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for 16 AUG 04: FOXIE SPRING GAMES
Is there a little head-scratching going on at Davis Broadcasting right now? The latest radio station ratings are out, and "Foxie-105" seems to have lost one-third of its audience from a year ago. Where did everyone go? Did that many people
flee town, in fear of Muscogee County Sheriff's Deputies?
WFXE-FM still is the top-rated radio station in Columbus. But the Arbitron numbers show a steep decline - from 19.7 in Spring 2003 to 12.8 this past spring. If this trend continues, Foxie-105 really WILL be in a jam.
So where are all the Foxie-105 listeners going? A close look at the numbers suggests about half of them may have moved to another Davis Broadcasting station, as WEAM-FM's ratings more than doubled. That spring revival at the Phenix City
Amphitheater really worked....
As for the other half of the lost Foxie-105 listeners - well, I'm not sure where they are. The other "urban" or gospel stations didn't gain much from spring of last year, or actually went down. Maybe the National Action Network needs to
expand that missing person's search in Harris County.
The race for second place overall in Columbus radio turned out to be a tie, between "Q107" and "Sunny 100." So you can tell these stations apart: only one of them has a "Totally 00's" weekend.
As for other radio ratings: "Kissin' 99" bounced back from a fall tumble to finish back above country rival "Rooster 106." I guess we can guess which station played Brad Cotter's record more often.
In the talk-radio race, WDAK keeps gaining listeners - and now has more than double the rating of WRCG. There, you see? I'm not the only one in town listening to Columbus Catfish games -- it only seems like I am.
(At least WRCG's rating stabilized in the spring, after slipping for a year - but it's now is getting a reputation around town for being a "liberal" station. Considering it never broadcast Chuck McClure's funeral....
But another Clear Channel station took a big hit in the spring. WHAL "Hallelujah 1460" lost more than half its audience from the fall. The station added future school board member Joseph Roberson's program "Getting on Top of Life" - so why isn't it on top of WEAM?
Public radio stations didn't show up in the Arbitron ratings I saw, but I've had a revelation about one of them. I think I've finally figured out the Troy Public Radio call letters. WTJB stands for "Where Troy Jumps the Border."
One other local radio note: WSHE-AM finally is abandoning the "WPNXRadio.com" name for its web site. That's a good start - now where's the Spanish section, for the music they play on weekends?
Now let's move from ears to eyes - and see what caught ours over the weekend:
+ The Voice Link call center on Third Avenue took hundreds of calls from survivors of Hurricane Charley in Florida. It's good to see local people offering help like this - and I hope other call centers do it. The fewer telemarketing calls I take, the better.
+ WRBL's Jack Rodgers showed Olympic highlights, and declared Athens, Georgia "the REAL Athens." I guess that Greek city's first 3,200 years of existence didn't count for anything.
+ Instant Message to the Atlanta Hawks: After what I saw on TV Sunday, I have a suggestion. Sign Puerto Rican players. Sign LOTS of Puerto Rican players....
(I happened to stroll by Millie's Corner and Brito's Market right after Puerto Rico beat the U.S. men's basketball team. No, there was NO big celebration underway. In fact, they seemed to ignore the Olympics almost as much as the Greek
sports fans are doing it.)
BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Gas for $1.65 a gallon at Dolly Madison on Victory Drive.... nice dress shirts for as low as $9.99 at Rich's..... Dryer #8 at the Oakland Park Shopping Center laundromat (a hot one, so you save quarters)....
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