from The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
August 27, 2000
The Spring 2000 Arbitron ratings survey for the Fayetteville Metro market has just been released. Among the more interesting stories to be found in the numbers this time around:
--snips--
Rock station WRCQ (103.5 FM) was sixth at 4.2; --snips--
from the Fayetteville Observer
March 19, 2000
Station to Station column
--snips--
Ratings released
Here's another note of interest from the static-y world of regional radio and the flickering land of local television:
"The Howard Stern Show" bows out with an overall fifth-place showing in the important morning drive time period in the latest, Fall '99 Arbitron ratings of the Fayetteville Metro market.
The nationally syndicated show could be heard for nearly three years on rock station WRCQ. But Cumulus Media, the station's owners-in-waiting, made the call to drop it Dec. 31. The decision was said to be based on revenue and because Stern alienated as many listeners as he attracted.
In Stern's local ratings swan song, WRCQ (103.5 FM) drew a 6.7 share -- down from a previous 7.0 share -- of the overall 12-plus audience during the Monday through Friday, 6 to 10 a.m., demographic.
Country music WKML, which actually placed No. 2 overall in the market, retained the top spot in morning drive with an overall 13.0 share. Though it lost a 1.7 audience share from Spring, WKML (95.7 FM) didn't flinch in the mornings after replacing the departing Cheryle Rivas with new co-host Maggie Heatherton.
WKML's top-rated morning show teams Heatherton with Don Chase. "We probably tried to fine tune some things. We had a different personality in there. But nothing dramatic," said Danny Highsmith, general manager of WKML.
WZFX (99.1 FM), with its urban format, continued to be the overall most listened to station in the market, according to Arbitron's Fall '99 survey. But the station was runner-up in morning drive at 12.1. Adult contemporary WQSM (98.1 FM) placed third at 9.5, and oldies WFLB (96.5 FM) fourth, at 7.0.
Among the top five finishers in this category, only WQSM currently airs a syndicated morning show from out of the market. That's the Charlotte-based "Bob and Sheri."
Scott McLeod is program manager for WFLB. "The flavor of a locally produced morning show is impossible to get with someone who's in a building thousands, or hundreds, of miles away," he said. "No way these syndicated guys can get that localized flavor in the mornings. I'm not a big fan of syndicated morning shows, although some of them are, frankly, very good. Fun to listen to."
Classic rock WKQB (106.9 FM), which carries the John Boy and Billy "Big Show," another Charlotte-based syndicated show, placed eighth in the mornings with a 5.6. At the same time, John Boy and Billy's audience in the market increased overall by nearly 2 full shares.
from Radio Digest
January 25, 2000
Howard Stern's recent disappearance from the Triangle airwaves has more to do with cost than with taste. The shock jock had been aired on Fayetteville station WRCQ (103.5 FM) since February of 1997. Following the purchase of the station in September by Cumulus Broadcasting, the Stern show was dropped when market research showed that it was not profitable for the station.
In a smaller market such as Fayetteville (No. 125 in the nation), the cost of running a syndicated program like Stern's can be far higher than the projected advertising revenue. Given the nature of Stern's show, it is often difficult to interest national sponsors in advertising slots. And when local spots are "a dollar a holler" as the saying goes, stations are often hard pressed to earn enough revenue to pay for the cost of the syndicated show.
WRCQ operations manager Paul Michels was quoted in the Raleigh News and Observer as saying that Cumulus had determined "it would make better business sense to drop the show."
Following WRCQ management's recent decision to drop Stern's show, fans are desperately seeking a new source for the shock jock. On the receiving end of all of that desperation is 96 Rock (WBBB 96.1 FM). The Howard Stern Superfan Web site is providing fans with an instant e-mail to 96 Rock in order to request that Stern be added to the rock station's programming.
WBBB would be the only likely candidate for Stern's show. There are three Triangle-area stations with appropriate formats for Stern's brand of humor, and the other two have prior engagements. WRDU (106.1 FM) runs the "John Boy and Billy Big Show" in the mornings, and would be unlikely to replace the popular show with Howard Stern. G105 (WDCG 105.1 FM) also does very well already with its own morning team, "Bob and Madison's Morning Showgram."
But sources at 96 Rock say that although the station has been deluged with e-mailed requests to add Stern to the lineup, the requests are a waste of time. It's not going to happen. The only recourse for Triangle listeners determined to hear Stern is to move to Charlotte, where WXRC (95.7 FM) broadcasts the his show.
from the Raleigh News and Observer
Howard Stern has been silenced. Well, at least in the Triangle. Fayetteville station WRCQ (103.5 FM) -- whose signal is strong enough to reach Stern fans here -- dropped the syndicated show last month and is trying to replace it with a local live show. According to operations manager Paul Michels, the decision came down to economics.
"We got new ownership in September, and the first thing they did was research," he says. "They determined it would make better business sense to drop the show." The station had aired the Stern show since February 1997.
