SYRACUSE and UTICA-ROME -- Eastlan Ratings just released their Fall 2010 audience estimates today. Those expecting major shakeups may be disappointed -- the top three stations in both Syracuse and Utica/Rome held their respective ground. But in both markets, you won't have to look any further than the top 5 to see changes.
Our thanks to Eastlan Ratings President/CEO Mike Gould for granting CNYRadio.com permission to republish 12+ ratings for both markets in their entirety. Keep reading for our recap of the findings, or click the links below to view the charts for yourself.
Despite losing a full ratings point, Clear Channel's Newsradio 570 WSYR remained the top dog in the market, with an 11.4 share during Eastlan's Fall 2010 survey period. Following closely is sister country station B104.7 (WBBS), remaining flat from the Spring 2010 book. Because Eastlan's ratings include non-commercial stations, the combo of NPR affiliate WRVO/Oswego and Syracuse repeater WRVD retain their 3rd place finish.
Next, things get interesting as the battle of the market's two CHR stations swap places yet again. A gain of just 0.4 points is enough to give Citadel's 93Q the advantage over Clear Channel's Hot 107.9 (WWHT) for now, but considering Q's lead is just a tenth of a point, it's quite likely we'll see these two continue leapfrogging each other.
Other notables: Clear Channel's Power 106.9 (WPHR) and Sportsradio 620 (WHEN) both had their best books out of the last four -- just in time for some major shuffling which resulted in the sports format being eliminated, so Power could move to AM 620, eventually leading to WSYR developing a news/talk simulcast on 570AM and 106.9FM.
Sirius 100, Howard Stern's channel on the satcaster, gets a 0.8 flat with the Spring book. Syracuse University student-run Z89 (WJPZ) checks in with a 0.7 rating, also consistent with previous surveys.
Among the market's newcomers from 2010, it looks like listeners are taking their time warming up to Galaxy's takeover of the market's ESPN Radio affilation back in March, with WTLA/WSGO posting a 0.9. Former ESPN Radio affiliate WSKO (formerly WNSS) improved slightly since the spring, but still finished with a 0.7. Just below, 105.9 The Big Talker (WXTL) pulls in a 0.6 -- double the spring book -- but not too different from the ratings the former Lite Rock 105.9 (WLTI) pulled a year earlier.
As alluded to earlier, no big changes at the top: Townsquare's 100,000-watt Big Frog 104 (WFRG) continues to dominate, with an 11.3 rating. Townsquare's Newsradio 950 WIBX keeps second place with a 9.6.
Beyond that, Galaxy classic rocker 96.9 WOUR (8.5) and Roser CHR Kiss-FM (8.4) gain enough steam to bump former 3rd-place finisher Lite 98.7 (WLZW) down to 5th place, finishing with a 7.1, compared to 8.3 in the spring book. But it's not too far off from the previous fall, when WLZW posted a 7.3.
Other notables: Arjuna's 92.7 The Drive (WXUR) takes a slight hit, going from 2.5 in the spring to 2.1 in the fall -- though we'll note that 2.1 is still the second best out of the past four books for the station that recently fired local morning host Bill Keeler to make way for the syndicated Bob & Tom Show starting next Monday.
Just like in Syracuse, Galaxy took over the ESPN Radio affiliation in this market as well, but in this case, sees some improvement as a result: with a 1.1, WTLB/WRNY see their highest book out of the past four. Meantime, former ESPN Radio affiliate WNRS, owned by Arjuna, doesn't even make the survey.
All ratings quoted in this article are copyright 2011 by Eastlan Ratings and may not be quoted or reproduced without prior written permission from Eastlan Ratings. CNYRadio.com has obtained such consent.
It should be noted that all ratings shown on CNYRadio.com are "Persons 12+, Monday through Sunday, 6am to 12midnight." This is an overall picture of each market's listening habits, not necessarily a reflection on any individual station's performance in reaching specific target demographics.
Next book will be interesting. How is an AM-FM simulcast recorded? Do they get added together as one, or if say 1/3 of the listeners to the AM switch to the FM, does it actually make a dent in the ratings of the AM station?
Citadel doesn't do much to promote it's stations that I've noticed.
It's amusing that WHEN still managed to be the best rated sports station in the market, and what that elimination does for the other guys will also be interesting to see.
Actually, it's somewhat amusing also in that WTLA's 0.9 is exactly what WNSS got in the spring book, when they still had ESPN. Guess Galaxy got what they wanted there. I keep forgetting they went to WSKO after that, but it's 1260 and I still think of it as WNDR anyways.