Calgary Radio Ratings

[Hack&Lube]

The diary system is stupid. It makes no sense at all. They mail you a booklet and two loonies and you are supposed to out of the goodness of your heart carry this thing with you and whenever you listen to the radio at all, at home, at work, in the car etc. you write it down with all the details about where you were, what you are doing, what station you are listening to, etc.. You are supposed to do this for a month. Who in their right mind would do this? I know people who just keep the two bucks they send you and fake the booklet because they honestly try but it turns out to be just a lot of stupid work that makes no sense when people these days are changing stations after each song if they don't like what's playing.

I know why talk and newsradio are highest rated - it's because these are the stations that people who actually fill out their diaries listen to and the station that people DON'T switch just to hear a new song.

[troutman]

I have a question about TV ratings.

For those with digital cable, can they tell what we are watching at the other end? If so, does it enter into the ratings? Seems like a more reliable tool than surveys or booklets.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by troutman

I have a question about TV ratings.

For those with digital cable, can they tell what we are watching at the other end? If so, does it enter into the ratings? Seems like a more reliable tool than surveys or booklets.

That has been suggested because yes, they can know what you are watching.

But every time raised it has been passed over because of 2 main issues:
1) privacy - people are nervous about being "tracked"
2) there is no way for them to know if you are actually watching the TV. You could switch your box to that channel and walk away just to make people think you are smart and watch CPAC, even if you usually only watch Springer. Also, usually the digital boxes have no way of knowing if your TV is even on.

[JohnnyFlame]

I really need to update my car stereo so I can plug in my music storage device. Radio is just so hmmmmmmm.

[DementedReality]

Originally Posted by troutman

Fan 960 is saying Mike Richards doubled his market share.

damn i hate that show ... i wont listen to 960 in the morning.

they are a bunch of clowns and other than a few interesting guests, they have nothing of value to listen to.

based on my travels, easily the worst sports morning show in the country. unless you like stupid skits, voice overs and talking about football gambling lines.

[The Goon]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

The diary system is stupid. It makes no sense at all. They mail you a booklet and two loonies and you are supposed to out of the goodness of your heart carry this thing with you and whenever you listen to the radio at all, at home, at work, in the car etc. you write it down with all the details about where you were, what you are doing, what station you are listening to, etc.. You are supposed to do this for a month. Who in their right mind would do this? I know people who just keep the two bucks they send you and fake the booklet because they honestly try but it turns out to be just a lot of stupid work that makes no sense when people these days are changing stations after each song if they don't like what's playing.

I know why talk and newsradio are highest rated - it's because these are the stations that people who actually fill out their diaries listen to and the station that people DON'T switch just to hear a new song.

I did this last year - it was pretty easy, actually. I only had to do it for seven straight days, and you just picked the station you listened to most in a 15-minute block.

I was struck at how boring my radio listening habits were.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

The current ratings system is pretty much a joke. There will be a new system implement next year and some believe that it will expose the huge flaws in how radio is currently measured.

You should all listen to 660News - three, four, five times a day.

Big fan of 660 News - I didn't see ratings for it, are they in any danger? The loud BEEP-BEEP buzzers they play all the time drive me nuts though.

[JiriHrdina]

660's rating were very good but keep in mind they are a cume station as opposed to a share station.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Not at all surprised to see Cjay going down. Both X929 and Fuel are far and away better stations.

Absolutely.

Try listening to CJAY inbetween the hours of 7-9 am. Good luck hearing more than one song in a 15 minute cycle.

I can't stand Forbes. Fart jokes and basically him talking so he can hear the sound of his own voice. Pathetic radio.

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Absolutely.

Try listening to CJAY inbetween the hours of 7-9 am. Good luck hearing more than one song in a 15 minute cycle.

I can't stand Forbes. Fart jokes and basically him talking so he can hear the sound of his own voice. Pathetic radio.

I don't even have a problem with less music and more talk in the morning, it's just that Forbes is a grade A ###### bag, and most of the other morning shows in this city are equally annoying. The X 92.9 morning show is both hilarious and thought provoking. They've really found a winning program.

Can't say much about any other FM stations...I listen to Rome on 960 and that about does it for my radio listening.

Streaming radio over my iPhone has pretty much let me stop listening to local radio for the most part.

[REDVAN]

XL103 has a decently good morning show.

[flip]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

660's rating were very good but keep in mind they are a cume station as opposed to a share station.

Uhh what? Layman's terms please.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Big fan of 660 News - I didn't see ratings for it, are they in any danger? The loud BEEP-BEEP buzzers they play all the time drive me nuts though.

Really? That's my favorite part

[HelloHockeyFans]

I actually prefer talk radio in the car. Always liked it more than music... heck even when I play GTA, I tune to the talk station.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by flip

Uhh what? Layman's terms please.

