from The Citizens Voice
September 22, 2001
Friday was Howard Stern's last day on the air in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market.
The Bear, which carried Stern's show for the past five years couldn't come to terms with Stern's syndicate and the show was dropped.
"What he (Stern) wants is too much," explained Steve Griffin, The Bear's general manager. He emphasized the move is purely economical.
Local businesses didn't actually knock down the door to buy time during Stern's morning show. In fact, many didn't want their spots to run during its hours.
Stern's spicy show has been a ratings grabber in many of the 50 or so markets across the country airing it. It simply never caught fire here. Local morning shows routinely beat Stern.
While The Bear searches for a new morning show, the air personality known as Sausage will take the helm at the station. Griffin said his show will be musically intensive.
--snips--
from The Citizens' Voice
May 12, 2001
The winter Arbitron ratings book show the plot in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market is really starting to thicken.
The winning station, for the first time in memory, failed to post a double-digit rating. In days of old, it was not unusual for the winning station to capture a 13 share in the market. This time, the victor managed only a 9.8 share.
The competition has tightened significantly, thanks to the addition of two new stations to the dial.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market, listed as 68th in the nation, has a listener pool of 628,800 individuals over the age of 12.
The station they prefer the most these days is still KRZ, which posted a 9.8 rating in the winter 2001 book among listeners ages 12 and over. In the fall book, KRZ posted a 10.6. Second place went to KRZ's sister station, Froggy 101, which registered a 8.1.
In third place was Magic 93, which posted a 6.8 rating, down from fall's 8.2.
Fourth place went to Nanticoke's marvel of radio, WNAK. Proving a station doesn't need a large promotional blitz to get good numbers, WNAK posted an amazing 6.0, up from fall's 5.5.
Rock 107 finished in fifth place with a 5.7, down from fall's 7.5.
Other top 10 finishers were the WILK Network, 97 BHT, The Buzz, The Bear and 93.7 X.
Market watchers were wondering how the arrival of The Buzz and 93.7 X (both went on the air in December) would affect the ratings, and they truly did. It appears Magic 93 and Rock 107 took some hits from the two new stations on the dial. Many also surmised the demise of Froggy's main competitor, Cat Country, would mean bigger numbers for the station. That didn't happen.
In the category of listeners ages 25 to 54, KRZ bested the rest. Rock 107 finished second, Magic 93 was third, The Buzz was fourth and Froggy 101 was fifth.
Morning show hosts Rocky and Sue were also the winners of the lucrative 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. time slot. Other morning show leaders were Froggy 101, Magic 93, Howard Stern on The Bear and The WILK Network.
Some former top 10 stations seem to be really struggling. The former powerhouse WARM managed only a .9 in the winter ratings. In the winter of 2000, WARM had a 2.3 rating, and it has declined each book since then.
WEJL/WBAX recently noted its first anniversary as a sports-talk station. The station has a .8, down from its 5.3 in the winter 2000 book.
WILK adds more news. When stations seem to be cutting their news operations, The WILK Network is going in the opposite direction. The station recently added "Big News This Morning" to its lineup every weekday morning. The show, air from 8 to 9 a.m., features newsmakers and in-depth stories. Bud Brown and Nancy Kman are your hosts.
The Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
July 7, 1998
Since debuting on WZMT, 97.9 FM, and WKQV, 95.7 FM, in September 1996, Stern's show has become No. 1 in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market among men 18 to 54. It is No. 2 among women between 18 and 34.
The Citizens' Voice
Wilkes-Barre. Pa.
Radio Days
Sue Henry
The winter Arbitron ratings showed that while KRZ is still in the driver's seat, other stations are gaining ground - and listeners.
The most broad-based category, listeners 12 plus, found KRZ at number one with a rating of 10.7, down from 12.9 in the fall.
Second was Froggy 101, which scored a 10.1, up from a 9.1 in the fall.
Moving into third was Rock 107, with a 7.8, up from a 5.7 in the fall. Magic 93 scored a 7.7, down from a 9.8 in the fall, followed by The Bear, WNAK, Hot 97, WBAX/WEJL and the WILK Network.
In more good news for Rock 107, the station finished first in the persons 25-54 category, a much sought-after group for advertisers. The station scored a 10.9, up from a 6.9 in the fall book. Second was KRZ with a 10.6 down from a 15.3, followed by Magic 93, Froggy 101 and The Bear.
In terms of morning shows, KRZ's Rocky and Sue have the most listeners in the 12 plus category, followed by Froggy's Jim Rising and Dawn Early, The Howard Stern Show on the Bear, Daniels and Webster on Rock 107 and Frankie on Magic 93. Daniels and Webster have the most listeners in the 25-54 age group, and Howard Stern brings in the most in the 18-34 category.
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