Nielsen Audio has released Day 2 of its monthly four day sweep of ratings in PPM markets.
Today’s releases include Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Detroit, Phoenix, Minneapolis, San Diego, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Denver, Baltimore, and St. Louis.
All the numbers can be found at RadioInsight.com/Ratings.
Who exactly is still listening to radio as the COVID-19 pandemic continues? After the first two days of the April PPM numbers the remaining listenership shows a consistent line of certain demos remaining in the listening panel.
The most successful stations in the April monthly fit one (or more) of the following factors: older, male, and/or minority focused. With in-office listening completely eliminated right now, it takes a mass-appeal powerhouse like KESZ Phoenix to retain its market share right now. That leaves male focused stations (Classic Rock in most markets) surging as the loss of cume has been made up in high TSL for stations.
While Nielsen stated that 71% of all PPM listening was out-of-home in March, that dropped to 58% in April. People still in the workforce such as delivery drivers, warehouse employees and construction workers explain why male and minority heavy stations would still be high. The older and poorer are more likely to be relying on radio for entertainment as opposed to streaming or the multiple video streaming services even in home. That leaves Conservative Talk, Classic Rock, Adult R&B and Spanish language stations with a higher proportion of the smaller listener pool and office/retail/family in-car staples such as CHR, AC, and Classic Hits falling.
- Cumulus Conservative Talk 105.9 WMAL Washington DC has become the companion of many in the market. While jumping 7.8 to 10.0 and the market lead, it still is only 12th in cume showing how it is thriving on high TSL. Hubbard News 103.5 WTOP falls to third 8.2 to 7.7, and while its still the highest cumer in Washington, its audience is down nearly 40 percent since February.
- Like yesterday’s markets, Classical Music is one of the biggest winners thanks to high TSL. 90.9 WETA-FM Washington rises 4.7 to 6.3 for a fifth place showing in the market. 99.5 WCRB Boston is up 1.4 to 2.2. 98.1 KING-FM Seattle has trended 3.1 – 4.2 – 4.8. 99.5 KSJN Minneapolis is up 2.5 to 3.0 and 90.9 WRCJ Detroit rises 2.6 to 3.1.
- Many CHRs continue to tumble to record lows. Expert Chris Huff notes that in the 47 year history of “Y100” WHYI Miami, it has never been as low as its current 2.3 share. Rhythmic CHR “Power 96” WPOW Miami falls even further to a 1.9. “Channel 95.5” WKQI Detroit takes a massive 6.4 to 4.6 fall. “Hot 99.5” WIHT Washington slides 3.7 to 2.7. “95.7 The Party” KPTT Denver drops 3.5 to 2.2. “Channel 93.3” KHTS-FM San Diego is down 4.0 to 3.3. KDWB Minneapolis’ 3.5 share is its lowest since its ill-fated attempt at AOR in 1980 according to Huff.
- “Kiss 108” WXKS-FM Boston was one of the handful of CHR stations to rise with a 7.0 to 7.3 gain. WXKS-FM has the benefit of being one of the last mass appeal CHRs in the Country, boosted by a powerhouse morning show and the lack of major Adult R&B, Spanish, or Alternative formats in the market. Their rise did not help co-owned Rhythmic CHR “Jam’n 94.5” WJMN which fell 2.2 to 1.3 or competitor “103.3 Amp Radio” WODS with a 1.4 to 1.0 fall.
- Classic Rockers with big gains include 100.7 WZLX Boston with a 5.2 – 6.3 – 7.5 trend to the top of the Boston market, 94.7 KSHE expands its dominance of St. Louis with a 10.6 to 12.9 rise, “100.7 The Bay” WZBA Baltimore is up 5.2 to 5.9, while 92.5 KQRS Minneapolis is up 6.2 to 7.1.
- Among the Conservative Talkers having big gains: 680 WRKO Boston (3.8 to 5.3), “Freedom 93.7” 760 KDFD Denver (3.4 to 4.6), 760 WJR Detroit (2.9 to 4.8), the Phoenix duo of “News 92.3” KTAR-FM (4.6 to 6.1) and 550 KFYI (3.4 to 4.7).
- AC “99.9 KEZ” KESZ held on to its usual spot atop Phoenix with an 8.3 to 7.3 drop. However just to show how significant the cume audience drops have been across the country, KESZ lost just shy of half its regular audience since the February monthly as its cume fell from 1,223,300 to 637,500 in two months yet still had the highest in Phoenix.
- Indie Rock 90.3 KEXP Seattle jumps from a 1.0 to 2.2 share for what Huff notes is a station high, while AAA’s “89.3 The Current” KCMP Minneapolis (2.6 to 4.3) and 97.3 KBCO Denver (3.6 to 4.8) rose.
- Country had massive jumps in Denver as well as 98.5 KYGO was up 6.3 to 7.6, while “106.7 The Bull” KWBL rose 2.5 to 3.5.
- Public News/Talk 90.1 KCFR Denver has trended 5.3 – 6.3 – 7.8, while 89.5 KPBS-FM San Diego set a station record with its 6.9 to 8.5 gain.
- Spanish News/Talk is having its moment in Miami as “Actualidad 1040” WURN rises 2.4 to 4.1 and 710 WAQI is up 1.1 to 2.4.
- Soft AC 105.5 WDUV lost sole possession of the Tampa market lead for the first time since Holiday 2012 with a 9.4 to 6.6 drop. Christian AC “The Joy FM” 91.5 WCIE-FM/88.1 WJIS rose 6.1 to 6.6 to tie for the lead.
- Country “US 103.5” WFUS Tampa also rose significantly with a 4.1 to 5.6 gain although crosstown 99.5 WQYK dropped 3.9 to 3.7. Similarly in Phoenix, 102.5 KNIX rose 3.5 to 4.8, while 107.9 KMLE slid 2.6 to 2.1.
Theater of My Mind
Well it’s been coming for a long time. Year after year of radio targeting middle-age audiences and up while ignoring youth. Executives whose vision cannot extend past the next quarter, so single-mindedly obsessed with growing today’s most coveted advertising demo that there has been no room for investment in tomorrow’s.
The continuation of exhausting commercial breaks while looking away from the research showing how much listeners detest them. Continuing to sit in place doing the same old thing over and over again while Spotify and the rest rushed past, giving people what they really wanted.
Anyone could see how this would eventually come back to bite the industry leaders in the ass. It’s been crumbling for a while and now it has completely caved in on them.
Have fun growing your business now that you’ve locked in the AARP crowd for whatever is left of their nostalgic lives.