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The local Arbitron radio ratings based on people meter data have been obtained for May (April 23 – May 20), and WIP has increased its lead in both the afternoon and morning drive-time slots.

 

Afternoons

This is rather startling: Tony Bruno and Josh Innes led Mike Missanelli by a wide margin. WIP was first overall in the market in share (percentage of turned on radios tuned in) among men 24-54 from 2-6. 97.5 was fourth. We’re not allowed to post the proprietary hard numbers, but the lead is sizable and virtually identical to the lead WIP held over 97.5 in April.

What’s really interesting here, though, is that this is the first month recently where WIP beat 97.5 in the younger 18-34 demo. 97.5 typically kills WIP with the younger audience, and while neither were in the top 4 (WIP was 5th, 97.5 was 7th), WIP held more than a one-point lead here. Even when WIP beat 97.5 in February, they didn’t even come close to competing in this demo. The two stations tied last month. And now, after just three short months, Bruno and Innes have surpassed Missanelli among younger, male listeners. Uh oh.

 

Mornings

WMMR, with Preston and Steve, still owns Philadelphia. But what about the battle between Angelo Cataldi vs. Anthony Gargano? Well, it’s not a battle yet. Unlike Bruno and Innes taking on Missanelli, who’s only been in the time slot for about five years, Gargano is trying to compete with the mainstay of an entire generation in Cataldi. It was unlikely that there would be any real threat early on, and indeed that’s been the case thus far. WIP continues to hold a comfortable lead among men 25-54 from 6-10, with 97.5 turning in the same share in both April and May, figures that are actually down a bit from March– the last full month of the national show, Mike and Mike.

 

Takeaway? Innes and Bruno beating Missanelli in the 24-54 demo is one thing. Doing it among younger listeners is another. This has long been 97.5’s bread and butter – across all shows – and having their biggest show slip behind WIP, if even for a month, among a younger audience, to me, is a sign of a bad trend.

Here’s how Nick Piccone of Bleed Philly – a friend of the site and Crosswalk contributor – who first obtained the ratings late last night, summed up his thoughts:

With the Philly listening audience growing increasingly frustrated with the – for lack of a better phrase – same old shit, WIP decided to make a move for the future of their station. It’s only been a few months, and the station has already shown it’s made the right decision in pairing Innes and Bruno to take on Missanelli head-to-head. With Missanelli regularly killing Gargano in the ratings, the two are now on the same team – and both are getting hammered. Angelo Cataldi has built an empire in the morning on WIP, and not even Anthony Gargano can topple it. The only chance 97.5 has of even making a dent in that number in the morning is when Cataldi retires, and even when that happens – if WIP inserts Innes in that slot – they won’t be losing any numbers at all.

It’s still too early to accurately judge Gargano’s show, by the ratings, since there was so little promotion leading up to it. But one would’ve expected some improvement in the show’s first full month. That didn’t happen. Their ratings, at least in terms of share, were the same in April and May (for comparison: WIP’s actually increased slightly).

And, to Nick’s point, I’m not sure Innes would just slide seamlessly into Cataldi’s slot whenever Cataldi retires (which won’t be for at least a few more years)– again, there’s an entire generation of fans that Cataldi, Al Morganti and Rhea Hughes drive to work with each day. You can’t just replace that sort of thing, especially with someone as polarizing as Innes.

There’s also the shock value of Innes, which is great for ratings early on, but could eventually wear thin on listeners over time. Give him and Bruno credit, for sure, but there comes a time where you have to pick your spots being outrageous.

Still, there isn’t any positive trend to be found for 97.5 in the morning and afternoon ratings, at least not in the breakdowns I was provided. Everything is coming up WIP. CLASSIC MAESTRO:

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