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The "Late Spring/Early Summer 2008" book measured Edmonton radio audiences from April 14th to June 8th, 2008.

The big news is that Edmonton radio listeners are back in the country saddle again, with CISN claiming king of the hill and CFCW ponying up with its best book since the summer of 2006.

Two stations were caught in transition and five stations posted historic lows.

2008 marks the second year for the Late Spring/Early Summer ratings period, first introduced in 2007. While its ultimate value has yet to be determined, it does provide another year-to-year comparison point.

The measured audience was down from 1,672,000 in the spring to 1,631,000 for the current book.

Note: personality share numbers courtesy regular Last Link reader Graham Hicks.

CISN - 13.0 (9.7 in Spring 2008, 5.6 in Late Spring/Early Summer 2007)

For Corus management, it's a matter of favourite sons simply switching places. While CHED traditionally occupies the top spot, the current book's skew towards country favours the CISN outlet.

It would be hard to imagine the station's gains were due to CKRA flipping from Big Earl to a greatest hits format (after all, Newcap's country FM outlet barely registered in the low 2s). Likely it is CISN's longtime good mix of music and personality that brought in the bacon.

In the demographics department, CISN leads the pack among women aged 25-54 with an 20.5 share. Men the same age also ranked the station first with a 17.2. The morning show with Bruce Bowie, Sean Burke, Jennifer Martin garnered a 12.8 (second place), with the drive home's Chris Scheetz pulling in a 13.1 (first place).

CHED - 11.3 (13.3 in Spring 2008, 12.3 in Late Spring/Early Summer 2007)

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" seems to be the course followed at CHED. The slight slip might be due to a poor Oilers run in the spring, a bit of the same old same old creeping in, or the fact that the recently flipped CHQT (from oldies to all news mid-way through the survey) might be nibbling at their share of the news audience pie. However, as this is yet another entry in the station's consistent record of double-digit shares, there's no need for concern.

CHED scored seventh with women 25-54 (5.0) but fourth with men 25-54 (8.3). Morning man Gord Whitehead (written about extensively on this site here and here) commands the morning market with a 15.4 share. The Afternoon News with Bryan Hall, Eileen Bell and Leslie Primeau places sixth with a 6.5.

CFBR - The Bear - 9.7 (8.7, 7.7)

In spite of the much-heralded return of Terry Evans over at format rival 97.3 K-Rock, The Bear gained a full share point and a sizeable chunk of audience numbers.

The BBM numbers validate the station's picking up of a pair of Canadian Music Industry Awards – for Rock Station of the Year and for On Air Talent of the Year (unbelievably, The Paul Brown Show).

The Bear's morning show (Brown along with Yukon Jack and Gillian Foote) grabs an 8.3 share (fourth) while the drive home with Fearless Fred Kennedy places second with an 11.9. In the demos, the station is sixth with women 25-54 (6.1) but tops with men 25-54 (14.7).

CHBN - The Bounce - 8.2 (7, 6.5)

The folks at CTVglobemedia must be proud as The Bounce clocked in with its best showing since the station's debut in the fall of 2004. The format once owned by CKRA stays a winner, edging out the edgier sound of demographic stable mate Sonic 102.9 who posted their worst book since signing on.

The Bounce morning drive places fifth with Rob Pepper and Dylan Wowchuk holding a 7.3 share, and the afternoon slot with Adam McKale behind the microphone grabs third place with a 9.4. Even though the demos are slightly older than Bounce's target audience, women 25-54 give the station a 10.6 share, making it fourth, while men in the same bracket place it ninth with a 5.2.

CFMG - EZ Rock - 8.1 (8.5, 7.7)

EZ Rock easily slides into fifth place but maintains its usual 8+ share, indicating stations in the top half of the chart ate up a disproportional majority of the total ratings pie. The safe at work station maintains its safe to work for atmosphere with no changes needed.

The station does well with both drive shows. Shane Michaels, Cheryl Brooks and Robin Allen place sixth with a 7.0 share, while Ron Clark grabs fourth spot with an 8.1. Women 25-54 rate the station third with an 11.2, while men the same age favour the station much less so: a 3.8 and twelfth place.

