V-103, Fish, Kicks, the Bull, the Fan winners in September Arbitron numbers
The trends from August mostly didn’t change in September.
V-103 has continued its extraordinary run, buildling upon an already hefty lead over fellow urban stations. The R&B/hip-hop mainstay hit its best numbers this year again. Its ratings have improved five months in a row, a rare and unusual run for any station, much less the No. 1 station.
V-103’s morning show Frank Ski and Wanda Smith actually pulled in more than 20 percent of the 18 to 34 year old audience, an astounding number in such a competitive market. Majic has been slipping for the past five months while Kiss has seen some modest erosion. Hot 107.9, too, saw its worst numbers since January. 95.5/The Beat rebounded from a year low in August but not back to its earlier-year levels.
Country music (see: Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker) has been on a hot run in Atlanta, with both major country stations building audience all summer into September.
Kicks’ 25-54 ratings are up 60 percent from its year-low in February. The station ranks top 5 or top 6 in major demographics.
94.9/The Bull was written off a year ago as a laggard behind Kicks. But it has shown impressive improvement this year under new management (take a bow, Scott Lindy) and has become a top 10 station (No. 6 18-34, No. 8, 25-54, no. 9 overall). The morning show, with Jason Pullman and Kristen Gates, actually beat Cadillac Jack and Dallas McCadeat Kicks, among 18 to 34 year olds for the first time.
Christian pop station the Fish, after a slow period earlier this year, found momentum over the summer. Its 25-54 numbers were its best of 2009.
Sports station 680/The Fan also took home its best numbers ever in September, continuing a strong string of months, just in time for college football. Its morning show with Christopher Rude beat up on Mayhem over at the Zone and mid-days with Chuck Oliver and Matt Chernoff keep on building. The Zone’s saving grace is evenings, where its combo of the 2 Live Stews and Mike Bell and David Pollack beat Buck & Kincade among 25-54 males.
Atlanta is proving to be a tough town for five rock stations. Since 99X came back, the other four stations have suffered dropoffs to varying degrees. Rock 100.5 is in last place in many dayparts. And the station’s saving grace, The Regular Guys, had by far its worst month in PPM history, tumbling to 11th among 18 to 34 year olds and 12th among 25 to 54 year olds.
At Project 9-6-1, Giant Brian Carothers’ final full month at Project 9-6-1 was nothing to write home about. His final two months showed the morning show’s weakest numbers of the year. Jimmy Baron’s first full month at Dave FM showed improvement among 25-to-54 year olds but it’s too early to make any real assessment.
The new PPM system is supposed to be more stable since the meter holders don’t change much month to month vs. the diary system. But especially among younger listeners, the anomalies do pop up. For instance, True Oldies finished No. 16 among 18 to 34 year olds and No. 10 among morning shows. What??? Randy Cook rejoins Spiff Carner on Monday.
Top 20 radio stations, overall, ages 6 and up
1. V-103
2. WSB-AM
3. Kiss 104.1
4. B98.5
5. Kicks
6. Majic
7. Praise
8. WABE-FM
9. The Bull
10. Fish
11. True Oldies
12. Q100
13. The River
14. Hot 107.9
15. 95.5/The Beat
16. Star 94
17. Project 9-6-1
18. El Patron
19. Dave FM
20. The Fan
Top 20 25-54
1. V-103
2. Kiss
3. WSB-AM
4. Kicks 101.5, Majic 107.5/97.1 (tie)
6. B98.5
7. Q100
8. The Bull
9. Fish
10. Praise
11. The River
12. Hot, El Patron (tie)
14. Star, Dave (tie)
16. Project 9-6-1
17. WABE-FM
18. True Oldies
19. The Beat
20. The Fan
Top 10 morning shots 25-54
1. Frank & Wanda, V-103
2. Scott Slade, WSB-AM
3. Tom Joyner, Kiss
4. The Bert Show, Q100
5. Steve Harvey, Majic
6. Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks
7. Steve & Vikki, B98.5
8. Jason Pullman and Kristen Gates, The Bull; Morning Edition, WABE-FM (tie)
10. Patrones de la Manana, El Patron
Top 20 18-34
1. V-103
2. Q100
3. Hot 107.9
4. El Patron
5. The Beat
6. Star
7. Kicks
8. Bull
9. B98.5
10. Project 9-6-1
11. Majic
12. Fish, Praise (tie)
14. Viva
15. Kiss
16. True Oldies (!)
17. WSB-AM, 99X, the River
20. Dave FM
Top 10 morning shows 18-34
1. Frank & Wanda, V-103
2. Bert Show, Q100
3. Patrones de la Manana, El Patron
4. Ricky Smiley, Hot 107.9
5. Jason & Kristen, 94.9/The Bull
6. Cadillac & Dallas, Kicks 101.5
7. Murph Dawg & CJ, 95.5/The Beat
8. Cindy & Ray, Star 94, (tie) Scott Slade, WSB-AM
10. Spiff and Freddie, True Oldies
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17 comments Add your comment
Coach Cool
October 9th, 2009
4:05 pm
Does Mayhem actually exist???
Buck & Kincade: NEVER #2.
