The April ratings book in Houston produced softer results for its leading sports radio stations. The report from Nielsen covers the dates March 24 through April 20.
Surprisingly, the stations dipped despite Astros baseball returning, and the Rockets reaching the playoffs. On-Air host Nick Wright also signed off at Sports Radio 610 during this time. A total of eight weekday morning shows were rated without the program having a consistent presence in the lead position.
In analyzing the monthly results which were originally published in the Houston Chronicle, here are the key breakdowns. They focus on Men 25-54 which is the key demographic for sports talk radio stations.
M-SU 6a-Mid:
- Sports Radio 610 = 2.0 (T-21st)
- ESPN 97.5 = 1.3 (24th)
- SportsTalk 790 = 1.0 (26th)
Sports Radio 610:
- 6a-10a = Nick Wright/John Lopez – 2.5 (down from 2.6 in March)
- 10a-2p = Mike Meltser/Seth Payne – 1.9 (down from 2.2 in March)
- 2p-7p = Rich Lord/Sean Pendergast/Ted Johnson – 2.5 (down from 3.5 in March)
- 7p-11p = Paul Gallant – 1.5 (down from 2.4 in March)
ESPN 97.5:
- 9a-10a = Barry Warner/Dylan Gwinn – 1.1 (flat from March)
- 10a-12p = John Granato/Raheel Ramzanali – 0.8 (down from 1.5 in March)
- 12p-2p = Sean Salisbury/John Granato – 1.1 (down from 1.7 in March)
- 4p-7p = Fred Faour/A.J. Hoffman – 1.9 (down from 2.5 in March)
- 7p-12a = Mixture of ESPN Radio/Local Shows = 0.7 (down from 0.8 in March)
*** Mike & Mike and Russillo & Kanell also air on the station but their numbers were not available
SportsTalk 790:
- 6a-10a = Lance Zierlein/Matt Thomas – 1.0 (up from 0.8 in March)
- 10a-12p = Greg Koch/N.D. Kalu – 0.5 (down from 0.9 in March)
- 12p-3p = Adam Clanton/Sean Jones – 0.5 (down from 0.7 in March)
- 3p-7p = Charlie Pallilo – 1.1 (flat from March)
- 7p-12a = Astros/Rockets/Fox Sports Radio – 1.4 (up from 1.0 in March)
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.
