The 2025 Fort Wayne Radio Rating Update

The 2025 Fort Wayne Radio Rating Update

As a follow up on last weeks article and podcast episode, Today I’m going to share information regarding the last ratings data we have for the Fort Wayne, Indiana market pertaining to radio station listenership. This data was collected last Fall and is the most recent information we have until an update is released later this year.  Radio stations and ad agencies pay Nielsen for the data and I’m limited in what I can share publicly but my goal is to give you some insight that will either confirm your perceptions or blow them out of the water.

I have to bounce around a couple different survey data sets but all of this is specifically about radio listenership in Fort Wayne.

Using the Total Survey Area which includes 19 counties in Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio, I see there are a little over 900,000 people ages 12 and older living here. Over a third of them live in Allen County which includes Fort Wayne.  When I eliminate the 12 to 17 year olds, we have almost 570,000 adults in our area.

70% listen to a local radio station every week.

Less than 20% listen to satellite radio like Cirrus XM.

Only 61% are watching one of the traditional broadcast TV channels of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox networks.

Less than 20% are subscribing to our local daily newspaper.

This tells us that local radio stations still have the largest overall audience of readers, viewers and listeners compared to other local media options.

Also the perception that everyone listens to satellite radio is far from true.

Which Fort Wayne radio stations have the most listeners?

In the last rating period , just one WMEE had over 100,000 weekly listeners age 12 and older.

WMEE is owned by Federated Media, where I work.  Other Federated Media stations were in the top ten in this classification include News Talk WOWO, Country Station K105, Rock Station 989 The Bear.  The other 6 stations with the most weekly listeners age 12 and older include WBCL, WAJI, WJFX, WLDE, WXKE and WBTU.

29 stations made the entire survey.

From a business perspective, using the broad age range of 12 years old and older doesn’t make sense because teenagers are not spending much money compared to adults.

And to really take an honest look at who spends money, we should also leave out the young adults in their 20’s maybe up to age 35 or 40.  It’s not that those age demographics don’t have money, but most of it is already spoken for with college debts, rent, car payments and credit card debt eating up most of those paychecks.

Realistically, it’s when we are in our 30’s that our families are growing both in number and expenses.  However by the time adults reach around 40 they begin to have some breathing room or at least figured out how to deal with their finances on a more grown-up level.

That’s why when I talk to business owners I use the term “grown-ups” as their customers.  These are people age 35 and older.  Sometimes business owners are targeting grown-ups age 45 and older because that’s who will spend money more freely instead of the younger folks.

I give you all of that just to set you up for what I’ve been doing for years when it comes to rating data for the purposes of advertising and that is to look at the age demographics of each radio station that matches who will buy what a business is selling.

That starts with age 35+.  My station, WOWO has the most weekly listeners in that age group.

Another important number that I look at from the ratings is how much time do listeners spend listening to their favorite stations?  It’s called Time Spent Listening, or TSL and again WOWO dominates over all the other local radio stations.

From a business perspective this means  there is an increased likelihood that a WOWO listener will hear your ad compared to listeners of any other radio station.

Nielsen has a cool tool in their dashboard where I can plug in a sample schedule on WOWO of let’s say 15 ads per week and it will tell me that on other stations I need  at least 30 ads up to 45 ads to reach the same number of people, the same number of times.

Talk to me about this specifically for your business and I can run reports for you too.

While all this is good news for the people I talk with about inviting WOWO listeners to become your customers, it’s just reassurance data.

Coming up in a couple of weeks, I’ll share my simple  formula on how to buy advertising that doesn’t involve ratings or anything other than common sense and show you how you can use it to be smarter than most advertising sales people.

 

 

The Message vs The Media

The Message vs The Media

This weeks article is from a recent Sound ADvice newsletter that my subscribers received this summer.  If you would like a free weekly subscription, email Scott@WOWO.com.

In the never-ending maze of online media, on-air media, outdoor media, direct mail, and print media, business owners often ask, “Which media works best?” or, “Which media platform will give me the highest return on my investment?”

If you ask an honest and knowledgeable media person, they will tell you that the media isn’t necessarily the most important criterion when it comes to effective marketing. The truth is, there is no media that will not produce results; there are only messages that do not produce results.

The next time you hear about a hugely successful ad campaign, look at the message. I can guarantee you it was profound and something other than the norm.  Seldom will it be the media, but rather the message, that created the results. Of course, the media must be scheduled appropriately, with the right combination of reach and frequency, but it is the relevance of the message that will make consumers respond to a campaign… on any media.

