Ratings roundup

Thought I'd check around at some of the ratings sites, just to see how some of the new Air America affiliates are doing. Some of this is old news, but I'm just catching up and filling in some gaps on this brand new site.

I wasn't able to get complete information, as far as demographic breakdowns, and some markets are embargoed (ratings reports not made publically available). I was able to get a little info on 12+ seasonal ratings and mid-book trend reports. Per Arbitron rules, I can't post specific ratings info, but they're pretty easy to find on some of the radio trade sites (Radio and Records, for one). Keep in mind that it will be some time before many of their affiliates start to show in the ratings, but the ratings reports that start to come out next week will give an interesting indication as to how AAR is doing.

Here goes:

Portland, OR - We all know about this one. HUGE ratings success story.

Honolulu - KUMU received a ratings spike when they first picked up AAR programming. They do not carry the format full-time, as of yet. Ratings are stabilizing, just under the line.

Miami - WINZ's ratings are starting to rise slightly, but the station is still pretty young. A work in progress.

Columbus - WTPG is rising slightly in the ratings, just about to hit a full digit.

Denver - KKZN is rising slightly.

New York - WLIB has experienced little change. Ratings have been pretty stable since the station signed on. Ratings are up significantly in the neighboring Long Island (market #18) and Westchester (#60) markets. The station has shown up in the central New Jersey (#36) ratings for the first time. So far, so good.

San Diego - Ratings for KLSD are fairly decent. Dropped slightly overall from the previous adult standards format (to be expected), but it is a format that is more attractive to advertisers. So far, the ratings are decent here.

Philadelphia - WHAT's ratings are moving upward, though they only run the format part time. They also run black-oriented talk shows.

Central Massachusetts - WHMP is up and down in the ratings. AAR is scattered throughout the schedule, mixed in with a few conservative shows. Simulcast on three AM stations.

Minneapolis/St. Paul - The old station simulcast (KSMM/WMIN) showed up in the ratings for the first time ever, just under a full share. This is remarkable, since both stations are located in the far-out suburbs and are daytime-only. Should be interesting to see what the station does on a new centrally-located signal (KSNB-950) that broadcasts 24 hours a day. For a short time, the station's schedule is a little mixed up due to contractual issues with the outgoing owner. This will be resolved shortly, and they may pick up more AAR shows besides Franken, Majority Report and Morning Sedition.

Sacramento - Ratings aren't off the charts yet, but this is the only market besides New York where they actually lease time. I don't think they promote this thing, and I won't be surprised to see the San Francisco station upstage it there.

As I said, there are a few markets that are embargoed, so I have no information on them. With the Summer ratings, we'll see how AAR did in markets like San Diego, Denver, Miami, Rochester, Phoenix and Madison, just to name a few.

The new ratings books should be coming out next week, starting with the New York and Los Angeles areas. I'll keep you posted.