September 1, 2016
BOSTON RADIO
EXPLAINED – Clark Smidt
Nielsen Audio Ratings: August, 2016.
BOSTON. Market # 10.
12+ population 4,238,000. 62
stations listed, 45% (28) subscribe. Ethnic Comp: Spanish 10%, Black 7.4%.
* WEEI Hits Jimmy Fund
Home Run: Excellent presentation combines with NESN, Raises $3.5 million, this
week.
* Hub
Radio & TV waiting for shoes to drop:
Beasley to take over Greater Media Boston, Philly, Detroit & NJ * NBC leaves WHDH/7 What’s the new channel? * iHeart debt remains high * CBS prepares sell
all radio.
* Boomers becoming more
attractive to advertisers. Overdue wake up grabs low hanging fruit!
* Radio continues to have
the highest percentage of all audio reception.
Nielsen PPM Survey Dates: July 14-August 10. Subscribers
Only.
6+ Cluster Shares
December Holiday January February
March April May June July
August
1. Greater Media 25.1 31.6 23.3 24.1
25.9 26.2 26.1 27.2 26.2
26.5
2. CBS 22.9 20.6 24.8 23.4
22.7 23.0 22.5 20.6 21.4
20.8
3. iHeart 11.5 9.4 11.7 11.6
11.7 11.7
12.7 12.7 11.8 11.0
4. Entercom 10.8 9.7 10.4 9.3 9.4 9.8
10.7 10.3
9.4 10.0
5. WGBH Ed Found 4.3 4.8 5.1 6.2 5.9 5.0
4.8 4.4
5.0
5.2
6. WBUR Boston U. 4.4 4.1 4.4 4.7 5.1 4.0
3.4 3.6
4.0 4.1
June/July/August Rank -
call letters/format/owner - June/July/August share trend - July/Aug audience
cume change
1-1-1 WROR-FM Classic Hits Greater Media 8.3-8.6-8.4. #1 now 8 months; Tops
WZLX 4.6-4.6-4.2. Cume
-5%
2-2-2 WMJX-FM A/C Greater Media 7.5-6.9-6.3. #1 cume off 5.5%,1.38
million. Only A/C; Hub Top 3 Repeats.
3-3-3 WXKS-FM CHR iHeart 6.9-6.1-5.5 #2
Cume -2% at 1.27 million. 6 HotAC/Rhythmic/CHRs: 22.7-22.1-21.1.
5-5-4 WBZ-AM News/Talk CBS. 5.0-5.2-5.2 Cume
dips 4.6%. 6 Hub N/T station share total up: 13.5-14.7-15.4.
4-4-5 WEEI-FM Sports Entercom. 5.7-5.3-5.1. Cume -6.7%, over SportsHub
by 125-100-40k & 1.4-1.0-0.7 share.
6-6-6 WKLB-FM Country Greater Media. 4.6-4.4-4.7. Has Bull Run by 155-235k
+2% cume & 2.1-2.1-2.2 share.
7-7-7 WBZ-FM Sports CBS. 4.3-4.3-4.4. Hear
come the Pats! Cume +2.7%; Boston Sports Total slip 10.1-9.7-9.5.
9-8-8
WZLX-FM Classic Rock CBS. 3.7-4.0-4.2. Cume off 10.7%. Classics
Hits&Rock ROR&ZLX up 11.0-12.6-12.6.
9-8-9 WBUR-FM News/Talk Boston Univ. 3.6-4.0-4.1. Cume +14%. Share rising,
leading WGBH 1.0-0.6-0.8.
10-10-9
WBQT-FM Rhythmic A/C Greater Media. 3.8-3.8-4.1. Cume +1%, as lead on Jammin’ grows
0.7-0.5-1.2.
10-10-11
WODS-FM CHR CBS 3.9-4.1-3.5. “AMP” Cume down 6%, trails
“KISS” 3.1-2.0-2.0. Topped by WBQT
0.6.
11-12-11
WBMX-FM Hot A/C CBS 3.7-3.8-3.5.
Cume -1%. Close call: Similar CBS formats tied up in the crowd.
13-13-13 WGBH-FM News/Talk WGBH Found. 2.6-3.4-3.3. Cume
up 4.8%. 5 Boston non-comms add up 9.9-10.3.
14-14-14
WBOS-FM Greater Media Mod Rock. 3.0-2.5-3.0. Cume -1.3%. “Alt” now leads
“The River” 1.1-0.9-1.2.
