January Book Ratings, Big Wins For iHeart while Cumulus Limps

[GnashManDu]

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iHeart grabs 4 of the top 6 spots led by B93 and boosted by a strong Christmas bump for Star 105.7. A good time for the AE's at iHeart to lock in those buys moving forward. Will be interesting to see if Star avoids the post-Santa slump that is usual for them.

Christian WCSG is looking good as always, I'm sure the sponsors are very happy.

Cumulus barely cracks the top ten placing only a sliding LAV at #9. HTS, TNR, KLQ, & JRW are non-factors as the cluster still hasn't replaced their old OM. Wondering who will eventually fill that role? The longer they take to make a hire, the deeper this hole gets.

WGRD lands solidly in 3rd, but you have to wonder if that's enough for a station with a multi-million dollar morning show? Anyone know the AM numbers? Are FBHW propping up the station as they did in the past? WLHT looks like they might have seen a bump from Christmas fatigue to get them in the top ten while the River may have gotten a negligible bump from their flip this year.

[Greg Buben]

I was pleased to see the January ratings came out and again B-93 and WCSG were on top once again. Both of these
stations are run professionally and have loyal audiences. With WOOD coming in third it shows that I-Heart can do the
news/ talk format better than the other commercial radio companies in G.R. WOOD has been "The News Leader" before
and during I-Heart ownership and I believe that nobody will ever try to compete with them certainly not Cumulus nor
Town Square. Neither of those companies wouldn't be capable of trying to take on WOOD.
Town Square to their credit have maintained WGRD as a popular active rock station. WGRD in fourth place went down
slightly but they remain the most popular rock station in the market. As I said before they play the newest rock while
still playing the hippy era rock of The Doors. I might not always like what they play but nobody else in G.R has as broad
of mix of rock. It's no wonder they at WGRD make the top five stations every time. WGRD was the only Town Square sta-
tion in the top five.
Meanwhile I-Heart had their WSNX in fifth place and Star 105.7 FM in sixth place. This means that I-Heart had two
thirds of the top six stations. January had a good book for I-Heart and I believe as long as they have B-93, WOOD,
and WSNX in their cluster they will continue to dominate G.R. radio as a commercial radio company.

[MWmetalhead]

Roughly half of the survey period occurred when Christmas music listening was at its peak. Take most of the numbers with a generous grain of salt.

WLHT's good showing is noteworthy, however, as that normally would be one of the stations arguably most susceptible to hemorrhaging share to Star, CSG and TRV during the holiday season.

After a weak summer, 95.7 appears to be back on track. It will be interesting to see if 105.3's recent morning show changes help its cause vis-a-vis 95.7.

[handbanana]

WLHT's good showing is noteworthy, however, as that normally would be one of the stations arguably most susceptible to hemorrhaging share to Star, CSG and TRV during the holiday season.

My wife can not stand Christmas Music so we ended up with WLHT on quite a bit during December, I will say that the morning show sounded vastly improved from what I remembered. But she's since returned listening to Star.

[Greg Buben]

Although WLHT jumped up to 8th place with a 4.1% share I still think that they should drop that awful format. I don't have
a problem with them playing nothing before 2000 but I do have a problem with the music they do play from 2000 onward.
First of all the format is suppose to be "Hot A/C" but to me it sounds like Top 40?CHR that you would hear on WSNX only
without the rap crap. Secondly the call letters should change because it's not like they play Barry Mantilow anymore.
Thirdly they're the only commercial FM station that I think could give WLAV competition as a classic rock station because
of their 50,000 watts power.
Meanwhile WLAV needs competition badly. WLAV only got a 3.5% share and I don't think it's because most people in
the G.R. area hate classic rock. I still think that G.R. needs a classic rock FM that plays some deeper cuts and without the
out of town phony on weeknights who isn't live and local in G.R. The longer WLAV goes without competition the sooner
the classic rock format will die on G.R. commercial FM radio. G.R. needs a better classic rock FM with some better songs
on the playlist and the eliminations of some of the overplayed and very outdated hits that don't stand the test of time.
If nobody will give WLAV competition then perhaps WLAV should change their playlist themselves and only play the
classic rock that has some significance in the present. Without competition and without a revised playlist I really don't
think WLAV will jump back to the top five stations.
Another idea to give WLAV competition would be if I-Heart would flip "The Big 101.3 FM" to a simulcast with their
classic rock station in Muskegon WMRR-FM 101.7. I-Heart actually does alright with classic rock in the smaller market
of Muskegon and I-Heart could save money with the same programming on neighboring stations. That way if you're
traveling between the two markets it's just a small turn from 101.3 FM to 101.7 FM or the other way around coming from
Muskegon.

