WBJC, WCPE & WQXR LEAD CLASSICAL STATION WEEKLY LISTENER GAINS

Classical music is one of the oldest radio formats, long pre-dating CPB supported public radio.  It has shown amazing resilience and it keeps building listening. Skeptical? According to Nielsen Audio PPM reports, the number of estimated weekly cumulative listeners grew substantially in many markets.

WBJC in Baltimore, WCPE in The Research Triangle and WQXR in New York led the charge.  In fact, of the 23 fulltime Classical music stations we included, 12 (53%) saw gains.  Here are the top performers:

 

Scroll down to see the list of stations with the biggest declines in the number of weekly listeners.

HOW WE TRACK STATION LISTENING

For noncommercial “public” radio stations in Nielsen Audio PPM markets, we group them into two groups: Fulltime Classical and Dual format.

Fulltime Classical stations air classical music close to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  In the radio biz we call these stations “pure” because they are consistent in ways that are similar to other fulltime music stations. It’s “Apples to Apples.”

Currently we are tracking 24 Fulltime Classical stations in PPM markets. One station – KVTI, Tacoma – isn’t included in the analysis because this is the first time it has appeared in the Sea/Tac book.

We also track three Dual Format stations. All three of these stations divide their schedules between Classical and Jazz:

 

Of course, none of this would be possible without the ratings data provided by our friends at the Radio Research Consortium (RRC) and Nielsen Audio. Thank you.

We also track commercial stations that share attributes with noncom public radio stations.   

Both stations we track are operated by not-for-profit organizations. 

We republish Nielsen Audio commercial numbers that have been published.   

Here are the two stations:

THE COMPLETE NONCOM CLASSICAL STATION CHART

STATIONS THAT HAD THE BIGGEST DECLINES IN WEEKLY LISTENERS

These data are provided for use by Nielsen Audio subscribers ONLY, in accordance with

RRC's limited license with Nielsen Audio.

Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight Persons 6+
Data Copyright Nielsen Audio. Format designations are the sole responsibility of Ken Mills Agency, LLC. Contact us publicradio@hotmail.com.