Exclusive Analysis: Hot Fun In The Summertime

Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland And Hartford Under The Microscope

While much of the talk about ratings has been focused on the rollout of PPM -- there are still 290 other markets that are still using the diary. RADIOCRUNCH Partner and ALL ACCESS ratings analyst ANTHONY ACAMPORA starts digging into the SUMMER 2008 results.

Baltimore: Radio One Dominates; Bay Takes Rocks Lead

RADIO ONE's uncontested stations remain the market leaders in BALTIMORE -- while there's a new Rock champ -- and that's TIMES-SHAMROCK Classic Rock WZBA (THE BAY).

25-54: RADIO ONE sees Urban WERQ (92Q) and sister Urban AC WWIN-F taking the top two positions, with 92Q passing WWIN-F. CLEAR CHANNEL Country WPOC holds in 3rd, with CBS seeing AC WLIF move up to 4th, switching places with Hot AC sister WWMX. WZBA leaps from 8th to 6th, and become the market's rock leader in the core 25-54 demo for the first time in memory. CBS Adult Hits WQSR (JACK-FM) slides from 6th to 7th, while HEARST ARGYLE Active Rock WIYY slides all the way back to 8th. NICK MANGIONE News/Talk WCBM rises from 12th to 9th, moving past HEARST ARGYLE's WBAL. Affecting WIYY is CLEAR CHANNEL Alternative WCHH, which was only 12th in demo, but pulled some rock shares.

18-49: WERQ wins big here (basically no contest), beating #2 WWIN-F by a staggering 129%. WWMX rises from 4th to 3rd, WPOC sliding from 2nd to 4th, and WIYY holding in 5th. WZBA climbs from 8th to 6th, with WQSR sliding back from 6th to 7th. WLIF was 8th. WCHH saw some growth on the younger side, rising from 14th to 9th, with WCAO 10th.

18-34: WERQ was #1 with one-fourth of the markets listening. WIYY was 2nd (up in the younger cell), where they may be protecting against WCHH. WWMX slides to 3rd, WPOC 4th, and WLIF 5th.

Boston: WJMN, WMJX Share Crowns As Rock Shares Slide

GREATER MEDIA AC WMJX and CLEAR CHANNEL Rhythmic WJMN shared top honors in BOSTON, while Rock shares (sans one station) continue to decline in the marketplace. It will be interesting to see what happens when PPM hits and whether three Alternative stations can survive.

25-54: WMJX takes over sole possession of the top spot -- after tying with CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 WXKS-F (KISS 108) in the SPRING 2008 book. WXKS-F was a strong 2nd. ENTERCOM Sports WEEI remained in 3rd, and WJMN held in 4th. CBS Classic Rock WZLX surges from 10th to 5th, and was about the only rock station with a positive story to tell. GREATER MEDIA Country WKLB slides back to 6th (from 5th in the SPRING). CBS sees a solid book for Classic Hits WODS, which surges from 14th to 7th, moving ahead of Hot AC sister WBMX, who is in 8th. ENTERCOM Adult Hits WMKK ties with CBS News/Talk WBZ for 9th place.

GREATER MEDIA Classic Hits WROR holds in 11th, but sister Talk WTKK plummets from 6th to 12th. ENTERCOM News/Talk WRKO grabs 13th place. Only one rock station came in among the top 13 (and that was WZLX). CBS Alternative WBCN, ENTERCOM Active Rock WAAF, GREATER MEDIA Alternative WBOS, and NORTHEAST AAA WXRV grab positions 14 through 17 respectively -- not a good sign. NASSAU Classical WCRB is 18th, with PHOENIX MEDIA Alternative WFNX 19th, and PLYMOUTH ROCK AC WPLM 20th.

18-49: The top 5 remain exactly the same with WJMN, WXKS-F, WMJX, WEEI, and WBMX in that order. WKLB moves into a tie with WBMX for 5th. WMKK rises from 8th to 7th, with WBCN and WZLX tying for 8th. WROR claims the #10 spot.WBZ inches up to 11th, while WAAF falters from 7th to 12th. WODS, WBOS, and WTKK round out the top 15.

