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8.18.08
NORTHERN MICHIGAN RADIO ARBITRONS: WTCM STILL KING, KHQ SKYROCKETS, KLT DOWN WSRT, Breeze still underperforming
For as long as I've had the internet, WTCM has been the tops of the Arbitrons for Traverse City-Petoskey.
The heritage country station is still atop the Arbs, which came out last Thursday with a 12.2, up from an 11.2 from last Fall. As a matter of fact, two of 'TCM's sisters, WTCM-AM NewsTalk 580 and Oldies 107.5 WCCW are also in the top 5 at numbers 3 and 4, respectively.
The big surprise, though went to another heritage, CHR 106 KHQ, which zoomed to #2 with a 9.6, up a full two shares. The MacDonald-Garber station should be laughing at now-former crosstown rival 106.7 WSRT (that's the old WKPK 106.7 The Peak, ya know), which has become a massive abortion with a 1.9, good for only 12th place.
Mac-Gar should also be happy at Lite 96.3, the ruler of the AC roost with a 4.1/6th place. The two other ACs, the aforementioned WSRT and hot AC WJZQ 92.9 The Breeze didn't fare as well.
The Breeze is still northern Michigan's lowest-rated 100,000-watter with a 1.5, good for only 13th place, tied with sports sister WCCW-AM 1310. Even though the station recently flipped from smooth jazz/soft AC to hot AC and got some new imaging, the station still has an identity crisis with their name, imaging and even their voice-tracked jocks, who all sound like they're over the age of 50.
Many stations fell in the new Arbs: KLT fell 1.5 shares to #5, Classic Hits 94.3/92.5 The Fox fell 1.6 shares to #8 and two country stations, 101.9 WLDR and Big Coutnry 102.9 fell to a 3.3 tie for #9. Another falling station is alt-rocker 95.5 The Zone, which has lost a third of their listeners in a year.
Another station to worry about is classic rocker The Bear, which has gained three spots to #7, but only gained .1 of a ratings share with a 3.7. However, with owner Northern Star planning to move their 105.1 stick further south toward Gaylord, it could mean bigger changes for the once-2nd placed rocker.
Also on the "HA! HA! FAILURE!" list are talkers WJML 1110/1210 and WMKT 1270, whose ratings are still under a one share despite 50,000-watt power increases.
Now, here's where I throw in my armchair PD experience and try to help some of these guys out...
*92.9 The Breeze: Get rid of the geezer jocks, do some marketing and research and get rid of the imaging that sounds too local. Sadly, Ross Biederman is notorious for spending very little on good-sounding liners. Also, it would be nice if they canned some of the obscure crap ("Talk It Over" by Grayson Hughes and that other song Everything But the Girl did other than "Wrong" or "Missing"). I know this will never happen, but maybe if they were a REAL hit music station, they can suck some of KHQ's ratings.
94.3/92.5 The Fox: I miss the old Casey Kasem countdowns on Sunday.
95.5 The Zone, 98.1/105.1/107.1 The Bear: You know, it was a bad move to can all of the local jocks and go with a bunch of airheads from Omaha. Sadly, Cartman is the only thing the station has anymore, and he's carrying the station on his shoulders. Even worse, there's a good reason for The Zone's new-found failure: there's hardly any 20-somethings who listen to the radio anymore thanks to Sirius and MP3 players and there's hardly any 20-somethings in northern Michigan as-is. Not only that, but their signal sucks, especially for a stand-alone with no simulcasts. You just won't get anywhere marketing Vampire Weekend and The Kooks to the NMC crowd. As for The Bear, the fact that they scared listeners away to KLT by "omptimizing" their format with A Flock of Seagulls and Depeche Mode hasn't brought them back, either. The only reason why people still listen to them is because of Bob and Tom and even their show has seen better days thanks to the FCC's crackdown on indecency, plus Omelette and Finster on KLT.
How about this: NSB kills 95.5 The Zone and they replace that with Big Country, giving them a better signal in the area? As for The Bear, they should try active rock to suck listeners away from KLT. They should keep the edgier classic rockers (Pink Floyd, Metallica, Guns 'N Roses and Led Zeppelin) and mix it in with new rock (Disturbed, Shinedown, Slipknot, Foo Fighters and Saving Abel).
