"The Fanatic" on FM is an early hit
That FM sports-talk switch clearly worked, according to November's Arbitron ratings.
"The Fanatic" on FM is an early hit
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Philly's sports-talk soup is now at a full boil, if November's Arbitron ratings are an indication.
You'll recall how on Oct. 9, Greater Media's WPEN (also known as 950ESPN) began simulcasting most programming on 97.5 FM as "The Fanatic."
The 950-AM signal, which barely registered since its debut in 2005, got a nice, static-free, FM companion.
Sports-talk listeners enjoy comparing The Fanatic against perennial champ WIP (610) when it comes to content.
But it may be impossible to directly compare The Fanatic's Arbitron ratings against WIP's. The geek in me would love to have some objective comparison.
Logic would seem to dictate that you could add the audience shares of both the 950-AM signal and the 97.5-FM signal and roll them into one number. If someone is listening to Mike Missanelli on AM or FM, why should that matter?
Arbitron told me today that unless the two stations are a true, round-the-clock simulcast, their shares cannot be combined, even for a specific show. These two stations run the same programming from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, except for the 10 o'clock hour, and Villanova games air on the AM side.
So no dice.
We have to move on and return to bickering over content.
The November ratings were great for both WIP and The Fanatic, and both stations have the Phillies' World Series run to thank for it.
In the demographic of men ages 25 to 54, WIP was No.1 with 9.3 percent of the audience, its best showing in at least a year. Each show was up over the previous month's. And though people love to bust on afternooner Howard Eskin, his show has been rising since the beginning of the year.
The Fanatic's FM station was 10th, and the AM station was 22d.
The AM/FM seems to be working. Take September, the last full ratings period that 950-AM was by itself. The share of male listeners ages 25-54 was a 3. In November, the share on just the FM signal was a 4.5. The station's top-rated personality, Mike Missanelli, went from a 6.6 in September on AM to a 7.6 on just the FM station. Missanelli edged out Eskin among men 25-54 and beat him soundly among the younger male demographics.
(This is an attempt to correct my earlier post, in which I combined the two Fanatic stations' audience shares.)
To all the ESPN TV haters: I'm totally with you, but haven't you noticed that they call themselves 97.5 The Fanantic? At first they said powered by ESPN, but Missanelli never says that anymore. I think they will look to do a local morning show within a year or so. Mike and Mike can go to the AM side and they couldgo after Cataldi. Problem is, Cataldi's ratings have never been better. I personally can't listen to the fraud, but people obviously still do if they are beating Preston and Steve. WIP needs to re-sign him or risk losing mornings to 97.5 too— sportsfan09- @Brian F. "'nabbing' a Flyers radio deal would put them over the top"? As much as I hate to agree with Eskin, Hardcore Flyer fans are simply delusional. I LOVE Angelo and the Morning Team and though I only get to catch the first two hours of their show due to my work schedule, they are usually some of the most entertaining two hours on the radio (I MEAN HONESTLY THE BEST SPORTS SHOW ON THE RADIO IS TONY BRUNO. PERIOD!. But only Tony is Tony and all others pale in comparison.) Mikey Miss is great. Mayes and the Scwartz are ok in small doses. Scwartz is overbearing and has dumb stances. Eskin and Reese are intolerable, Mike and Mike generally suck, and Cuz and Prof are good on certain days. So its Angelo, Mikey, and the man, the myth, the legend, TONY BRUNO!— POTIN
- Howard is probably a nice guy off the air, but only a sado-masochist can enjoy his on-air persona. Mikey Miss brings a breath of fresh air (as opposed to a bag of hot air) to the afternoon drive.— dasher
- WIP is a joke a complete waste of time WPEN is a far superior. The WIP morning show is a total rip off of Stern; I would rather vomit in my mouth than listen to Angelo and Rea. Eskin has as much credibility as Dave Spadaro, and as much as I like Ike Reese, he can’t save Eskin from Missanelli’s beat down. Ray Didinger is the only thing that WIP has going for it. WIP had better wake up and dump Howard, Rea and Angelo, because WIP is about to become irrelevant.— CrashTestCorzine
- WIP should bring Jody Mac back!— Bobphxville
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Doubtful - why do you care about a grown mans' beard, or whether or not he had acne as a teenager. You are a loser.— danF
- @ jadubz...you sure knwo a lot about all the hosts & their styles & what they do for someone thats says they listen elsewhere....— crazycurt623
- Doubtful, why is Howard a maroon?— wingslax35
- I still like Eskin but AM has become unbearable to listen to. If 'IP wants to survive it will have to go FM. Ike Reese drives me crazy... Hey, Ike; it's "ask" not "axe"— ryan_tweed
- I still like Eskin but AM has become unbearable to listen to. If 'IP wants to survive it will have to go FM. Ike Reese drives me crazy... Hey, Ike; it's "ask" not "axe"— ryan_tweed
- Admit it people, you listen to one station until a commercial comes on then you switch to the other station. And when both are at break you probably turn on the FAN to see what dumba$# new yorkers are talking about. So do the rating really matter, I think not.— donny05
I think the only reason that WIP still leads in the ratings is that some people just turn it on as a force of habit. If you really listen and compare you will realize that 97.5 is just better. Cataldi is just plain awful. I switched 5 years ago when Jody Mac started 950. He should still be involved with that station in some way. Letting him go is the only complaint that I have about the Fanatic.— rjw817
