Air America debuts in Atlanta Arbitron ratings

[wyldwolf]

#30 out of 33 stations ranked, but interesting results anyway...

This is 18+ demos, courtesy of Rodney Ho at radio-info:

1. V-103 (which went up returned to No. 1, where it was in the spring)
2. Viva (first appearance--astounding debut)
3. Hot (fell back from a No. 1 spot in the summer)
4. Kicks (up)
5. Star (the younger sound is obviously working)
6. 99X (down a bit)
7. DaveFM (went up)
8. Beat (dropped sharply from no. 5)
9 -tie Praise (down a little)
9-tie WSB-AM (back down to earth from no. 4)
11. Kiss (up sharply though not target demo)
12. Q100 (down from 6th place--clearly hurt by Viva)
13. Eagle (nearly doubled its ratings in a demo it's not targeting)
13 tie Lite 94.9 (Christmas music was the clear reason for a massive leap in ranking)
15. Jamz (dropped a bit)
16. Lake 102.3 (the other Hispanic FM up in the NE corner held its own)
16. tie Fish (down a bit despite xmas music)
18. B98.5 (basically flat despite xmas music.)
19. 96rock (lost nearly half its 18-34 crowd now that's full on classic rock)
20. The Zone (a strong performance for the AM sports station)
21. WGST (up, not target audience)
22. WAZX (one Hispanic AM not affected so far by Viva)
23. The Fan (up in fall thanks---football helps)
23. tie Smooth jazz (down, not key demo)
25. Cool (up, not target demo)
26. Buzz (way, way down for reasons unknown)
26. tie Classic Soul 102.5 (down, not target demo)
28. WXEM-AM (Hispanic actually up)
tie 28. WAOK (Black talk is up)
30. WWAA-AM (Air America makes its debut)
31. WAOS-AM (Hispanic drops sharply)
32. J93.3 (down)
33. WGKA-AM (First appearance on new 920 AM signal)

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Wyldwolf's analysis: On a piss-poor signal with very little promotion, and having just come on in Atlanta in the Fall, to be even ranked at this point is outstanding. This happens as WSB-AM (home for Neal Boortz, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage) drops from #4 to #9 and WGKA (home to Laura Ingraham) sits at #33.

But, as you will see, the news is better for Air America in the coveted 25-54 demo...
------------

1 WSB-Am dropped about 10% but about avg over past couple years
2. V-103 up solidly but still third worst in years
3. Kiss up a lot (ranked 5th in summer) Best performance since fall 2001
4. Praise dropped 15% but about avg
5. Viva Let's just say it increased about 7 times over talk radio in the summer
5. Kicks down a little but nothing notable
7. Star up a little
8. B98.5 up a little
9. Lite up a huge amt but not as much as in the past three years and came in behind B98.5--so the B98.5 strategy to go xmas appears to have worked
9. Dave up a smidge, about avg compared to Z93 in recent years
11. Hot 107.9 down a lot but still above its avg in this demo in the past two years
12. Fish up a little, avg performance
13. Jazz down a bit, slightly below avg.
14. 96rock down a bit, tied its spring 2004 numbers, which were its worst in years
15. Eagle up, about avg.
16. Cool. recovered a bit from a bad summer
17. Classic Soul up a lot, best book since winter 2003
18. GST down from a very strong summer, matched fall 2003 no's
18. 99X down, probably its worst performance in this demo in its history (I don't have the no's going back that far but that wouldn't surprise me.)
20. QXI avg. performance
20. Jamz up slightly avg. performance
20. Beat worst performance at least since 2001 but not their demo
23. Q100 worst since summer 2001
24. CNN flat
25. LKQ down slightly
26. WAOK best performance in its black talk history
27. VFJ , up a smidge
28. WWAA Air America shows up, 7th highest TSL helps
29. AZX .down a smidge
30. WGKA - debuts on new signal
31. Buzz down a huge amt, worst performance in its short history but this isn't the demo
32. WXEM shows up barely
33. WAOS Hispanic station takes a hit from Viva
34. WMLB -The adult standards station (now much broader under new ownership) just barely shows up.

[RubyDuby in GA]

1. Yay Air America. What the heck is Viva?

I've completely turned off all radio except Air America, so I'm a little rusty.

[wyldwolf]

4. 105.3 FM

[RubyDuby in GA]

5. Thanks!

I flip through the stations every once in a blue moon, but I guess I've never been on that station long enough to know it has a name.

[xultar]

7. Remember when it was FM RW Nut-Job talk. Buhwaaaaaaaa! n/t

[abandon_ship]

8. que pasa? usted no amo la musica latina?

[BrklynLiberal]

2. That certainly is not bad news!!!!!!! Thanks for the info.

[CottonBear]

3. I can listen in the Athens area while driving in my truck.

The signal is best in Oconee County (closer to Atlanta). I may try out one of those AM antenna enhancers from C. Crane Company. I wonder if they can upgrade the signal. Or, better yet, get on a station closer to Athens. I picked it up pretty well going up US 441 to Commerce. In Asheville, NC there is an excellent AAR station.

edit: By "listen" I mean listen to a very weak signal that only comes in at certain times of day.

It pisses me off that there is so little progressive radio in Athens. There is some good NPR programming and there is the UGA station. Local AM Radio is all RW talk and local RW politics. Local station 1340 AM axed the last two remaining progressive hosts.

[bunkerbuster1]

6. you want really bad RW radio--ever heard "the DUNG?" (wDUN, 550)?

man, that's hurtin', it is. A lot of nationally syndicated fascisti, but some homegrown crap as well.

I've got spotty access to AM-1690; I like what I manage to tune in, but at night, at home, I have to get the online stream to hear it.

[MattNC]

9. thanks for the info

i was wondering how this station was doing in the ratings. i hadn't heard much about it.

[dxdem]

10. I didn't even know

that Air America had made it on in Atlanta. Maybe with some massaging I can hear it in Augusta. Hmm...

[MGKrebs]

11. Where's WCLK and WRFG?

Are they not listed because they are not technically "commercial"?

[wyldwolf]

13. they're not listed because they don't have the ratings

I'm sure if the list included all stations with a signal heard in Atlanta, they would be on it.

[Eloriel]

12. Mixed in with music stations?

WOW -- I'm really impressed. REALLY impressed.

[MattNC]

14. FYI

the upgrade is almost complete on the station's new tower, so the signal should be improving soon.

[RubyDuby in GA]

15. thank god

You can't even pick it up in some places in downtown Atlanta.

Good to know about the new tower. Thanks for the info.