CFCW - 7.3 (6.4, 3.1)

The country trend benefited the heritage station with its strongest showing since the summer of 2006. The summer of 2007, however, saw CFCW hit an all-time low of 3.1, showing how fickle the country market (and ratings books) can be.

However, audiences were clear with their third most popular morning choice in Danny Hooper and Sharon Mallon, commanding an 8.8 share. Warren Berg in the drive home arrived at eighth with a 4.9. Wrinkles in the rating system become apparent when taking demos into consideration: women rate the station thirteenth with a 2.8 and men place it fourteenth with a 2.2. Huh?

CKNG - Joe FM - 6.7 (8.1, 8.7)

There's cause for concern in the Corus camp with Joe coming in with its worst book this century. Either some of its younger listeners have drifted over to The Bounce or mid-survey flipped CKRA, with its Edmonton's Greatest Hits sound, eroding the normally top 5 finisher's placing.

It will take another book or two to tell if Joe is in trouble ...or if Corus just has to lower its expectations on a dial that will become ever more crowded.

Joe's morning show (Rhubarb Jones and Audie Lynds) lands seventh with a 6.0 share, and afternoons with Gary James places seventh with a 7.6. The station scores second-highest with women (12.6) and sixth with men (7.6).

Within days of the rating results being announced came word that 30-year Corus man Audie Lynds had flown the coop – see below

CKRA - 96.3 Capital FM - 4.9 (2.2, 2.0)

When Corus announced that CHQT was giving up oldies for all news, CKRA owner Newcap said a "thank you" prayer and gave the Big Earl format the big heave-ho. On March 28th, 2008 the station that has had more format changes than Joan Rivers has had facelifts became The New 96.3 Capital FM – playing Edmonton's Greatest Hits.

Like CHQT, the format switch came mid-way through the sample period – too early to tell what the station's fortune holds. That said, if all of the station's fans had filled out their BBM diaries in the last couple of weeks of the survey, things might be looking up for the Newcap underperformer.

However, ducks still need to be lined up fast. As the current ratings news came out came word that the station was still looking for a "name" morning man. Without a solid personality in the AM drive slot (and perhaps a few live announcers, or even voice-tracking, during the rest of the day) the upcoming and all-important fall ratings survey may not have the answers newly-minted Newcap operations manager Pat Cardinal is looking for.

The last time CKRA had these kind of numbers, they were known as Mix 96.

Jason Roberts and Kari Skelton in the mornings placed tenth with a 4.1, while the music-only p.m. drive snagged a 5.1, making it seventh. Women rated the station in transition fifth with a 7.2 while men placed it seventh with a 7.4.

Within days of the rating results being announced came word that 30-year Corus man (and current Joe-FM morning host) Audie Lynds had flown the coop to join 96.3 Capital FM – see below

CBX - CBC Radio One - 4.9 (5.8, 9.8)

The public broadcaster finds itself in familiar territory, but audience numbers are down dramatically. Media watchers will recall in the first instance of the Late Spring/Early Summer period, CBC surprised many with a massive 9.8 share. Speculation abounded that many surveys were dropped off in the CBC demographic-friendly postal codes of the Strathcona neighbourhood.

While drive show demos weren't available, CBC was favoured tenth with women (3.7), eleventh with men (3.9).

CHDI - Sonic FM - 4.6 (6.1, 8.0)

Like the CBC, Sonic had an impressive showing in Late Spring/Early Summer 2007 with an 8.0. Since then, it's been a roller-coaster ride for the Rogers station and the current book shows the outlet at its lowest point since sign on in Spring 2005.

So, where did Sonic's audience go? The Bounce perhaps, or maybe they simply went off the radio measurement grid and onto handheld devices.

The station's target demos are outside the scope of data available, with women 25-54 preferring it eleventh with a 3.1 and men eighth with a 7.1. Garner Andrews pulls in at ninth in the mornings with a 5.0 share, with Layne Mitchell scoring the same ranking with a 4.8.

