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Research Director, Inc. Presents Exclusive April PPM Analysis For Detroit, Miami, Seattle, Phoenix And Minneapolis
May 14, 2014
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. Detroit: Mixing Things Up
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Welcome to our third -- and final -- installment of how the PPM turns. As with the previous episodes, this covers the period of MARCH 27th through APRIL 23rd. We now present five more markets for your perusal.
Detroit: Mixing Things Up
Last month, CCM+E Urban AC WMXD (MIX) really shook up the market with an unbelievably large share that took the station to #1. That is where it still resides but with a significantly reduced number (8.3-6.9). This was good enough to hold off the TIGERS-infused charge of CBS RADIO Sports WXYT-F (THE TICKET). The station almost cleared the bases, running from #8 to #2 with its highest total since NOVEMBER (4.7-6.8). It also leads off a run of stations related by cluster. CBS RADIO Classic Hits WOMC remained at #3 (6.8-6.7) while CBS RADIO News WWJ-A dropped two spots to #4 with its lowest share since SANTA was in town (7.2-6.6). Meanwhile, down on the farm, CBS RADIO Country WYCD ended a five-book slide (5.1-5.3) and moved up a spot to #5. CUMULUS Talk WJR-A dropped back a couple of squares to #6 (5.4-4.9) where it shared space with CCM+E Top 40/M WKQI (CHANNEL 955), which slid there from #5 (5.2-4.9).
Like a major league manager trying to end a slump, the 25-54 batting order was shaken up considerably. Leading off and playing a lot of baseball was WXYT, which moved up from #6 with its best book since NOVEMBER (again). WMXD was unable to duplicate its best book in over a year from last survey and dropped down in the order to #2. WYCD rebounded from its lowest number in over a year and climbed two spots to #3. Batting clean-up at #4 was GREATER MEDIA Active Rock WRIF, which launched its best book since SEPTEMBER to move up from #8. Last month, two stations were tied at #2. They remained tied but at a lower spot in the order. Sharing time at #5 were WOMC and WKQI. WWJ-A saw its recent run of good fortune come to a crashing halt as it dropped from #4 to #10.
WKQI continued to dominate 18-34 though the station was a little less formidable than in previous surveys. The station ended a three-book run of double-digit shares and saw its lead over #2 CCM+E Urban WJLB shrink to under two shares. Both stations experienced small decreases, as did WYCD, which remained at #3 with its lowest share since MAY. WRIF remained flat and unmoved at #4. Two stations made positive moves forward to end up in a tie at #5. WGPR, INC Urban AC WGPR (HOT) moved in from #6 while WXYT-F had its best month since everyone was ho-ho-ho-ing and crashed the party from #11. WMXD had its smallest share since NOVEMBER and slid three places to #8.
Things are about to get interesting 18-49. WKQI was #1 for the second month in a row but its down book, combined with WXYT-F’s surge -- from #9 to #2 -- caused the gap to grow considerably narrower. WJLB was up a bit and moved forward one step to #3, which caused WYCD to take a step back to #4 even though it was up slightly. WRIF had its best number since SEPTEMBER but could not get out of the #5 position. WMXD’s slide continued as it fell four places to #6 while WOMC dropped two to #7 despite an up book.
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood: A New Low?
Every month we look at this market and every single time COX RADIO Urban AC WHQT (HOT) is a strong dominant #1. It happened again but, for the first time in over 14 surveys, the station failed to reach the eight-share level (8.2-7.9). The fallout from that was that the two stations locked at #2 are a mere two shares behind the leader. UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary WAMR (AMOR) remained in place (6.0-5.9). LINCOLN AC WLYF (LITE FM) joined AMOR on the strength of its best book since NOVEMBER (5.5-5.9). COX RADIO AC WFEZ (EASY) slipped a spot to #4 (5.8-5.5) and two stations forged a tie at #5. COX RADIO Urban WEDR remained in place with its smallest share in over a year (5.1-4.8) while CCM+E Top 40/M WHYI (Y100) landed its worst book since JULY (4.9-4.8) yet still managed to move up from #7.
As with the overall numbers, 25-54 is usually dominated by WHQT. Rarely do we see the gap between the station and whichever is #2 go below a share. That changed last survey and got under a half share with this one. HOT again had a record low share while SBS Tropical WXDJ (EL ZOL) remained at #2 with a slight loss of share. The net result is that there are now six stations separated by less than a share and a half. WEDR moved forward one square to #3 with a small increase while WFEZ did the same in its advancement to #4. Not to be outdone, WHYI added a little and moved up a little more to #5. WAMR took a bit of a share cut and fell back three places to #6. Of course, this could all be moot next month if HOT’s numbers return to their normal range. Stay tuned.
