BOSTON RADIO UPDATE 4.18.2020
CLARK SMIDT www.broadcastideas.com [email protected] 978 470 2120
Constant Contagious Concern Continues. Getting used to working on remote but miss visiting and in-person communication. I’ve been waiting for these monthly with great anticipation. How fast is radio reaction time? What formats do better than others.
As the RAB so aptly says, “It’s On!” Radio makes all the new speakers smart. And spiffs up the older ones, too. Having grown up on WNEW-AM, WHN and WOR New York, I remain under the impression Full-Service Radio will enjoy new success. It demands live people, shares information, connects on the shiny new gadgets and will embrace a fresh curation of wonderful, familiar music from all genres. Welcome the renaissance: Radio 100.
Here’s The Boston Radio Update, presented more or less as a public service for Market #10. 6+ population holds at 4,376,900. 80 signals listed this month with 38 (47.5%) subscribers showing numbers. Ethnic Comp: Hispanic 12%, Black 8.15%. The March numbers are from Feb 27-Mar 25. The April survey is March 26-April 22, hopefully including the contagious peak. Spring Diaries for the smaller New England markets are in circulation March 26-June 17. AQH=Average Listenership. Cume=Total Tune In. TSL=Time Spent Listening. Decreased Cume and Increased Shares equate to longer listening by smaller audiences. In March Boston, only 6 of 38 stations showed cume increase.
BOSTON CLUSTER TOTAL SHARES - High & Low Months Underlined. A new high for iHeart, leading Beasley by 9.1. A new low for Entercom (without WAAF), trailing the leader by 14.1, from February’s 13.8. Non-Comm N/T FMs WBUR & WGBH move up respectively from a #12 tie to #10 at 3.7 and #11 at 3.6.
Aug19 Sept Oct Nov Dec Hol Jan20 Feb March
1. iHeart 31.4 31.6 30.5 28.5 29.4 28.6 31.0 30.6 33.0
2. Beasley 22.2 24.0 25.1 25.6 23.6 21.7 24.6 24.1 23.9
3. Entercom 16.5 15.8 15.4 17.5 18.8 24.4 16.3 16.8 13.9
BOSTON FORMAT BATTLES:
February March
News/Talk 16.1 18.4 WBZ-A 6.4, WRKO-A 3.8, WBUR 3.7, WGBH 3.6, WXKS-A 0.6, WRCA 0.3
Classic Hits/Rock 17.3 17.3 WROR 7.0, WZLX 6.3, WBOS 3.9, WWFX 0.1
Hot A/C, Rym&CHR 16.4 16.6 WXKS 7.0, WWBX 3.2 WBQT 2.7, WXLO 1.8, WKAF 1.6, WSNE 0.3
Non-Commercial 9.5 10.4 WBUR 3.7, WGBH 3.6, WCRB 1.4, WERS 1.4, WGBHHD2 0.2, WUMB 0.1
Sports 9.3 9.5 WBZ-FM 5.8, WEEI-FM 3.2, WEEI/F Stream 0.3, WVEI/F 0.1, WEEI-A 0.1
Country 7.6 7.4 WKLB 4.2, WBWL 2.3, WCTK 0.9
A/C 6.7 6.2 WMJX 5.6, WSRS 0.6
Rock/Alternative 4.6 4.2 WXRV 3.2, WHJY 0.7, WHEB 0.2, WGIR 1.0
Jan/Feb/Mar‘20 Share/Cume Rank – calls/format/owner, Jan/Feb/Mar share trends, color & March ’19 Rank/Share
1/3-1/3-1/3 WROR-FM Classic Hits Beasley 8.1-8.3-7.0. #1 tie, super familiar, no competition & slipped. YrAgo: #1 7.8.
2/2-2/2-1/1 WXKS-FM CHR iHeart 6.7-6.9-7.0. Top cume 967k; Indestructible Hit Radio Powerhouse. YrAgo: #2 at 7.3.
3/5-4/9-3/5 WBZ-AM News/Talk iHeart 6.2-5.6-6.4. Highest in 2 years. “Go To” for news. Cume +11.2%. YrAgo: #6, 5.0
5/4-6/4-4/4 WZLX-FM Classic Rock iHeart 5.7-5.2-6.3. Big jump; spoils from WAAF exit. 0.7 behind ROR. YrAgo: #5, 6.0.
4/5-5/8-5/9 WBZ-FM Sports Beasley 5.8-5.4-5.8. Really good for no live sports. Tops EEI/F by 1.9-2.4. YrAgo #3 tie, 6.4.