Michels says the ratings for the show had declined a bit, but the larger point is that Stern's show is expensive and that the advertising dollars earned didn't justify the expense.
Stern, who puts raunch in radio, is a tough sell in any market. In smaller and midsize markets the degree of difficulty multiplies. (Fayetteville ranks 125th among radio markets; Raleigh-Durham is 48th.) Corporations, particularly if they are publicly traded, won't touch the shock jock, leaving radio salespeople to get advertising dollars from local accounts with fewer image concerns.
But while in, say, Boston, a car dealership may be a million-dollar business, that's not always true in smaller cities. So salespeople have to find a lot of little accounts to counter Stern's big cost. In a market the size of Fayetteville, radio people estimate, the show costs $80,000 to $125,000 a year, while advertising may sell for as little as $50 a spot.
On the other hand, "The Howard Stern Show" can catapult a struggling station to the No. 1 spot and can be very effective for the ads it does attract, particularly if Stern himself plugs a product.
Fayetteville doesn't have another rock station, so WRCQ needn't fear a competitor taking a chance and adding the show. Now the only place in the state you can hear Stern's antics is in Charlotte. That may be why devotees of the king of all media are pointing his flock to another North Carolina radio market: Raleigh-Durham.
On the Howard Stern Superfan Site, minions can click and instantly e-mail WBBB (96.1), the local rock station run by Curtis Media. What are the chances of the outrageous show landing a spot on 96Rock? Owner Don Curtis didn't return phone calls seeking the answer to that question, but we know Curtis to be a prominent businessman with strong community ties. Holding your breath isn't advised.
---snips---
from The Fayetteville Observer
Sunday, January 9, 2000
Here on Friday. Gone, Monday.
In case you haven't heard, "The Howard Stern Show" has been pulled from Fayetteville rock station WRCQ. The nationally syndicated program hosted by the radio bad boy ended its nearly three-year run on the station Dec. 31.
"It was like anything else," said the station's Harry James. "You've got 50 percent of the people who hate it; 50 percent of the people who love it. It's just one of those things that weren't making the revenue."
In its place, WRCQ (103.5 FM) is playing music.
James, the station's new market manager, said plans are to broadcast a locally produced morning show in the morning drive time period. "That's what we're working on right now," he said Wednesday.
WRCQ first picked up Stern in March 1997. Howard Johnson was the station's general manager at the time, and he predicted that the show would pay big dividends for WRCQ.
"It'll be a home run in a couple of (ratings) books." "It happens in every other market. He's like an atom bomb. When he goes off, the reality of the situation is like it levels the playing field. He dominates."
Never happened here.
But to be fair, "The Howard Stern Show" did well enough to consistently rank among the top five or six morning shows in this market. The program probably had its best book in the Fall '97 ratings survey of the Fayetteville Metro. That's when it made a huge jump in morning drive time, climbing from seventh place to third among listeners ages 12 and older with a solid 9.6 share.
In that early going, as Stern moved up in the ratings, so did WRCQ as a whole.
In the most recent, Spring '99 Arbitron survey, Stern placed fifth in the mornings with a 6.7 share. Likewise, WRCQ -- with its active rock format -- rated an overall fifth with a 5.5.
Apparently, those numbers aren't good enough for Cumulus Media, the Milwaukee-based radio group that's acquiring WRCQ as part of a six-station deal for an overall $47 million in cash and stock from the Cape Fear Broadcasting Co.
The transaction must first be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.
Kristy Sears, for one, isn't too happy about losing Stern on what she said used to be her favorite radio station. She's 26 and from Fayetteville. Sears was shocked Monday morning when she turned on WRCQ and heard nothing but music. "I turned to it to listen to him, and I was disgusted. I'm serious," she said. "So I started listening to a different station. Every morning I turned back to see if he was on vacation or something, but nothing. They're playing the same thing that (WRDC) 106.1 plays."
Messages left with Don Buchwald, Stern's agent, and Gary Delabbate (sic), producer of "The Howard Stern Show," were not returned.
The program is broadcast live from WXRK ("K-Rock") in midtown New York City.
Loyal Stern listeners experiencing withdrawal pain may want to try tuning in the show on Myrtle Beach, S.C., station WAAV (104.1 FM), "The Wave." It's a long shot, though, because the station's broadcast signal in the Fayetteville area runs from poor to just plain bad.
Jeff Andrulonis, the owner of Fayetteville news-talk WFAI, "1230 The Fort," loves publicity. But there's no doubt that he got more than he wanted Wednesday afternoon during the nationally syndicated call-in "Rick Emerson Show."
WFAI has announced that it will drop Emerson from its afternoon-drive lineup March 3, replacing the show with a local program hosted by Timm Beebe. Beebe joined WFAI (1230 AM) in August and has been doing the traffic reports during afternoon drive.
On the air, Emerson urged people who listen to his show on WFAI to call the station and voice their displeasure. He fielded a number of callers from Fayetteville and Fort Bragg. "From about 4:15," Andrulonis said, "my phone rang continually from Rick trying to get up with me."
