ITHACA/CORTLAND -- Stations owned by Saga Communications hold four of the top five spots in the latest public ratings data released by Arbitron. Leading the pack, Q-Country 103.7 (WQNY), posting more than a full-point gain since last spring, going from a 13.8 to a 14.9 among persons age 12+ in the Fall 2009 survey.
The latest number helps Q-Country maintain its clear lead over the rest of the market, but then things change. Sister station Lite Rock 97.3 (WYXL) rebounds from 4th place last spring (7.4) to 2nd place in the fall (10.6).
Last spring, ROI's CHR Hits 95.5 (WFIZ) and Saga rocker I-100 (WIII) were tied for second place; in the fall, CHR wins the battle, as WFIZ gains a little more than a point (8.5-9.6), while WIII slides down to a 6.4 and 4th place.
Among Saga's other properties, the two AM stations retain their rankings and ratings. News/Talk 870 WHCU held a 5.3 rating in the last two books, keeping 5th place. Progressive Talk 1470 WNYY stays flat in 8th place with a 2.1 rating. In fact, WNYY is tied for 8th place, with three other stations located in other markets (Elmira and Syracuse).
Cornell Radio Guild's WVBR-FM continues to climb, up nearly a point from last spring (3.2-4.3).
The usual reminder: the publicly-released numbers are a snapshot of the market's listening habits as a whole. These numbers do not necessarily reflect any particular station's performance within specific timeslots or specific target demographics.
See the entire Ithaca ratings breakdown on stationratings.com.
How can Saga not dominate when the own almost everything in the listening area? The ratings game is not valid. From what I have observed this company comes in and buys up all the competition so that they are the only big game in town. This is not impressive. I am disappointed in radio because its all the same now and most of it is controlled by computers anyway just like the other article on this website said.