This would mark the seventh straight survey where WEDR was #1 18-34. The station also posted its lowest number in over a year. Ah, but this comes with a twist as BEASLEY Top 40/R WPOW (POWER) scored its biggest share since the HOLIDAY survey and moved up one place to forge a tie at the top spot. WHYI landed its best book since OCTOBER to inch forward a place to #3 while CCM+E Urban WMIB (THE BEAT) took a drastic share cut as it dropped back to #4. WHQT moved up to #5 with a solid performance while WXDJ dropped three positions to #8 with its weakest showing since NOVEMBER.
WEDR once again controlled 18-49 even though it landed its lowest share in over a year. WHYI moved up a spot to #2 and significantly narrowed the gap between Y100 and WEDR. WPOW secured its highest share since the HOLIDAY book to move up to #3 while WXDJ dropped two places to #4 with its lowest number since DECEMBER. WHQT moved up to #5 despite landing its lowest total in over a year while WAMR dropped out of the top five.
Seattle-Tacoma: Manic Compression
This is quite possibly one of the most compressed markets in the U.S. Not only were the top four stations separated by less than half a share, in any given survey, the #1 station could be one of five different stations. This time, the honors went to HUBBARD AC KRWM (WARM), which moved up from #4 with its best BURL IVES-free book in over a year (5.0-5.7). ENTERCOM Active Rock KISW scored its highest share since AUGUST to move ahead one spot to #2 (5.2-5.6). HUBBARD Top 40/M KQMV (MOVIN) moved out of the penthouse and landed at #3 (5.7-5.5). CBS RADIO Classic Rock KZOK also moved down the ladder from #2 to #4 (5.6-5.3). In case you’re keeping score, that’s four stations within .4 of each other. CRISTA Christian Contemporary KCMS (SPIRIT) had its best book since it was in the holiday spirit (4.2-4.5) to move ahead three places to #5. Last month’s co-inhabitants of the #5 position dropped lower on the chart. BONNEVILLE Talk KIRO-F landed at #6 (4.7-4.3) while UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON N/T KUOW dropped to #9 with its lowest share since AUGUST (4.7-4.0).
The order of the top five 25-54 remained completely unchanged from the previous survey. Unlike the previous demo, however, the stations are not nearly as bunched together. KISW was #1 for the third straight book with its best share since AUGUST while KQMV fell back a bit while holding on at #2. KZOK was off slightly at #3 while KCMS was up slightly at #4. KIRO-F also shed some share while remaining stationary at #5.
KISW was #1 18-34 for the third straight month but that wasn’t the big news. The station actually hit double digits for the first time. It has almost doubled its share since the HOLIDAY book. Pretty impressive stuff. KQMV also had a strong book but had to settle for remaining a now-distant #2. CCM+E Top 40/M KBKS (KISS) bounced back from an unusual down book to move back to #3 (from #7). Two stations were locked in arms at #4, and they both happen to share the same lunchroom. ENTERCOM Country KKWF (THE WOLF) remained in place with a flat book while ENTERCOM Rhythmic AC KHTP (HOT) posted its lowest number since it flipped last fall to drop back from #3. The two stations that were tied at #5 last time fell out of the top five. CCM+E Top 40/R KUBE ended up at #6 with its lowest share in over a year –-- and it is off by over two shares from a year ago. KZOK lost enough share to land at #7.
This should not be a surprise – KISW was #1 18-49 for the third straight survey and posted its best number in over a year. KQMV remained at #2 but slipped back a little while KZOK held on at #3 despite a bit of share loss. KBKS was also off slightly but did not move an inch from #4. KKWF remained in place ratings-wise but moved up a spot to #5. KHTP was not very hot as it dropped two spots to #7.