Former Katz Marketing Solutions President and one of America’s smartest marketing minds, the late Bob McCurdy said, “No medium is any more captivating or engaging than any other, as the effectiveness of any medium is largely determined by the quality of its commercial content. If the creative is weak and ineffective, the medium will be thought of as weak and ineffective”.

It’s understood that generating great creative is an art form but there’s some science behind it as well. McCurdy created 14 key creative insights derived from five years of Ipsos Research, spanning dozens of radio commercials and thousands of respondents.

 

Click here to receive McCurdy’s 14 Key Creative Insights to ensure that your marketing message achieves the results you desire.
 
I also have tips and insights and the pros and cons of different media options and ad placement etc. that I’ll be glad to talk with you privately about, just reach out.
Are You Living In The Past?

Are You Living In The Past?

There is an old perception among TV people that “everyone watches the Olympics”. Because of this, the old broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox usually air reruns of regular shows instead of new episodes. (NBC is the official network this year).

However there are millions of people who are not going to watch because they either have no interest, or time to watch. Our TV viewing habits from 40 years ago simply are not applicable in 2022.

Live TV viewership is a fraction of what it was. Screentime has increased when you count our phones, laptops and tablets but what we watch and how we watch is radically different.

In the middle of the 2022 Olympics we have the Superbowl. This one live sports event is guaranteed to have more viewers than any single event of the Olympics.

My take away for all this is to question things you are doing that may be outdated but you keep doing them anyway.

And since I write about media and marketing, this caught my attention because the couple of TV programs my wife and I like to watch are in their winter hiatus and it’s going to be a few more weeks before they present new episodes.

No, I’m not going to switch from watching NCIS to Figure Skating this month.  I’ll find something else to do with that hour of my life. Much of the media I consume is by appointment. Not all, but nearly most of it when it comes to TV.

What is “by appointment”?  It’s the ability to watch what I want when I want.  The emphasis is on the when.  As a baby boomer who grew up without this option, I really like it now.  In our house we cut the cord a few years ago an instead use streaming services.

Amazon Prime I’ve had for years originally for the free shipping since we have many family members out of town, but we also use the video platform to watch stuff, “by appointment”.  YouTubeTV is our main replacement for Xfinity and we have a choice to watch something live or recorded.  The shows my wife and I used to watch live, like NCIS, we now watch on the weekend, at a time that works for us “by appointment”.  Because of this, we don’t get any local TV commercials.  If your business is trying to reach me by spending money with the local TV stations, it isn’t working.

My screen time is further divided up between other streaming services including Hulu, Netflix, HBO+, Paramount and Peacock.  No, I don’t watch all of these, but they are coming into my house and maybe my wife has a show that she watches on these streaming services.  The point is, you need to reconsider where you place your advertising and see if the expectations and results that you had in the past are even achievable today.

I’m not just picking on TV by the way.  Printed media has undergone tremendous changes too. Newspapers, magazines and remember the phone book?  Are you still paying for ads in any of these because it’s been traditional and you want to do what Dad and Grandpa did to build the business?

I must caution you however,  there are some value to nearly any kind of marketing you do, but you have to understand the return on investment principles and other factors and not just continue because the advertising salesperson had a slick sales pitch.  I’ll be talking more about some of the specifics in the weeks ahead, and if you want my help now, reach out to me.

 

Why Your TV Ads Are Not Working

Why Your TV Ads Are Not Working

It’s not nice to bad mouth others and I try to avoid it.

I also want to be truthful.

Over the next few weeks, I am sharing some information that might sound like I’m bad mouthing others, however I am more interested in providing you with the truth about advertising mediums so you can be smart with your advertising and marketing plans.

Today we look at what has happened to the world of television and why you probably need to rethink your ad plan if you have been a fan of using TV to invite viewers to become your customers.

Trade publication Radio Ink shared some highlights from an article written by Pierre Bouvard of Westwood One.  I have no connection to any of them but for your information some of the programming on our radio stations come from the Westwood One radio syndication service including the recently launched Dan Bongino show on my station WOWO from noon to 3pm in the same timeslot that Rush Limbaugh used to occupy.

Anyway, after reading the Radio Ink story, I also read what Pierre wrote and have some quotes and highlights to share with you.

Why Advertisers Need Radio? A big reason is the fragmentation and decline in Television viewership. According to Bouvard the TV landscape is undergoing massive change and that all works to radio’s advantage.

The details:

One out of four persons 25-54 cannot be reached on linear TV. AM/FM radio’s 89% weekly reach among persons 25-54 is much stronger than television’s 77%.

In just two years, comparing 2018 to 2020, there has been a huge decline in people watching traditional TV.  Why?

