Quick Ratings Question for Knowledgeable Confessors

We've taken a passing interest in the on-air postings for positions with Cumulus and the stations.  There's the chief engineer slot, and they're also looking for an IT guy, sounds like.  Both sorely needed. 

We hear the Ticket guys griping about Cumulus corporate practices, and we've observed some ourselves, so it's amusing to hear these ads talking about what a fabulous place Cumulus is to work.  Maybe it is, but the contrast between recent events and the bubbly self-promotion of the ads is amusing.

Lately, we've heard i93 trolling for sales guys on The Ticket.  My question is this:  The ads state that i93 is the "third-most listened-to" station in DFW.  When I go to this site

http://www.radio-info.com/markets/dallas-ft-worth

I see a listing of stations with an "AQH%", but those rankings don't match up with the "cume" numbers, which I assume represents listeners.  Based on the cume numbers, KLIF- FM does indeed appear to be the third-most listened-to station, although down in the listings.

In fact, i93's "cume" is about triple The Ticket's.

Now, we all know that the 25-54 male demographic is the most desirable, and Thc Ticket rules there.  My question for a radio guy is:  how should we read these tables?  What is the relationship between the AQH% (and what is it?) and the "cume," and what is their relative importance to advertisers?  Why does The Ticket appear so far down on this list, if it is so dominant in the most significant demo?

Thanks in advance.

June 15, 2012

8:26 a.m. --  There is nothing the CTO can do to make working for i93's sales department sound appetizing.  Those frantic ads that run on The Ticket touting the fabulous Cumulus growth in DFW (growth which seems to have been almost entirely purchased, not earned) are unintentionally hilarious.  I'm learning that the radio world is shaking its head nationwide at Cumulus mismanagement and venality. 

Wonder if those ads run on i93. 


8:29 a.m. -- I was genuinely alarmed when Mike didn't come out of the bathroom for Community Quick Hits yesterday.  I have to believe that Corby and Danny had to know that Mike was not in extremis or they would not have made joking reference to his death.

He wouldn't be the first media star to die on the porcelain throne, and I personally know of two other males of Mike's approximate years who expired in exactly the same circumstances.   Must have been bad, the poor guy missed two entire segments and couldn't even come out to say goodbye.


9:35 a.m. --  Who will give us a report on Summa Bash this weekend?

*     *     *

Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email Your Plainsman:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

OPEN THREAD: Local Industry Scuttlebutt

+++++

Apologies to the Confessor Nation for not much in the way of new postings.  Scrambling at work and home, hope to re-emerge in the next few weeks. 

In the meantime, Confessors are reporting on rumors of regime change at The FAN and even within the Cumulus family of stations:  T4 in Rockwall sums up the recent whispers:

"A rumor I read on the board.radio-info.com said the Fan was flipping formats on June the 4th, Arnie Spanier's (spelling?) last day is June 1 and that possibly I93.3 was moving to 96.3. The last seems extremely unlikely because KSCS has been here for years and successful. Taking the place of the Fan is supposedly Amp radio, which is a syndication."

As T4 also points out, this would open the way for The Ticket to move its FM signal, at least, to 93.3 and, in all likelihood, for hell to freeze over. 

Fascinating stuff.  It would mildly surprise me if CBS pulled the plug on The FAN after the investment it's made, but it's still mired in third and not making dent one in The Ticket's ratings. 

This site has been beating the drums for signal swap almost since it started:

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2009/12/tickets-lousy-signal-and-what-to-do.html

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2010/03/that-lousy-ticket-signal-and-what-to-do.html

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-sooner-said-take-wbap-for-example.html

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2011/06/wherein-nation-is-instructed-by-someone_21.html

http://myticketconfession.blogspot.com/2011/06/indulge-me-one-more-article-on-signals.html

So the renewed speculation that The Ticket might be in line for a better signal is intriguing.  Although this thread from late 2010 suggests that 93.3 would not help The Ticket up north:

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=181375.10;wap2

Maybe hang on to 104.1 in addition to 93.3?  Possibly enable the region's most popular station to be heard everywhere?  Nah.  They should give The Ticket 96.7.    Won't happen, but fun to consider.  By the way, a couple of the foregoing links have comments from some folks who seem fairly well-informed who are skeptical about signal swap, so if you go back and check out those articles, don't overlook the critics.

*     *     *

Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310

Email Your Plainsman:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com