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.

Radio stations do the post-Franken shuffle

Latest update 2/13

Following the announcement last week of Al Franken's pending departure from Air America Radio, stations carrying him have begun making plans for the post-Franken era.

So far, KTNF, WROC and KYNS have announced some or all of their schedule changes, with Thom Hartmann and Ed Schultz being the big beneficiaries.

Starting February 19, Randi Rhodes fans in Chicago will be pleased as WCPT will give her a live clearance, from 2-5PM weekdays, in place of the delayed Franken. The nine-hour morning-early afternoon bloc of JRN programming, featuring Bill Press, Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz remains unchanged. Following Rhodes will be a delay of Thom Hartmann's show. Since WCPT is a daytime-only station, the station signs off at sunset. However, they do program their webstream during the off-air hours. And with this, they'll add Mike Malloy live from 8-11PM, giving Malloy another stream for his fans to hear him. In addition, as the warmer months and longer days of summer approach, Chicago area listeners will be able to hear the early part of his show on 850AM until sign-off.

At KPHX in Phoenix, Franken is gone from the schedule as of next Monday (2/11). The station will Hartmann live in middays, followed by Rhodes, Peter B. Collins, Mike Malloy and a delayed airing of Miller's show in the late night hours. The station fills out the overnight/early morning hours with EcoTalk, Rachel Maddow and Bill Press.

WPEK in Asheville, NC has acknowledged Franken's departure, but the well-rated daytime-only station has made no scheduling announcements. It is very likely that the two hour shift currently allocated to Franken will be turned over to Rhodes, who is currently on for only the following hour.

Franken is almost completely gone from the schedule of WNYY in Ithaca, NY. They are carrying Hartmann live in the midday slot. Although the station carries Press and Miller, they do not air Schultz' show, which airs on WENY (1230AM) in nearby Elmira.

Portland's KPOJ hasn't set their lineup yet, but are taking suggestions on their website. Same goes for WROC in Rochester, which will move Schultz into the live slot being vacated. KPTK in Seattle will move Rhodes into Franken's delayed 5-8PM shift, followed by Malloy from 8-11PM. No word on the 11PM-2AM shift being vacated.

Nothing is really known about KOKE in Austin. The sole remainder of the Texas Pro Radio network, which once had stations in San Antonio and Dallas has a website that is currently under construction, and rumors abound that they will move away from syndicated programming, including Air America, and add more local liberal talk voices. We'll keep you posted on further changes. As for other liberal talk stations in Texas, they don't seem to be taking the format seriously. KCCT in Corpus Christi does not have a website, and has reportedly preempted Air America shows with infomercials. They do, however, carry some local talk shows. And KHRO in El Paso, which had been rumored to be dropping the network a few months back, is still airing it (allegedly). Their website consists solely of a link to Air America Radio.

WVAX in Charlottesville, VA is carrying Hartmann in place of Franken. They also air Rhodes and Maddow live, followed by an evening delayed broadcast of Schultz in the evenings. The station carries quite a bit of live programming, as it also airs Mark Riley, Press and Miller in the mornings and Lionel at night.

WKVT in Brattleboro, VT will replace their delayed airing of Franken with a delayed airing of Miller, from 7-10PM ET.

And KTNF in the Twin Cities, which last week announced that they would move Hartmann to afternoons and add Rachel Maddow to the roster, responds to listeners' demands and adds a delay of Malloy's show to the 12-3AM shift, starting February 19.

Denver's KKZN will carry Hartmann, and the relatively successful station is also looking to add another local host, in addition to current morning talker Jay Marvin.

WMLB in Atlanta, which carried the entire Air America feed under its former WWAA call letters and retained only Franken after a format change last year, will not replace his show with any other Air America programming.

Over at XM, Schultz will be moved over to the Air America Channel (ch. 167), meaning that Thom Hartmann will not be cleared, at least not live, by the satellite radio provider. Whether this has something to do with Hartmann's deal with and (partial) clearance on Sirius Left is unknown. And whether this will ruffle feathers with Air America, who currently have an exclusive deal with XM, is also unknown. And then there's that vague "Malloy coming to XM" rumor...

As for other stations that are still carrying Franken, including the few remaining stations that carry the straight Air America feed, it is likely that they will just carry his replacement, Hartmann in that slot. Some stations could go with Schultz, who airs at the same time.