For two years, while 790 The Ticket was pounding WQAM-560 in the ratings (except morning drive, which was very close), one question remained unanswered:
To what extent was The Ticket benefiting from having two signals (790 AM and 104.3 FM), compared to one for WQAM? Because Nielsen Media Research combined the 790 and 104.3 ratings, it was impossible to know for sure.
Now that 104.3 has changed formats (to alternative rock), the playing field between The Ticket and WQAM has leveled in the past two months. And WQAM has capitalized.
In the October ratings book, WQAM had a 1.3 share compared with a 0.8 for The Ticket and 0.4 for WINZ, which owns radio rights to the Dolphins and Marlins. It marked the first time that WQAM beat The Ticket at least two consecutive months since September through November 2012.
In the key male 25 to 54 demographic group, WQAM’s Joe Rose; Orlando Alzugaray; and Marc Hochman, Channing Crowder and Zach Krantz all beat The Ticket in their respective day parts.
The Ticket beat WQAM, and handily, from 6 to 10 p.m., which included an hour of The Ticket’s Ethan Skolnick and Israel Gutierrez, often three hours of Josh Friedman and Chris Wittyngham, plus Heat preseason games and postseason baseball.
“I’m skeptical of the numbers,” Ticket general manager Doug Abernathy said of the October ratings overall. “We had a lot of disruptions at one time [the format change, Dan Le Batard moving hours, etc.]. It will take a few months to get a true sense” of audience size.
WQAM management declined to comment.
Abernathy said he is “really impressed” with The Herald’s Skolnick and ESPN’s Gutierrez and anticipates them becoming the permanent afternoon drive hosts, while stopping short of saying it’s definite.
Read more at the Miami Herald where this story was originally published
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