106.7 WSRT: Please, Northern Broadcast, kill this abortion already. It will never cross a three share airing a morning show for old rich hos and 11 straight hours of Delilah. I'd like to say "bring back The Peak", but the WKPK call letters are now used in the U.P. on a Christian station. Plus, the station's heritage as a CHR's tarnished for good; just look at K-Rock in New York. In WXRK's case, they flipped to an underperforming format, Free FM, and came back to K-Rock with no ratings. If The Peak were to come back, it'll be a 2nd tier at best.
Oldies 107.5: Please get rid of Oldies Classic Hits Radio. It's not even a real oldies format anymore. Plus, it might confuse your listeners with The Fox. If you need to use the bird that bad, use Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel.
The next book, if not embargoed, will be out in February.
8.8.08
MICKEY OFF OF 1680 WDSS now stunting
At least the mouse is still on Sirius.
On Thursday, WDSS 1680 dropped Radio Disney programming; the station is now airing a repeated, recorded message that the station is no longer carrying the mouse net, and is going to start airing a new format in September called "Public Reality Radio" with details to come.
1680 is owned by Goodrich Radio, but was being leased to Disney. They've aired Radio Disney since 2003, and is one of the city's lowest-rated stations.
7.7.08
THE STATE OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN RADIO In short, it sucks
As some of you know, this very website started nine years ago in northern Michigan.
Back then, there was no Stern, no REAL rock station, LOTS of country stations, and so much depression to mention.
As shocking as it is, radio 'up north' has improved for a few reasons: 1) The Zone, in it's sat-fed glory, airs a ton of modern rock songs that ratings stalwart WKLT still refuses to touch after all these years, and 2) there's a little something called Sirius that makes radio listening up north a hell of a lot more bearable.
Without further adieu...
Oh, and mind you, when I went up north a few weeks ago, I only listened during the overnight hours since I was showing my Sirius off to my cousin, who went with me. Needless to say, he's interested in buying one...
92.9 The Breeze: The good news: the music's a billion percent better. The bad news: the jocks and imaging suck. It's a shame that Ross Biederman won't put more money into this station, such as hiring more DJs instead of piecemealing voicetrackers from his other stations. Otherwise, this station could be mid-range in the Arbitrons.
94.3/92.5 The Fox: It's still not too bad, except that it's practically "KLT Lite". It's the same butt rock crap you hear on KLT, except with 70's and 80's pop mixed in. I miss the classic AT40 shows they had Sunday mornings.
95.5 The Zone: No real improvement or degration from last time I've listened. After all, when all of your jocks and music are from the city that gave us the people you can count on when the going's rough...
Lite 96.3: I've noticed that they're mixing the typical standard AC fare with oldies. A reaction to WCCW, maybe?
97.5/98.9 KLT: I'm still scatching my head why they dumped almost all their currents and went with an almost-total butt rock feel. Everytime my radio landed on this frequency, I changed it because their playlist is as dry as it gets. Why people love this station is beyond me. They should take a clue from Bill Curtis of WSUE in Sault Ste. Marie and do research instead of listening to some assholes who think that everybody in northern Michigan lives in double wides and beat their wives.
98.1/105.1 The Bear: I've noticed that these two stations don't simulcast anymore. Huh. Probably an automation thing.
101.9 Sunny Country: Country music sucks. Period.
Big Country 102.9/93.9: See 101.9.
103.5/93.5 WTCM: "" "".
106 KHQ: This station's too similar to WKFR in K'zoo or 105.3 Hot FM here in GR. Lots of recurrents and not a whole lot of groundbreaking new music. This station is notorious for adding new music late and skipping on rap songs (i.e. "Lollipop" by Lil' Wayne) because they want to stay on the safe side. Sad. It makes me miss 106.7 The Peak, which became...
106.7 WSRT: If you want to fall asleep, this is your station. After all, they air Delilah 7p-6a daily. Why won't Northern Broadcasting kill this piece of shit already? They're under a two share, and they'll remain that way.
Oldies 107.5: This station has used the same "OldiesRadio" jingles for over a decade and their processing blows as well. I wish they could use something like TKO Radio Networks instead of jocks that pretend to sound local.
Overall, northern Michigan radio is nothing more than satellite-fed crap and a huge lack of selection. I feel bad for those who don't have Sirius up north. It only comes to show that even small-timers like Biederman and Trish MacDonald-Garber only care about the almighty dollar and not the listener, who doesn't listen to the radio as much as they used to. Innovation and radio just don't want to mix anymore.
'Nuff said...