Phoenix: Easy Does It
For the last couple of surveys, CCM+E Hot AC KMXP (MIX) has dazzled the market by being the #1 station –-- posting some rather impressive shares in the process. It still performed relatively well this survey (6.3-6.0) but fell to #2. That’s because cluster sister CCM+E AC KESZ (99.9KEZ) reversed a three-book spiral and returned to the top spot (5.4-6.1). Yet another cluster compadre, CCM+E Country KNIX loped forward a spot to #3 with its best number in over a year (5.1-5.6). CBS RADIO Classic Hits KOOL remained in a tie at #4 – just with a different partner. This time the station was flat (5.1-5.1) while HUBBARD Classic Rock KSLX moved up from #6 (5.0-5.1). CCM+E Top 40/M KZZP (KISS) ended a strong three-book run (5.3-4.3) to fall from #3 to #7.
Poor KMXP. While the station was off slightly 25-54, it still posted a strong number. Problem was, cluster brother KNIX posted an even stronger number. As a result, KNIX rose from #5 to #1 and KMXP fell from #1 to #2. HUBBARD Active Rock KUPD is also in the, if you’ll pardon the expression, mix after scoring its best book since JULY. While it remained in place at #3, it closed the gap sufficiently to make this a three-horse race. KSLX was off slightly to remain at #4 while KZZP had its poorest outing since DECEMBER to fall three slots to #5.
Another demo, another new #1 station. Your new market leader in 18-34 was KUPD, which moved up from #3 with its best performance in over a year. This relegated KZZP to the stand-by position as it took quite the share bath. KNIX was a close #3 -- moving up from #5 – even though it was down slightly. Two stations found themselves together at #4. KMXP remained in place with a down performance while KESZ screamed in from #7 -- rebounding from two rather anemic books. RIVIERA Top 40/R KKFR (POWER) dimmed a bit. It secured its lowest share since OCTOBER to fall four spots to #6.
The game of thrones continued 18-49 as KUPD re-ascended the throne -- ending a two-book slide in the process. KNIX moved up two spots to #2 with its best book in over a year. KZZP did its best GEOFFREY impression and dropped from the top to #3 while KMXP slid one place to #4. KESZ rebounded from a couple of soft books to move forward three paces to #5. Last month, three stations were knotted together at #5. This time they are farther down the list. CBS RADIO Top 40/R KZON (LIVE 101.5) was down for the third straight book to end up at #6. RIVIERA Hot AC KMVA (HOT) fell to #8, while KKFR ended up at #9.
Minneapolis-St.Paul: More Of The Same
A year ago at this time, two stations were locked in a pretty heated battle for the top spot. Those same two stations are leading the pack but the battle between the two has not been very heated lately. CCM+E Top 40/M KDWB was #1 for the fourth straight book (9.4-9.2) while HUBBARD Hot AC KSTP (KS 95) held its own at #2 with its best showing since OCTOBER (7.5-7.9). CUMULUS Classic Rock KQRS had its best showing since NOVEMBER (7.4-7.5) to remain at #3. Last month’s fourth-place tie was broken. CBS RADIO Adult Hits KZJK (JACK FM) did what it wanted and remained in place (6.7-6.6), while CCM+E Classic Hits KQQL (KOOL 108) took a step back to #5 with its lowest number since NOVEMBER (6.7-6.2). It was tied with cluster mate CCM+E Country KEEY (K102), which leveraged its flatness (6.2-6.2) into a two-spot raise.
KDWB is absolutely on fire. The station posted its third consecutive double-digit 25-54 book. Uh, yea, it was #1. KSTP was off slightly but remained at #2 where it became entangled with KQRS, which moved up from #3 with its finest showing since SEPTEMBER. KZJK was off a tad but held steady at #4 while CUMULUS Active Rock KXXR (93X) performed the same maneuver while holding its own at #5.
It’s kind of ridiculous how big the 18-34 shares are that KDWB produces survey after survey after survey. #2 KXXR had a very good book -- its best since NOVEMBER. And, it still trails KDWB by over five shares. KSTP was solid and steady at #3 with a small decrease in share. CBS RADIO Country KMNB (BUZ’N) was down a bit but remained at #4 where it was greeted by KZJK, which moved in from #5 with its highest share since AUGUST.
So, KDWB had an off book 18-49 and KZJK had its best number in over a year. The net net? JACK still trails the leader by more than four shares. KSTP was flat to remain at #3 while KXXR had a nice increase while remaining firmly rooted at #4. KQRS kept its hold on #5 and had its best book since NOVEMBER.
So ends our analytical task for APRIL 2014. Based on the best available evidence, we will return next month and do this again. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to The Ratings Experts at RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. anytime. Who knows, maybe we can analyze your numbers?
Email: sallan@researchdirectorinc.com
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