Posts Tagged ‘Connoisseur Media’

Fall ARB: Erie radio market tightens

WJET

WJET-AM up in the Fall 2011 ratings

Fall 2011 radio ratings released Tuesday show a diversification of listeners among Erie stations, with all but one of the subscribing Connoisseur Media stations losing shares.

Arbitron, the media measurement company, made only Connoisseur’s 12+ shares public today, as the other local stations do not subscribe to the service.

What we do know is that FM standard bearers WRTS (Star 104), WXBB (Bob FM), and WRKT (Rocket 101) all experienced their lowest shares in four books, with only WJET-AM recovering from a spring ratings dip. The final station in the cluster WFNN did not show once again.

Although it’s difficult to analyze trends when you are looking at less than half of the listening, it is easy to gather that beyond the trend to listen to sources off the dial, there are now more choices on the dial that are competing for time spent listening. Add to it the nearly non-existent promotional and advertising budgets, and your product will lose market share.

As we get more information on the lay of the land in radio, we will share in an appropriate manner.

You can see the rankers at AllAccess.com (registration required).

Seacrest to come to Star 104

Starting Monday, one of the most recognizable personalities in broadcasting will have a home in Erie, PA. WRTS/Star 104 will begin airing On Air with Ryan Seacrest in the 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM slot. Here’s the release:

Joe Jonas with Ryan Seacrest

Seacrest will focus on all aspects of the entertainment industry, highlighting and interviewing top talent from the worlds of music, film and television.  In addition, listeners can visit www.RyanSeacrest.com to interact and connect with the show and get their daily entertainment and lifestyle news.  The site also features photos, videos and social networking.

Operations Manager for Connoisseur Media, Joe Lang said, “Star is committed to playing the best music everyday with the most recognizable personalities and there’s no bigger name than Ryan Seacrest to deliver all the pop culture news to Star 104.  He has his finger on the pulse of the music industry and will bring that insider information to Erie every weekday from 10 till 2.”

ABOUT RYAN SEACREST

With his thriving broadcasting career and multiple ventures, Ryan Seacrest is at the forefront of the media and entertainment industry. While hosting and producing multiple television and radio programs, building his Ryan Seacrest Productions banner (RSP) into a leading television production company, and managing myriad brand ventures, Seacrest is redefining what it means to be a successful Hollywood entrepreneur. Seacrest holds preeminent positions in broadcast television, nationally syndicated radio, local radio and cable as both a producer and on-air host. He is celebrated internationally as host of the top-rated primetime talent showcase “American Idol,” and hosts and produces E! News and its red carpet awards show coverage. He also executive produces and co-hosts “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.” Seacrest has been nominated for an Emmy® award in the “Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program” category for his work on “American Idol,” and has also hosted the live network broadcast of the Emmy® awards show. On radio, Seacrest is host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, his market-topping #1 nationally syndicated LA morning drive-time radio show for Clear Channel’s 102.7 KIIS-FM, as well as the nationally-syndicated American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest and On Air with Ryan Seacrest.

RSP recently produced the ABC hit show “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” and also produces the highest-rated show on the E!, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” as well as “Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami,” which debuted on E! in 2009. Seacrest’s ever growing brand spans beyond media with his many entrepreneurial endeavors. He has extensive deals with brand heavyweights Proctor & Gamble, Coke and Microsoft, and recently announced a strategic marketing and technology alliance with Eventful, Inc.

Originally from Atlanta, GA, Seacrest’s professional career in broadcasting began at the age of 16 when he applied for an internship at one of Atlanta’s top radio stations, WSTR-STAR 94. While working at STAR 94 he finished high school and went on to attend the University of Georgia where he majored in Journalism. Seacrest currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Although many will mourn the loss of another airshift that could be local to syndicated content, I think it’s a good move for Star strategically to lock-up Ryan Seacrest now before the Lawrence Park station signs on. It’s a quality show that airs everywhere and beats voice-tracking middays. It also reflects Connoissour’s willingness to invest in the product on their cash cow, since the Seacrest show is not a cheap date.

Given American Idol’s numbers here and nationwide, Erie will love Ryan Seacrest on the radio.

The rise of women in Erie media

What glass ceiling?

The rise of market veteran Pam Forsyth to General Manager of Lilly Broadcasting’s WICU, WSEE, and WBEP is a significant milestone. Yet it is a natural outcome in a market that has long valued its female media professionals. Just last month, Lisa Adams was upped to News Director at the same cluster; who when joined by Program Director Paula Randolph creates a context where powerful female voices are heard from the entire spectrum of a station’s operation.

Meanwhile, downtown we find the Erie Times-News/GoErie.com and Connoisseur Media’s six radio stations with women in the CEO chair. And don’t forget that many ad deals are conducted by agencies led by women, including Ad Person of the Year, Pauline Gonda of Rambaldo Gonda Media.