As for why Rick Emerson is getting yanked off WFAI, Andrulonis said: "He wasn't performing as well as I wanted, ratings-wise, and he wasn't performing as well as I wanted, revenue-wise. He just wasn't performing well."
Glenn Fisher of Fisher Entertainment, which nationally syndicates Emerson's show, said Thursday, "I think everything was fair. It's the listeners who made the comments. Rick is just the host. Rick tried to get Jeff on the air."
On a final note, Andrulonis said, "We're seriously considering" picking up "The Howard Stern Show" to run it over the WFAI airwaves.
As of January 3, 2000, WRQC has dropped "The Howard Stern Show".
See Michael Futch's column this coming Sunday for more details.
from The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
November 28, 1999
Station to Station
Mark Sullivan is now calling the shots at the three local radio stations in the process of being sold by the Cape Fear Broadcasting Co.
Sullivan is general manager, handling all the day-to-day operations at WQSM, WRCQ and WFNC-AM. He previously managed 10 radio stations in the Florence, S.C., area, owned by Cumulus Media.
That's the publicly traded company based in Milwaukee that is buying those properties as part of a six-station deal. The deal is costing an overall $47 million in cash and stock. The acquisition is pending Federal Communications Commission approval, which usually takes about six months.
The agreement was announced Sept. 23, and Sullivan, 29, took over the stations about seven weeks ago. "They called me after the acquisition was announced here," he said.
In the interim, the stations are operating under a management agreement between Cape Fear Broadcasting and its sister company, CF Radio Inc., and Cumulus Media.
The first major fallout from the pending change in ownership looks to be the departure of Greg Patrick, who was program director of Fayetteville rock station WRCQ. Patrick could be heard on the air weekday afternoons and during his "Sunday Over Easy" program. His last day with the station was Nov. 12.
"He's no longer with us," Sullivan said. "It was an amicable separation."
Asked if Patrick could have stayed on, Sullivan said, "No." He declined comment on the reasons behind Patrick's departure.
Patrick said he was originally asked to stay with the station, but after the deal was announced, he started looking into a program director's position with WABF, an alternative rock station in Charleston, S.C. He said he had been up front, telling management of his interest in that position.
"It's market No. 84, and this is market 125," he said. "And there's a significant pay increase."
Before coming to WRCQ, Patrick had worked with Cumulus Media at WZAT in Savannah, Ga. The company turned that rock station into a Top 40 station, he said. "I had been with this company before, and their philosophy about radio and my philosophy about radio are different," he said. "And they offered me a 90-day severance package, which I thought was kind of good of them."
Station air personality Sydney Scott has replaced him as interim program director.
Al Fields, who was working nights with WRCQ, has moved into the afternoon slot for the time being. A "platoon basis" of part-time disc jockeys is filling in at night for Fields.
Patrick's "Sunday Over Easy," which was heard from 9 to 11 a.m., has been replaced with music.
WFNC-FM
The pending sale also includes WFNC-FM in Lumberton, which broadcasts the same programming heard on WFNC-AM; and WGNI and WMNX (97.3 FM), both in Wilmington.
"At this point we don't have any plans to make any major changes, but as always," Sullivan said, "that's subject to change."
WFNC-AM was the first radio station to go on the air in Cumberland County. John Gilbert Dawson founded WFNC in 1940.
Cumulus began operations in May 1997. It's a formidable radio group in the broadcasting industry in the United States.
Assuming the completion of all pending acquisitions, including the six North Carolina stations, Cumulus Media will own and operate 261 radio stations in 48 markets in this country. That makes it the nation's third-largest owner-operator, in terms of stations owned.
In its Aug. 30 issue, the trade publication Broadcasting & Cable magazine ranked Cumulus No. 8 nationally among the top 25 radio groups, with a revenue of $175.3 million.
from the: Fayetteville Observer-Times
The announcement of a major broadcasting sale, one of historical significance in the Fayetteville community, was made Thursday. Longtime local radio operators, the Dawson family, are in the process of selling their six radio stations, including Fayetteville news-talk WFNC.
The stations fall under the Cape Fear Broadcasting and C.F. Radio Inc., companies. Besides WFNC (640 AM), the properties include WQSM (98.1 FM) and WRCQ (103.5 FM) in Fayetteville, WFNC-FM (102.3 FM) in Lumberton, and WGNI (102.7 FM) and WMNX (97.3 FM) in Wilmington.
The stockholders of those Cape Fear companies reached an agreement to sell the stations to Cumulus Media of Milwaukee for $47 million in cash and stock. The deal must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.
Cumulus Media is a major player in the industry. The two-year-old company has taken advantage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which loosened the restrictions on radio station ownership to allow for the purchase of multiple stations within regulated limits. Cumulus has built a reputation of buying up and clustering stations in the smaller markets around the country.