Jim
October 9th, 2009
4:17 pm
Congratulations to Jason & Kristen on The Bull, great show, and I guess the numbers reflect it.
I do wonder, however, with the Bull doing so well lately, where are they picking up their audience from, since it’s obvious by Kicks numbers it’s not taking many listeners from them? It’s a mystery to me.
Yo Yo Yo
October 9th, 2009
5:41 pm
it’s a toss up between Ryan Steward and David Pollack on who can’t read a commercial without sounding like amateur radio guys. Oh that’s right …. sorry I forgot. that ain’t hating that’s just facting cha cha
Is Big Frank going to get paid or is the old morning show going to be the new morning show ???
TrafficHeadache
October 9th, 2009
6:45 pm
Ryan “Steward”?
atlBOY
October 9th, 2009
7:09 pm
yes ‘the bull’ is sounding great these days — i love how they are NOT afraid to play some good tunes long forgotten by kicks (i.e. brand new girlfriend by steve holly); also, give it to V103, the music reeks pretty bad, but they’re all local, live 24/7 and all about the ATL; good for true oldies – their playlist is full and fat – something not seen in atlanta for decades
ole pal
October 9th, 2009
7:23 pm
Bull will top kicks soon! 101.5’s audio is horrible, music is too new, mid days are amateur hour and afternoon’s needs to be put out to pasture. Morning show is all they have and that is slipping.
Telling the future
October 9th, 2009
9:06 pm
Line-up change coming to 790 by 1-1-10
Wonder who the odd man out will be?
Would have to say………..
BA or JE or both will have to fall on the sword of the tribe.
beau
October 9th, 2009
9:27 pm
I got excited for a second when I saw that Kristen was working with Cadillac Jack again. But then I realized, it was a mistake. C’mon, Mr. Ho. Please proof read your stories. But then I saw that the Bull has two morning shows. One says Kristen is on the show. The other says it’s just the Jason character. Now I’m even more confused.
Slim
October 9th, 2009
10:22 pm
If I wanted to listen to obnoxious black people, I’d go sit in a movie theater.
Slim
October 10th, 2009
12:55 pm
…well, maybe not…me being gay and all, I would just listen to myself be obnoxious…that what us sissies do!!
Slim
October 10th, 2009
2:12 pm
That’s the best you got? Srsly? Don’t quit your day job at the retard factory.
Slim
October 10th, 2009
2:13 pm
Oh wait, my bad. Blacks don’t have jobs. Carry on!
Pete
October 12th, 2009
8:55 am
I loved reading the line “Rock 100.5 is in last place in many dayparts.” I haven’t listened to this piece of crap station ever since they changed over to their “quality rock” format. Quality Rock?? Coldplay, Toadies, Kings Of Leon. This is quality rock? What a joke.
And there was rock 100.5 shamelessly promoting itself at the Def Leppard concert this past August at Lakewood, even though they won’t play any music by the band. I asked the guys working at the Rock 100.5 booth if they noticed that this concert was sold out and Def Leppard is still going strong 20+ years after their start and if they think that anyone is actually going to remember a flavor of the month band like Kings Of Leon in just 5 to 10 years? They agreed with me but said that they have no control over the music, told me to send an e-mail to the program director. I did, and of course never got a response, not that I thought I would. When this station first started they had a good variety of rock and hard rock. Now they are just trying to cater to the yuppies that listen to DAVE FM. I seriously hope Rock 100.5 and their ‘quality rock” agenda fails.
Sluggo
October 12th, 2009
9:30 am
Same thing with the upcoming KISS show. Rock 100.5 has been mentioning the show but they’re not even playing anything off of the new Sonic Boom cd.
Gary
October 12th, 2009
2:45 pm
Good to see the Stews and P&B finally beat out the declining Buck and Kincaid. For Zone to get back to dominance, it is time to shake up the morning. Steak, I like ya man and its not personal, but it is time to shake up the Mayhem crew. That show has not been the same since Bell left and you cannot handicap your successful afternoon shows by moving him back. I know the morning guys take flack by getting from talking sports every once in a while when the Rude guys do it too, but it is time to shake it up. That mid-day show is a joke and needs to be put to pasture.
I know you will not leave the show, but Mayhem needs some new blood that will bring listeners. BA is ok as long as he is interacting with Nick and Chris so maybe there is something there. Stews and P&B should be left alone as those two shows are clicking really well right now. Plus ole Bell seems more motivated and sounds like he is having fun again with Pollack by his side. Time to admit the mistake in letting Chernoff and Oliver leave and find some new blood for the mid-day. You were once king and can be again, just time to make some changes before that low key group at 680 puts distance between you and them.
blackout_dawg
October 13th, 2009
10:48 am
Bring back “The Bottom Line” with Nick & Chris. Now THAT was some fun radio.
Charisma
October 14th, 2009
10:12 am
with the extremely low rating, can Radio-1 finally get rid of Rickey Smiley for good? PLEASE! The only jockeys that are worth listening to on Hot 107.9 right now is Emperor Searcy, but he comes on against the Ryan King so that’s not even fair. Everyone else over there SUCKS! Rickey Smiley by far is the worst!