Updated 4:40pm -- SYRACUSE -- Arbitron has released its Fall 2012 ratings for the Syracuse radio market. At first glance, it appears Clear Channel has captured four of the top five spots in the rankings, but then there's the disclaimer: Arbitron continues to omit non-subscribing stations from the data it releases to the general public. But that "filtered" view is a little clearer this time for Syracuse, with Cumulus Media recently restoring Arbitron subscriptions for its four-station cluster.
We've updated our Syracuse Arbitron Ratings page on CNYRadio.com with the latest numbers.
Leading the pack is perennial leader B104.7 (WBBS), holding steady with an 11.4. That gives the Clear Channel country station a lead of nearly three points over News/Talk 106.9 and 570 WSYR. The presidential election, Hurricane Sandy and other major events are likely factors in the AM/FM simulcast gaining more than two full points from summer to fall, giving it an 8.8 -- tied for its best performance out of the last several ratings periods.
Next on Arbitron's list is Cumulus CHR-formatted 93Q (WNTQ), appearing on the "public" chart for the first time in years. Arbitron's public report shows how the Cumulus stations did during the Fall 2012 survey period, as well as the previous four books. Despite slipping 9.0 - 8.1 - 7.5 over the latest three surveys, 93Q is still doing better than Clear Channel format competitor Hot 107.9 (WWHT), which posted a 6.5 in the latest book.
Rounding out the top five is Clear Channel heritage adult contemporary Y94 (WYYY), with a 6.1, three-tenths of a point lower than the summer number, but a slight increase compared to the same period one year ago.
From there, it's a few points to the 3.8 posted by Cumulus rocker 95X (WAQX), nearly a full point lower than the summer book, and just a little over a full point down from the station's 5.0 five-book high in the spring.
Clear Channel urban AC Power 620 (WHEN) checks in with a 3.1, its second-best showing out of the last several books, good enough to beat a handful of FM stations in the market. 
That includes Cumulus classic rocker 105.9 The Rebel (WXTL), though we'll note the format just turned a year old yesterday, and appears to steadily gaining ground (1.4 - 1.7 - 2.1 - 2.4) as time marches on. For comparison sake, that Fall 2012 number is double the audience the station had in Fall 2011, its last book as a talk-formatted station.
The Arbitron book wasn't very kind to the locally-owned WOLF Radio, Inc. group: the summer book provided a nice spike for New Country WOLF 105.1, but that number dropped by nearly half for the fall book, giving the station a 2.2. The picture is even bleaker for rythmic AC MOViN' 100.3/96.5 (WMVN), which falls from 2.2 - 1.4 - 0.7 over the past three books. Also in the zero-point-something territory: Cumulus sports talker The Score 1260 (WSKO), at 0.4.
Per Arbitron policy, non-subscribing stations are omitted from the "public" report. These include stations owned by Galaxy Communications, including modern rock K-Rock (WKRL/WKRH), classic rock TK99/105 (WKTW/WTKV) and ESPN Radio (WTLA/WSGO) and Leatherstocking Media Group stations including Classic Hits 92.1 (WSEN-FM), Oldies 1050 (WSEN-AM) and CNY Talk Radio (WFBL/WMCR-AM). While Arbitron does track listenership for these stations, the numbers are only provided directly to subscribing radio stations and advertising agencies.
And, the other usual reminder: the data describe above, and listed in chart form on our Syracuse Arbitron Ratings page only includes the "topline" data; an aggregate estimate of listenership among all persons age 12 and up, for all seven days of the week, between 6am and midnight. This data doesn't necessarily reflect any station's performance within specific target demographics or dayparts.
Editor's Note, added 4:40pm: Due to starting to write this story early this morning, prior to the first cup of coffee, your editor inadvertently mischaracterized the book-to-book change for 95X. The narrative said the station lost nearly two points, when it was actually closer to a single point. We also identified 5.0 as the result for summer, when it should have been spring. Our apologies for the confusion.
Looks like Cumulus finally found something that works for 105.9, but I wonder if it comes at the expense of 95X?