Ratings Roundup Fall 2006: Part 5

For the last of this series of Arbitron ratings reports for liberal talk radio stations across the country, we arrive in the Northeast. This one will take a look at the upper East Coast.

In New York, WWRL finally makes an appearance in its first ratings book since becoming the new flagship for Air America. Whereas the signal-challenged station rarely appeared in the rankings prior to the September flip, they now come on with a 0.8 share, tied for 26th place. WWRL also makes a first-time showing in other regional books, garnering a 0.7 share in Long Island (market #18), where they only have a partial presence, and 0.5 in Middlesex, NJ (market #39). Meanwhile, WLIB, now airing a gospel music format, drops from a 1.0 to a 0.5 share in New York City. They did not show up in other regional market surveys, where they have done well under its previous format. All in all, considering the station switch and signal limitations, WWRL did not do too badly, as they beat a few 50,000 watt stations and are even competitive with stronger, higher-profile FM stations like WFNY, airing CBS Radio's expensive "Free FM" talk format.

Upstate, in Buffalo/Niagara Falls (#52), little WHLD maintained a mid-share figure for its last ratings book before its recent flip to gospel music. Since picking up Air America and other liberal talk programming, the station has gone from a perrenial no-show to actually making a dent in the ratings book. Its final number was a 0.5. Entercom-owned rival WWKB finished just a tenth of a point ahead, with a 0.6, down from a 1.0 in the Summer. WWKB appears to be a rather neglected station, with a neglected website and a midday show rerun in the evening hours. Perhaps with WHLD's dropping of Air America, WWKB will have some new programming options. The station does have a fairly strong signal, and could be a success if they figured out how to utilize it properly. To the east, WWKB's sister station WROC in nearby Rochester (#53) made a pretty big jump, rising from a 0.9 to a 1.3, good for 15th place overall. The Arbitron book for Ithaca (#283) has been embargoed, meaning that overall ratings are not available to the public, so there's no word on how WNYY did in that market as of yet. They flipped from oldies to progressive talk last June.

In Boston (#11), the two weak signals of WKOX and WXKS maintained a half share with their recently-dropped progressive talk format. The current ratings for Central Massachusetts' trimulcast of WHMP are unknown in the Springfield (#84) ratings, since the book is under an embargo by Arbitron. In the last available ratings, from one year ago, the station held a 1.6 share, making it the #2 talk station in the market. WAVZ in New Haven (#109), armed with a weak signal and little support from owner Clear Channel, did not register overall in the current ratings book. The station switched to ESPN Radio last week. And WLVP in Portland, ME (#167) drops slightly for the fall, down from a 0.9 to 0.6 share.

Pittsburgh (#24) is the home of two Air America Radio affiliates. The stronger, more established suburban rimshot WPTT, which carries Thom Hartmann, local liberal talker Lynn Cullen and an assortment of other talkers from various sides of the political spectrum, comes in at a 1.2 share. WPTT has recently gotten the go-ahead from the FCC to swap dial positions soon, moving from 1360AM to 910AM, which will give them a stronger daytime signal, though they will cease nighttime broadcasting as a trade-off. WURP, one of Air America's newest affiliates, is a no-show in the book, mostly due to a very tiny predominantly daytime signal that doesn't really get cover much area (at night, they power down from 1000 watts to a measly 4 watts). They have a construction permit pending that will double the daytime power and move the transmitter into the city, which will give the urban areas of Pittsburgh 12 watts at night. The station has long carried The Young Turks, and recently picked up Air America programming for weekends. During the week, they run 'hot talk' personalities such as Don and Mike and Tom Leykis, as well as G. Gordon Liddy.

And finally, this analysis consists mostly of the overall numbers, ages 12+ for all time periods 6AM-Midnight, since these are the only numbers that Arbitron officially releases to the public. Therefore, these numbers do not give any substantial information in regard to daypart, age and gender breakdowns, which are highly coveted by advertisers looking to target specific audiences. Occasionally, more specific information does seep through, such as a statement on Hartmann's website, claiming that his show enjoyed massive increases in listenership in several markets, including WPTT Pittsburgh, with a 100% increase, KPHX Phoenix up 186%, KTNF Minneapolis-St. Paul up 120%, KQKE San Francisco up 100% and his hometown of Grand Rapids, where WTKG is up 114%.



The next series of Arbitron ratings reports will be coming in late March, which will take into account the ratings for this Winter.

Rumor: WAVZ about to flip?

UPDATE 2/5/07: It appears the flip has happened. WAVZ is now running ESPN Radio as of this morning.

Scott Fybush at NorthEast Radio Watch is reporting that Clear Channel-owned WAVZ in New Haven, CT may drop liberal talk for sports talk this week:

And is the end of progressive talk coming at Clear Channel's WAVZ (1300 New Haven) sometime this week? We're hearing that sports talk will be the new format there, any day now.

To further compound the rumor, there is a website template for ESPN RADIO 1300. And it's obviously for New Haven.

If Clear Channel does indeed flip the format of WAVZ (1300AM), it would almost be unsurprising, since the small, 1000 watt frequency has never really been heavily promoted and has never carried any local programming. Hence, ratings are not there. The signal is limited in that it is a bit static-heavy in neighboring Bridgeport, roughly 19 miles to the west. Thanks to saltwater, the signal does bounce across the sound to parts of Long Island. It is basically designated as a local signal for New Haven, the #110 ranked Arbitron ratings market.

Incidentally, the current progressive talk format replaced sports talk in November 2004. Prior to that, they played adult standards.

For Stephanie Miller fans who need to get their fix, the duopoly of WLIS (1420AM) and WMRD (1150AM), both to the north and east of New Haven, do run her show live, albeit only the last two hours. The best bet for Air America Radio fans is WWRL (1600AM) out of NYC, though its signal is bogged down a bit by interference.

Thanks to the folks at Save Progressive Talk Boston for the info.

WAVZ-AM (New Haven, CT) leaves ‘The Zone,’ switches to liberal talk format

Officials at Clear Channel Communications announced over the weekend that the New Haven-Hamden station would be changing from Fox Sports Radio to "The Voice" progressive talk radio.

The liberal talk format, which contrasts with sister station WELI’s conservative format, will begin today, said Jerry Kristafer of Clear Channel.

WAVZ, a popular-music station in the 1960s and ’70s, eventually came under the Clear Channel chain and switched to formats such as nostalgic music and, more recently, Fox Sports Radio ("The Zone").

That format couldn’t draw enough listeners away from New York’s WFAN and Hartford’s ESPN Radio (1410).

"I talked about doing this back in February, and corporate folks talked about it," said Kristafer. "I think it’s the right thing to do myself."

Music listeners have migrated in the past 25 years to FM radio, including Clear Channel’s WKCI.

WELI is a 5,000-watt station based at Hamden’s Radio Towers Park. WAVZ, soon expected to be granted new call letters, is a 1,000-watt station.

The station will run shows from the syndicated liberal network Air America including "Morning Sedition" from 6 to 9 a.m. and Al Franken’s noon to 3 p.m. show, in addition to Jones Broadcasting’s show with Ed Schultz in the afternoon, and WABC-AM veteran "Lionel" hosting at 10 p.m.

Sunday mornings will feature the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s program "Keep Hope Alive!" No local programs were announced for the retooled station.

Here's some info about WAVZ and their signal. And the website's already up and can be found here.