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November PPM-Raleigh/Durham

R

RadioDaze

Raleigh/Durham - RadioInsight

  • WTKK '106-1 FM Talk' is at a record 9.9 share, marking the third month they've led the market. Perhaps the '22 midterms drove this rise, though they've not led the market like this in their 12-year talk incarnation before, which has spanned many significant elections. WUNC-FM closed in on them a bit this period.
  • Country formats WQDR and WNCB "B 93.9" both dropped after leveling a bit over the summer/early fall, WQDR falling nearly a whole share.
  • CHR competitors WDCG "G-105" and WPLW/WWPL "Pulse FM" both in the low 2's; Pulse actually improving from a 1.5 to a 2.0, while G-105 slid to a 2.3. Per RadioInsight.com, this is their lowest share since Spring 1977, which I think is around the time they shed their "Durham's Country Giant" format for rock and the "G-105" handle (looks like they went CHR in 1981).
  • For the second period in a row, WDCG 'G-105' is beaten by '95-3 The Beat', a signal fed by their HD-2 channel! "The Beat" garnered a 2.6 share on two translators (95.3 in Raleigh and 95.1 in Durham).
  • The "WRAL News Plus" format (WRAL-FM HD3 and translators 96.5 in Durham/99.3 in Raleigh) goes from a 0.1 to a 0.2 (they're airing some Duke sports as well as their TV News audio repeats. On the board, if barely.
  • The 'Buzz' sports format, which vacated these translators and remains on WDNC (AM 620) and WCLY (AM 1550-itself vacated by AAA '95-7 That Station') went from a 0.2 to a 0.4.
  • Looking specifically at the Curtis and iHeart clusters, it's amazing to see which stations are leading and which are bringing up the rear. I can recall when 'G-105' was the leader in the local iHeart stable while WQDR (and even WPTF prior to WTKK's 2010 debut), led Curtis. Of course, these are the 'horse race' numbers, but still interesting to monitor.
 
WDCG has had a bad few months. CHR is a tough format right now but this is really bad for them. I'm not sure what they can do to claw back except that I'd like to hear more live and local hosts instead of syndicated content.

Meanwhile, it's been a good year for WDCG-HD2! A 2.6 is slightly higher than what 95.3 got when they were stunting with Christmas music last year as "Christmas 95.3". They averaged around a 1.0 rating in the last few months of "Alt 95.3" so it looks like the format change is paying off for iHeart.
 
G105 has collapsed this year. There’s no other or better way to put it. How do they come back from this? The worse the station does, the lower billing will be which could prompt even more cuts. 96.9 is now just a stone’s throw from them.

Would putting The Beat on 105.1 be a bad idea? And return Alt to 95.3?

I used to think B93.9 was a joke, but now I’m not so sure. They’re doing better than G105 (when historically did 93.9 outperform 105.1?!) and have put the screws to QDR.
 
101tm said:
G105 has collapsed this year. There’s no other or better way to put it. How do they come back from this? The worse the station does, the lower billing will be which could prompt even more cuts. 96.9 is now just a stone’s throw from them.

Would putting The Beat on 105.1 be a bad idea? And return Alt to 95.3?

I used to think B93.9 was a joke, but now I’m not so sure. They’re doing better than G105 (when historically did 93.9 outperform 105.1?!) and have put the screws to QDR.
Click to expand...
It takes guts to program radio.
 
101tm said:
G105 has collapsed this year. There’s no other or better way to put it. How do they come back from this? The worse the station does, the lower billing will be which could prompt even more cuts. 96.9 is now just a stone’s throw from them.

Would putting The Beat on 105.1 be a bad idea? And return Alt to 95.3?

I used to think B93.9 was a joke, but now I’m not so sure. They’re doing better than G105 (when historically did 93.9 outperform 105.1?!) and have put the screws to QDR.
Click to expand...
Definitely not having the original Bob & The Show gram surely doesn’t help.

Also have y’all heard what Top 40 is playing these days?! Oh lawd. CHR sucks right now.

Other than that I can’t really explain this downfall of theirs. For one I don’t listen to Top 40 as I used to. I’m getting old and listening to Classic Hits/Oldies these days.
 
101tm said:
G105 has collapsed this year. There’s no other or better way to put it. How do they come back from this? The worse the station does, the lower billing will be which could prompt even more cuts. 96.9 is now just a stone’s throw from them.

Would putting The Beat on 105.1 be a bad idea? And return Alt to 95.3?

I used to think B93.9 was a joke, but now I’m not so sure. They’re doing better than G105 (when historically did 93.9 outperform 105.1?!) and have put the screws to QDR.
Click to expand...
Pulse FM was actually tied with G105 for a month or two last year. G105 has kept the lead since then but it goes to show that G105 is no longer the market leader like they used to be.

I don't think it would be worth it to sacrifice G105 for bringing back Alt 95.3 which would get lower ratings for sure. The Beat is working out well for them, though. But I think the best thing they can do it keep the frequencies as-is and maybe alter programming?

CHR's problem is that they are targeting the exact demographic that is getting their music from Spotify and Apple Music, not FM radio. I am not really sure what they can do to try to get that demo back.
 
I remember the good ol' days when WPTF had a 35 share, WKIX had a 30 share and all the other stations divided up what was left. Times were simple then.
 
"One size fits all markets" programming doesn't work everywhere. G105 was always Rock/Alternative/Hot AC leaning in their CHR mix.
Does that still fly considering the population migration to the market? Not sure. 18 minutes of spots an hour doesn't help.

It's iHeart and it's not a top 20 market. Don't expect much here.
 
radiofan86 said:
"One size fits all markets" programming doesn't work everywhere. G105 was always Rock/Alternative/Hot AC leaning in their CHR mix.
Does that still fly considering the population migration to the market? Not sure. 18 minutes of spots an hour doesn't help.

It's iHeart and it's not a top 20 market. Don't expect much here.
Click to expand...
Yes! I remember that. I'm 40 and remember the early or mid 90s when G105 would have an alternative show at night and played Nine Inch Nails. They were trying to play to CHR and Alternative. Had to be some connection with the early 99X days in Atlanta. I believe G105 had the same 'voice' as well for sweepers - Mr. Eubanks.
 
radiofan86 said:
"One size fits all markets" programming doesn't work everywhere. G105 was always Rock/Alternative/Hot AC leaning in their CHR mix.
Does that still fly considering the population migration to the market? Not sure. 18 minutes of spots an hour doesn't help.

It's iHeart and it's not a top 20 market. Don't expect much here.
Click to expand...
Actually it was WDNC-FM and played "Easy Listening" music, Duke sports. Later it was country WDCG (We're Durham's Country Giant.)
 
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