“All Quiet on the Eastern Front”
So how did the stable of radio stations perform on the Philly frontier last year? We corralled the monthly ratings to see how they measured up.
Overall, there were few format changes, which resulted in rather traditional listening patterns. Riding high in the saddle were demo leaders, starting with rocker WMMR-FM leading the charge with young adults and across male categories. Also ahead of the pack is WBEB-FM, “The Bee”, which dominates the adult and women 25-54 demos. And all news radio KYW-AM is still a forced to be reckoned with, ranking in the top three for many adult demos, primarily in morning drive.
However, there is some concern regarding the muster of key station ratings, as some deliveries trailed off in the second half of the year. There was only one major format change in the market that may have affected male demos. This was rocker WYSP-FM’s switch to WIP-FM, Sports Talk in September. However, much of its increase came directly from its AM counterpart, now enjoying the higher FM platform. We are also watching the Sports Talk duel between the WPENs and the WIPs, and we’ll let you know how it shakes out.
So why did some deliveries ride off into the sunset? We can only speculate that other digital radio alternatives may be storming the fort.