Fresh on the heels of CBS firing WIP Operations Manager Andy Bloom, who also oversaw 1210 WPHT, we have the latest local sports talk radio ratings. Indeed, for the December ratings period (running early November through early December), 97.5 gained ground on WIP and straight-up beat them in the all-important Afternoon time slot.

6 – 10 a.m.

WIP earned an 8.5 share and a 0.3 streaming share among men 25-54 for a combined total of 8.8, beating out 97.5’s morning show, which earned a 7.4 share and a 0.5 streaming share among men 25-54 for a combined total of 7.9.

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Mike and Ike on WIP earned a 6.5 share and a 0.4 streaming share among men 25-54 for a total of 6.9, beating Harry and Rob on 97.5, who earned a 5.5 share and a 1.0 streaming share among men 25-54 for a total of 6.5.

2 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Josh Innes and colleagues earned an 8.0 share and a 0.3 streaming share among men 25-54 for a total of 8.3. Mike Missanelli earned an 8.1 share and a 0.8 streaming share among men 25-54 for a total of 8.9.

That is Missanelli’s first outright on-air victory against Innes and [insert co-hosts], though he had beaten Innes in recent months when you included – small sample size warning – streaming ratings, which Innes and WIP downplay as being meaningless.

It depends how you slice the apple.

Streaming ratings are based off the same relatively small pool of people that make up the overall ratings, with the streams having a slightly different signal detected by the portable people meters, the devices used to measure listeners. Ergo, 0.1-point on-air ratings estimate has the same margin for error as a 0.1-point streaming ratings estimate. All along, Innes and WIP have been eager to claim victories on sometimes narrow margins, perhaps extrapolated off only a handful of PPMs. But when those same narrow margins are cited in streaming estimates, folks at WIP have privately tried to downplay their significance to me, claiming that Nielsen doesn’t officially combine the two, on-air and streaming. That’s fair, but for our purposes – “who has more listeners?” – using the streaming number, when available, is what we’re going to do.

It’s clear that the Nielsen radio ratings use a highly flawed, antiquated system for measuring audience… but, it’s what the industry goes by. So I see no difference, or fault, in including streaming numbers, which historically have not been measured, perhaps because the numbers were too low to show up on reports. But when using the now measurable streaming estimates, Missanelli has beaten Innes several months in a row.

On Twitter, Innes is claiming victory:

He’s right– he did win the fall ratings book (October through December), on-air— 8.3 to 8.1. But when you include the streaming estimates – 1.3 for Mike, 0.2 for Josh – he lost 9.4 to 8.5.

You can read these numbers however you choose. But the trend is this: From November to December, 97.5 cut significantly into WIP’s lead, both on-air and overall, in both the mornings and mid-days, and overtook WIP in claiming an on-air victory from 2-6. Also of note: In December Week 2 – November 12-8 – 97.5 won every major day part, on-air— 0.3 margin in the mornings and mid-days, and a 3.3 margin from 2-6. That is a first. WIP, however, was helped by Thanksgiving Eagles ratings in December Week 4, which helped their mid-day and afternoon numbers substantially for the week and to a lesser extent for the month.

I get accused, both in the comments and on Twitter, of somehow playing favorites with 97.5. I don’t think that’s fair. I do prefer their overall lineup to WIP’s, like most people in my demo, but just call it like I see it when it comes to the ratings. The fact is, the WIP Afternoon time slot has seen ridiculous turmoil this year, and, as predicted, the whole thing has taken its toll on management and perhaps listeners. That may be opinion, but it’s one that’s backed by the fact that CBS just fired the guy who ran WIP and empowered Innes, which resulted in so many more established personalities – Glen Macnow, Anthony Gargano, Tony Bruno and Rob Ellis – being pushed to the fringes of WIP, to 97.5, or into podcasting. You could ask yourself: If WIP’s mismatched Afternoon show is so brilliant, then why was its mastermind just canned?

Also of note: I don’t know this for sure, but I would be willing to bet that following Bloom’s ouster, Philly.com will no longer be a threat to breaking any RADIO WARS news. NOW THIS MUSIC: