MAY '17 BOSTON RADIO UPDATE - Clark Smidt, 6.13.2017

BOSTON – Market #10  MAY, 2018   RADIO RATINGS & COMMENTARY. 12+ population 4,280,100. 75 stations listed, 28 (37.3%) subscribe. Ethnic Composition:  Spanish 10%, Black 7.75%.   Only Subscribers are Listed.  6+ High & Low Months Underlined. Survey period April 26 - May 23.  AQH/Share = Average Listenership. Cume = Total Tune In. TSL = Time Spent Listening.

  May  June_ July   Aug   Sept   Oct   Nov   Dec   Hol ’17 Jan   Feb   Mar_ Apr_ May

1. iHeart                   

10.6   11.9   13.0  12.3    13.3   12.9   28.1   26.7   21.4    27.1   28.1   29.0   26.9   27.7

2. Beasley                 

25.4   24.6  24.4  23.6    23.8   21.0   22.0    27.5   20.6    23.6   22.1   21.2   20.5  21.2

3. Entercom             

10.9   11.6   10.1  10.5   10.8    12.1   17.7   20.9   24.3    17.9   17.4   16.8   18.9  17.8

4. WGBH Foundation  

6.1     6.9     5.5    5.7   5.7   5.8 6.2 6.6 6.1 6.1 6.4  6.3 6.1 5.6

March/April/May 2018 Rank - call letters/format/owner – Trends & Local Color

1-1-1  WXKS-FM CHR iHeart.  7.6-7.1-73. #1 share & #1 PM Drive + Weekends. Cume stays #2, 1.195 million up 2.8%.

4-2-2  WMJX-FM A/C Entercom. 6.0-6.2-6.3. #1 Cume 1.285 mil + 4.8%, leads KISS by 90,000. 2 Hub FMs in Million Club.

3-3-3  WROR-FM Classic Hits Beasley. 6.1-6.0-6.2. Great mornings, familiar, #3 Cume 955k +3.1%, Tops WZLX 1.3-1.0.

5-4-3  WBUR-FM News/Talk Boston Univ. 5.9-5.6-6.2. All Time High, #1 nights, #1 cume +8.4%, tops WGBH 57-144k.

6-6-5   WBZ-FM Sports Beasley. 5.6-5.2-5.9. #2 from 3p-mid. Cume +9.4%. Ties nighttime Sox on WEEI-FM. Big book.

2-5-6  WBZ-AM News/Talk iHeart. 6.4-5.5-5.3. #1 AM Drive. Exactly same cume at #10. Iconic AM keeps on tickin’.

7-7-7   WZLX-FM Classic Rock iHeart. 5.0-4.7-5.2. Cume +13%. WZLX + WROR = 11.1-10.7-11.4. Boston Classic Strong.

9-7-8  WGBH-FM N/T WGBH Foundation. 4.5-4.7-4.1. Falls 0.9-2.2 behind WBUR. Big Hub NPR share: 10.4-10.0-10.3.

10-9-9 WEEI-FM Sports Entercom. 3.4-4.4-4.0. Rare dip in Sox Season, #2 tie nite, #12 cume -3.7%. Sports 8.4-9.9-9.7.

7-10-9 WKLB-FM Country Beasley 5.0-4.2-4.0. Cume +2.8%. Bull behind 2.7-2.1-1.8. Hub Country AQH dips 8.1-6.3-6.2.

WBUR tied at #3, wins monthly prize again! Kiss, Magic, ROR remain strong, no dramatic changes, most cumes gain. Gap widens between WBUR & WGBH, also Sports Hub takes WEEI-FM by 1.9 and ties for #2 with Sox at night. This month, stations #2-6 are within 1.1. Boston’s Top 10 entry point since January: 4.6-4.1-3.4-4.2-4.0.       

BOSTON UPDATE: March/April/May 2018 Rank - call letters/format/owner – Trends & Local Color

11-11-11  WWBX-FM Hot A/C Entercom. 3.3-3.4-3.5. #5 cume +2.7%. Mix stays 2nd of 7 in overly crowded pop sound.

12-12-12  WBQT-FM Rhythmic A/C Beasley. 3.1-3.0-3.4. Cume 2.8%. Solid talent line-up but share still doubled by KISS.

16-14-13  WKAF-FM R&B iHeart. 2.2-2.6-3.0. Breaks a 3, cume gains another 12.5%. Still evolving with a strong story.

13-13-14  WRKO-AM Talk iHeart 3.0-2.7-2.4. Share slipping on a 13.8% cume gain. Can’t seem to make talk standout.

14-17-15  WJMN-FM Rhythmic CHR iHeart 2.4-2.2-2.3. Big brand & signal holding. When to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em?

16-18-16  WBWL-FM Country iHeart 2.2-2.1-2.2. It’s1.8 behind WKLB share, cume + 9.2%. Hub country star less bright.

15-15-17  WODS-FM CHR Entercom. 2.3-2.5-2.1. Cume +2.4% but might be a real ETM growth opportunity. Stay tuned.

16-18-18  WXRV-FM Adult Alternative Northeast. 2.2-2.1-2.0. River cume +9.2%. Big signal struggles for shares & TSL.

19-20-19  WBOS-FM Mod Rock Beasley. 1.8-1.8-1.9. Cume +9.7%. Just there, with great call letters & more potential. 21-16-20  WAAF-FM Rock Entercom. 1.7-2.3-1.8. Falls back. Cume -3.5%; does pending new PD include format adjust?

Top 20 Share cut off stays 1.7-1.8-1.8-1.8. Great signals, anyone can step up. Another notch gain from R&B WKAF. River & Bull break their #18 tie AAF is biggest loser. Boston’s Third Tier stays consistent. Bottom feeders remain same.

19-21-21  WCRB-FM Classical WGBH Foundation. 1.8-1.4-1.5. Cume +9.6% but serious audience doesn’t stick around.

22-22-22  WXLO-FM Hot A/C Cumulus. 1.6-1.2-1.2. Remains ordinary; Cumulus exits bankruptcy ahead of schedule.

23-23-23  WCTK-FM Country Hall Communications. 0.9-1.1-1.1. Still #4 Providence, #2 New Bedford. Solid operation.

23-24-24  WERS-FM Variety Emerson. 0.9-0.7-0.8. Strong signal; excellent student opportunity. 170-182k cume +7.2%.  

25-25-25  WUMB/WFPB/WBPR/WNEF Folk UMass Boston 0.6.0.6-0.5. Tiny dip, steady share. Good signals cover Hub.

26-26-26  WWFX-FM Classic Hits Cumulus. 0.2-0.3-0.3. #4 in Worcester. Small audience drops 8.3% cume, 49.3-45.2k.

27-28-27  WEEI-AM Sports Entercom. 0.1-0.1-0.1. Cume 46-28-28k. Consistent caboose. Surprised to hear it sit there.

26-xx-27   WXKS-AM Talk iHeart. 0.2-0.0-0.1.  A little traction for Rush & syndicated talk. Shows up with a 26.5k cume.

Boston Big Share Swings April-May 2018: 13 stations Up; 10 stations Down; 4 stations stay Flat; 3 ties.

Up:         + 0.6 News/Talk WBUR; + 0.5 Classic Rock WZLX; + 0.4 Urban A/C WKAF; + 0.4 Rhym/AC WBQT.

Down:   - 0.6 News/Talk WGBH; - 0.5 Rock WAAF; - 0.4 Sports WEEI-FM; - 0.4 CHR WODS.

Boston Format Totals:  Same Top 5 rankers. Sports falls out of double digits…in baseball season!

                                                          Jan   Feb  Mar Apr  May

1.      Hits/Hot A/C & Rhythmic    19.5-23.4-22.4-21.6-22.8      WXKS-FM, WWBX, WBQT, WKAF, WJMN, WODS, WXLO

2.      News/Talk                              17.9-17.8-20.0-18.5-18.1      WBUR, WBZ-AM, WGBH, WRKO-AM, WXKS-AM

3.      Non-Commercial                  12.7-  8.9- 13.7-13.0-13.1      WBUR, WGBH, WCRB, WERS, WUMB

4.      Classic Hits/Classic Rock    11.5-11.8-11.3-11.0-11.7      WROR, WZLX, WWFX

5.      Sports                                     12.6- 9.8- 8.7-10.0- 9.1        WBZ-FM, WEEI-FM, WEEI-AM

Boston JUNE PPM Survey Dates:  May 24-June 20, 2018.  Released: July 9. Area Spring Diary Survey: March 29-June 20.

Thoughts: 

Radio Listener Stats are compelling! Content & Presentation need to catch up to capture more listeners & advertisers.

NPR is big, as evidenced by WBUR at an all time high. 

Gap between radio relevance and young media buyers gets in the spotlight. 

Still no major format adjusts since the Great November 17, 2017 Boston Ownership Shuffle with iHeart, ETM & BBGI.

Summer will hear changes, innovation and radio connecting more platforms, more people, more ways, more often.

CLARK SMIDT, (978) 470-2120.  Broadcast Branding, Business Development & Media Strategies since 1968. www.broadcastideas.com [email protected]