Content Still Matters. Rush Still Matters.

7-10-14 

That is the opinion of Richard Harker at Harker Research who writes in his new blog that one thing is clear, "Stations that have cut programming costs by cheapening their product will ultimately pay a significant price for their actions." Harker references the January 2014 Rush Limbaugh station switches in New York and Los Angeles. "In each case, Limbaugh left the leading News-Talk station and moved to a much weaker competitor. Now with six months of PPM data we can see what happened. In both instances the stations that added Limbaugh benefited, and the stations that lost Limbaugh took major ratings hits."

Harker created a detailed chart of the change showing the decline in share for the two stations that lost Rush. It is important to note that in L.A. both KFI (which had Rush) and KEIB (Rush's new home) are both owned by Clear Channel. Harker says, "While it still ranked well below KFI,  KEIB has seen its full week AQH nearly double, and Limbaugh?s time-slot numbers nearly triple. (All comparisons are based on three month averages to smooth out wobbles.)"

Our New York City Radio Discussion Board is also talking about this issue HERE

In New York, Harker says the change was even more dramatic. "WABC (Rush' old home) lost a quarter of its 6+ AQH in the first month without Limbaugh, and has continued to lose listeners virtually every month since. Today the station indexes at 35, indicating that two thirds of the station's quarter-hours have evaporated since the beginning of 2014. WOR (Rush' new home) closed out 2013 with about half the quarter-hour persons of WABC. Today the station indexes at 370, suggesting that the station share is nearly four times its pre-Limbaugh level.

Harker writes how important the content is in every format, not just talk. "Listeners have options, more than ever. They will not remain loyal to stations that stop delivering on expectations. Too many broadcast leaders have decided that cheaper trumps better, that downgrading the product to squeeze a little more profit out of local radio is good business. The next quarter?s bottom line might look a little better, but the lessons of what?s happened in New York and Los Angeles suggest that the gains are short lived. The negative long term implications will long remain after the momentary bump in profit is forgotten."

Read the entire Harker Blog HERE
Reach Richard Harker at tunetester@gmail.com

(7/11/2014 1:59:15 PM)
Remind us once again who the enlightened ones are that currently hold the license @ WABC?

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