CBC AM holds and gains radio listeners
By Marke Andrews, Vancouver Sun
May 28, 2009
METRO VANCOUVER -- For the second straight ratings period, CBC AM leads all Vancouver radio stations in listeners, and has increased its edge over CKNW.
The Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) spring ratings for March and April, released on Thursday, show CBU with a 12.4-per-cent share of listeners ages 12 and older, up from the 11.0 share it had in the last ratings, released in April. CBU programming consists of CBC Radio One’s news, current affairs and cultural shows.
AM talk station CKNW, which until this year was the perennial leader in listeners, sat second at 10.7, up from the 10.1 share it had in the last ratings, but well behind CBU. QMFM was third, although its 7.8 share was a full point below its audience share of the last rating.
Besides CBC AM’s share gain of 1.4, the next biggest gainer was CFMI, a.k.a. Rock 101, which jumped from 5.3 to 6.4, good for fifth place. CKWX dropped 1.3 points, from 5.6 to 4.3, and CKLG, aka Jack FM, fell from 6.1 to 4.9.
In the all-important 25-54 age demographic, both QMFM and Virgin Radio led in the female category, each with an 11.1 share, while Rock 101 led in male listenership with a 13.5 share, way up from the last book’s 10.0 percentage.
CBU’s The Early Edition with host Rick Cluff continues to dominate the 6 to 8:30 a.m. timeslot, gathering a record 18.2 per cent of listeners, almost three full points above his share one year ago. CKNW’s mix of talk and news was at 14.9 for the same time slot.
However, the CKNW Morning News with Philip Till increased its audience by more than 24,000 listeners to 216,432 and, according to CKNW program director Tom Plasteras, actually outdraws Cluff on CBC by about 2,000 listeners during its time period.
The CBC numbers are definitely trending upward.
“I attribute this to the passionate and dedicated programmers we have,” said Johnny Michel, managing director of CBC British Columbia.
“There’s been a lot of change in the market in terms of format and on-air talent, and whenever that happens people tend to sample other services,” said Michel.
“People who tune in to CBC like what they hear, and they tend to stick with it.”
Nationwide, Radio One has picked up 100,000 new listeners since the fall.
mandrews@vancouversun.com