With this acquisition, Cumulus would number 261 stations in 48 markets. The publicly traded company ranks No. 8 nationally among the top 25 radio groups, with a revenue of $175.3 million, according to the Aug. 30 issue of the trade publication Broadcast & Cable magazine.
What does all this mean to folks in the Fayetteville market?
James Carson is general manager of WCCG (104.5 FM), "The Vibe." He said, "I don't think it means much of anything. It's just another player replacing somebody else, the way I see it. ... I don't think it's going to affect what we do here in this market. It's not going to affect what I do, anyway."
One market insider, a former WFNC employee who did not want to be quoted on the record, sees the sale as being a good thing for the area. "One thing about the Dawsons," he said, "when it comes to the community, they did the right thing. That makes them good operators in my book. I don't think there will be very much change in that with Cumulus taking over. I think they're the same type of operator. They're a big company, but primarily in small markets."
WFNC is what broadcasters like to call a heritage station. It was the first radio station to go on the air in Cumberland County, back in 1940, and it's the first all news-talk radio station in the state.
Under the new ownership, will WFNC continue to carry news-talk, and will the station continue to be a community presence with its local broadcast news? Richard Weening is the 53-year-old executive chairman and one of the founders of Cumulus Media. He said Thursday, "We don't plan to change anything. We think it's an excellent station, which is why we bought it."
Ditto, he added, for the adult contemporary music heard on WQSM and the rock 'n' roll played on WRCQ. Taken together, WFNC, WQSM and WRCQ ranked in the top six of the latest Spring '99 Arbitron ratings survey of the Fayetteville Metro market.
John Dawson, general manager of the Fayetteville stations that are being sold, said of Cumulus Media: "They do like to come in and evaluate the sound of the radio stations. Evaluate the market the best they can. Find out what people want to hear."
Plans are for the 43-year-old Dawson to continue managing the stations through the transition period, or until the FCC is expected to OK the deal. Until then, the radio stations will operate under a management agreement between the Cape Fear companies and Cumulus.
After the closing, Dawson said, Cape Fear Broadcasting will have no role. At that time, WFNC and the other five stations won't be operated by a local "Mom and Pop" outfit, but rather a huge radio group that's based out of Wisconsin.
"This company, Cumulus, they realize that you have to be in close contact with the community, right on down the line," Dawson said. "The radio industry is so competitive, you can't ignore public interests and win."
--snips--
Thanks to Rob for sending this...
from: Media Central
September 23, 1999
The stations are: WGNI-FM and WMNX-FM (Coast 97.3) in Wilmington and WQSM-FM (Q98), WFNC-FM and AM and WRQC-FM (Rock 103.5) in Fayetteville. Cumulus will immediately assume operating control of the stations under terms of a management agreement pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission, the companies said. Cumulus currently owns WAAV-FM.
Cape Fear Cos. (www.Gwiz.com), which includes Cape Fear Broadcasting and Cape Fear Radio, also owns an interest in a satellite-paging company called Satellink.
Milwaukee-based Cumulus Media (www.Cumulusmedia.com) is the parent company of Cumulus Broadcasting, Inc., which owns and operates radio station clusters in mid-size markets. Assuming the completion of all pending acquisitions, Cumulus Media will own and operate 261 radio stations in 48 U.S. media markets.
from the: Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer-Times
September 5, 1999
-- snips --
In a related topic, the Spring '99 Arbitron survey shows that while WKML retained its hold on No. 1 overall in morning drive, Fayetteville urban station WZFX (99.1 FM) closed the gap, pulling within less than a full share.
Both stations are owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group of Naples, Fla.
In the Fall '98 ratings, the WKML morning show team of Rivas and Chase thumped the WZFX "Wake-Up Club" of Bobby Jay, Tomika Kenan, DJ Chicano and Gilbert Baez by three full shares.
Six months later, it's a different matter.
WKML's 14.7 share was good enough for an overall first place among 12-plus listeners in the 6 to 10 a.m., weekdays, category, according to Arbitron information provided by WFLB. But that's down 2 full shares from the fall. Runner-up WZFX, on the other hand, managed to improve its standing from a 13.7 to a 14.2 share.
Rounding out the top 5 in the overall 12-plus demographic, the adult contemporary WQSM (98.1 FM) and its syndicated "Bob and Sheri" show jumped from fifth to third with a 9.6 share. Oldies station WFLB (96.5 FM) placed fourth with its "Wake, Rattle & Roll" cohosts Larry Smith and Jennifer King at 7.0, and rock station WRCQ (103.5 FM) with its syndicated "Howard Stern Show" was fifth at 6.7.
from the: Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer-Times
August 22, 1999
Station to Station column
By Michael Futch, Staff writer
Talk about instant results.
It was less than two weeks ago when Walter Sturdivant Jr., took over as manager of WZFX, and already the Fayetteville urban radio station has improved its ratings to take sole possession of first place in the market.
