Posted by chicagomedia.org on February 27, 2009 at 07:30:19:
'BBM radio rules roost
It leads ratings in key age group, but as politics cools, will no news be bad news for station?
February 27, 2009
LEWIS LAZARE | Chicago Sun-Times Media & Marketing columnist
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You better believe Rod Zimmerman is singing the portable people meter's praises. Big time. Introduced in the Chicago market last summer, the new method of rating radio stations has been very good to all-news WBBM-AM (780), one of several CBS Radio stations for which Zimmerman is the Chicago market manager. In the January 2009 ratings book released Wednesday, WBBM wound up at the top of the heap of Chicago radio stations in the key 25-to-54-year-old demo that advertisers most covet.
The big question everyone now is asking is: Can Zimmerman and WBBM keep it up? Certainly the news cycle the past year has played to WBBM's strong suit as the station has moved ever closer to the top rung. But now that the Barack Obama campaign, election and inauguration are over, and most of the Rod Blagojevich scandal is behind us (we hope!), about all that's left are the depressing day-to-day reports about the recession.
Of course, Zimmerman can't say with absolute certainty whether WBBM will hold on to first place among 25-to-54-year-old listeners, but he told us he's not planning any major changes or tweaks to the station. Why mess with success, right?
While the January book was extraordinarily nice to WBBM-AM, it was considerably less so to Clear Channel Radio's adult contemporary WLIT-FM (93.9), which plummeted from the No. 1 spot among 25-to-54 listeners in the December 2008 and Holiday 2008 books to a tie for 11th place with adult hits WJMK-FM (104.3) in January.
Why the big bump at WLIT during the holidays? The round-the-clock holiday music programming is the answer, natch. WLIT Program Director Tony Coles anticipated the drop: "It's only natural, just like retail sees fewer customers in January." Yeah, but what a drop.
Another big winner since the advent of the portable people meter is WOJO-FM (105.1), the Hispanic station that jumped from fourth place in the last book to No. 2 in the January report among 25-to-54-year-olds. The station's huge success underscores the importance of the city's Hispanics -- and their love for radio formatted to appeal to them. And never count out the urban adult contemporary format in Chicago, where it is obviously a draw: Clear Channel's WVAZ-FM (102.7) was third in the January book among 25-to-54-year-olds. Bonnevillle International had an extraordinarily good book too: Two of its three Chicago stations, hot adult contemporary WTMX-FM (101.9) and classic hits WDRV-FM (97.1), tied for fourth place in the 25-to-54 demo.
An interesting ratings battle to watch over the next several months is that between Tribune Broadcasting's news/talk WGN-AM (720) and Citadel Broadcasting's similarly formatted WLS-AM (890), where the always unpredictable Mancow Muller has signed on as a midmorning host alongside former WBBM-AM talent Pat Cassidy.
In the 25-to-54 demo, WLS trounced WGN in the January book. WLS was ninth with a 3.6 rating, while WGN could do no better than a 2.3 to tie for 19th place. Bottom line? WGN's audience seems to be getting older as it struggles to pull in younger viewers at the other end of the spectrum, especially when Cubs games aren't part of the programming lineup. That is a problem WGN must rectify to keep from slumping further.
Which brings us to WGN's search for a new midafternoon host to replace John Williams, who has decamped to the morning drive slot. Radio veteran Garry Meier is doing a three-day fill-in stint on WGN next week, and we've heard talk the station could even give the outrageous Jerry Springer a try in midafternoon.
Meier has the advantage of being a known quantity in Chicago radio, but some broadcasting execs wonder if he can carry a daily radio talk show by himself. Springer, on the other hand, could simply be too wild to fit the bill at WGN. Then again, it may take someone like a Springer to spark a buzz and perhaps attract a few more younger listeners.