A week after the ratings were made public, an Edmonton Journal reader offered some programming insights.

CIRK - K-Rock - 4.4 (4.5, 4.1)

A week before the current ratings book was released, Newcap re-branded 97.3 K-Rock as K97 – the name the station first adopted in 1979.

Perhaps sensing a flat book, newly-arrived program director James "Gruff" Gushnowski juggled the on-air line-up while tossing post-1990s tunes from the playlist.

While they were still together, mornings with Terry Evans, Karen Kay and Melissa Wright grabbed eighth spot with a 5.1 share, while Rob Berg fares slightly worse at tenth with a 4.7. In the demos, a 4.8 share with women brings the station in at ninth, but men rate it fourth with an 8.4.

Despite being 97.3 K-Rock since 1997, the station was always K97 in the hearts of its fans. Gushnowski figured it was time to call a spade a spade, a rose by any other name, and to re-brand the station as its best chance to re-live its glory days at the top of the ratings pile.

Time will tell ... if time wounds all the heels who've meddled with the station's sound over the past half-dozen years.

CKUA - 2.3 (3.2, n/a)

A slight drop in numbers for the audience-funded station, but given the low number of respondents at the lower end of the chart, a few diaries here or there (or not turned in) can make all the difference.

Ken Regan, CKUA's general manager, made a passionate plea at the CRTC hearings held in May 2008 (find Line 12469). Regan was concerned that additional radio licences in Edmonton, and in particular an application for an all blues outlet, would harm the community-based station.

Two of CKUA's most-listened programs are blues shows (one of them, Natural Blues produced by Holger Petersen, is the longest running blues program in Canada). Regan cautioned the CRTC that CKUA was a poor match against private commercial radio and he asked the federal regulator to tread carefully.

At the tail end of the sample period, CKUA embarked on an unprecedented television ad campaign suggesting their programming was "a nice break from radio."

As with the CBC, drive show demos weren't available but women and men both placed the station sixteenth with 1.4 and 1.5 shares respectively.

CHMC - Magic 99 - 2.0 (2.7, 3.7)

Also appearing at the May 2008 CRTC hearings was Magic 99 owner Rawlco – pitching for a younger brother for its Smooth Jazz outlet which would play "emerging artists."

Rawlco also contended that with a standalone operation in Magic 99 they had a competitive disadvantage when facing other multi-outlet owners who have operational efficiencies, as well as cross-station programming, marketing, sales and promotion opportunities.

Should the CRTC be looking at the current ratings book, they might buy into Magic 99's argument that possibly helped garner the station a dismal 2.0, its worst showing since it signed on in the fall of 2005.

In the meantime, Rob Christie's morning show tanks at thirteenth with a 1.6 share, and the afternoon drive comes in at the same number with a 1.7. Women place the nebulous music format station thirteenth with a 2.3, while men voted it fifteenth with a 1.9.

The station's consistent poor performance was the subject of speculation by Edmonton Sun columnist Graham Hicks who suggested the station might soon be up for sale – see below.

CHQT - iNews 880 - 1.9 (2.5, 2.1)

With Corus flipping CHQT from Cool 880 (all oldies) to iNews 880 (all news) on May 20th, 2008 the current ratings period doesn't reflect anything of value – or does it? With the change occurring mid-way through the sample, it can't be determined if the format flip was prudent or preventative.

At CRTC hearings held beginning May 27th, Rogers Broadcasting applied for an all news station. Transcripts from the hearings indicated Rogers was taking action of some sort against Corus for web site and broadcast elements already in use by Rogers.

13 other applications for a new FM licence were also heard at the May 2008 hearings. A decision was expected in the fall of 2008.

Former Cool 880 morning man Chuck Chandler continues to not wake up early. A May 2008 on-air "audition" for 96.3 Capital FM seems for nought as the station later announced it was still looking for a "name" morning man ... which means Chuck was still looking for a job despite his comments that response to his one-off show was "incredible."