That's coincidence, of course. But WZFX (99.1 FM), which shared No. 1 overall in the previous market overview with sister station WKML (95.7 FM), is standing alone at the top in the just-released Spring '99 Arbitron survey.
WZFX, probably best known among listeners as "Foxy 99," drew a 16.6 share of the overall market, which encompasses listeners ages 12 and up. That means that WZFX is the most listened to station in the Fayetteville Metro market, according to The Arbitron Co. of New York City.
The station's showing was a one-half share improvement over the fall. WZFX has finished an outright first in this market in five of the last six Arbitron survey books, tying with WKML for first in the other one.
"We're obviously excited about being No. 1 in 12-plus," said Sturdivant, who replaced general manager Henry Weil on Aug. 9. "We'd like to have really solid numbers across the board, and I think they are with all demos (demographics)."
WZFX won overall among listeners ages 18 to 34 with a 24 share, whipping runner-up WKML by almost a full 9 share.
WKML, which programs a country music format, dropped to second place overall among listeners 12 and up with a 14.9 share. But WKML doesn't appear to be losing any steam in the market, because the traditionally strong station won a couple of important sub-categories: a 15 share in the overall 25-to-54 age group and a 17.9 in the overall 35-to-64 age group.
Both WZFX and WKML are owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group of Naples, Fla. "We certainly wish our brethren well," Sturdivant said of WKML, "but obviously we want to be as good as we can, possibly."
Shares and ratings
A share is the percent of the listening audience that tunes in at least five minutes in any continuous 15-minute period. For the Fall '98 survey, one share point equaled 529 people in this market. That information was unavailable for the latest survey.
The Fayetteville Metro, analyzed twice a year by Arbitron, ranks 125 out of 270 radio markets across the country. The Spring '99 review was compiled from April 1 through June 23. Advance survey numbers were made available to station subscribers Aug. 13. Arbitron and Fayetteville station WFLB provided the ratings information.
In the overall 12-plus demographic, WQSM (98.1 FM) made the most dramatic improvement. The adult contemporary station, owned by Cape Fear Broadcasting, climbed from a 6.6 to a full 10 share to place third. Rick O'Shea is program director for WQSM.
"It was a big old' jump," "Now, that's all hearsay."
WQSM subscribes to AccuRatings rather than Arbitron, but you better believe that O'Shea was aware that his station had also jumped from a 7.8 to a 12.5 share in the overall 25-to-54 age group, good for second behind WKML. "I would attribute it to two things," he said of WQSM's strong spring ratings. "'Bob and Sheri' have started to catch on in the mornings. People are finding out about them. Our female audience is going through the roof. Increasing in size."
WQSM has been running the Charlotte-based "Bob and Sheri" syndicated talk show since September.
Rounding out the top 10 in the overall 12-plus category: the oldies WFLB-FM (96.5 FM) placed fourth with a 7.0 share; active rock WRCQ (103.5 FM) was fifth with a 5.5; urban oldies and current hits WUKS (107.7 FM), sixth at 3.5; news-talk WFNC-AM (640 AM) and black gospel-news-talk WIDU (1600 AM) tied for seventh at 3.3; and the urban gold WCCG (104.5 FM) and the Southern Pines-based classic rock WKQB (106.9 FM) tied for ninth at 2.7.
from: Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer-Times
In local radio, the morning drive shows can be likened to the local newscasts produced by TV stations in the area. Those programs set the table, so to speak, so the stations have the potential to serve a larger audience throughout the day.
"Your morning shows are the quarterback positions," said Bobby Jay, program director for WZFX.
"The local news on TV is the programming leader. It's their focus. Big hitter," said Scott McLeod, program manager for WFLB. "The morning drive shows on most stations are also the big hitter. If you can get people to come to the morning show, when more people actually turn on the radio, you give them a sample product and hope to make them more long-term listeners.
"Everything kind of flows from that."
Likewise, good ratings in the morning are important for the advertising salespeople when they go out hustling, trying to sell their station. McLeod, who has been in broadcasting for a quarter of a century, said, "The point of purchase target are people in cars. That's when a lot of times people make their purchasing decisions. The focus of morning and afternoon drive time is that your reach is bigger."
With that in mind, which radio stations had the best hair day -- at least, first thing in the morning -- in the latest Fall '98 Arbitron ratings for the Fayetteville Metro market? Let's comb through the numbers.
As previously reported, country music station WKML took an overall first place in the coveted morning drive time period with a 16.7 share of the 12-plus audience, according to Arbitron information provided by WFLB. Cheryle Rivas and Don Chase co-host the show heard weekday mornings on WKML (95.7 FM). The station beat WZFX and its "Wake-Up Club" of Bobby Jay, Tomika Kenan, Chicano and Gilbert Baez by three full shares. WZFX (99.1 FM), "Foxy 99," had won that demographic in the previous spring ratings book.
Oddly, the urban contemporary WZFX improved its standing by a full share in morning drive, which is weekdays 6 to 10 a.m., going from 12.7 to a 13.7. But the station still finished runner-up behind its sister station WKML.
