WSRS, WTAG slipping to competition from smaller stations
The latest ratings for Worcester-area commercial radio stations have everyone claiming victory. But two of the top players, WSRS and WTAG, have slipped in the ratings since last year. Meanwhile, some smaller stations say they're giving the big guys a run for their money.
The spring ratings recently released by Arbitron show "lite rock" station WSRS 96.1 FM down 9 percent since the same time last year with a 10.3 percent market share. But it still commands a larger share of the radio audience than it did two years ago. Program director Tom Holt said the station works hard to maintain its top position.
"I think there's a lot that goes into it," he said. "The music primarily is what our listeners really want to hear, and of course the personalities."
Radio rumble
The area's top talk station station, WTAG 580 AM, which, like WSRS, is owned by broadcasting giant Clear Channel, dropped 22 percent since last year, landing at a 5.7 percent market share - about the same spot it occupied in 2005. Despite losing the rights to broadcast Red Sox games this year, program director George Brown said, the station is not suffering.
"People looking for news and information are obviously coming to WTAG," he said.
But Chris Thompson, general sales manager for WCRN 830 AM says that's not the only place they're going. The station, along with WVEI 1440 AM, took over broadcasting the Red Sox in the Worcester market this year, and Thompson said that has given a boost to all its programming.
"We've just seen more involvement," he said. "The phones are more active." WCRN also boosted its nighttime signal to 50,000 watts this spring, increasing its reach.
WCRN is still tied for number 21 in the ratings with only 1.2 percent of the market, but that represents a 140 percent jump over the past two years. Besides getting the Red Sox, Thompson gives part of the credit for the increase to adding WTAG veteran Hank Stoltz to the WCRN talk show lineup. Still, Thompson said WCRN is not looking to become the next WTAG. Instead, he said, it is part of radio's process of diversifying in much the same way that television has done over the past few decades.
"Twenty-five years ago there were only six or seven TV stations," he said. "Now there's cable television and people like a million different things."
Beyond the dial
Among the million different things people listen to in the car these days, an increasing number come from iPods and satellite radios. To compete, radio managers say, the key is offering seriously local content. Brown said WTAG prides itself on "knowing what's going on in the area, having people on the air that people are familiar with and in some cases have grown up listening to."
Even in music radio, Holt said, local personalities are one of the most important ways a station can set itself apart.
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