By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
October 16, 2014
We now have 13 months of data to analyze and nothing has changed regarding the ratings at Detroit’s struggling number two (literally and figuratively) sports radio station.
Detroit Sports 105.1 continues to get trounced by 97.1 in the one-sided ratings battle; this is not surprising considering WXYT-FM has always performed much better during the Tigers’ season and especially in September during a pennant race.
Here is a chart demonstrating 97.1′s dominance and 105.1′s horrible performance. Keep in mind, this chart includes all listeners ages six and up.
As you can see, 97.1 is #1 in the market with a 7.4. Meanwhile, 105.1 posted a humiliating .9 and their numbers have been stagnant since June. 105.1 continues to be the second-worst FM performer, besting only the ratings for Wayne State’s signal.
I have heard some spin emanating out of the Greater Media compound in Ferndale stating that the key demographic numbers are better than the 6+ figures.
Ummm, they’re not.
I have the September breakdown for the 25-54 (Male and Female) demographic and those numbers are just as ugly for the upstart station.
Morning Drive
Stoney, Bill and Sara 7.6
Mike and Mike 1.4
Middays
Karsch and Anderson 9.0
Ermanni, Beard and Dery 1.4
Afternoon Drive
Valenti and Foster 9.0
Drew and Marc 2.6
Okay. That is just flat-out embarrassing. Obviously, the 97.1 numbers are somewhat inflated by afternoon Tigers games in September, but just focus on how TERRIBLY 105.1 is performing.
I mean, it’s been 13 months and there has been ZERO improvement whatsoever. And we aren’t talking about an unknown commodity. The station was BUILT AROUND Drew Lane because of his ratings dominance over the last couple of decades. It’s become quite obvious that ….
A) A majority of his audience didn’t follow him over from WRIF.
B) Sports fans don’t want to hear his uninformed opinions or his Michael Jackson conversations.
Let’s just put this in context for a moment. Detroit Sports 105.1 is performing worse on the FM DIAL than AM-1270 was during the early part of this century when they were WDFN’s bitch.
That is incredible.
What’s more amazing is the management at Greater Media haven’t done anything to change this obvious trend. It is just business-as-usual over there with over-his-head and out-of-place program director, Jason Dixon, steering the ship into an iceberg.
After 13 months, this is what we know …
1) Nobody wants to listen to a nationally-syndicated sports show in the morning.
2) People aren’t going to tune into a program hosted by Ryan Ermanni; they didn’t when he was at WDFN.
3) Matt Dery’s phony persona as some diehard fan of Detroit teams isn’t going over with the audience.
4) Drew Lane’s career is over. A 2.6?? This is why Greater Media flipped from Adult Contemporary to Sports? For a 2.6 in a target demo? If you aren’t familiar with these type of numbers, I cannot stress how EMBARRASSING that is. Imagine if the “The Walking Dead” is still on the air in 15 years and it is getting beat in the ratings by “Antiques Roadshow.”
That’s all I got. We will revisit these numbers next month when 97.1 won’t have the Tigers crutch.
If recent history is any guide, 97.1 will drop off dramatically and 105.1 will see no discernible gain.
How much longer can Dixon keep this gig?
UPDATE: How bad are things at 105.1? THIS BAD …..
@JeffMossDSR My 5,000 watt AM in Pitt has better ratings. It's just historically bad.
— Gregg Henson (@GreggHenson) October 16, 2014