WFLB (96.5 FM) had its best morning ratings to date, with "Wake, Rattle & Roll" co-hosts Larry Smith and Jennifer King leading the oldies station to third place with an overall 8.3 share. The syndicated "Howard Stern Show" on rock station WRCQ (103.5 FM) took fourth with a 6.9 share, up from sixth place six months ago. WQSM (98.1 FM) had its first Arbitron ratings book with the "Bob and Sheri" show, and the syndicated program out of Charlotte was fifth with a 6.5 share. That was a drop from the station's previous fourth place showing and a 7.7 share, when WQSM was putting on a locally produced morning show.
News-talk WFNC (640 AM) came in sixth with a 5.8, and WKQB (106.9 FM) and the syndicated John Boy and Billy "Big Show" placed seventh with a 4.7, a tumble from fifth place in Spring '98.
Dellert expects to see the show "turn it back around" in the Spring '99 book.
Rounding out the top 10, urban oldies and hits WUKS (107.7 FM) and its nationally syndicated "Tom Joyner Show" was eighth with a 4.6. "The Bob and Madison Show" on contemporary hit radio WDCG (105.1 FM) was ninth (a 3.0 share) and the contemporary inspirational WNNL (103.9 FM), 10th (2.6). Those two stations operate out of Raleigh.
Afternoons
As for afternoon drive, which is weekdays 3 to 7 p.m., WZFX won the "demo" with a 16.6 share. WKML was second with a 16.0, WQSM third (6.9), WFLB fourth (6.8) and WRCQ fifth (5.2), according to Arbitron.
While on the topic of ratings, a reader faxed in a comment about the Fayetteville Metro market's ranking that appeared in last week's column. "Fayetteville, N.C.'s market ranking is 125," the reader wrote. "Fayetteville, Arkansas is 156. Let's try to get it right!"
You are correct, sir, and you could warm your hands on my face.
from Fayetteville Online
Fayetteville country music station WKML is the big story in the new Arbitron market ratings. The folks there, like general manager Danny Highsmith, can pull up their boots and hang their hats with extra pride over the next six months.
That’s when the next market survey comes out.
But in this survey period, WKML (95.7 FM) leaped nearly 5 shares from the last survey to tie perennial market leader and urban contemporary station WZFX (99.1 FM), "Foxy 99," for first place overall. WZFX had finished first in the last four Arbitron survey books.
Both stations drew a 16.1 share of the overall market, which encompasses listeners ages 12 and up. That means they are the most listened to stations in the market, according to The Arbitron Co. out of New York City.
Advance numbers from the Fall ’98 Arbitron radio survey for the Fayetteville Metro market were made available to station subscribers Tuesday. Arbitron and Fayetteville oldies station WFLB (96.5 FM), which placed third overall in the market with a 7.2 share of the audience, provided the ratings information.
"They had a monster book," WFLB general manager Mac Edwards said of WKML. "Beyond that, the other players -- (W)ZFX and (W)QSM and (W)FLB -- all pretty much remained steady. That’s what’s strange. I’ve gone through it and, in my opinion, there’s no loser."
WZFX actually improved its showing slightly from spring, when it held a 15.8 share.
The Beasley Broadcasting Group of Naples, Fla., owns and operates the top three overall-rated stations in the market and four of the top six. The radio group owns WUKS (107.7 FM), an urban oldies and hits station, that tied for sixth place in the market.
A share is the percent of the listening audience that tunes in at least five minutes in any continuous 15-minute period.
For the Spring ’98 survey, one share point equaled 512 people in this market. That information was unavailable for the new survey.
This market is analyzed twice a year. The Fall ’98 Arbitron survey was compiled from Sept. 24 through Dec. 16. Clients were expected to receive the complete ratings books Friday.
Other jumps
WKML leapfrogged over WZFX for overall first place in the coveted morning drive time period, which is weekdays 6 to 10 a.m. WKML took a 16.7 share compared with WZFX’s runner-up spot, 3 full shares behind.
"We improved in about every category," said Highsmith. "For that we’re grateful."
Why such a huge jump in the ratings this time around? "I don’t know if anybody can come up with a statement that would be accurate," he said. "I know that we made some changes, some fine-tuning in the programs. And hoping that’s the case, but who knows?"
If Henry Weil is disappointed, he sure put a sweet spin on it.
Weil is general manager of both WZFX and WUKS. "I feel like we did pick up several one-tenths of a point," he said. "We remained with the two properties -- we remained consistent with what we’ve been running. I feel urban has established a very strong and very loyal niche in this market. I’ve been extremely satisfied to see that continue."
Like Beasley, Cape Fear Broadcasting had a solid ratings book.
The company’s adult contemporary station, WQSM (98.1 FM), placed an overall fourth with a 6.6 share, although that was a slight drop from 7.4 in the spring.
