Monday, April 13, 2015

NEW ACR FORMAT TRENDS: JAZZ & NPR NEWS UP; TRIPLE A DOWN



I’ve been looking for a way to quantify changes in listening over time by stations in the five major noncommercial radio formats: NPR News, Classical, Jazz, Triple A and Contemporary Christian Music (“CCM”).

The chart below uses Nielsen Audio Weekly Cumulative Persons (estimated number of individuals age 6+ and older who listen to a station for at least five minutes during an average week) from two survey periods: February 2015 and Spring 2014, roughly 10 months apart. I selected 10 stations for each format that are 24/7 in the format and in various geographic locations. I included stations that folks feel are leaders in each format. Then I totaled the Weekly Cumes and noted the changes over time.  Below the chart is more about the results and my methodology.

ACR NONCOMMERCIAL FORMAT TRENDS

FORMAT
FEB 2015
WEEKLY CUME
SPRING 2014
WEEKLY CUME
CHANGE
ACR TREND
JAZZ
1,421,000
1,468,100
+85,000
+5.5%
NPR NEWS
4,304,100
4,131,600
+172,500
+4.0%
CLASSICAL
2,931,500
3,183,600
-249,400
-7.8
CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC
2,996,500
3,320,700
-324,200
-9.8%
TRIPLE A
1,317,000
1,824,300
-507,300
-27.8%

DATA © NIELSON AUDIO
Provided by RRC, Inc. for use by subscribers only
© Radio Research Consortium, Inc. // www.RRConline.org // RRC@RRConline.org
Format designations & trends are the sole responsibility of Ken Mills Agency, LLC. Contact us publicradio@hotmail.com

The tabulations above are for demonstration purposes and do not a reflect all listening for the formats.  Nielsen Audio and RRC generally frown on adding Weekly Cume data, so this is only a test. I’d appreciate your feedback – do you find this comparison interesting and useful?  (Please comment here or via e-mail at publicradio@hotmail.com.) Below is my worksheet showing the stations I’ve included in each format group.

Several NPR News stations had gains; Jazz was up primarily due to listening gains by KKJZ, LA.  Classical and CCM were down a bit. Triple A stations had the biggest declines.  WFUV, New York, lost about a quarter of its Weekly Cume.  I’ll leave the WHY discussion for another time.

ACR FORMAT TRENDS WORKSHEET

TRIPLE A

STATION
NIELSEN AUDIO MARKET
METRO RANK
FEB 2015
WEEKLY CUME
FALL 2015
WEEKLY CUME
SPRING 2014
WEEKLY CUME
KUTX
Austin
35
91,600
90,500
96,800
WTMD
Baltimore
21
71,300
88,100
77,900
WNKU
Cincinnati
30
58,400
55,200
66,600
KKXT
Dallas
5
252,500
263,200
283,700
WYMS
Milwaukee/Racine
34
56,100
65,600
70,900
KCMP
Minneapolis/St. Paul
16
273,500
294,700
278,600
WFUV
New York
1
322,200
416,000
444,600
WXPN
Philadelphia
8
214,400
244,900
247,900
WYEP
Pittsburgh
25
97,700
97,700
99,100
KEXP
Seattle/Tacoma
13
167,300
132,300
158,500



1,317,000
1,739,200
1,824,300

CHANGE: -507,300 (-27.8%)

NPR NEWS

STATION
NIELSEN AUDIO MARKET
METRO RANK
FEB 2015
WEEKLY CUME
FALL 2015
WEEKLY CUME
SPRING 2014
WEEKLY CUME
KUT
Austin
35
191,500
200,100
176,200
WFAE
Charlotte
24
156,500
147,700
180,200
WBEZ
Chicago
3
569,100
497,800
453,300
KPCC
Los Angeles
2
775,600
735,100
703,000
KNOW
Minneapolis/St. Paul
16
317,500
348,200
304,000
WNYC
New York
1
747,000
830,700
730,700
WHYY
Philadelphia
8
340,700
341,100
327,300
KOPB
Portland
23
275,900
319,100
308,600
KUOW
Seattle/Tacoma
13
362,100
302,400
290,300
WAMU
Washington, DC
7
568,200
589,100
658,000



4,304,100
4,111,300
4,131,600

CHANGE: +172,500 (+4.0%)

CLASSICAL

STATION
NIELSEN AUDIO MARKET
METRO RANK
FEB 2015
WEEKLY CUME
FALL 2015
WEEKLY CUME
SPRING 2014
WEEKLY CUME
KMFA
Austin
35
80,300
83,700
103,100
WCRB
Boston
10
182,400
251,600
192,000
WDAV
Charlotte
24
85,600
97,500
127,300
KUSC
Los Angeles
2
719,700
735,100
739,200
KSJN
Minneapolis/St. Paul
16
169,900
177,400
176,500
WQXR
New York
1
497,900
604,500
628,400
KQAC
Portland
23
182,200
181,400
157,000
KDFC
San Francisco
4
358,400
350,200
349,700
KING
Seattle/Tacoma
13
278,600
307,800
311,900
WETA
Washington, DC
7
376,500
394,400
395,800



2,931,500
3,183,600
3,180,900

CHANGE: -249,400 (-7.8%)

JAZZ

STATION
NIELSEN AUDIO MARKET
METRO RANK
FEB 2015
WEEKLY CUME
FALL 2015
WEEKLY CUME
SPRING 2014
WEEKLY CUME
WCLK
Atlanta
9
173,500
163,500
173,400
KUVO
Denver
20
121,700
110,100
117,200
KUNV
Las Vegas
32
47,300
55,700
44,500
KKJZ
Los Angeles
2
471,900
380,000
425,500
KBEM
Minneapolis/St. Paul
16
72,500
64,400
72,700
WBGO
New York
1
307,000
308,100
343,100
WHOV
Norfolk
43
81,000
85,700
74,600
WUCF
Orlando
33
65,500
73,500
41,600
KMHD
Portland
23
137,500
131,700
113,900
KSDS
San Diego
17
75,100
48,300
61,600



1,553,100
1,421,000
1,468,100

CHANGE: +85,000 (+5.5%)

CCM

STATION
NIELSEN AUDIO MARKET
METRO RANK
FEB 2015
WEEKLY CUME
FALL 2015
WEEKLY CUME
SPRING 2014
WEEKLY CUME
KLDV
Denver
20
289,800
324,600
311,100
KSBJ
Houston
6
934,700
781,100
809,300
KJNW
Kansas City
34
142,600
151,700
152,200
KSOS
Las Vegas
32
171,900
152,000
157,300
KTIS
Minneapolis/St. Paul
16
446,000
449,700
496,100
WPOZ
Orlando
33
345,400
327,300
377,600
KFLR
Phoenix
14
211,000
237,700
174,100
KLJY
St. Louis
22
342,300
345,900
379,800
WCIE & WJIS
Tampa/St. Petersburg
18
221,700
235,400
229,400
WGTS
Washington, DC
7
455,100
421,800
407,400



2,996,500
3,427,200
3,320,700

CHANGE: -324,200 (-9.8%)

DATA © NIELSON AUDIO
Provided by RRC, Inc. for use by subscribers only
© Radio Research Consortium, Inc. // www.RRConline.org // RRC@RRConline.org
Format designations & trends are the sole responsibility of Ken Mills Agency, LLC. Contact us publicradio@hotmail.com

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