7.2.08
BILL SIMONSON IS STILL A DOUCHEBAG So sayeth OKC blogger
KLQ DIVES DEEPER IN THE RATINGS Once again, Clear Channel rules Grand Rapids radio ratings
Well, there's good news and bad news regarding the once-great KLQ.
The good news is that they're the 5th-least-listened-to FM in town instead of the 5th.
The bad news? They STILL lost .4 of a full ratings point. As a matter of fact, one of their FM sisters is even lower.
The Rock @ 94dot5 Pure Rock 107-3 appeared in the Winter 12+ Arbitron book for Grand Rapids with a 2.5, down from a 2.9 in the Fall 07 book. Overall, the white trash-friendly active rocker is now 12th place amongst all stations in Grand Rapids, ahead of Christian AC WJQK/JQ99 and sister country WTNR/Thunder 94.5 (both with a 2.4), newly-launched Clear Channel alternative WMAX/Radio X 9-6-1 (1.6; I think they'll really go up next book) and perennial loser WFUR 102.9 (.8).
The station has been in the 2 range for quite some time, and one should wonder how long the underperforming Citadel would be tolerating this. Of course, the company is hardly promoting the station, which has the idiotic Opie and Anthony in the morning and a mediocre DJ staff all day.
Then again, they'll never apologize for what they did to Stern five years ago.
Elsewhere... *The Hollanders are listening to WOOD 1300's shitty right-winged babble in droves. That station's #1 with a 7.4, although down almost a full share from last book. Sister country B93 was in 2nd place. *Citadel's only major note was the overpromoted WLAV, 3rd place with a 5.6. *WGRD had its worst book in ages with a 4.7, good for 6th place. *Tyrone 640 actually showed up with a .8.
4.23.08
DREW LANE LEAVES WRIF Morning co-host to take care of ailing fiancee
It's official: Drew and Mike are no more.
Drew Lane, half of the highly-rated 101 WRIF morning show has officially left the station to take care of his ailing fiancee, Tess Schuster. Lane has been off the air since last September when Tess was diagnosed with breast cancer.
WRIF parent Greater Media made the official announcement yesterday afternoon. For the time being, longtime partner Mike Clark will continue with the show alongside newswoman Trudi Daniels and producers Mike Wolters and Marc Fellhauer. Lane had been at the station since 1991 alongside his partner "Zip", who both came from Phoenix. Zip left in 1994 and Clark was brought in.
This is the second time in only a few years cancer has affected the iconic Detroit rock station, famous for their numerous bumper sticker designs revolving around their ovaled logo. Only a few short years ago, Sabrina Black, the wife of 'Riff jock Steve Black battled a long, yet brave battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Sadly, she died in 2006 at the tender age of 36.
True, yours truely - and even Howard himself - have attacked Drew and Mike for being a buuch of Stern clones. But, I gotta applaud Drew. He's leaving behind a top-rated morning show and a massive paycheck to take care of what's more important in life: his fiancee. What Mr. Lane is doing is a true testament to love. True, he's not married, but he cares for Tess for better or for worse, sickness or for better health.
Also, we can all hope that Ms. Schuster can recover from this ordeal. Breast cancer's a tough disease and hopefully, she can beat it. Let's keep her and Drew in our thoughts and hearts in hopes that she can beat this disease and that they can move forward in their lives.
4.22.08
FAREWELL, OLD FRIEND Artie's back
After a week off the air due to Spring Break, the Stern show returned to the airwaves. And guess who was on the air? Yep! Artie Lange, making his first appearance on the air since his nearly-career-ending outburst against his assistant, Teddy.
As a result, Artie apologized for what he did, and later on in the show, he and Teddy reconciled.
Howard also explained why he vetoed the repeats of that Thursday show, plus any showings of Artie's outburst on Howard TV. It was because he was worried about Artie's well-being. He said that the fans had to come last since he was really worried about Artie. So far, there are no plans to reshow any of these shows.
Personally, I'm happy Artie's back. He's a huge part of the show's soul. It just wouldn't be the same without him. However, I still worry about his health. Then again, that's his decision.
Welcome back, old friend.
4.14.08
FAREWELL, OLD FRIEND My thoughts on Artie Lange's sudden departure from the Stern show
As many of you know by now, Artie Lange attacked his assistant, Teddy on Thursday's Stern show. As a result, he's apparently no longer a part of the show, and the program has not been re-run, probably due to the sensitivity of Artie's well-being.