5/1-3/1-6/2 WMJX-FM A/C Entercom 5.7-6.2-5.6. Still #2 Cume at 901k, down 17.7%. Bad slip. YrAgo: #3 tie at a 6.4.
8/7-7/6-7/7 WKLB-FM Country Beasley 4.1-4.3-4.2. Hangin’ in the saddle; leading the Bull 1.7-2.0-1.9. YrAgo: #7, at 4.2.
9/11-9/10-8/8 WBOS-FM Classic Rock Beasley. 3.6-3.6-3.9. Somethin’s clickin’. Alt change worked. Yr.Ago: #12 and 2.8.
10/20-8/21-9/18 WRKO-AM Talk iHeart 3.5-3.8-3.8. More Boston talk; cume up 6.6% from Feb. YrAgo: #14 with a 2.4.
12/14-12/16-10/11 WBUR-FM News/Talk Boston U. 3.3-2.9-3.6. Much needed, timely lift. Cume +4.4%. YrAgo: #8, 4.1
Boston’s Top 10 entry share goes 3.5-3.6. Top 20 share retreats from Jan/Feb 1.7-1.9 to a March #20 tie at 1.4. Every Top 20 Boston station can add audience & income; signals go from worst to first and back with Christmas and Corona Virus as examples. Radio continues to connect and serve better than 9 in 10 persons. When station brands stay fresh and built to last, they win. With recent changes only from WBOS and WAAF (RIP), more signals are ripe for change.
Jan/Feb/Mar‘20 Share/Cume Rank – calls/format/owner, Jan/Feb/Mar share trends, color & March ’19 Rank/Share
13/17-12/17-11/17 WGBH-FM News/Talk WGBH Foundation. 3.0-2.9-3.6. Also benefits from C-19 talk. YrAgo: #18, 2.2.
7/12-10/14-12/16 WEEI-FM Sports Entercom 4.2-3.5-3.2. Tough position; nobody on base. Good luck. YrAgo: #11, 3.2
11/ 9-11/7-12/6 WWBX-FM Hot A/C Entercom. 3.4-3.1-3.2. Holds on, hangs in with big cume. YrAgo: #10 at 3.8 share.
13/1312/12-12/14 WXRV-FM Adult Alternative Northeast. 3.0-2.9-3.2. Nice share lift, cume -6%. Yr Ago: #16 with a 2.3.
15/8-15/5-15/10 WBQT-FM Rhythm A/C Beasley. 2.8-2.5-2.7. Share up, cume -16.5%. KISS leads 4.4-4.3. YrAgo #9, 4.0
16/16-16/16-16/15 WBWL-FM Country iHeart 2.4-2.3-2.3. Bull behind WKLB 2.0-1.9. Country holds.. YrAgo: #20 tie, 1.9.
17/10-18/11-17/12 WJMN-FM Rhythmic CHR iHeart 2.3-2.0-2.2. Share gain, cume down 15.7%. YrAgo: #16, 2.3 share.
18/15-17/15-18/17 WXLO-FM Hot A/C Cumulus 1.9-2.1-1.8. #2 Worcester 4.6; XLO tops CRB & ODS. YrAgo: #20 tie, 1.9.
22/18-22/19-19/19 WKAF-FM Hot A/C iHeart 1.4-1.4-1.6. Slight recovery but not as good as KAF start. YrAgo: #13, 2.6.
19/19-19/20-20/20 WCRB-FM Classical WGBH Foundation 1.8-1.9-1.4. Ouch! Bad. Roll Over Beethoven. YrAgo: #22, 1.4
20/12-19/12-20/13 WODS-FM CHR Entercom 1.7-1.9-1.4. OMG! How low can it go? Signal was once #1. YrAgo: #14, 2.4
23/24-23/24-20/23 WERS-FM Variety Emerson 1.1-1.2-1.4. Look who Emerson College tied with! YrAgo: #24 with an 0.9
The March 2020, Boston 3rd tier radio ratings includes another share drop from FMs in adjacent markets Providence, Worcester, Cape Cod & New Hampshire, 7.4-6.3-5.7. Boston’s total stream share moves up to an 0.3 from solo entry WEEI; total stream 0.6 last October. The one Boston HD-2 WGBH Classical holds at 0.2. Streaming & HD not factors, yet.
