Posted by Media Reader on January 27, 2022, 1:20 pm
Chicago radio ratings: Lite FM sets record with Christmas music
More than 2.5 million listeners in the Chicago area tuned to WLIT 93.9-FM in the final weeks of 2021 as the iHeartMedia adult contemporary station culminated its 21st consecutive year as “The Holiday Lite.”
As expected, Lite FM swept the ratings by a huge margin, according to Nielsen Audio figures released Tuesday for the so-called holiday book, covering the period from December 9 to January 5. Around-the-clock Christmas music began airing November 3.
In addition to dominating the market overall, the station topped mornings with Melissa Forman, middays with Robin Rock, afternoons with Mick Lee and evenings with the syndicated Delilah Rene.
Among all listeners, Lite FM posted a 14.4 percent audience share — the highest for any station in Chicago in any ratings period since 1975, according to Radio Insight analyst Chris Huff.
B96 was in none of those Top10 ranks. But it is still doing just great! This has been the norm even before Christmas.
WCHI is beating WKQX. Was in the Top10 for afternoons.
Bottom line, contemporary music is NOT rebounding. Further erosion of radio itself as those demos grow up they will most likely not go to terrestrial radio.
I will post a new thread with a link that answers one of your questions. There is a serious shortage of new music. Because it sucks. Because there is no link to movies or fads any longer. Because radio is dead to the youngest listeners and it provides a crap service to begin with.
Radio is in competition with Youtube, Pandora, SXM, plethora of free legit or non legit apps, bluetooth, USB flash drives in cars. On and on. They have done nothing to entice the younger generation and fend off the other technology. Well, except load on more commercials per hour chase the younger generation and the people with money and means to stream elsewhere. Do not consume the BS from those in the industry. Radio P1 listeners are the less rich and they do not bring in more ad dollars. Their revenue is shrinking and not growing. Look at EVERY young format out there that is floundering. When your commercial free local NPR is #3 in the market nipping on the commercial news outlet AND another non-comm NPR just increased their footprint in the Southern lakeshore area/NWI if you are a PD on a commercial outlet, you have issues.
Radio would call any type of Dance format that is Euro, ethnic, Gay or otherwise not hip hop a non winner. Or Active Rock is for unemployed drunk Men. Thats OK, they are gone and consuming elsewhere now. Great formula losers!
Hello Z, I have read Radio & Records for years, then All Access, Radio Ink, and looked at Top 40 consultants YT, blogs, etc. endlessly. You are 1000% right when you say don't buy the BS. I'm in No. Michigan now and the joke up here is the Active Rock station is "for stoners." (I'm of the belief "rock" might have peaked in the 70s/80s, tho I do like "New Rock"/ALT or whatever it's called.)
THREE THINGS: If radio doesn't matter, and I know of nobody under 45 with a radio in their house, why do trades say "added Z100" or "moves 10-7 at B96" or stuff like that?
NUMBER TWO: Nobody "cares" about format changes as all radio is North of 45 years old! Really, since the beginning of Covid, format changes to me, have really slowed down. Too, with other forms of getting your audio/radio/, this might have slowed things down. (Two of my favorites are WAYV and Hit104.com.) WAYV has many "2 hrs commercial free" sweeps and VERY limited jock chatter. Hit 104 is out of Germany. Zero jocks-no commercials. Still, in the car, I'm punching up the local CHR to hear sweepers, jingles, etc.
POINT 3: This includes me as North of 65. Most of the CHR programmers are all older than 65! I look at the Top 40 charts. Who is Adele aimed at? Certainly, as a 16 year old kid, with pimples, I liked Canned Heat. Crow or the Cryan' Shames. Adele? My guess is CHRs are aimed at 40 somethings, and too, an 18 year old's taste is different from someone at 44. What is passing at HR today is, in my opinion, a HotAC. There's no ROCK music of any type, no crossovers, or few, and I could go on. This is only going to get worse as 45 becomes 50, then 55, 60, etc. (Stations I LOVED years ago, almost sound AC'ish, skewing older. I might be older, but I'm not dead.)
LASTLY, I am for TIGHT radio. I'm hearing so many stations with people running phone bits (that are not funny), two person afternoon and night shifts? For God's sake! SHUT UP and PLAY THE HITS! I cannot handle morning radio. I think they are all doing this for their bosses, advertisers, etc. I might be chastised for this, but I've grown to like the "cue card" type of radio. Talk 4-5 times an hour. NOBODY cares if you like the song, if you saw the concert or baloney that was on the net 3 days ago, but you're mentioning now, as the show is voice tracked!
Years ago, I spoke with a PD who told me everything was VT'ed then. "My jocks don't follow the clock, don't take direction at all."
(That was more than three points, but who is counting?) As usual, I appreciate all I have LEARNED on this forum.
PREVIEWED as "auto correct" is horrible!
PS to President Pedro: I see NO ADS. I use duckduckgo.com/ and there is NOTHING. (I added it. NO ADS, no NOTHING.) I'll see something on occasion "please turn off your ad blocker" and don't.
John, most phone bits are canned these days. No one is calling radio stations anymore. Why? The jock is usually not there. Why call when the jock rarely talks more than 7 seconds when they actually chatter? Again, radio missed the point long time ago, why not integrate text messages or chat rooms more aggressively?
Z, I got a kick out of it, mabe 3 years ago when 1) on WIFC Wausau, the jock gave out a request number, then said "nobody calls anymore" and number 2) listening to KKCK-Marshall MN and the jock was lamening that few calls were coming in for the "top 9 at 9." Now, KKCK went from 99.7 to 94.7 and is on auto-pilot at night.
As far as listener reactions, I have a "testies" CD where "I listen all day" "that's my station" or "I listen every morning" is added to the calls/slogan.
(I have a studio in my home and jingles from Jam, Ken R., ReelWorld. Sick! I never got rid of the bug!)
Interesting that WKQX has been trending down or flat a few trends now. Can we expect this to continue? It actually seems like CHI is starting to effect KQX.
on January 27, 2022, 1:20 pm