid-80's.

I do see the logic in Summit's other stations being such huge billers that it really doesn't matter what happens with 97.3… but with their dominance in urban and urban AC, it's a surprise it hasn't been flipped to a simulcast of WAGG or something similar just to put the spurs to iHeart's little translator empire.

 

[Greg Strickland]

Birmingham is a market where broadcasting has a commanding physical presence, with towers on a ridge overlooking downtown, and the area south of the ridge. Although in that area the mountains are a series of ridges, so there is always a valley that is shadowed. At one time Jacksonville FL had two tall towers right in downtown. That was part of the magic, the city, the people and those tall towers with more red lights than small town radio people had ever seen before.