Posts Tagged ‘WRKT’

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.

(more…)

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).

Spring ARB: Star increases lead over Classy

Connoisseur Media continued its position at the top of the Erie radio ratings, with their flagship CHR WRTS (Star 104) increasing the total audience lead that they hold over Citadel Broadcasting’s AC WXKC (Classy 100) by a half-share in the Spring 2009 ratings just released by Arbitron.

In fact, none of the stations in the Citadel stable increased their share of the Erie audience this Spring compared to last Fall. On the other hand, only WRKT (Rocket 101) joined Star in an increase in share for Connie Media. In fact the rankers for this Spring book were quite stationary, with a few exceptions.

News/Talker WJET fell one rank and lost over a third of it’s share of audience in the first book since the dropping of Rush Limbaugh from its lineup. Nostalgia CFZM, which had a big fall book here in Erie fell two positions in the Spring.

The most improved station in the Erie market this book: Christian AC WCTL, with an over 20% increase in share audience and a two position jump in the rankers 12+.

It was a bad book for sports radio as WRIE share was cut in half. Meanwhile, WFNN 1330 was again a “no show,” falling under the line this book.

All the 12+ ratings are available on AllAccess.com (registration required).

Dymond to take over Connoisseur/Erie

Connoisseur has named a replacement for ousted GM Dave Calabrese. From their corporate website:

Westport, CT – Nancy Dymond has been named Market Manager of Connoisseur Media’s Erie operation. Dymond will be responsible for Connoisseur’s market-leading group – WRTS (Star 104), WRKT (Rocket 101), WXBB (Bob), WTWF (The Wolf), WJET-AM and WFNN-AM.

Dymond has over 25 years of experience in radio sales and management. She has had a tremendous track record over the years as Vice President/General Manager for Fritz Broadcasting in Saginaw and Lansing Michigan, Cumulus Media in Flint Michigan, and as Director of Sales for Radio One in Detroit.

“It will be exciting working with such great stations and a company that believes in ‘good radio’ and serving the community”. I look forward to the challenge”, said Dymond.

Dymond will be taking over Erie’s most successful radio stations, such as the 50,000 watt powerhouse STAR 104. In the Fall Arbitron, Connoisseur Media’s 4 FM properties finished #1, #2, #3, and #4 with Adults 25-54 M-Sun 6a-12a.

“We are fortunate to have someone like Nancy leading our operation in Erie. She is a real radio pro. I’m confident she will continue to build upon our success,” said David Bevins, Connoisseur Media’s VP of Operations.

Connoisseur Media is headquartered in Westport, CT. In addition to Erie, the Company owns or operates radio stations in Billings (MT), Bismarck (ND), Bloomington (IL), Des Moines (IA), Huntington (WV), Omaha (NE), Rapid City (SD), and Wichita (KS).

Let’s hope Ms. Dymond finds Erie’s advertising climate as or more hospitable than Flint’s. Welcome Nancy!

Star 104, Connie Media dominate Fall 2008 book

In one of most lopsided ratings outcomes since corporations took over most of Erie radio, WRTS/Star 104 and Connoisseur Media emerged with a much greater share of audience than rival WXKC/Classy 100 and Citadel Communications.

As part of a near Connoisseur sweep of the top 5 slots in the Erie radio ratings, WRTS increased their average share by 40 percent, beating WXKC by almost six share points. The rest of the top five were WRKT/Rocket 101 at #3, WTWF/93.9 The Wolf at #4, and WXBB/Bob-FM 94.7 fifth.
(more…)

The Feed for the Weekend of December 13th-14th

Editor’s note: Sound off, give a shout out on “Deep Background,” our totally-random open discussion of all things Erie media.

  • Bayhawks open big: The Erie Bayhawks rocked the Tullio Arena in their franchise home opener in front of 3,706 fans Thursday night. GoErie.com reports that video appearances by NBA Commissioner David Stern and King Lebron James were featured on the center-court scoreboard during the opening ceremonies. The ‘Hawks stay home for a Saturday-Sunday matchup with Fort Wayne, then on Thursday, it will be their first locally televised contest on Image Sports Network (TWC city 20/suburbs 13) against Dakota.
  • (more…)

The Feed for Friday, November 7th

Editor’s note: Sound off, give a shout out on “Deep Background,” our totally-random open discussion of all things Erie media.

  • WJET-TV in HDTV: On Wednesday WJET announced that they are now broadcasting High Definition over the air on their 24.1 subchannel. Although currently in low-power, the station says they’ll be full power upon the digital switchover. A quick check of the HDTV tier on Time Warner Cable shows no channel designation for WJET-HD yet.
  • (more…)