The Ten Best Markets For Radio Listeners: Bubbling Under
Written Nov. 27, 2007 by Sean Ross in Content + Ten Best Markets with 5 Comments
Before we return to the countdown for our Top Two markets, here are just a few of those that almost made Edison's list of the Ten Best Markets For Radio Listeners, proving that narrowing the list down to 10 was a gratifyingly difficult decision. (These are not the only other markets that received serious consideration, but we don't want to narrow it down to two markets quite yet!)
* Atlanta: Only D.C. and Memphis rival it for choice on the Urban side. And there is certainly more choice than there was 15 years ago when this was easily the most under-radioed market of its size. There's now a Spanish duopoly, two Mainstream Top 40s and a three-way Country battle. But it still needs an Oldies station.
* Boston: It was telling to see Entercom and Greater Media battling over WRKO host Howie Carr like he was Howie Stern. This is a great Talk market and one that shows what Sports radio can be as well in WEEI. It also offers the most choice in Classic Hits/Oldies per capita. The other side? Not all of the heritage stations are operating on all cylinders these days.
* Dallas: Friend of The Infinite Dial Adam Jacobson suggested this one: Our brief is that it's great for Country choice, not just the battle between KSCS and KPLX (the Wolf), but with numerous other players as well. The best R&B/Hip-Hop battle west of the Mississippi as well, in KKDA (K104) vs. KBFB. And one of the Top 40 format's showplaces in Kidd Kraddick flagship KHKS (Kiss 106.1). Also a great Oldies success story in KLUV and a long-running Christian AC showcase in KLTY.
* Kansas City: One of several endorsed by Radiocrunch's Anthony Acampora: A fierce three-way Country race. An option for almost every taste on the Rock spectrum. Two mainstream ACs. A heritage Urban that holds its own surrounded by an Urban AC and a Rhythmic Top 40.
* Phoenix: Another Acampora suggestion. A market with another long-running Country battle, lots of choice on the Rhythmic/Urban Oldies spectrum, considerable Classic Rock/Classic Hits depth, including a true here-and-nowhere-else choice in eccentric suburban KCDX. And one of the most written about morning shows in KZZP's Johnjay & Rich.
Back on Wednesday with Market No. 2.
Reader Comments
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With all the outlets for adult music in Boston (Mike, BOS, Oldies, WZLX, Mix, WROR), it's funny how few commercial stations target the younger people in this city, of which we have the highest percentage in America. Kiss and Jam'n have a monopoly on this, and another Mainstream or Rhythmic station would put a dent in their audience.
Boston absolutely has rock, talk, and sports covered (and even hybrids like rock/talk "Toucher and Rich" on WBCN and sports/talk "Dennis and Callahan" on WEEI) but that's really all the market has to offer.
Find another big market with such terrible format diversity when it coves to rhythmic formats. CC's rhythmic CHR WJMN is really it. There's no Urban AC (since Entercom blew it up in 2006 for more rock), no rhythmic AC (since Entercom blew it up in 2006 for rock-heavy adult hits), and no smooth jazz (since Greater Media blew it up in 1999 for more talk). Other than a weak attempt at tropical from Clear Channel on two weak AMs, there's no Spanish programming either.
At one point, Radio One-owned WILD 1090, running a classic soul format with Tom Joyner, was pulling nearly a 2-share 12+ on an AM daytimer! These formats can work in Boston, but the two biggest owners in the market are Entercom and Greater Media - neither of which know how to do anything but lily-white AC, talk, and rock formats.
The format diversity is also hurt by being surrounded by the markets of Providence, RI; Worcester, MA; Manchester, NH; Portsmouth, NH; and Cape Cod, MA. All of these boast multiple Class Bs that create a limited number of available frequencies in the Boston market.
Funny that Justin would feel like the proximity of so many markets hurts Boston radio. I've actually long felt that New England was a pretty good place for radio choice because no matter where you were, you could pick up the radio from 3-4 different markets. But when we went into this project, we agreed that it wouldn't be fair to list "the stretch of Interstate between Hartford and the Mass Pike where you can hear Boston, Providence, New London, New Haven, Springfield, and Eastern Long Island" as a market. And I agree with Justin about the loss of Urban AC.
There are plenty of out of market stations to choose from in Boston, but they all run the same older-skewing formats that you'll find in the city. Worcester has a Mainstream AC, a Hot AC, and a Classic Hits station that are audible throughout most of the market. Manchester N.H., contributes an AC and a Mainstream Rocker. Portsmouth has a Mainstream Rocker, a Country, a Classic Hits and a Hot AC leaning CHR. The big signals in Providence that reach up here run Mainstream Rock, Mainstream AC, Classic Hits, an adult-leaning CHR (PRO-FM) and an FM simulcast of Boston's WEEI. Then you have Cape Cod, which is as old and lily white as it gets. There's a lot of format duplication out of all these stations. If you live south of the Pike, you can pull in WWKX/Providence, a rhythmic station and alternative rocker WBRU, but that's about it for younger targeted choices.
The problem is stations that skew younger have problems making money in this market. WJMN has a power ratio below 1.0, so despite their ratings "success" it's not totally translating into revenue. If you took Matt Siegel off Kiss 108, that station would have a much lower power ratio than they do now. Contrast that with lower rated stations like WBMX, WMKK and even WBOS, which have high power ratios. The agencies in Boston are buying the adult formats, and that's why there is so little diversity in this market right now.
it's a damn shame that kiss one oh eight needs to import shelly wade (who is a great jcok) to vt middays. by the way i would love to see a (same) top 10 list of chr stations being made.