WRCQ (103.5 FM), an album-oriented rock station, placed fifth with a 5.1 and news-talk WFNC (640 AM) tied WUKS for sixth with a 4.0 share. Cape Fear Broadcasting owns WRCQ and WFNC, too.
"I’m pleased with some areas and not necessarily unhappy in some areas. But not thrilled," said John Dawson, general manager of the Cape Fear Broadcasting stations. "But there are some good spots and some concerns. I feel like our Robeson County numbers (for WFNC-FM in Lumberton) could have been larger. One reason might have been some technical problems."
Overall, WFNC-FM (102.3 FM) pulled a meager .4 share.
WFNC-FM started broadcasting with a new transmitter in early February.
Rounding out the survey’s overall 12-plus demographic, the Muirfield Broadcasting Company classic rock station WKQB (106.9 FM) placed eighth with a 3.6 share. WSTS (100.9 FM), a Fairmont-based Southern gospel station, and WRAL-FM (101.5 FM), an adult contemporary station out of Raleigh, tied for ninth with a 2.8.
In some of the other more important "demos," WZFX dominated the overall 18-to-34 age group, Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight, with a share of 21.4. WKML easily won both the overall 25-to-54 age group (with a 15.3 share) and overall 35-to-64 (19.4).
"Country music is still a viable, strong format," said WKML’s Highsmith. "It has been for several years, and we think it will be for several years to come."
Arbitron ranks Fayetteville 156 out of 268 markets across the country. The market includes both Cumberland and Robeson counties.
Beginning Monday, WQSM introduces a new morning show in the Fayetteville market.
The station's locally produced morning drive program has been scrapped to make room for the syndicated "Bob and Sheri" show. It originates from WLNK (107.9 FM), formerly WBT-FM, in Charlotte. Like the adult contemporary WQSM (98.1 FM), "Bob and Sheri" is geared more toward a female audience.
"The program is hard to pin down," said co-host Bob Lacey, who is 48. "It's funny. Very, very funny. There aren't any morality lessons. But listening to the 'Bob and Sheri' show will get a look at the upside and downside of a walk on the wild side."
This is not Howard Stern in the morning. This is not the John Boy and Billy "Big Show." Those shows covet the men in this neck of the planet. "It's really targeted at different audiences than those," said John Dawson, general manager of WQSM. "They're very funny, but they're not blue. Their target, while not totally women, is slanted more toward women."
Fayetteville will be the fifth market where "Bob and Sheri" competes with John Boy and Billy, which can be heard locally on WKQB (106.9 FM). "Typically," said Tony Garcia, director of syndication for the "Bob and Sheri" show, "the husbands listen to John Boy and Billy and the wives listen to Bob and Sheri."
Bob Lacey was the local host in the Charlotte market on the old "PM Magazine" that aired on TV during the 1980s. He was also a producer and writer on that program, one of the first where the female co-host was on a parity with the male co-host. Lacey returned to radio in 1991 as a morning drive host for WBT-FM. Sheri Lynch, a native of Philadelphia who is in her 30s, is a former producer for WBTV in Charlotte.
Lacey and Lynch have worked as a team in Charlotte for the last six years. "Bob has an incredible mind for strategy," said Lynch. "He's really able to anticipate where the trends are going, where culture is going. You hate to talk about yourself because it sounds so pompous, but I'm funny. I have an innate sense of what women are thinking about, mainly because I'm a woman and I hang around with women."
In syndication for the last two years, the show is now carried on 17 stations, primarily on the East coast. For some reason it can be heard in Durango, Colo. "Bob and Sheri" will be carried on WQSM in Fayetteville, weekdays, from 6 to 10 a.m.
In the latest, Spring '98 Arbitron ratings for the Fayetteville Metro market, the WQSM morning show placed fourth overall with a 7.7 share of the 12-plus audience, according to information provided by WZFX. The "Wake-Up Club" on WZFX (99.1 FM) remained first with a 12.7 share. Among the other syndicated morning shows heard here, John Boy and Billy's "Big Show" on WKQB ranked fifth, and Howard Stern on WRCQ (103.5 FM) fell dramatically from third to sixth.
Thanks to Rob for sending this in...
Sunday, April 12, 1998
That reassurance according to John Dawson and Howard Johnson.
Dawson is president of Cape Fear Broadcasting, which hopes to add WRCQ (103.5 FM) to its sizable stable of local radio properties (WQSM, WFNC, WFNC-FM). Johnson is the outgoing general manager of WRCQ, which Kinetic Communications of Albany, Ga., is selling for $4.3 million.
The sale must first be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.
WRCQ ranked fourth overall with a 7.1 share of the audience in the the latest, Fall Arbitron survey of the Fayetteville Metro market. Love him or hate him, Howard Stern had a lot to do with it. His racy syndicated show made a huge jump in morning drive time, climbing from seventh place to third overall with a solid 9.6 share.
It doesn't matter whether I'm a Howard Stern kind of person, said Dawson. I've listened to him. Most radio listeners have tuned him in. A lot of them listen for long periods of time; some, short periods of time. Nothing he says knocks me out. Maybe I'm a little jaded in that sense.
