Northern Michigan Arbitron radio ratings are out.... Kinda

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8.27.12

NORTHERN MICHIGAN RADIO RATINGS ARE OUT... ER, KINDA
New Arbitron policy stops embargoes, but filters out non-subscribers

Arbitron, we missed you.

After a long three years, Arbitron is back to dishing out radio ratings publicly, but with a catch:

Non-subscribers to the service are now omitted from their surveys.

Sadly, Ross Biederman's Midwestern Broadcasting, Northern Broadcast and Roy Henderson's Fort Bend Broadcasting are off the list, but at least we have the numbers for MacDonald-Garber Broadcasting and Northern Star Broadcasting, headed by Del Reynolds.

So here's what we can publish:

106 KHQ - 7.8
Lite 96, WMKC Big Country 102.9 and Real Rock 105/95-5 - 3.5
98.1/94.5 The Bear - 2.0 
Mix 96/WMBN 1340/WMKT 1270 - .4

*It doesn't surprise me that KHQ's ratings are pretty good right now, considering that Top 40 is as popular than ever thanks to rap/hip-hop dying in popularity and the format itself becoming more soccer mom-friendly. Then again, Arbitron did publish KHQ's numbers from the past few books, and they were better.

*Lite 96 with a 3.5 proves that northern Michigan - despite being an older-skewing market - can only support one AC station.

*Big Country has always done well with the Straits area folks. 3.5 is pretty good for a station with only an OK signal in Traverse City, a town with two strong 100KW Country signals.

*I am disappointed with Real Rock 105/95-5. I did check their numbers from the past few books and they're at their lowest ratings point since they debuted. Personally, I think if the station had more live and local personalities instead of using a voice-tracked has-been from Minneapolis for nights, the station could have more energy. IMO, Cartman's gotta go. His style is more-suited for CHR, plus the fact that he damn near screwed me over to save his failing career doesn't surprise me that they're probably the lowest-rated Active Rock station in the state.

*If Real Rock's that bad, look at The Bear! 2.0! Sad. Even worse, owner Del Reynolds even admitted that he's paying over $100,000 to air Bob and Tom on that station. Personally, both Bob and Tom and The Bear have seen better days.

*Doesn't surprise me that Mix/MBN/MKT are at a .4. Of course, WMBN just flipped to Sports, so we'll see what their next book is like. A .4 is embarrassing to WMKT, especially with all of the live talent it has. Then again, their syndicated fare's horrid, and it's a big ratings killer.

So, since we don't have ALL of the Arbitron ratings, plus the fact that we did a similar ratings book using Alexa.com, here's what we've concluded with:

STATIONS DOING WELL:
*106 KHQ
*97.5/98.9 KLT
*WTCM-FM 103.5/93.5
*Big Country 102.9 (does well especially in Straits area)
*WTCM-AM NewsTalk 580

STATIONS DOING OK, BUT NOTHING SPECIAL:
*94.3/92.5 The Fox
*WLDR Sunny Country 101.9
*Real Rock 105/95-5
*Classic Hits 107.5 WCCW
*Lite 96.3

STATIONS THAT SHOULD CONSIDER DOING SOME CHANGES:
*98.1/94.5/93.9/107.1 The Bear
*WMKT 1270
*WJML 1110
*Z93 (too fuddy-duddy for a CHR)
*Mix 96
*99.3 The Wolf (have I EVER heard one local commercial for that station? Also, what happened to their webstream?)

THE VERDICT IS OUT:
*WZTC 104.5 Bob FM
*WCDY 107.9
*WBNZ 92.3

ALREADY MAKING CHANGES:
*106.7/105.5 You FM (becoming ESPN 8.30)
*1310 WCCW (flipping to Fox Sports also on 8.30)
*WKAD 93.7/WMBN 1340 (already flipped to Fox Sports)

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