With the flip coming halfway through the survey, it's hard to tell whether iNews 880's 1.8 share for the drive shows (eleventh in the morning, twelfth in the afternoon) is of significance. Demo-wise, the sample showed sixteenth place for women (1.3) but thirteenth for men (2.3).

Rounding out the bottom of the ratings barrel are the usual suspects.

CBX FM - CBC Radio 2 - 2.0 (3.2, 5.3) is showing decline in the wake of programming changes that saw the station skew younger, much to the ire of its longtime and core classical-music audience. Ire was likely further raised when Edmonton Sun columnist Graham Hick gave the station a simple "who cares" comment in his ratings coverage. Tsk tsk.

CFRN - The Team - 1.5 (1.8, 1.2) continues its morale-challenging occupation of the far end of the radio bench. However, the devil is in the details: Bryn Griffiths and Jake Daniels are twelfth in the mornings with a 1.7 share, while Bob Stauffer in the drive home brings in a respectable 3.6, placing the station eleventh and ahead of a fair number of competitors. Who knew? Predictably, women ranked the station last (seventeenth with a 0.1), while men came up to bat with a tenth-placed rating and a 4.5 share.

One of CHFA - Radio Canada's two diary holders (0.0, 0.2, 0.1) likely didn't turn theirs in, and Newcap's CFCW FM - CAM FM - n/a (n/a, 0) seems to have been dropped from the Edmonton extended market book.

Late Spring/Early Summer 2008 - RadioWest image

For more detailed data about the Late Spring/Early Summer 2008 book, read the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement report (opens as a .pdf). General demographic data can be seen in this snapshot taken from Broadcaster Magazine.

The results of the next Edmonton ratings period (July 7th through 20th and August 4th through 31st, 2008) is set to be released October 6th, 2008. Stay tuned.

In a rare example of Graham Hicks having to eat crow in print (or at least online), the Edmonton Sun columnist had to backtrack on remarks made in his initial blog entry covering the ratings.

"Some say Rawlco will bail and put the station up for sale," Hicks wrote of Magic 99's future while also suggesting that coffee-buddy Rob Christie should be considered as the prize in 96.3 Capital FM's quest for a "name" morning man.

In a later blog entry, Hicks related how Rawlco President Pam Layland called him to dispell (sic) rumours the company was selling its struggling but-still-new radio station.

"Still-new" is a relative term. Given the impact The Bounce and Sonic 102.9 have had in the same time period, Magic 99's "best before" date has come and gone – and Hicks was likely being diplomatically apologetic when choosing his words.

"There's no way Rawlco will sell," Pam told Hicks. "Rawlco has a long-term perspective and being privately held, we can be patient. We're committed to Magic 99, and very proud of the station."

Regarding Christie and possible employment at 96.3 Capital FM, Layland was protective.

"Rob is committed to Magic 99 and its long-term success. He's staying with us," she told Hicks.

Conspicuous from the fray was a quote from Hicks' pal Christie. Perhaps another coffee date is in order ... or perhaps Hicks already knows something.

"Time will tell ... " was how Graham ended his retreative posting. Is the Magic 99 morning coffee mug half full or half empty?

Within days of the BBM results being released came word that 30-year CHED/CKNG veteran (and current Joe-FM morning host) Audie Lynds had flown the Corus coop to join 96.3 Capital FM.

The move sees Lynds re-team with Newcap operation manager Pat Cardinal (who spent time at CHED and CKNG when it was known as Power 92).

The pairing had industry insiders wondering if the other shoe in this move had yet to be dropped: re-uniting Lynds with former air-mate Rob Christie (see item above).

Under Cardinal, the Christie/Lynds combo earned top ratings. It remains to be seen if the new Newcap boss can loosen the purse strings to accommodate the dream morning team – perhaps at the cost of live talent during other dayparts at the station.

Also surprising to insiders is that Lynds wasn't bound by a non-compete clause in his Corus contract. Memos were probably written to Toronto HR honchos within seconds of Audie's departure from the building on July 19th, 2008.

radio - edmonton ratings archives - late spring/early summer 2008