Basically Cume measures the total number of unique people that tune in - the biggest difference between this and the traditional measurement is that listeners are only counted once, but under the standard measurement the same listener can be counted numerous times, since they are measuring TOTAL listeners each 15 minutes.

For a station like 660 - the assumption is that people don't listen to it all day, but rather tune in when they are looking for specific information - like the news, traffic reports, etc. As such the traditional measurement doesn't work.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by flip

Uhh what? Layman's terms please.

Cume
Cume Persons is the estimated number of different persons who listen to a station at least once during a specific period. The cume is sometimes called the "unduplicated audience," "reach" or "circulation."

So since 660 runs similar stories on a regular cycle, they don't expect to hold listeners for hours, but they do expect a lot of people to listen for periods of time.

So there may only be, say 10,000 people listening at any one time, but over an hour there may have been 80,000 people who tuned in for a while.

[Nuje]

I'm a huge fan960 guy. I'm a hockey and soccer guy who also likes the NFL and CFL (watching it more, but it's cool to hear about the players I watch, even though I don't care near as much) a Roughnecks season ticket holder...I hate baseball, and don't watch basketball (but I have much more respect for that than I do baseball). I however, don't care to hear about Sean Avery. They've got me on a "I'll tune in when my brother (who I work with) tells me there's something exciting going on" basis at the moment, until that blows over. Even Jim Rome was talking about it (although I listened to what Don Cherry had to say on the matter)
The distaste for hearing about Sean Avery stories (he needs help....no he doesn't. He is an . It was a scripted shot he wanted everyone to hear. His mental problem is, he's an arse. No psycholoist required like Hull said, just expulsion from our league!) Been all over 660 and 770 the last few days due to the situation going on in our parliament, and the Sean Avery talk.

As far as music radio in Calgary, there really isn't a whole lot it has to offer. When I forget my MP3 player on a non-fan960 time of day (can't listen to too much NFL and such, even though I enjoy watching, don't care to know too much) I do the ol switch from:

Q107
CJ92
Fuel 90.3
X92.9
(a space to emphasize that the bottom 2 I stop on much less often than the top 4)
Vibe 98.5
Country 105

88% of the time or so, I can usually find a song I won't mind listening to on those. But the other 12% of the time, they all fail me simultaneously. Q107 can play AC/DC, Cjay will be playing some Killers, Fuel will have something lame usually, and X will be playing Fall Out Boy, who, in my opinion, has the worst fans:musical talent ratio in the businessThey are awful. The Vibe will play the usual junk, and Country will be playing the large percentage of the country I don't like.

[algernon]

Wat? No CP-love for CKUA?

Who you ask? -Alberta's public broadcaster, that's who.

The standard reasons mentioned by others for rejecting commercial FM radio drove me to CKUA (93.7fm) about 6 years ago. While CKUA does have some 'endorsements', they are far, far fewer in frequency and done by the On-Air personalities, allowing me to save my sanity by not hearing "CalgaryJob@!#!#.ca" or the latest Monster-truck rally announcements 27 times per hour.

I get that not necessarily everyone cites a Bollywood song or Celtic tune as their cup o' tea, but where else are you going to also hear Thievery Corporation , Corb Lund or Burning Spear in the same set?

I have found a ton of new artists thanks to the diversity of CK, and simply can't deal with the Bull that comes out of the other stations. Oh, and I believe they have never, nor will ever, Play a ing Nickle$#c% song, which is what makes CJ92 utterly unlistenable to me.

I do listen to the Fan and the Ceeb throughout the day as well, especially with the current national political mess.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Forbes is a grade A ###### bag

Yep. I stopped listening to cjay because of him. Now my music tastes have changed so I can never go back, but it was his stupid pedophile joke story that made me turn his stupid voice off once and for all.
But now that I think about it, I did give cjay a chance a couple years later and it lasted about 1 song and one joke. He was going on and on about Nirmala Naidoo Hill. NIIIIIRMALA....NIIIIIRRRRRRMALALALALAL... NIIIRMMMMMALA...
Yeah. Hilarious. She's got a weird name. Lets say it over and over. Haha.

F'n loser.

[gildo]

WHAT? No love for energy 1015?? I thought that 2 strangers and a wedding thing they did was just the most amazing thing ever!!!!! Yeah right, they should shut that place down and take the TV station with them how many times does channel 8, I mean A Channel, I mean City TV or "Sh*tty TV" have to re-vamp things we don't like you guys no matter what name you use go away! By the way I thought the whole 2 strangers and a wedding thing was an absolute joke as the groom ended up being (U of C Dino tender Jeff) he's quite the pranksters, this might be one of his best cause he fooled a lot of people.