“Worst year ever” for cord cutting: Pay TV lost 5.5 million subscribers in 2020. COVID-19 caused Americans to stay home and look to media outlets for information and entertainment. The ever-increasing number of video streaming services meant a step back from traditional TV for many American households.

It’s not that we have stopped watching content on screens, it’s that the way we get that programming content has shifted.

Cable buys miss 40% of America as pay TV penetration collapses.

2009 was the best year for cable TV with nearly 9 out of 10 homes hooked up to a cable service.  Now only 61% of America subscribes to cable TV. And the major broadcast networks are suffering too.

Broadcast TV’s reach is down an average of -22% across FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC affiliates. Since 2016, broadcast TV has reached fewer persons 18+ across the four major broadcast network affiliates.

The article continue with a solution but it uses a bunch of advertising agency lingo that I’ll interpret for you.

Pierre points to a study that uses consumer products giant Proctor and Gamble.  Adding Radio ads to the TV ads increased the reach of their advertising messages 3 times more than if they simply bought more TV ads.

Weather Tech is another company that is using both TV and radio and the addition of radio ads increased their reach over 60%.

AM/FM radio makes your TV better by reaching light TV viewers. Light and non-TV viewers are a challenge for marketers. Advertisers can’t solve the light TV problem by buying more TV. AM/FM radio reaches 83%+ of the light TV viewer audience across all demographics.

So if you are a fan of using TV advertising, and you aren’t seeing the same results you used to, know you know why.  And you also have a way to overcome this problem that I can help you with.  Email me, Scott@WOWO.com

 

 

 

The Disappearing TV Audience

The Disappearing TV Audience

Not even a pandemic can save broadcast television.

As America opens up again after being told to stay home last year, we’re getting new data about some of the long term affects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  And since I’m a media and marketing dude, not a doctor, I’m going to focus on what I know about.  Get your health and wellness info from someone qualified to advice you.

I am qualified to talk about media and marketing because that is not just my passion but it’s been my livelihood for a few decades plus I have access to data that most of you don’t.

One of the predictions about 2020 was that media consumption habits were going to change due to our being stuck at home. Less people on the road would decrease radio listenership and TV would stop the slide in viewership that it’s been suffering for the past decade.

Well, radio listenership may have shifted a bit temporarily, it’s just as strong and healthy as ever.  Broadcast TV, that’s a different story.

Here in Fort Wayne, Indiana, we have had 5 major broadcast TV stations since I was a kid.  ABC was channel 21, CBS was channel 15, NBC was channel 33, PBS was channel 39 and FOX was channel 55.  Those were the channels my Mom watched 20 years ago without cable and people of her generation are still watching broadcast TV, but not as many or as much because they are dying off (80 to 90 year olds), or they’ve done what my generation and those younger are doing and watching TV from cable or streaming services.

We have a collection of restaurants run by the Hall’s family in Fort Wayne that a friend of mine predicted would be out of business in 10 years because all their customers were old.  He made that prediction 20 years ago and most of those restaurants are still here.  Why?  Because they keep making old people is my answer.

But there is more to this problem for broadcast TV because the TV networks are not creating shows that younger generations want to watch.  The younger generations are finding them online or on streaming services, not ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox.

MarketingCharts.com shared data that compares July thru September 2020 with the same 3 months of 2019 and except for those age 65+, the trend for watching less broadcast TV that has been going on for more than a decade, continued despite being told to stay home.

This continuing decline is because of the habits younger generations have formed that simply can’t be ignored.  Teens are now watching less than an hour of TV, that’s a drop of 21% in just the last year. The 18 to 34 year olds viewing habits dropped over 23% in the past year.  The only age group that didn’t lose viewers were those 65 and older and they barely retained the number of viewers and time spent watching TV.   It happened to the Yellow Pages of the phone book, it continues to happen to the newspaper industry as technology changes occur and consumer habits change, the decline continues and is happening to broadcast TV.  Not even a stay-at-home order in the worst pandemic of our lifetimes has been able to save the TV stations from losing viewers.

I have a couple of questions for you if you are a business owner that has relied on TV advertising to draw in new customers.

How is it working for you compared to years ago?

19 out of 20 business owners I asked this question to at the end of 2019 (before the pandemic) told me that they have seen a decrease in their return on investment on advertising on traditional local TV.  The other person had no idea because business was booming and he used multiple avenues to advertise.

The other question is would you like to see an alternative form of advertising that hasn’t become less effective, that can either work hand in hand with your other marketing and advertising or replace some of the advertising avenues that aren’t producing for you like they used to?  Contact me, Scott@WOWO.com and I’ll put you in touch with someone from my team to discuss what can be done to make your business successful and growing this year and for years to come.