UTICA-ROME -- A few days after Eastlan Ratings released its Fall 2011 audience estimates for the Utica-Rome market, Arbitron has released its own report. There are some notable differences, but Arbitron has only released a portion of the rankings, so it's difficult to form a complete comparison between the findings of the two companies.
For the third time in a row, the "public" numbers released by Arbitron are "subscriber-only." That means the list only includes results for stations which subscribe to the ratings. According to Arbitron's website, Townsquare Media and Roser Communications are the only subscribers in the market. Ratings for non-subscribing stations -- including those owned by Galaxy, Arjuna and Flack -- do not appear on the public list, but are provided directly to subscribing stations and advertising agencies.
Arbitron's rankings begin the same as Eastlan, with Townsquare's Big Frog 104 (WFRG) and Lite 98.7 (WLZW) leading the pack. The country station posted a 13.5 share, with the AC station just less than a point behind, at 12.6.
The numbers drop from there, with Roser's Kiss-FM (WSKS/WSKU) simulcast earning a 7.4 share. Townsquare's remaining stations -- Oldiez 96.1 (WODZ) and news/talker 950 WIBX round out the top five, tying for 4th place, each with a 5.8 share.
Roser's two Bug Country stations, WBUG and WBGK, are listed separately for no apparent reason... but combined, they earned a 2.4 share. The remainder of the stations on the list posted less than 2 share points each. They include some out-of-market stations, as those stations' owners subscribe to Arbitron in their home markets.
Aside from Arbitron only listing subscriber stations, the company's survey period differs somewhat from Eastlan's survey. The two companies also employ different methodologies: in this market, Arbitron's ratings are based on written diaries of listening habits, while Eastlan's estimates are based on telephone interviews.
Having the Arbitron, I can shed a little bit of light without overstepping what I'm allowed too. I do feel that if anyone pays attention to the 12+ numbers this time around, it will not tell any truths. The 12+ numbers are so misleading this time around that individual men and women categories and age demos are necessary.
Yes, FROG and LITE are still powerful, but their stations and just about every other station traded some loses and gains in certain male and female age brackets. WODZ did OK, but in higher age brackets. These three Townsquare stations, along with other stations, seemed to perform well, or, not so well, with men OR women, not both.
I understand that Galaxy doesn't subscribe, but WOUR still did well in men, MIX was up some in females above age 35, KISS owns women 18-34. K-Rock struggled this time around, and really no growth at all for WXUR "The Drive" even with Bob & Tom in the morning. And News/Talk WIBX did not show much in the female category, even at higher age demos, but did some huge numbers in men, even younger men. Some might say a fluke? Next time will tell a better story.
Thanks for the additional insights!