The program is readily available on YouTube and other sites, and I finally got to hear it. So here's my thoughts:
*From the sounds of things, there's a communication problem between Artie and Teddy. Not to mention, Teddy might have a problem dealing with some of Artie's documents, such as passports and such. When you're somebody's assistant, know the drill, plain and simple.
*It's a no-brainer that Artie needs help... BAD. Not only does he need to see a doctor about his massive weight gain, but maybe his anger, too. I do worry about his health. The man's dealt with substance abuse and food abuse as well. It's shocking that he's outlived John Belushi. My solution is that if he's done with the Stern show, good for him. He needs severe help, and hopefully, he can come to his senses and Stern will let him back.
*As for the show not being re-run, maybe Stern and Sirius will let it run. I understand that the issue was so sensitive that probably Howard didn't want it re-aired; the show wasn't even mentioned on HowardStern.com. True, a similar incident happened years ago with AJ Benza, but unlike Benza, Artie was family. I know that the show's off this week, so hopefully things will settle down and we'll know more when everybody returns.
4.4.08
CHANGES IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN 7&4/29&8 merge, 94.5 flips again
*The sale of Traverse City ABC affiliate WGTU 29&8 to Tucker Broadcasting/Barrington Broadcasting from Max Media has been completed. 29&8 is now sharing its operations with Barrington's NBC station WPBN 7&4, who is renovating its studios to accomodate 29&8. After the renovations are made, expect more news on 29&8, which hasn't had a fully-staffed news deaprtment since 1984. (Let's also hope and pray that they cancel The 700 Club)
*The format wheel at Northern Star's WLJZ 94.5 in Mackinaw City has spun again. This time, they're now airing Waitt Radio's classic country format as "Big Country Gold 94.5", which is supposed to accomodate country sister WMKC Big Country 102.9/93.9. The format it replaced, hot AC as "Star 94.5" only lasted two years and had no ratings. Prior to that, they were part of the modern rock The Zone duocast with WJZJ 95.5 Glen Arbor, which had ratings, but operated in the red.
4.1.08
SIRIUS CLIMBS ABOARD THE SOUL TRAIN Sirius, Don Cornelius Productions team to create Soul Train channel
The Hippest Trip in America will be expanding from 60 non-stop minutes for the tracks of your mind into the exciting world of soul to a full 24/7.
Sirius Satellite Radio is teaming up with Don Cornelius Productions to create a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week Soul Train channel that will begin airing July 2008. The channel will replace the similarly-named Soul Town, which broadcasts classic R&B from the 1960's through the 80's.
"This is exciting news to fans of Urban music, all forms," said Tony Cornelius, a top-ranking executive at the company his father founded in 1970. "We will pretty much maintain Soul Town's format, and maybe we'll throw in some of the fast-rising up-and-comers that Soul Train has long been notorious for introducing."
The elder Cornelius, a salesman-turned-DJ created Soul Train in 1970 for WCIU-TV in Chicago. After one year of stellar ratings for the fledgling UHF station, Cornelius moved Soul Train to Metromedia in Los Angeles, where in just five years, the show was on in over 100 TV markets and even beat mainstay American Bandstand in the ratings in some of them. The show became famous for its dancers; some of them, such as Pebbles, Jody Watley and Rosie Perez became very successful entertainers. Of course, the show had its popular features such as the Soul Train Scramble, where a male and female dancer had to descramble the name of a famous person "whose name you should know" for a tube of Afro-Sheen, the show's main sponsor. Of course, its most-popular feature is undoubtedly the Soul Train Line, where four lines of dancers had to dance down the row individually; in the early years, they danced with a partner.
Oh, yes, there was Don's rememberable catchphrases: "this is the groove that sho' 'nuff make you want to groove so smooth", "the biggin' everybody's diggin'" and his closer, "you bet your last money, it's gonna be a stone gas, honey".
Cornelius hosted the show from 1970 until 1992. Since then, the show's had numerous hosts, including Mystro Clark, Shemar Moore and most-recently, Dorian Gregory. However, due to financial troubles at the show's long-time syndicator, Tribune - which shut down last December - the show has been replaying old episodes from the Cornelius years. They've even had to cancel the long-running Soul Train Music Awards because of Tribune's demise. "It's been a struggle," said Tony Cornelius, "however, people keep telling us that they love the old shows. We'd like to get back to work, but we've gotta keep our lips zipped right now."