18-34: WJMN continues to dominate -- an easy winner at #1 and finishes 57% ahead of WXKS-F -- as the two stations account for nearly 25% of all 18-34 listening. WMJX rises from 6th to 3rd, with WBCN 4th, and WKLB 5th. WAAF slides from 4th to 6th, WBMX from 5th to 7th, WEEI was 8th, WBOS 9th, and a tie for 10th between WFNX and WROR.

Cleveland: Radio One Stations Take Top Positions; Clear Channel Strong

RADIO ONE sees solid success from CLEVELAND where they score wins 18-34 and 18-49 for Urban WENZ and a 25-54 win for WZAK.

25-54: WZAK holds the top spot for a second straight book. CLEAR CHANNEL Classic Hits WMJI rises from 5th to 2nd, with CBS Classic Rock WNCX surging from 7th to 3rd. CBS sees AC WDOK hold steady in 4th. A solid book for CLEAR CHANNEL Hot AC WMVX, which moves from 10th to 5th. CLEAR CHANNEL News/Talk WTAM and WENZ tie for 6th. An off book for CLEAR CHANNEL Country WGAR, which plummets from 2nd to 8th, putting them just a tenth ahead of ELYRIA LORAIN Smooth AC WNWV. CLEAR CHANNEL Rock WMMS slides from 6th to 10th. CBS Hot AC WQAL dips from 9th to 11th, losing to rival WMVX by over a share. CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 WAKS is 12th. SALEM Sports WKNR was 13th, with sister Christian AC WFHM 14th. CBS Alternative WKRK has faltered since the loss of morning guy ROVER to WMMS. WKRK ranked 15th 25-54 -- down over 50% year-to-year.

18-49: WENZ and WZAK land the top two spots. WAKS rises from 5th to 3rd, to become CLEAR CHANNEL's best 18-49 performer. WGAR slides from 2nd to 4th. WMVX rises from 10th to 5th, moving just past WMMS, which slides to 6th. The 18-49 cell was dominated by RADIO ONE (with 1 and 2) and CLEAR CHANNEL (taking positions 3 through 6). There was a tie for 6th though, with CBS Classic Rock WNCX. WDOK ties WNWV for 8th. WTAM rounds out the top 10. WQAL slides out of the top 10, moving from 7th to 11th. WMJI is 12th, WKNR and WKRK tie for 13th, with WFHM rounding out the top 15.

18-34: WENZ wins big here, with WAKS still a solid second (both of them scoring double digit shares). WMMS holds in 3rd, WGAR is 4th and WZAK 5th.

Hartford: CBS Cluster Solid As WZMX Makes Clean Sweep

Another huge book for the CBS cluster in HARTFORD. Rhythmic WZMX won running away 18-34 and 18-49, and tied sister AC WRCH for the top spot 25-54.

25-54: WZMX and WRCH tied for the lead, with CLEAR CHANNEL Adult Hits WHCN still a strong 3rd. CBS Hot AC WTIC-F moves from 3rd to 4th, while CLEAR CHANNEL Country WWYZ holds in 5th. CBS News/Talk WTIC-A moves from 8th to 6th. MARLIN Active Rock WCCC dips from 6th to 7th, tying them with CLEAR CHANNEL Top 40 WKSS. BUCKLEY Classic Hits WDRC drops from 7th to 9th, tying them with CLEAR CHANNEL Alternative WURH.

18-49: WZMX wins easily 18-49, with WRCH 2nd and WTIC-F 3rd -- giving CBS the top three 18-49. WHCN, WKSS, and WWYZ rank 4th through 6th respectively. WCCC and WURH tie for 7th, ahead of WTIC-A. WDRC-F finishes out the top 10.

18-34: WZMX wins by almost a 2-1 margin over WKSS. WURH moves from 4th to 3rd, swapping places with WCCC. WTIC-F rounds out the top 5. 

Watch for more ratings recaps throughout the week. You can reach ANTHONY at anthony@radiocrunch.com or RADIOCRUNCH partner KEVIN MCCABE at musicrunch@rocketmail.com.

« see more Net News