Jan/Feb/Mar‘20 Share/Cume Rank – calls/format/owner, Jan/Feb/Mar share trends, color & March ’19 Rank/Share
25/23-26/23-23/22 WGIR-FM Rock iHeart 0.7-0.7-1.0. Manchester NH Fall #1, 7.7. Boston cume 163k. YrAgo: #25, 0.8.
21/26-24/28-24/25 WCTK-FM Country Hall Comm 1.5-1.0-0.9. #2 tie Providence, strong on south shore. YrAgo: #23, 1.1
25/27-25/26-25/24 WHJY-FM Rock iHeart 0.7-0.8-0.7. #1 Feb Providence 10.2. Boston cume 118k. YrAgo: #27 tie, 0.4.
28/29-26/30-26/27 WXKS-AM News/Talk iHeart 0.5-0.7-0.6. Rush/syndicated talk hold. 58k cume. Yr.Ago: #27 tie, 0.4.
27/22-28/25-26/21 WSRS-FM A/C iHeart 0.6-0.5-0.6. #1 Worcester Fall 11.0. Boston cume 157-172k. YrAo: #26, 0.5
29/25-29/27-28/26 WSNE-FM Hot A/C iHeart 0.3-0.4-0.3. #5 Providence. Boston cume 128-94k. YrAgo #29 at an 0.3.
31/35-31/31-28/29 WRCA-AM Business News Beasley. 0.2-0.2-0.3. Bloomberg Biz gets noticed. Cume 52-48k. YrAgo: 0.
35/33-37/37-28/39 WEEI-FM Stream Sports Entercom 0.1-0.1-0.3. Only stream to show. 23-24k cume. YrAgo: #34, 0.1.
29/28-30/29-31/28 WHEB-FM Rock iHeart 0.3-0.3-0.2. #1 Portsmouth NH Fall 7.9. Boston cume 79-53k. YrAgo #30, 0.2.
35/37-31/38-31/37 WGBH-HD2 Classical WGBH Foundation 0.1-0.2-0.2. The only HD to show. 16-13k cume. YrAgo: Zip.
31/36-31/34-33/36 WKOX-AM Spanish Hits 0.2-0.2-0.1. Aloha Station Trust (still 4 Sale) 28-27k cume. YrAgo: #30, 0.2.
31/31-31/32-33/30 WUMB/WFPB/WBPR/WNEF Folk UMass. 0.2-0.2-0.1 Time 2 B better. 41-30k cume. YrAgo: #30, 0.2
31/30-31/33-33/32 WWFX-FM Classic Hits Cumulus 0.2-0.2-0.1. #3 Worcester Fall 4.0. 37-25k cume. YrAgo: #30 at 0.2.
35/34-31/35-33/35 WVEI-FM Sports Entercom 0.1-0.2-0.1. #8 Providence. WEEI-A/F+stream+WVEI = 3.7 vs. WBZ/F 5.8.
35/37-37/33-33/34 WEEI-AM Sports Entercom. 0.1-0.1-0.1. Big 50kw signal, small 22k cume & share. YrAgo: #34 at 0.1.
xx/xx-37/39-38/38 WCAI/WNAN/WZAI News/Talk WGBH Foundation. ‘GBH Cape & Islands repeater FMs. Cume 5700.
23/21-21/22-xx/xx WBZU-FM Christian - Entercom pending transfer to EMF 1.1-1.7-0.0. Now a big signal no show. Sad.
The current virus affects everyone and proves the great importance of radio broadcasting. In Greater Boston, the on-air professionals from radio & TV are outstanding. The extra effort for essential service is excellent.
The toughest obstacle is business. Owners of the biggest and smallest companies need to keep the lights on. Forgive me for being old fashioned but the mandate of FCC broadcast license obligations to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity are directed to live broadcasts. By the time we find or hear a podcast, it could be too late. “Right Now” is essential for Radio Service to be Live & Local. I’d invest in On-Air vs. tape.
Radio at 100 is ever-present with one-to-one communication during these extraordinary times. Radio’s spoken word, information and unforgettable music doesn’t necessarily add operating cost. Basics are in demand. Do it.
Please licensees, encourage radio’s great attributes and people needed to deliver outstanding performance.
The winning combination: News you can use, expert content curation and excellence in Broadcast Presentation. Radio has not and will never be cancelled. Radio’s on and so are we to get through this together.
CLARK SMIDT, Broadcast Advisor Andover MA. (978) 470-2120
Working Remotely with Broadcast Branding, Presentation and Playlist Review
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