The new Soul Train Channel will also feature a weekly show hosted by the elder Cornelius, 71, simply called "The Don Cornelius Show". It will be Don's first foray into radio since he was a DJ at WVON in Chicago in the 1960's. According to Tony, it will feature Don playing records and the stories behind them, plus clips of their interviews on Soul Train. Also, longtime ST announcer Sid McCoy will do the channel's liners.
"We chose Sirius because they have an unbeatable lineup," said Cornelius, referring to Howard Stern, Jamie Foxx, Martha Stewart and Eminem. "With Soul Train on the radio, people will be shakin' what their mommas gave 'em!"
Ummmmmm, please check your calendar.
3.20.08
WINDS OF CHANGE AT 92.9 THE BREEZE Northern Michigan's lowest-rated FM tweaks, adds hot AC titles
OK, so what's going on at Midwestern Broadcasting's WJZQ/92.9 The Breeze in Traverse City?
Apparently, the station - which only registered a puny 1.4 last Arbitron ratings book - has eliminated most, if not all of its smooth jazz from its playlist, as well of its 70's music for more currents. The music has even gotten more modern; songs such as Fall Out Boy's "Thnks Fr Th Memrs" and Pink's "Who Knew" now have a regular spot on the station's playlist.
It's somewhat hard to decide if the station is a hot AC or straight-forward AC. Earlier today, the station played "Bittersweet Symphony" from The Verve, and later, "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion and Elton John's "That's Why They Call It the Blues". The station even still uses "Easy Favorites" in their liners. Nonetheless, the station's trying to get an audience, period, and the sleepy music just had to go.
The canning of smooth jazz from The Breeze is part of a new epidemic in radio. In recent weeks, smooth jazz outlets have been disappearing from bigger cities such as New York, Washington and Houston. The format's audience is limited, period. The Breeze was northern Michigan's 2nd smooth jazz station; the first was Del Reynolds' Coast FM, which became modern rocker The Zone in 1998. In 2001, The Breeze's owner, Ross Biederman, moved 92.9 - then a partial simulcaster of his country station WTCM - from its longtime home on the WWTV channel 9 tower near Tustin to its news facilities in Kalkaska County, closer to Traverse City. He flipped 92.9 to smooth jazz in 2001. At first, ratings were strong but tapered off. So, the station decided to try the hybrid soft AC/smooth jazz format which led to their 1.4.
In other northern Michigan AC news, Ryan Dobry is now doing weekends at Northern Broadcasting's WSRT 106.7. She was recently at country WLDR 101.9 and for 25 years prior, WTCM.
2.17.08
K'ZOO DOWN A ROCK STATION WFAT now WYZO - Y96.5
Yee-frickin' ha.
Last Friday, Midwest Communications killed off WFAT 96.5, which had been a classic rock station and replaced it with country as WYZO - Y96.5.
Midwest also owns WNWN - Win 98.5 out of Coldwater, which doesn't have a great signal in Kalamazoo. As a matter of fact, the only country station with a clear signal into K'zoo is Clear Channel country stalwart WBCT - B93.7, which is 2nd place in the ratings.
Prior to the switch, the old WFAT was in 6th place in the ratings.
The station is maintaining the Bob and Tom morning show for mornings, which is almost unusual since they're mostly on rock stations. However, since B&T's fans are mostly wife-beating white trash -- like country fans -- the new format's a good fit.
K'zoo still has two other rock stations: heritage rocker WRKR 107.7 and arena rocker WZUU 92.3 The Zuu.
2.8.08
GOD, I'M GLAD I'M NOT IN RADIO... Everybody's on a firing spree, it seems
When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a radio personality.
I loved radio so much that I even went to a radio station when I was in middle school for job research. One of the things the DJ told me was that the ad execs at the station made more than the jocks. It should be noted that the jock himself was fired about a year after I met him for bashing one of the advertisers, even though they weren't an advertiser at the time.
But that wasn't all. Many DJs had side jobs; one jock I knew even owned a production company. The reason was simple: being a DJ doesn't pay the bills, especially where I lived. So, I chose a more-stable career not radio related.
Back in the ye olde days of radio, it took several jocks to run a station 24/7. The jock would be in the studio taking requests and playing records and carts. Today, all you need is a computer with a ton of tunes downloaded to the hard drive. Can't afford jocks? Simple. Just have liners that say something like "no jocks, no hype". True, your station won't have many promotions or contests, even requests, but let's face it, this is the 21st century and it's time to evolve.
