SPARK NEWS: WUWM, WHAD & WYMS UP SHARPLY IN MILWAUKEE RATINGS • IS KGOU PULLING AWAY FROM KOSU IN OKC? • NEW PODCAST RANKINGS

We’ve got lots of numbers for you today, plus a chart that has no numbers at all.

Dave Edwards

The big news is in Milwaukee. NPR News station WUWM’s estimated weekly listeners grew by almost 50,000 between June 2016 and June 2017, an amazing 33% jump in one year. Dave Edwards and his team have been doing great work for years and now are seeing the benefits. I don’t know if the June 2017 Nielsen Audio estimated weekly cumulative listeners is a record high for WUWM, but I can’t recall when they had a higher cume.

It doesn’t appear that WUWM’s success is coming at the expense of Wisconsin Public Radio’s WHAD. Talk-based WHAD was up 32% in June 2017 compared with June 2016. Triple A WYMS also made major gains over the past year, up 32%

KGOU INCREASES IT MARGAIN OVER KOSU

Jim Johnson

The first results from the Nielsen Audio Spring 2017 Diary markets are now dripping out. The initial batch shows a nice uptick for KGOU in Oklahoma City.

Credit KGOU PD Jim Johnson for much of the success. He has programmed KGOU for over 20 years.

The battle for NPR News bragging rights in OKC between KGOU, Norman and KOSU, Stillwater is an unusual competition.

Both stations operat on the fringes of the geographically large metro area. Both are dual-format stations. Both exist in a state that is 50/50 Snooners and Cowboys. BTW – KOSU was also up and has lots of listeners in the Tulsa metro.

WWNO & WWOZ BOTH UP IN JUNE TRENDS

NPR News WWNO increased their number of estimated weekly listeners from June 2015 and June 2017 by over 18% in a two-year trend. We used the June 2015 Nielsen data because apparently WWNO did not subscribe to the ratings in June 2016.

WWNO’s second station Classical 104.9 did not appear in June 2017 results.

Meanwhile, WWOZ’s new GM Beth Arroyo Utterback starts her job with the highest number of estimated weekly listeners in recent memory. Credit consultant Arthur Cohen, in part, for WWOZ’s 23% gain.

NPR NEWS STATIONS DOWN A BIT IN PITTSBURGH, NASHVILLE & LOUISVILLE