BOSTON RADIO UPDATE - DEC. 1, 2017
Clark Smidt www.broadcastideas.com 978.470.2120
It happened on schedule. November 17, 2017 began the most seismic change in Boston radio ownership, ever! CBS Radio is no more. Entercom CEO David Field crafted a 3D game of championship chess to satisfy Department of Justice requirements for FCC approval of the Entercom/CBS game changing radio merger.
In Top 10 Market Boston, iHeart became the highest rated cluster by exchanging their radio stations in Richmond VA and Chattanooga TN, for Entercom/CBS Boston’s iconic WBZ-AM “Newsradio 1030”, WZLX “Classic Rock” 100.7, WRKO Talk AM 680 and WKAF “Boston’s Rhythm & Blues” 97.7. Beasley holds second overall share position and traded WMJX “Magic” 106.7 plus $12 million for WBZ-FM “The Sports Hub” 98.5. CBS Market Manager Mark Hannon now directs the Entercom cluster; his predecessor was moved to Hartford. The dust is still settling with some staff positions but on-air, the shuffle has been seamless. Of Note: Many of these changes are now operating under an LMA - Local Marketing Agreement: one company agrees to operate another company’s station during the time between acceptance of the APA (Asset Purchase Agreement) and final closing. iHeart will sell AM 1430 to stay under the Boston ownership cap – maximum 8 stations, 5 FM/3 AM. Now, the latest rating trends:
BOSTON – Market #10 NOVEMBER, 2017. PPM Ratings & Commentary. 12+ population 4,280,100. 73 stations listed, 28 (38.4%) subscribe. Ethnic Composition: Spanish 10%, Black 7.8%. Terminology. Share: Audience listening percentage at any given time. Cume: Total Weekly Audience.
Survey Dates: October 12 – November 8, 2017. Nielsen Subscribers Only. Full Year Highs & Lows underlined.
6+ Cluster Shares
Jan’17 Feb Mar-- Apr May June_July Aug Sept Oct November 2017
1. CBS
21.6 21.2 21.8 21.5 22.4 20.2 19.0 20.8 21.9 22.2 1. iHeart 28.1
2. Beasley
25.3 23.7 24.6 24.3 25.4 24.6 24.4 23.6 23.8 21.0 2. Beasley 22.0
3. iHeart
10.6 10.0 10.2 10.5 10.6 11.9 13.0 12.3 13.3 12.9 3. Entercom 17.7
4. Entercom
11.2 11.0 10.5 10.7 10.9 11.6 10.1 10.5 10.8 12.1 4. WGBH 6.2
5. WGBH
6.8 7.0 7.0 6.0 6.1 6.9 5.5 5.7 5.7 5.8
September/October/November Rank - call letters/format/owner Trends & Local Color
1-1-1 WXKS-FM CHR iHeart 7.9-7.6-7.6. 3rd #1win in three years: #1 AM&PM Drives, Weekends and Cume 1.253 mil.
2-4-2 WROR-FM Classic Hits Beasley 7.1-5.6-6.0. Sustains lead over WZLX 1.8-0.5-1.1. Familiar music, great morning.
8-5-3 WBZ-FM Sports Beasley 4.4-5.4-5.7. #2 PM, #2 Weekends; Pats, Celtics & Bruins all live here for a Big season.
10-8-4 WBUR-FM News/Talk Boston Univ. 4.5-4.0-5.4. Class info & big outdoor campaign. #3 AM, #4 PM, #1 Nights.
3-3-5 WMJX-FM A/C Entercom. 6.3-5.8-5.3. Magic sliding. Heritage, #2 cume by 22k. Joins the WBMX & WODS cluster.
6-6-6 WBZ-AM News/Talk iHeart. 5.2-5.3-4.9. #2 AM Drive. Same sound on-air; 21 year PD Peter Casey graduates.
4-7-6 WZLX-FM Classic Rock iHeart. 5.3-5.1-4.9. #2 Midday. Boston Classics WZLX + WROR = 12.4-10.7-10.9. Big Factor.
7-9-8 WKLB-FM Country Beasley 4.6-4.4-4.6. Consistantly rides ahead of iHeart’s Bull 2.0-1.9-2.1. Big signal, solid staff.
4-2-9 WEEI-FM Sports Entercom 5.3-5.9-4.4. Sox end; drops from #2 to #9. 4th nights. Tough catching BZ/FM til spring.
9-10-10 WGBH-FM N/T WGBH Foundation 4.2-4.2-4.1 WGBH + WBUR make Hub Public Radio powerful: 8.9-8.2-8.-9.5.
The Boston Top 10 Share entry point holds 3.9-4.2-4.1-4.1. Except for #1 WXKS & #10 WGBH, the remaining 8 of the Top 10 changes. Big jumpers: Sports WBZ-FM & N/T WBUR. Dips from Adult Contemporary WMJX & Sports WEEI-FM. November share ups & downs remain consistent, Sept-Oct-Nov: 11-12-11 up, 12-12-11 down, 5-4-6 stay the same.
September/October/November Rank - call letters/format/owner Trends & Local Color
11-12-11 WBQT-FM Rhythmic A/C Beasley 3.9-3.5-3.4. Battles with similar positioning & presentations. Good sound.
12-11-12 WBMX-FM Hot A/C Entercom. 3.8-3.6-3.3. Slips. We’ll hear how ETM combines the Mix, Amp & Magic women.