Yesterday, CBS announced that they were chopping 5% of its workforce; WXRK New York PD Tracy Cloherty has been let go, and so are other jocks and higher-ups in Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other cities. The day before, Emmis chopped away 46 positions, including the jocks that were at smooth jazz WQCD 101.9, which flipped to AAA WRXP.
Even sadder was that the entire airstaff of all-chick-all-the-time KSYY (Sassy 107) in Denver was canned Monday. Apparently, the station's owner is $25 million in the red, so they flipped it to "One FM", a rhythmic format.
Yep, one good reason why radio stations fail: the all-chick format. Look at WSRT in Traverse City: NO RATINGS. KFTK St. Louis: NO RATINGS. Plain and simple. In the case of WSRT, they had monster ratings when they were CHR as WKPK - 106.7 The Peak 10 years ago. Of course, management screwed things over, especially when the Delilah show became availible. Sadly, the station's now at a 1.8 and is now the 2nd-lowest-rated FM station in the market.
You know, radio is just getting sadder and sadder. Talented radio personalities are getting shit-canned for what? A computer. Ya know, there's pluses and minuses to that. Jocks can be annoying. They also chat all over the beginning of a record and in the case of management need pay and bennies. But, when you wanna listen to a song, who's going to take your call? Nah, that's what the internet's for. If you wanna listen to that hot song, just hit up YouTube. Also, when you're on the road, and there's no jocks, where's the backsellin-er, never mind. Sirius has song title/artist displayed.
I guess in most cases, the DJ is dead. They just aren't needed anymore. Big companies are right that the computer has taken over and you just don't need a body in the studio at all times. Now, thousands of people are now looking for that next big gig.
You know, there's good money in, well, everything else...
2.4.08
IT'S OFFICIAL: 96.1 FLIPS TO ALTERNATIVE WMAX now "Radio X 9-6-1"
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!
Clear Channel Aloha Station Trust's WMAX 96.1 - formerly Max FM, I96 and Young Country 96.1 - officially flipped to an adult-leaning alternative format just after 10 a.m. this morning as "Radio X 9-6-1". The station's core bands include Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band and No Doubt.
The station's first song was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from Nirvana, followed by "Hey There Delilah" from Plain White T's and "Just a Girl" from No Doubt.Ironically, the Radio X positioner was also used by what is now WZUU 92.5 in Mattawan, formerly WNTX 92.3 in Allegan.
The station's designed to attract listeners away from WGRD 97.9, the market's dominant alt-rocker. The station promises no talky jocks, sports, weather or news, but just music. Unlike GRD and most alt-rockers, the station skews towards 25-54 heavily and relies on gold content over new music.
Hey, maybe they'll take listners away from KLQ...
WTCM LEADS NORTHERN MICHIGAN ARBS Two AC stations below 2 share
Finally, a northern Michigan Arbitron book that's for real (we hope).
The northern Michigan Fall 07 Arbitron ratings came out Friday, and there were many big surprises. No surprise was WTCM-FM (103.5/93.5) once again leading the pack with an 11.2. That's almost three times more listeners than cross-town WMKC (Big Country 102.9/93.9) or WLDR (Sunny Country 101.9), both sharing a 7th place finish with WLXT (Lite 96.3) with a 4.0.
Also in the good news bracket was heritage rocker WKLT (97.5/98.9) which had its best book in almost a decade with a 9.1, good for 2nd place. Not too long ago, the station refocused itself as more of a true heritage rocker, ex-ing out most of their new rock and focusing on stale 1970's and 80's butt rock. After all, with the average northern Michigander making less than $10/hr., it only makes sense. Their morning show, Omelette and Finster, also was a big help, so was the fact that The Zone's 94.5 signal in Mackinaw City flipping to hot AC as "Star 94.5" helped KLT as well. I also wonder if they 'cooked' their books like they did to WSRT last time.
WCCW-FM (Oldies 107.5) did gain listeners from the last book, but fell to #3 due to KLT's inroads. WTCM-AM (NewsTalk 580) improved to 4th place with an 8.3 and WKHQ (106 KHQ) fell to 5th place but gained a little with a 7.6. WFCX (94.3/92.5 The Fox FM) stayed at a 5.0 but gained a notch to #6.
