Name: Cumulus Media
Age: 22
Occupation: radio giant
Last Seen: Atlanta, GA
Bee-otched For: not doing The Q... in the ratings
-Age: 22
Occupation: radio giant
Last Seen: Atlanta, GA
Bee-otched For: not doing The Q... in the ratings
Well, Nielsen did do a good thing by making Grand Rapids a monthly market as opposed to being a seasonal one.
Recently, the ratings company started handing out monthly ratings regarding Grand Rapids radio stations. Plus, they are providing ratings for non-commercial stations, which places Christian station WCSG in the top three (it was #1 not long ago). In the book released yesterday, WCSG finished in 3rd place while B93 and WOOD-AM/FM were #1 and #2 respectively. Definitely a good book for conservatives in west Michigan.
CHR WSNX and Rocker WGRD rounded out the top five.
However, there's a mystery lurking in Nielsen-land and it's the case of the missing AAA station. That, of course, being Cumulus's 94.5 The Q, aka the new WKLQ.
Yes, it's nice that Cumulus returned the historic WKLQ call letters to 94.5, though their days of being possibly the coolest rock station in the state of Michigan ever are long gone. Instead of charming the airwaves with The Tool Rule, Mandatory Metallica, Metal at Midnight and hearing Clutch's "Spacegrass" every other day, the new 94.5 plays a blend of alternative, classic rock and stuff you only want to enjoy if you drink a shit ton of IPA. On a positive note, some of the stuff The Q plays is reminiscent of the old KLQ's Sunday night program Clambake.
But since The Q was launched last January, it hasn't been reported to Nielsen. Apparently, Cumulus doesn't want to know how The Q is doing, or quite simply, they're making Nielsen embargo their ratings. Their other stations - LAV, Hot FM, Thunder 107.3 and The Ticket - all are on the ratings chart (and all but LAV have good ratings). But why The Q is missing is a mystery. However, rumor has it that The Q's ratings are *actually* pretty good given the fact that AAA isn't really a ratings-friendly format.
Michigan's two other AAAs are sister station 107one in Ann Arbor and to an extent, Windsor, Canada's 93.9 The River, which covers Detroit, but also spikes in Hot AC tracks as well.
So, why is Cumulus hiding how The Q is doing? Even more, I hardly see any real promotion of the station anywhere. No billboards or TV ads.
Then again, this is Cumulus we're talking about, a company that went though bankruptcy because, well, they pissed people off. The only good thing they did when they bought Citadel's Grand Rapids cluster a decade ago was shitcan Matt Hanlon for what he did to the old KLQ. The fact that they fired the Dickey brothers also helped.
The reality is that I think as listeners, we have a right to know, but who knows? Maybe there's an issue between Cumulus and Nielsen. In any case, I hope shit gets resolved so, well, I might be able to prove a point that AAA DOES work in GR, or maybe it doesn't. If The Q is indeed successful, maybe it'll persuade iHeartMedia to FINALLY kill 101.3 The Brew and flip it to alternative. Hell, they can keep Rover's Morning Glory for all I know if that were to happen. If not, then it proves my point that it's time for Cumulus to think Urban for Grand Rapids.
Yes, I'd like to see KLQ back with Stern in the morning... minus the Bachelor talk and ass-kissing to Ellen DeGeneres.One can dream, eh?
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Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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