Age: ageless
Occupation: entertainers and informers of the world
Last Seen: everywhere
Bee-otched For: ratings? What ratings?
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PLEASE NOTE: We are in the process of moving to a new location. As a result, Bee-otch of the Day will be updated less frequently than usual for the time being. Thank you for your patience.
A few weeks ago in Grand Rapids (yeah, I know I'm late with all the moving and etc.), the Nielsen radio ratings were released.
WOOD-AM/FM won the book - probably because of Rush's death - while Christian WCSG was at #2. B93, GRD and LAV rounded the top five.
However, there were a few embarrassments. WFGR had its worst book in a while, while The Q 94.5 had its worst book since its debut a few years ago. Urban stations seem to be the worst off of the bunch with Magic 104.9 registering at a 1.7 while the recently-launched 102.5 The Drive is nowhere to be seen, Steve Harvey and all.
Of Grand Rapids' high-powered music stations, Thunder 107.3 continues to be a joke with a 1.7, though ratings are up for the floundering frequency. Sister sports station WJRW is also a joke with a paltry .7, tied with Muskegon rocker WMRR 101.7.
A few weeks ago in Traverse City, the Ticker website published an article about how the local radio stations are reshaping their formats in the age of the pandemic. They talked with Chris Warren, the general manager of Midwestern Broadcasting's cluster (WTCM-AM/FM, WCCW-AM/FM, Z93 and KLT) and claimed that when it comes to music, they can't compete with Pandora and others. So their top asset is something that one cannot get from streaming: local content.
In the article, Warren talked about the importance of personalities at their stations, especially KLT's overrated Nina Blackwood wannabe Terri Ray, who has been KLT's programming director for some 25 years. Before Midwestern purchased KLT in December 2019, former owner Northern Broadcast fired most of the staff, save for Ray, who has been with KLT since 1984. Since Midwestern's purchase of KLT, the company rehired morning man Steve "Omelette" Normandin and moved Dean Berry over from oldies sister station WCCW-FM 107.5.
Warren also states that he had gotten a Nielsen report claiming that "good old fashioned radio listenership is stronger now than it's ever been" and that they've "always touted levels in the neighborhood of 90-92 percent of adults listening to local radio – whether it's 15 minutes a day, or 15 hours a day". Hmmmm.... OK, so how *is* Midwestern doing? According to the article, Warren claims that Midwestern "had a strong year".
OK, so what about dem ratings?
Since the pandemic began, only one major radio company in northern Michigan, Black Diamond Broadcasting, still subscribes to the Nielsen ratings. Their stations are doing quite well, though Rock 105/95-5 has lost some ground this past year. Now that WTCM-FM no longer has a signal in the Straits Area with 93.5 flipping to a KLT simulcast, Big Country 102.9 has been their best performer. Classic rocker The Bear has also improved, though recently, popular morning host Smitty exited the station and radio altogether.
Now, Midwestern is claiming that they have a hit on their hands with the return of Omelette. But, is it for real? Bear in mind that when he replaced the godawful Bob and Tom Show on The Bear, the station had lackluster ratings, which was why he was fired. Of course as mentioned, KLT is now on 93.5 in the Petoskey area and 96.7 near Alpena (98.9 was spun-off to a religious group because of FCC limits). How it's affected WTCM-FM is anyone's guess.
So, let's say that I owned a supermarket and one day, a Midwestern sales rep walked into my store. This is how the convo would go:
Midwestern Sales Rep: Hi! My name is Lou Skunt, and I'm a sales rep at Midwestern Broadcasting Co., the owners of WTCM, WCCW, Z93 and KLT. Are you the owner of this business?
Me: Yes.
MSR: Great! Well, I'm here to talk to you about buying some air time at our wonderful group of stations here in the Grand Traverse Region. You know, Midwestern Broadcasting has been in business since 1939 and has been family-owned since day one! We have some of the highest-rated radio stations in the area and we feature some of the most-popular talent! Listen, King Chuck, did you know that according to Nielsen, radio listenership is as strong as ever and that around 90-92% of all adults in this area listen to the radio at any given time?
Me: Prove it.
MSR: Well, here's the article.
Me: Do you have the latest ratings?
MSR: Here you go!
Me: Ummmm... This is from before you rehired Omelette. This is not current.
MSR: Well, um, books are, um, expensive. Um, well, you know that Omelette is the #1 morning show in northern Michigan, right?
Me: Prove it.
MSR: Well.... um.... he is! You know, right?
Me: Listen. What are you hearing?
MSR: Slow, symphonic music. Why?
Me: That's a channel called "Escape" on SiriusXM. It's calm and relaxing and perfect for my shoppers, many of whom are elderly folks over 50. And why do I have Sirius? It's because I'm a Howard Stern guy and you people would have never given him the time of day 20 years ago.
MSR: Well, we have Omelette, and he's, um, like Stern...
Me: Yeah, he rips off everything he's done. And why you assholes were crying that he wouldn't sell up here, you were pumping horseshit from Rush and Dr. Laura on WTCM-AM who were more offensive than anything Howard's ever done. Look. Radio is dead. Quit spinning.
MSR: Look, I'll cut you a deal...
Me: (grabs cell phone to call the cops)
Meanwhile, the Ticker also talked with Jerry Coyne, who owns rocker Q100 and sports talker WGRY 101.1 - Up North Sports Sports Radio. Recently, WGRY's programming added on WJML 1110 Petoskey, WJNL 1210 Traverse City and the low-power translator at 101.1 in TC. According to Coyne, the stations will be the area's flagship for Detroit Tigers, Red Wings and Pistons sports while Q100 will handle the Lions.
With the Tigers moving to UNSR, it ends 80 years of the baseball team's games being aired on any Traverse City station owned by Midwestern. Because of this, it's adding to the rumor mill that the for sale sign is shining brightly at the Radio Centre complex in downtown TC. Company president Ross Biederman is 80 years old and none of his biological children are involved with the company. Chris Warren, however, is his stepson, but unlike Ross, he's not a radio guy, but rather a bean counter. Now, I have talked with a former Midwestern employee who is still good pals with many at 314 E. Front St. and he told me that Ron Jolly is quashing the rumors because his show is a top biller at WTCM-AM. Granted, none of Detroit's teams - especially the Tigers at this current moment - are to die for. But the fact that northern Michigan's biggest Tiger affiliate is a daytimer with an FM translator station whose signal doesn't quite make it to Elk Rapids should be an embarrassment. After all, up until last year, nighttime games were on WCCW-FM 107.5.
However, it is a good deal that because of the addition of sports talk on 1110/1210/101.1, it marks the end of 30 years of low-rated shitty conservative talk on WJML. Did WJML ever have a one share in the ratings ever as a talk station? Anyway, it leaves Dave Ramsey, Laura Ingraham and a bunch of low-ranked talkers off the air up north. True, WJML *did* have a few good talkers here and there at one time, like Mike Malloy and Ed Schultz. Hell, they even had a progressive talk sister in the 2000s, Kool 750! Of course, that station died a sad death when it was sold to a certain radio slumlord who is sitting on eggshells because his inflated ego cost him everything.
The moral of the story is simple: radio is a business. You take care of people and they'll take care of you. I know, Nielsen ain't cheap. It sucks that only one major radio group up north is subscribing to the ratings while the rest pull shit out of their ass. It's hard to tell what really sucks up north when the lesser of all the radio evils subscribes to the book.
And that, my friend, is what makes them more evil.
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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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