With three stations tied at #7, the yuks begin with WGFN (98.1/105.1/etc. The Bear) tied at #10 with modern rock sis WJZJ (95-5 The Zone). It was only a few short years ago, The Bear was the #2 favorite in town with Bob and Tom in the morning. There's plenty of factors regarding The Bear's freefall in the ratings: -Omelette and Finster on KLT -Bob and Tom's decision to tone down their show after the Janet Jackson tit-bearing incident -the station's decision to add 80's synth-pop (Gary Numan, A Flock of Seagulls and Depeche Mode), which didn't last long -Howard Stern on Sirius
As for The Zone, they're doing decent for a station whose signal only covers a small portion of northern Michigan. Of course, the station had better ratings when they had their 94.5 stick (now suffering with a .4) and playing live and local modern rock (in lieu of the overly-indie Waitt Radio feed they use 19 hours per day).
As mentioned, WLXT won the AC race with a 4.0. But, Traverse City's two other ACs were a complete abortion and-a-half. While NBI was celebrating WKLT's ratings victory and The Fox's achievements, WSRT (106.7/105.5) was a laughing stock with a horrid 1.8. It's the station's lowest (known) rating since flipping from the long-running, once-popular WKPK (106.7 The Peak) five years ago. It's hard to believe that WSRT - a 100,000-watter - gets worse ratings than 20,000-watt The Zone. Of course, the freefall could be attributed to the scandal that rocked the station last book when PD Todd Martin and his family all filled fake diaries, making it look like the station actually had listeners.
However, WSRT wasn't bad comparing to WJZQ (92.9 The Breeze), which had its most-morbid book ever with a 1.4, only good for a 13th place tie with sister station WCCW-AM (ESPN 1310). It's undoubtedly the biggest bomb in Ross Biederman's 30+-year radio career.
Of course, the rest of the book wasn't pretty for Traverse City's other news/talkers, despite both stations boosting their wattage. Both WMKT 1270 - which is now only the second AM in the state to broadcast at 50,000 watts non-directional full-time in the daytime - and WJML 1110 - which recently tacked on a second signal with 1210 AM in the Traverse City area - had a .7.
Now, there's no doubt that there's three stations in the market that now need help: The Bear, WSRT and The Breeze. Question is, what will happen in this still-virgin year? Will at least one of them flip? One thing's for sure: Palmer Pyle, the president of Northern Star Broadcasting (which has The Bear, The Zone and Big Country) recently stepped down, and there could be some massive changes in store for the stations (it should also be noted that The Zone's main studios just recently moved to Traverse City, so don't expect too many changes there).
Here's a format wish list: -active rock -CHR (unlike the ultra-stale KHQ) -liberal talk -AAA (could work) -outlaw country
The Spring 08 book should be out this August.
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HARD TO BELIEVE, MANCOW STILL EXISTS Yet, his two Michigan stations' ratings are pure bullshit
As the ratings books for Michigan are finishing being handed out, one thing's for sure:
Nobody likes Mancow.
And yes, Mancow's still on the air.
Once upon a time when radio was actually competitive, Stern had a beef with the prick known as Erich Mancow Muller, who had a syndicated show on alternative Q101 out of Chicago. Today, Stern's on Sirius and Mancow has no station in Chicago since Q101 fired him due to lower-than-low ratings.
Now, the poor Cow's struggling to get affiliates anywhere, and here in Michigan, it's no exception. He has two, and both stations have ZERO ratings.
First off, there's WTKQ (FM Talk 100.5) out of Saginaw, which just landed an egg in 14th place with a morbid 1.3. That station also carries Dennis Miller, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage of all people.
And then, there's Kalamazoo, where WZUU (The ZUU) moved from 92.3 to 92.5 and moved closer to K'zoo, but with limited results. The arena rock station now has a 2.9, but is one of the lowest in this market, where there's not many signals.
So much for The Cow taking over Stern's audience.
2.1.08
MAX DOA GR's lowest-rated FM now stunting with a clock ticking
So long, Max FM. We hardly knew ye.
WMAX 96.1 has dropped its ill-fated hot AC format and is now stunting with a clock ticking. The change was apparently made at 3:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon with a Spanish announcer saying that he was broadcasting from a snow-covered cornfield in Hudsonville. After he gives out the legal ID in Spanish, bells ring and a clock ticks.
Occasionally, the clock will stop ticking with the announcement "02.04.08 at 10:01 a.m." (this Monday) plus other features like the song "Who Let the Dogs Out?". There's even this You Tube video on their website:
Recently, Max scored an abmyssal 1.4, its lowest rating since becoming Max FM three years ago. It used to be WVTI (I96), and usually scored in the two-share range. Then, in 2005, they went with the Jack-esque Max FM and scored the same ratings. They went back to hot AC, but with the Max name, and ratings went even lower.