[wonderkid69]

WLAV.....wow just a share and 3/4 from automated stations. What was once one of the greatest stations in town is now a joke.

[MWmetalhead]

No Tony Gates. No Rob Brandt. Fewer big events. That's a good recipe to send listeners to the exits (or at least listen with lesser frequency than before).

I do expect LAV's numbers to improve once Christmas music effects wear off.

[craigrussell100]

"I still think that they should drop that awful format. I don't have a problem with them playing nothing before 2000 but I do have a problem with the music they do play from 2000 onward. First of all the format is suppose to be "Hot A/C" but to me it sounds like Top 40?CHR that you would hear on WSNX only without the rap crap. Secondly the call letters should change because it's not like they play Barry Mantilow anymore. Thirdly they're the only commercial FM station that I think could give WLAV competition as a classic rock station because of their 50,000 watts power."

Id hate to make assumptions...but 64 year old white guy from East Grand Rapids Greg? "Rap Crap"...wow...The Hot AC format is basically CHR lite...has been for about 15 years...step aside Grandpa...
Also--no one besides you cares about the call letter being "WLHT" besides you. They dont identify themselves on the air that way, and it gives TSQ a marketing opportunity if they ever decide to flip another station to a soft AC...they could just transfer those semi valuable call letters there. AND they arent EVER gonna go Classic Rock on 95.7... Give it up. They HAVE a classic rock station...GRD. I know, I know "thats not really classic rock, they are Active Rock." But are they? Are they really? Bet they do just fine 25-54 and 35-64...the same demo that LAV is going after...and by the looks of it, they are wiping the floor with them. LHT gets probably the second best female numbers in the group...behind GRD. No way will they change that.

And learn how to type. I was able to fix the little bit of your post I quoted in like 4 seconds. MW has asked you about that 10 times. Seriously.

[MWmetalhead]

Extremely well stated!

Not only would classic rock cannibalize WGRD, but it would also cannibalize WFGR. A viable move might be to take 98.7 full bore classic rock, but there certainly is ZERO reason to take 95.7 classic rock.

Townsquare also would be foolish not to have a female friendly format on one of its two biggest signals locally.

Greg, if you want to hear a Townsquare-owned classic rock station, listen to WRKR or WMMQ online. Other than maybe one or two cuts an hour from the early 90s, the playlists of both of those stations is similar to WLAV and even more similar to Muskegon's WMRR. That reminds me - when WLAV used to play a couple 90s cuts an hour, the ratings slumped. After WLAV pivoted to an older playlist a few years back, the ratings improved.

[Willie108]

Or listen to WQUS out of Lapeer. Another Townsquare station.

[teetoppz28]

I find myself streaming Z93 out of Saginaw using Apple Carplay over listening to WGRD lately...

[Realist]

I find myself streaming Z93 out of Saginaw using Apple Carplay over listening to WGRD lately...

I’m in Z93’s listening area and need a break occasionally from them at work - and can’t stream SXM online because my wife is at her employer. I’ve been listening to I-Rock 93.5 out of Davenport, IA lately. Hard, hard rock

[MWmetalhead]

I forgot about them! Glad to hear I-Rock is still kicking ass!

[Greg Buben]

WLHT did improve to a 4.!% share in the last ratings therefore I don't expect Town Square to give up their "Hot A/C" format.
What I'm still in favor of is somebody with a 50,000 watt commercial FM station competing against the declining WLAV. Now
under the system of three basic commercial radio companies in the market I probably won't be allowed to hear somebody
offering a good alternative classic rock station to go up against WLAV. If Town Square won't do it with WLHT then the only
other possibility would be if I-Heart flips 101.3 FM to classic rock. I do think that could be a possibility and it they were to
simulcast with WMRR-FM 101.7 in Muskegon they could save money for the company, they wouldn't have to start over with
a new staff, and would sound so much better than WLAV.

[The Painted Horse]

I do think that could be a possibility and it they were to
simulcast with WMRR-FM 101.7 in Muskegon they could save money for the company, they wouldn't have to start over with
a new staff, and would sound so much better than WLAV.

How does that save money?? Both of those stations already run on automation. They use local staff that absolutely don’t get paid a dime extra above the salary of their main job.. They are asked (told) to track these extra shifts with the promise of extra endorsement money that never materializes. Generally speaking, the only actual live shifts in GR are morning shows and MANY of them are at least partially tracked every morning.