16-13-15 WJMN-FM iHeart Rhythmic-CHR 3.1-3.3-2.9. Cume
+5.2%; slips back to Hub’s low share 50kw Hip Hop.
17-16-16
WRKO-AM Talk Entercom. 2.1-2.0-2.7.
Cume gains 4.8% with nice share lift. Credit Carr PM Drive.
16-17-17
WBWL-FM Country iHeart. 2.5-2.3-2.5. Cume up 6.4%,
something keeps the sound & signal in the 2’s.
17-18-18 WAAF-FM Rock Entercom. 2.4-2.0-2.1. Cume drops
8.5%. #2 Worcester dips 8.0-6.7; two good signals.
19-19-19 WCRB-FM Classical
WGBH Foundation. 1.8-1.6-1.9. Cume down 13.4%. Symphony sure needs a
tune up.
19-20-20 WXRV-FM Adult Alternative Northeast. 1.9-1.6-1.8.
Cume 2.3% mini gain. Big signal, missing potential.
22-21-21
WXLO-FM Hot A/C Cumulus. 1.3-1.1-1.6.
Cume +7.1%; #3 Worcester
4.6-5.4; needs more stand out.
22-21-22 WCTK-FM Country Hall Communications. 1.0-1.2-1.0.
#3 Providence 7.5-8.2; #2 New
Bedford 7.9-8.7.
23-23-23 WERS-FM Variety
Emerson College. 0.7-0.7-0.8. Cume down 9%, 187-170k. Great job by students.
24-24-24 WUMB/WFPB A-F/WBPR/WNEF
Folk UMass Boston 0.2-0.2-0.2; Cume -2.3%, now 34k; 5 good signals.
24-25-25 WKOX-AM
iHeart Talk. 0.2-0.1-0.1. Cume jumps 21.6% but only moves 31-37k.
Rush. Without the hurry.
25-25-25 WEEI-AM Sports
Entercom. 0.1-0.1-0.1. Cume dives 24%, 43-32k. Very big AM; very
small audience.
25-xx-xx
WWFX-FM Classic Hits Cumulus. 0.0-0.1-0.0.
Not much in Boston; #5 Worcester gains 2.5-3.4. -continued
Page 2 - September 1, 2016
BOSTON RADIO EXPLAINED - Clark Smidt
AUGUST, 2016 NIELSEN
RATINGS
Top 3
Boston Station Share Swings June-July-August 2016:
Up: + 0.7 News/Talk WGBH,
0.6 Talk WRKO-A, + 0.5 News/Talk WBUR & Classic Rock WZLX
Down: - 1.4 CHR WXKS, - 0.8
Adult Contemporary WMJX, - 0.6 Sports WEEI-FM.
Regional
Cluster Shares 12+
# 43
PROVIDENCE. July. Cumulus 25.2, iHeart 21.3, Hall 8.2, Entercom 2.6.
# 92
PORTLAND, ME. Spring. Townsquare 18.8, WBIN Media 15.2, Atlantic Coast
3.7.
# 95 SPRINGFIELD, MA. Spring Phase 1. iHeart
16.6, Cumulus 9.9.
# 116 WORCESTER. Spring. iHeart 13.9, Cumulus 10.4,
Entercom 10.1.
# 123 PORTSMOUTH, NH. Spring. Townsquare 13.8, iHeart 13.3, WBIN Media
2.1.
# 176 CONCORD-LAKES, NH. Spring. WBIN Media 14.0, Townsquare 1.4.
# 181 NEW BEDFORD. Spring. Townsquare 18.4, iHeart 11.4 ties Cumulus
11.4, Hall 8.7.
# 195 CAPE COD. Spring. iHeart 24.3, Cape Cod
Broadcasting 19.7, CodComm 12.1.
# 200 MANCHESTER, NH. Spring. Saga 21.7, iHeart 13.1, Townsquare 5.9.
Thoughts:
* New Moves, New
Season. Games Changers or the Same Old,
Same Old.
* Radio: The Champion Catalyst for Digital Platform Connection.
* Hot: Classic Hits, Sports, News/Talk. Not: Modern Rock, Rock, Alternative.
* Best Show Wins with Presentation,
Local Connection, Compelling Content & Curation.
* “Tryin’ to Reason with
Election Season.”
* Please make is a Safe Labor Day Weekend!
Increased Business with In-House
Resources. Boston Broadcast Management
since 1970.