Also recently, 96.1 was put into a trust by owner Clear Channel so they could be within ownership limits. The format flip may also be a result.
Now, the $64,000 question: what will 96.1's new format be? Some speculate Spanish, but that ad screams rock. After all, KLQ and GRD need competition. If it's indeed rock, it could be (thankfully) the death knell for KLQ.
We'll see Monday morning.
1.28.08
KLQ STILL A TRAINWRECK Ratings improve but the station still sucks
New GM: check.
The elimination of 1980's hair bands that only white trash enjoys: check.
Opie and Anthony canned from the station: uncompleted.
Michael Grey eliminated from the station: ditto.
Ratings improvement: on a technicality, FAILED.
On Friday, the Fall 07 12+ Arbitron ratings for Grand Rapids were released, and WKLQ had good news and bad news.
The good news was that the station's ratings went from a 2.2 in the Summer book to a much-improved 2.9, their best rating in years.
Now, the bad news. They're STILL the third-least-listened-to Grand Rapids FM station.
Over at perennial ratings losers WFUR (102.9/1570), they must be popping the non-alcoholic champaigne bottles, since they're no longer the least-listened-to GR FM. The honor now goes to Clear Channel hot AC WMAX (96.1 Max FM), which puked up a disasterous 1.4. Rumors are spreading that Clear Channel wants to spin-off the forever-troubled 96.1 frequency, which has had ratings troubles no matter what format they have.
As for KLQ, I wouldn't count out a format flip sometime this year. After all, CBS is not planning to renew the terrestrial contracts of Opie and Anthony come later this year, and I expect the same thing for Citadel. After all, they did can O&A on their classic rock station in Connecticut, WMOS.
With the fact that they sold out Howard Stern five years ago and LIED ABOUT IT, plus the fact that they've tweaked the format too many times, scaring away listeners to their iPods and Siriuses, it's time for KLQ to die a sad, painful death. They need to know that even though they've polished that turd numerous times, it's still a turd.
There's many opportunities for the 107.3 frequency. Why not simulcast 92.5 The Outlaw out of Muskegon? They already have a 1.1, weak signal and all. Hey! What about a full-time urban station? Citadel has one in Muskegon, yet none in GR. Spanish sounds good, too. After all, not many minorities probably even have a Sirius.
ELSEWHERE: -How weird. Clear Channel has BOTH the most-listened-to and least-listened-to rated radio stations in the market. WOOD-AM 1300 scored with the Hollanders with an 8.5. The beyond-confusing WTKG 1230 was dead last with a .5. I guess it doesn't pay to have both Glenn Beck, Dave Ramsey and Randi Rhodes on one station. -WOOD's sister, country WBCT (B93) lost a share and a half, but still good for 2nd place. -WOOD-FM (Star 105.7) did good by their yearly flipping to all-Christmas, 3rd place with a 6.3, up from a 3.1. -The station that calls KLQ its bitch, WGRD, is still holding its own with a 5.2, down from a 5.9 last book. -Where's Tyrone 640? I don't see his Spanish sis, WMJH 810, either.
The Winter book will be out March 13.
1.7.08
NFL WEEK 16 & 17 RESULTS
WEEK 16 RESULTS:
PIT@STL - PIT - W DAL@CAR - DAL - W NYG@BUF - W GB@CHI - GB - L CLE@CIN - CLE - L KC@DET - DET - W HOU@IND - IND - W PHI@NO - NO - L OAK@JAX - JAX - W ATL@AZ - AZ - W TB@SF - TB - L NYJ@TEN - TEN - W MIA@NE - NE - W BAL@SEA - SEA - W WAS@MIN - MIN - W DEN@SD - SD - W
WEEK 16 TOTAL: 11-5 SEASON TOTAL: 154-86
WEEK 17 RESULTS:
NE@NYG - NE- W SEA@ATL - SEA - L NO@CHI - CHI - L SF@CLE - CLE - W DET@GB - GB - W TEN@IND - IND - W CIN@MIA - CIN - W BUF@PHI - BUF - L CAR@TB - TB - L DAL@WAS - DAL - L PIT@BAL - PIT - L JAX@HOU - HOU - W MIN@DEN - DEN - W SD@OAK - SD - W STL@AZ - AZ - W KC@NYJ - NYJ - W
WEEK TOTAL: 10-6
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