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September Ratings

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
Greg Buben
Posts: 131
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:52 am

September Ratings

Post by Greg Buben » Thu Oct 20, 2022 1:28 pm

The September ratings came out and just like before the non commercial Christian station WCSG was number one once
again and the most powerful FM station B-93 with the modern country hits was number two. I-Heart had both WOOD and
WSNX in the top five with WOOD at number three and WSNX at number five. Town Square had their active rock station WGRD
coming in fourth and they usually rank high as G.R.'s rock station. Only these top five stations got above a 5% share.
The number six station was WLAV which dropped from a 4.9% to a 4.4% share. I still think WLAV needs some classic rock
competition badly because a classic rock station without competition should have high ratings like WMMQ in Lansing. I do
think that without Tone The Fun Guy who they centered their station around there seems to be a decline in listenership.
I also think with that phony Steve Gorman who all Cumulus classic rock stations in the Midwest run during the weeknights
takes away from the "Live and Local" broadcasting that they claim to have. I believe that WLAV would be beatable if
somebody were to offer competition to WLAV.
The rest of the Cumulus chain were all bottom feeders with the biggest bottom feeder of them all "Blunder Country".
Grand Rapids has gone two years now without any format flips and if the Cumulus people weren't so insane and in de-
nial they would offer something different that people may want to listen to on the 50,000 watt FM.. I have offered ideas
that would be great for the market and for Cumulus but with so many stations the corporate headquarters just ignores
it as another piece of "property" a word the major broadcast companies love to throw around.
I realize it's the same old story each month with Cumulus and the disaster that they are with "Blunder Country" but
they can't even offer any improvements to their other stations on top of a declining WLAV. Perhaps Cumulus should
sell not only "Blunder Country" but all of their Grand Rapids "property". That new manager hasn't improved them in G.R.



ChrisWL1980
Posts: 813
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:36 am

Re: September Ratings

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Thu Oct 20, 2022 3:22 pm

https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb127

265,000-watt Star 105.7 at a 2.6, behind WFGR and WJQK. Is this their worst performance in a long time? Are listeners tired of hearing "Sexyback" and "Heat Waves" sped up as if they were listening to an '70s AM Top 40 station? None of the secular AC stations had a good monthly. When it comes to the AC market, it's basically WCSG and everyone else.



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MWmetalhead
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Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 11:23 am

Re: September Ratings

Post by MWmetalhead » Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:38 pm

I think that 2.6 is a couple tenths either side of the station's all time record low.

Bear in mind they were at a 3.6 just last month (all shares are based on trailing 3 month averages), so I'm not yet convinced this isn't simply a statistically flawed result.



format this
Posts: 204
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Location: Just stole Bill Murray's Budweiser at Wrigley
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Re: September Ratings

Post by format this » Thu Oct 20, 2022 10:38 pm

Greg, could you please include the link (as myself and others have) to the ratings when you post your anti-Cumulus rant? I have a sneaky suspicion you’re a former, disgruntled employee.


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Note to WGN... bring back Steve Cochran ASAP.

EDIT: Steve Cochran IS BACK AT WGN!!!

Jeff Cunningham
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2021 2:41 am

Re: September Ratings

Post by Jeff Cunningham » Fri Oct 21, 2022 1:19 am

Greg did (or still does - i have no idea) the blues show on WGVU-FM for over 25 years.
Nice try, though.



Feature/writer
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2022 9:11 am

Re: September Ratings

Post by Feature/writer » Fri Oct 21, 2022 7:11 am

105.7 will jump up in the ratings once they start Xmas music in early November...



originalzzmfmjock
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:37 pm
Location: west michigan

Re: September Ratings

Post by originalzzmfmjock » Fri Oct 21, 2022 9:32 am

I've known Greg for over 40 years and he has never worked for Cumulus. He's worked at WGVU for the past 25 years. When it comes to radio frequencies, call letters and station formats, he probably knows more about that kind of stuff than anyone I've ever met in the business.



Barry Sanders
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:28 pm

Re: September Ratings

Post by Barry Sanders » Fri Oct 21, 2022 10:27 am

If I’ve learned anything from Greg it’s that WBCT plays “modern country hits”. Great insight.



originalzzmfmjock
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:37 pm
Location: west michigan

Re: September Ratings

Post by originalzzmfmjock » Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:27 am

Barry, if you ever sat down and talked with Greg, you'd be amazed at his depth of knowledge about radio stations, what frequencies they are on and what format they currently play and their format/call letter histories. He has a great mind for those kind of details.



Greg Buben
Posts: 131
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:52 am

Re: September Ratings

Post by Greg Buben » Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:56 am

Somehow my post got cut to pieces even after I proofread it. What it cut out was that I made the point that only the
top five stations (WCSG, B-93, WOOD, WGRD, and WSNX ) did better than a 5% share. The rest of the stations and not
just the ones owned by Cumulus are all bottom feeders. No I'm not a former Cumulus employee but as I was saying that
WLAV coming in number six as a classic rock station without competition shouldn't be. WLAV should be ranked high with-
out competition like WMMQ in Lansing. I believe that WLAV needs classic rock competition and that they're beatable. I
know they say that they're "live and local" but the Steve Gorman show on weeknights and Little Stephens Underground
on Sunday nights clearly demonstrates they're not. Also without Tone The Fun Guy who they centered their station on
they are declining further.
As far as the bottom feeders in the chain go obviously "Blunder Country" should flip to something else as I always say.
If a station isn't popular it should flip to something else and perhaps Cumulus can change some of the others as well.
Grand Rapids has gone nearly two years since the last format change when I-Heart Radio flipped 101.3 FM from "The
Brew" to "The New Big 101.3 FM. Cumulus is keeping the radio market stale when they refuse to flip their bottom feeders.
If somebody wants to link the rating page to a post that's their choice and then you can see who needs to change.



Trophyhead
Posts: 391
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 6:36 am

Re: September Ratings

Post by Trophyhead » Fri Oct 21, 2022 2:00 pm

Knocking another poster for their method of presentation or use of helps is not likely to produce a "desired" change.

Many of us, Greg included, are like cans of Campbell's Soup. Open us up, you know what you're gonna get.



format this
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Location: Just stole Bill Murray's Budweiser at Wrigley
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Re: September Ratings

Post by format this » Fri Oct 21, 2022 2:29 pm

My apologies to Greg. It just seems like he has something against Cumulus.


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Note to WGN... bring back Steve Cochran ASAP.

EDIT: Steve Cochran IS BACK AT WGN!!!

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MWmetalhead
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Re: September Ratings

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Oct 22, 2022 7:48 am

My loose math suggests only ~67 percent of recorded listening belongs to the stations that were listed. Another ~4 percent probably belongs to WVGR, and probably ~10 percent belongs to the various LPFMs, translators, and non-comms that were unlisted.

So my question is this - what accounts for the remaining ~20 percent of listening logged by Nielsen diary keepers? Online streams? Sirius XM? Out of market signals? Some combination of all the above?



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MWmetalhead
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Re: September Ratings

Post by MWmetalhead » Sat Oct 22, 2022 7:54 am




jaywmi
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2022 8:37 am

Re: September Ratings

Post by jaywmi » Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:52 am

I just notice that "the Q" is continuing to slowly drift downwards. Is it time to liven it up, perhaps pivoting to regular alternative or active-leaning stuff? The presentation and formatics on that station continue to seem rather stale to me.



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