13-13-13 WODS-FM CHR Entercom. 2.8-2.8-2.9. Where to go and how to do it could mean spinning the format wheel.
16-15-13 WRKO-AM Talk iHeart 2.0-2.5-2.9. Finally moving up. Much local & syndicated talk avails from WBZ & iHeart.
13-13-15 WJMN- FM Rhythmic CHR iHeart. 2.8-2.8-2.7. Last in the crowded, hit-ish format battle. Great signal helps.
18-20-15 WKAF-FM R&B iHeart. 1.7-1.6-2.7. Wow! Listenable & likeable shows what a 3kw new brand & playlist can do.
15-15-17 WBWL-FM Country iHeart 2.6-2.5-2.4. Riding behind WKLB 1.9-2.2. Total Boston Country moves 7.2-6.9-7.0.
21-20-18 WCRB-FM Classical WGBH Foundation. 1.5-1.6-2.1. Nice jump; hope it sticks. New conductor & musical score?
18-17-18 WXRV-FM Adult Alternative Northeast 1.7-2.1-2.1. Same share, cume gains 12.4%. Hmmm. More potential?
17-19-20 WBOS-FM Mod Rock Beasley 1.9-1.7-1.8. Cume holds at 1/2 million. Has signal to kick Boston, butt not yet.
Top 20 Highlights: Top 20 share cut off advances 1.5-1.7-1.6-1.8; again 3 ties at ranks #13, #15 & #18. Impressive 3kw WKAF ties Jammin’ and beats 4 local 50,000 watters. Remember, Radio turns on a dime without costing dollars. To be continued….
BOSTON NOVEMBER – THE THIRD TIER:
18-18-21 WAAF-FM Rock Entercom. 1.7-1.9-1.6. Can Mark Hannon magic apply the fix? Extended deterioration.
21-22-22 WXLO-FM Hot A/C Cumulus 1.5-1.3-1.2. Cumulus bankruptcy issues take precedence over low ratings.
24-24-23 WCTK-FM Country Hall Communications. 0.5-0.8-0.9. Holds 4th in Providence; #2 in New Bedford, 10.4.
23-23-24 WERS-FM Variety Emerson College 0.9-0.8-0.8. Use of creative students works better with pro guidance.
25-25-25 WBZ-FM Stream. Sports Beasley 0.4-0.4-0.5. Hub’s only stream adds to Sports Hub. HD = is a non-factor.
27-26-26 WUMB/WFPB/WBPR/WNEF Folk UMass Boston 0.1-0.3-0.4. Finally, in the right direction? Valuable UMass radio properties.
27-26-27 WWFX-FM Classic Hits Cumulus. 0.2-0.2-0.2. Ranks #5 Worcester with a 3.3 share. Cumulus needs imagination.
28-27-27 WEEI-AM Sports Entercom. 0.1-0.2-0.2. 50kw 850AM, former #1 always had great potential. Cume now 82k.
Boston Station Major Share Swings October-November, 2017:
Up: +1.1 Urban A/C WKAF; + 0.9 N/T WBUR; + 0.5 WCRB; + 0.4 Classic Hits WROR & Talk WRKO-AM
Down: - 1.3 Sports WEEI-FM; - 0.5 Adult Contemporary WMJX; - 0.4 News WBZ-AM; -0.3 Hot A/C WBMX & Rock WAAF
Leading Formats Shuffels: Hits, etc. holds first place, gaining 1.9. News/Talk gains 0.4, to keep #2 position. Classic Hits gains .8 and skips into 3rd place. Last month, Sports went from 5th to 3rd and now slips to 4th place dipping 1.2. Boston non-commercial FMs slide a substantial 3.1 to put them in 5th.
1. Hits/Hot A/C & Rhythmic 22.9-24.4-21.6-23.5 WXKS-FM, WBQT, WBMX, WODS, WJMN, WKAF, WXLO
2. News/Talk 16.0-15.5-16.5-16.9 WBUR, WBZ-AM, WGBH, WRKO-AM.
3. Classic Hits/Classic Rock 12.9-12.6-10.3-11.1 WROR, WZLX, WWFX
4. Sports 9.2-10.1-12.0-10.8 WBZ-FM, WEEI-FM, WBZ-FM Stream, WEEI-AM
5. Non-Commercial 10.5-10.7-11.4-8.3 WBUR, WGBH, WCRB, WERS, WUMB
Thoughts:
* The game has changed; may all boats rise!
* New mass appeal formats & new sponsor presentations will lead the charge for even greater radio.
* Local service, information, culture and connections are the secret sauce: no cost, just Local Boston Curation.
* Lots of November rank changes but only 5 of 28 subscribing stations (17.9%) show a +/- 0.5 or more share change.
* Use digital to deliver your excellent content. RADIO: THE ULTIMATE CONNECTOR.
* Please don’t drive & text, ‘cause that when radio listening is at its best!
Boston Radio Explained stimulates positive thought for Radio Service, Reach & Frequency.Fast response & great results.
All best wishes to the changed and changers as Boston Radio continues to excel, this Holiday Season.
CLARK SMIDT, (978) 470-2120. www.broadcastideas.com Boston Broadcast Management & Branding since 1970.
Senator Gordon Smith NAB CEO; Bob Pittman iHeart CEO; Hartley Adkins, iHeart SVP NYC, NAB & New York State Broadcasters Award Presentation