Perhaps what makes the Forsyth promotion so exciting is that Pam came up through the ranks locally, starting in local radio sales at WSEG in the 1980′s, eventually hitting the streets for channel 12 where she has been most effective and empathetic for her clients and the viewers. I can’t think of a better person who can not only maximize revenues and market share while bringing continued healing and solidarity to the merged group.

The world of Mad Men seems a million years ago compared to this age of Erie media.

New heights for Star 104 in Fall radio ratings

Tuesday evening’s release of the latest ratings for Erie radio stations only tells half the story, but it is the greater half.

The ratings company, Arbitron, decided to make public only the ratings of those stations who subscribe to their service. That means for now, we can only see what happened this Fall to the stations of Connoisseur Media, including perennial powerhouse WRTS/Star 104. We have no official access to the performance of the stations of Citadel Broadcasting or any of the independent local stations.

Hits by artists like Katy Perry fuel WRTS's domination of the Erie Fall 2010 radio ratings

Star continues to ride the wave of the resurgence of pop music, but their domination of Erie indicates a total acceptance across all demographics. The 35% increase in 12+ share year over year brings WRTS’s numbers to level’s we haven’t seen in decades.

The flagship of the Connoisseur group is the biggest of many positive stories for the occupants of the those big display windows at the Boston Store. WRKT turned around their recent ratings slide to their best book in two years. In fact the only big disappointment of the six stations was at WTWF, where they lost nearly half of their average share of audience from last year. Of course we can’t compare 93.9 The Wolf with their WXTA and WGYY country competitors, since they didn’t buy the book.

Finally, will the strength of Star and Rocket finally push crosstown Citadel Broadcasting to flip their weakest property, WQHZ to go after a slice of the larger Top 40 pie that Star owns, or a flanking move to oldies or FM talk.

Keep watching this space for further ratings fallout and punditry.

Star 104 goes super nova in Erie Spring radio ratings

WRTS/Star 104

It’s got to be one of the biggest Top 40 stations in the country.

According to the recently released Spring 2010 Arbitron ratings for Erie, the nearly 18 percent share of the Erie radio audience that WRTS/Star 104 enjoys at any given part of the day means that if you were to pile all those people into one place it would be the equivalent of the population of a decent sized city all jumping up and down to The Black Eyed Peas. Star definitely benefited from the sheer depth of great Top 40 songs currently in rotation. Erie has gone GaGa for the Lady, the glam of Adam Lambert, and the Gurls of California.

In fact, market watchers tell me that Star 104 has reached audience Nirvana with its “skew graph.” Connoisseur Media’s WRTS scored nearly the same percentage of adult listeners in each demographic slice, meaning that it’s the station that Grandma, Mom, and Sissy can agree on. Most Erieites listen to Star and another station; from Bob to Z.

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Deep Background for August 22-28, 2010

August has turned into a time of significant change for Erie’s media.

Long-term TV personalities have flown the market, the newspaper has unequivocally called out County Councilmen and women based on their support of the proposed Community College, the Citadel group experienced a resurgence in Erie’s radio ratings even Connie Media’s #1 station extends its lead, and Erie’s top new media properties join together to further connect their/our readers.

We are covering it all in the coming days after this lengthy hiatus. Meanwhile you can spout off on anything media topic you desire in this open forum. Leave a comment below, e-mail me, or tweet @pressandtower.

Embrace the chaos!

Fall ratings: Connoisseur strengthens Erie radio domination

The twice yearly ratings horse race between Star 104 and Classy 100 has turned into a yawner.

The Fall 2009 Arbitron ratings released Friday afternoon confirms the amazingly strong hold that the Connoisseur Media cluster has over Erie radio listeners. Although it’s lead 12+ has softened, WRTS/Star 104 continues as Erie’s most listened to broadcast radio station. Meanwhile the flagship station for the Citadel group in Erie, WXKC/Classy 100 has continued its slide in share of audience over at least five books to be ranked fourth.

The big winner of the Fall was WTWF/93.9 The Wolf who garnered their best book ever, good for second place. Rounding out Connie Media’s top stations was WXBB/Bob FM, who scored their best book since they debuted in 2007.

Been a long time since we rock and rolled the ratings. WRKT/Rocket 101 and WQHZ/Z-102.3 have taken what was 17 shares of listenership two years ago and grinded it down to 11. It looks like Rocket especially hasn’t put the jets onto expanding its base.

As far as AM goes…simply, nothing to see here. While AM stations crush their competition in the markets surrounding us in ratings and billing, our offerings have received no investment from their owner companies and so they got what they paid for.

Finally, the third biggest jump up came from my alma mater WCTL, who scored their best book in memory and is knocking on the door of once-prominent WXTA/Country 98.

You can see all the hard numbers at AllAccess.com (registration required).