WSYR 570 Continues Climb in Syracuse Ratings

SYRACUSE -- Many wondered how Rush Limbaugh's death earlier this year might impact talk radio. But it doesn't seem to be an issue for Newsradio 570 & 106.9 WSYR. For the second Nielsen ratings report in a row, the iHeart news/talker has bested its sister station, former longtime market leader, B104.7 (WBBS).

WSYR's numbers have steadily increased over the past few months, even after replacing reruns of Limbaugh with "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show." In Nielsen's latest report, showing listener trends from April through June, WSYR posted an 8.5 share. That's up from 8.0 for March through May, and a 7.9 for February through April.

The continually-rated Syracuse market numbers are released monthly, based on a rolling average of the 3 months prior to the data being released. The data for Apr-Jun 2021 was just released this week. But as always, bear in mind the following:

• Nielsen only releases "top line" ratings to the public. The ratings are an overall average of all listeners ages 12 and up, over the entire week from 6am to midnight. These numbers do not necessarily reflect how well a particular station does in any particular daypart, or within any particular "target" demographic.
• Nielsen only releases top-line ratings for stations that hold a paid subscription to its full ratings report. In the Utica-Rome market, notable nonsubscribers include Galaxy Media's cluster (K-Rock, ESPN Radio, TK 99/105, etc.). Paying subscribers can see how these stations performed, but the general public cannot.

B104.7's country programming earned an 8.1 share in the new report. That's an increase from the previous report's 7.2 and ties with the 8.1 it has two months ago. That 8.1 was good enough to lead the market two months ago, but falls just shy of WSYR's performance this time around.

Listed third is local owner Craig Fox's 95.3 / 103.9 The Dinosaur (WSEN). The classic hits station's 6.6 share continues the upward climb it has enjoyed over the past three reports. That's good enough to beat Cumulus top 40 WNTQ -- where some of The Dinosaur's current jocks worked decades ago -- and iHeart-owned AC fixture Y94 (WYYY), both posting shares in the 5's.

SUNY Oswego's NPR news/talk affiliate WRVO is next, with a 4.6 share... or a 4.8 if you want to add the 0.2 contributed by WRVN, the Syracuse-based simulcast that Nielsen lists separately for some reason.

Craig Fox's New Country 92.1 (WOLF-FM) comes next, with it's 3.9 share just enough to beat music competitors including iHeart top 40 Hot 107.9 (WWHT), Cumulus rocker 95X (WAQX) and iHeart urban AC Power 620 (WHEN).

Syracuse University's NPR affiliate, WAER 88.3, garnered a 2.5 share, while student-run top-40 Z89 (WJPZ) mustered only two-tenths of a point, continuing a downward trend over the past 3 books.