He's an extremely popular radio celebrity. The last thing I want to do -- whether I'm a fan or not -- is change a successful program.
Johnson first put on The Howard Stern Show in March 1997, 14 days after classic rock station WKQB in Southern Pines added the John Boy and Billy "Big Show" to its morning lineup. It'll be a home run in a couple of (ratings) books, Johnson predicted at the time.
So far, figuratively speaking, Stern's rounding second and headed head-first for third in this market.
I think Stern is here forever, Johnson said. He called Stern's four-hour morning show "the strength in this station. We do very well in this market reaching men."
Cape Fear Broadcasting's WQSM, on the other hand, traditionally has drawn a strong female audience. "I think it's a strong complement," Johnson said of Cape Fear Broadcasting's acquisition of WRCQ.
"Yes, that's a station we've been interested in for three or four years," said Dawson. "But mainly, it does match up very well to the other radio stations we have here. It provides a different audience for advertisers, that we can offer. That's a business perspective. It's also a fine facility: 50,000 watts, with a strong signal that covers the city. It's a very good property that we are fortunate came up for sale.
Dawson said he would run WRCQ once the deal receives FCC approval. As for the station's 20 employees, Dawson said, "We plan no changes."
Johnson, who has managed WRCQ for over three years, said that he will be leaving in probably "another 60 days" to join one of his other stations in Georgia.
After the passing of the deregulatory telecommunications bill of 1995, the whole industry has been consolidating into big groups. It has allowed for the opportunity to expand power and wealth.
"I think you're just about finished with acquisitions," said Jeff Andrulonis, owner and general manager of WFAI in Fayetteville. "I think the period of acquisition is just about over at this point. There's nothing left to buy."
Thanks to Rob for sending this...
Sunday, Feb. 15, 1998
Thanks to Howard Stern and John Boy and Billy, the battle for the listener during morning drive time is producing some sparks in Fayetteville.
The morning show sets the stage for the rest of the day for a lot of radio stations. "Some stations really drive the whole train on what the morning show does," said Mac Edwards, general manager for WFLB.
Whether you like his program or not, Stern is proving that he's more than just a dirty mouth on the WRCQ airwaves. His syndicated show made a huge jump in the newly released Fall '97 Arbitron survey of the Fayetteville Metro market, climbing to third place overall with a solid 9.6 share of the audience. In the previous ratings book -- Stern's first with WRCQ -- his show finished seventh with a 5.1.
Simply put, a lot of people around here are listening to Howard Stern in the morning.
"I can't give you quotes on Arbitron," said Howard Johnson, general manager of WRCQ. "The fact is, we look at AccuRatings, which is a different company. We actually saw this earlier coming on from AccuRatings. Stern wins in virtually every market he's in."
Like Arbitron, the AccuRatings service produces two surveys a year in the Fayetteville market. There are differences, though. Whereas Arbitron considers both Cumberland and Robeson counties as the Fayetteville Metro, AccuRatings regards only Cumberland. AccuRatings ratings are compiled by telephone as opposed to Arbitron's more traditional diary method.
(The latest AccuRatings reflect that Stern was No. 2 overall behind WZFX among listeners 12 years old and over from 6 to 10 a.m., according to Johnson.)
As expected, the Metro market leaders field the overall top-rated morning shows in the 6 to 10 a.m. demographic. The local WZFX morning team of Yonni O'Donough and Renarta Clanton is No. 1 with a 12.8 share of the audience that encompasses listeners 12 and older. A close second is WKML's local tandem of Don Chase and Cheryle Rivas with a 12.1 share.
"It's no surprise. It's always the two market leaders: WZFX and (W)KML," Edwards said. "And that's the case here."
The Arbitron information, gathered Sept. 18 through Dec. 10, was provided by WFLB.
Edwards said competition has become more heated since the introduction of a couple of new morning shows. "Frankly, the real salvos were when (W)RCQ and (W)KQB put shows on within a month of each other," he said.
John Boy and Billy's "Big Show" made its debut on WKQB (106.9 FM) in February 1997. "The Howard Stern Show" made its appearance on WRCQ (103.5 FM) exactly 14 days after WKQB added the "Big Show" to its morning drive-time lineup.
John Boy and Billy are no joke, either, according to the new Arbitron survey. Their Charlotte-based syndicated show, a radio "Hee Haw" and sweet nectar for the NASCAR crowd, is fifth overall in the market with a 7.6 share, up from 10th at 4.1 last spring.
"I think there's more of a morning battle than there was," said Johnson, "but I think that's good for the listener. I think everybody's had to get sharper in the morning."
Placing an overall fourth in the market in morning drive time was the local WQSM team of Rick Jensen, David James and Zelly Lopez with an 8.3 share.
Edwards said, "A lot of stations look at it if they can win the morning battle, they can keep those listeners for the rest of the day."
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