Ludington was briefly an Eastlan market!

[ftballfan]

Completely on accident, while browsing on worldradiohistory.com, I saw that Radio and Records magazine had a special edition that showed the top 10 rated stations in all the Nielsen markets and the Eastlan markets.

Ludington was one of the smallest markets served by Eastlan, with a population of around 60,000 (likely consisting of Lake, Manistee, and Mason counties) and was rated once a year in the fall for four years.

Fall 2004 (source: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-R ... all-04.pdf)
1. 103.5 WTCM
2. 102.7 WMOM
3. 101.5 WMTE
4. 91.1 WOLW
5. 94.1 WWKR
6. 1450 WKLA/1340 WMTE
7. 94.9 WKZC
8. 90.3 WBLV
9. 106.3 WKLA
10. 88.7 WIAA

Fall 2005 (source: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-R ... all-05.pdf)
1. 103.5 WTCM
2. 94.1 WWKR
3. 91.1 WOLW
4. 102.7 WMOM
5. 94.9 WKZC
6. 101.5 WMTE
7. 88.7 WIAA
8. 1450 WKLA/1340 WMTE
t9. 95.5 WJZJ
t9. 106.9 WMUS (this was before the Lodge came on)

Fall 2006 (note that the R&R special edition for spring 2007 isn't present, so these are the presence of the top 10 of fall 2007 in order of their fall 2006 rating)
1. 103.5 WTCM
2. 102.7 WMOM
3. 94.1 WWKR
4. 101.5 WMTE
5. 106.3 WKLA
6. 94.9 WKZC
7. 1450 WKLA/1340 WMTE
8. 97.7 WMLQ
9. 88.7 WIAA
10. 90.3 WBLV

Fall 2007 (source: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-R ... all-07.pdf)
1. 103.5 WTCM
2. 106.3 WKLA
3. 94.1 WWKR
4. 94.9 WKZC
5. 90.3 WBLV
6. 102.7 WMOM
7. 97.7 WMLQ
8. 1450 WKLA/1340 WMTE
9. 88.7 WIAA
10. 101.5 WMTE

Observations
No Wisconsin station ever cracking the top 10 (I thought WIXX, WAPL, or WLYD/WZBY would've snuck in, but including multiple noncoms may have kept one of them out)
WTCM usually had at least twice WKZC's share
The top three right now is likely the same (and in the same order) as in 2004, despite both WMOM and WMTE having periods of silence and ownership changes in the interim

[ftballfan]

I am surprised by the magnitude of WTCM-FM's dominance over WKZC.

Especially then! When I worked in Ludington, one of the janitors always had WKZC on, likely because the cheap radio she had couldn't get WTCM in the building that we worked in!

[hunterw]

Interesting how WJZJ (the zone) made it on the top 10 even though its signal does not even reach Ludington well. wonder if that had anything to do with WMOM becoming a hybrid Alternative rock/ top 40 hybrid. Sure miss listening to the old MOM radio. They were a great CHR station when growing up near Ludington, even though I enjoyed it better when it was full top 40. WKLA was MIX format/AC back then. almost all the local signals had better reach into Ludington and Manistee then they do now with only one station staying the same today, 94.9. Surprised not to see WCXT 105.3 (The Whip or the AC format) on the ratings,

[Scratchy45LP]

In the 1960's whenever we went to a Lake Michigan beach we listened to WOKY 920. They put a great signal between Ludington and Holland. Walking along the beach we'd hear WOKY on most radios.

[ChrisWL1980]

Interesting how WJZJ (the zone) made it on the top 10 even though its signal does not even reach Ludington well. wonder if that had anything to do with WMOM becoming a hybrid Alternative rock/ top 40 hybrid. Sure miss listening to the old MOM radio. They were a great CHR station when growing up near Ludington, even though I enjoyed it better when it was full top 40. WKLA was MIX format/AC back then. almost all the local signals had better reach into Ludington and Manistee then they do now with only one station staying the same today, 94.9. Surprised not to see WCXT 105.3 (The Whip or the AC format) on the ratings,

If my memory is correct, 2004 was around the time the station started making plans to move south and enter the Grand Rapids market. First they powered down from 100kw to 28kw, then they dropped the AC format for classic country, then they debuted Hot FM in conjunction with signing on from the Coopersville facilities and put the country on 92.5. The Whip was ancient history by then.