Posted by chicagomedia.org on October 08, 2009 at 11:12:36:
In Reply to: September 2009 Arbitron PPM Ratings For Chicago posted by Bud on October 07, 2009 at 21:51:57:
US99 rides country wave
MEDIA | Popular acts help station climb to top of radio ratings
October 8, 2009
LEWIS LAZARE | Chicago Sun-Times
Is Chicago becoming a honky-tonk kind of town? Local radio listeners are sure helping create that impression. Country station WUSN-FM (99.5) topped all other Chicago radio outlets in the key 25- to 54-year-old demo in the September Arbitron book released Wednesday.
For the last several months, the CBS Radio-owned station had been hovering just below the top rung in the second or third spot. But with a 5.2 share in September, WUSN edged out perennial front-runners, such as hot adult contemporary WTMX-FM (101.9), Spanish station WOJO-FM (105.1) and classic hits WDRV-FM (97.1), all three of which tied for second place in September with a 5.0 share.
Though WUSN's continued dominance has surprised some local radio executives, most concede that country is a hot music format at the moment.
"With popular acts like Taylor Swift, country has more of a rock edge now," observed one local radio honcho. "Country music is as pop-sounding and mass appeal as it's been in a long time," added WUSN Program Director Bill Gamble.
September also was a month for local sports stations to demonstrate that Chicago men still love their sports -- whether or not the pro teams are at their best. In the 25-to-54 male demo, WMVP-AM (1000) wound up in third place in September with a 5.4 share. That beat WSCR-AM's (670) 4.7, which put it in fourth place. But the Score's morning drive show with Sun-Times reporters Brian Hanley and Mike Mulligan took first place with a 6.4 share among males 25 to 54, ahead of WMVP's morning drive show, which was tied for second with a 6.1.
Back in the adult 25-to-54 September book, there were indications WBBM-AM (780) may have a tough time reclaiming the top spot in the ratings that it enjoyed last winter. The CBS Radio all-news outlet pulled a 3.7 share in September, putting it in seventh place overall. WBBM could wind up settling into a spot in the bottom half of the city's top-10 radio stations going forward, some observers predicted.
And what of the battle between the city's two primary news/talk outlets: WGN-AM (720) and WLS-AM (890)? Neither wound up in the top 10 among adults 25 to 54 last month. But WGN is outperforming WLS by a comfortable margin. WGN scored a 2.8 share in September, down a hair from 2.9 in August but still good enough for a tie for 16th place.
But WLS fell from a 1.9 share in August to a disappointing 1.5 in September, putting the news/talk outlet in a far-from-great 26th place overall among adults 25 to 54. What has to be especially worrisome for WLS is the near-total ratings collapse of its once-hot morning drive show featuring Don Wade and Roma. In September, the duo could do no better than a tie for 25th place with a 1.8 share.
Channel 7 dominates again
Though Chicago's Olympic bid did not play out as many expected, one aspect of the local television coverage of the story probably surprised no one. That would be ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7's total dominance in the ratings from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, when every station covered the International Olympic Committee vote from Copenhagen live.
WLS General Manager Emily Barr has repeatedly said she is humbled by how many Chicagoans turn to her station when big events happen. And so they did again on Olympic decision day, when WLS put Linda Yu and Sylvia Perez in the anchor seats instead of lead anchors Kathy Brock and Ron Magers.
With a 5.4 rating from 10 a.m. to noon, WLS easily bested second-place finisher Tribune Co.-owned WGN-Channel 9's 2.2 rating, which barely beat out the 2.1 scored by third-place NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5. CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 was fourth with a 1.8, and Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 trailed with a lowly 1.1 rating.