Radio stations battle for ratings

By Yvonne Teems

Radio rankings show 102.9 FM moved two spots to No. 4

If you think you’ve noticed more cars pumping out the rhythmic sounds of hip-hop and R&B artists such as P. Diddy, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake, you’re not just hearing things.

More Dayton-area listeners are tuning their dials to 102.9 WDHT-FM, a station known for its dedication to the most modern hip-hop music.

Radio station rankings released in late October show the station leapt from the No. 6 station last summer to No. 4 in the Dayton market this summer. Its listenership in the “adults ages 12 and up” category grew from 5.9 percent to 7.1 percent, according to ratings by ratings tracking firm Arbitron Inc.

The 102.9 WDHT-FM station is Radio One’s highest-ranking station in the Dayton market. The company expects the station to grow its revenue 10 percent this year from 2005, said Keith Wright, general sales manager for Radio One’s Dayton stations.

Radio One is one of three radio conglomerates battling for turf in the Dayton market, along with Clear Channel Communications and Cox Radio. Stations can gain ground by taking listeners from others, and each company has its own tactics it employs to beat out the competition.

High ratings are important because they allow stations to charge higher prices for advertising, which is their main source of revenue, Wright said.

In the last rating period, Clear Channel classic rock station 104.7 WTUE-FM’s ratings dropped from 7.7 percent to 6.3 percent in the “adults 12 and older category.” At the same time, Cox Radio’s 95.3 WZLR-FM grew its listeners from 2 percent last summer to 2.6 percent this summer.

But in spite of down ratings at its Dayton classic rock station, Clear Channel has seen success in other areas: 99.9 WLQT-FM jumped from the No. 4 station last summer to No. 2 this summer. Clear Channel’s Bill Gentry, senior vice president for the east region — everything east of the Mississippi River — said the company two years ago placed restrictions on commercial breaks to grow listenership.

Before the change, Clear Channel stations could spend 20 minutes per hour or more on commercials; now, they can’t exceed 10 minutes per hour. Eighty percent of Clear Channel’s markets have shown ratings increases as a result of the “less is more” philosophy, Gentry said.

“At the end of the day, at the end of the race, which never ends, we’ll come out on top,” he said.

Companies often band their stations together to shoulder other companies’ stations out of the market, said Rob Riggsbee, president of Inside Media. Clear Channel, for example, covers all of its bases in the women demographic by targeting young women with 94.5 WDKF-FM, older women with 107.7 WMMX-FM and the oldest women listeners with 99.9 WLQT-FM. By closely targeting each female category, Clear Channel sucks up as many female listeners as possible, leaving little for other stations to work with, Riggsbee said.

“That is a major tactic that is used universally in all markets, and especially in Dayton because of the number of similar formats,” he said.

Riggsbee added that concert tickets, cash prizes and car give-aways are all ways stations can garner listeners.

Radio One tries to get its listeners to tune in at more points during the day. By promoting contests in the morning that are set to take place in the evening, the company can get its stations on listeners’ radio more often.

Wright added that the summer boosts ratings for stations aimed at young listeners — like 102.9 WDHT-FM — because high school and college students have more time to listen. And, sometimes, the best way to beat out other stations is to play the music the people want. He said that hip-hop is such a genre.

He said, “That is really the type of music that is taking the country by storm.”