Not so long ago, Bell Media announced the sale of 45 of its radio stations, shockingly declaring “it’s not a viable business anymore”. The buyers were Vista Radio, Whiteoaks, Durham Radio, My Broadcasting Corp., ZoomerMedia, Arsenal Media, and Maritime Broadcasting. Clearly, there are a number of believers remaining. Radio remains consistently popular, with an average weekly reach of 83% for Canadians A12+. In-home represents 50% of tuning. Out-of-home represents 50% of tuning. We should note that, for Canadians, 9% of radio consumption comes from AM/FM live radio streaming. Let’s forge on.

The new PPM release from Numeris completes the thirteen weeks covering May 27, 2024-August 25, 2024. Let’s look at the five PPM markets.

Toronto: Bragging rights at the top of the ratings heap go to CHFI delivering a 13.4 % share for A12+.  CHUM-FM receives a nice bump and comes out on top for Females 25-54 with a 16.3% share (up from 11.6%). For males 25-54, BOOM leads at 12.0 % (down from 12.4%). Virgin is out in front for M18-34 with 12.1% (down from 15.8%). Virgin is also out in front for F18-34, topping the list at 16.4% (up from 15.7%). 

As you may recall, Bell Media announced the sale of 45 of its radio stations, shockingly declaring “it’s not a viable business anymore”. The buyers were Vista Radio, Whiteoaks, Durham Radio, My Broadcasting Corp., ZoomerMedia, Arsenal Media, and Maritime Broadcasting. Clearly, there are a number of believers remaining. Radio remains consistently popular, with an average weekly reach of 84% for Canadians A12+. Perhaps reflective of the work-from-home trend, in-home represents 52% of tuning. Out-of-home represents 48% of tuning. We should note that, for Canadians,10% of radio consumption comes from AM/FM live radio streaming. Let’s forge on.

The new PPM release from Numeris completes the thirteen-week period covering February 26, 2024-May 26, 2024. Let’s look at the five PPM markets.

Toronto: Bragging rights at the top of the ratings heap go to CBC Radio One, delivering a 13.6 % share, and CHFI, with a 13.3% share for A12+. BOOM-FM comes out on top for Females 25-54 with a 13.6% share followed by CHUM-FM at 11.6 %. and CHFI-FM with 10.8%. For males 25-54 BOOM leads with 12.4 %. Virgin is out in front for M18-34 with a 15.8%. Virgin is also out in front for F18-34, topping the list at 15.7%.

As I previously reported, 56 diary markets were discontinued by Numeris, leaving us with our current 22, reporting central area only. radioCount, using a different methodology, has recently released their April/Spring book surveying 4 different markets while 22 markets are reported in the Fall. All 2 Numeris markets were measured using continuous measurement using the Online Radio Diary radioCount uses individual recruitment, while Numeris uses household recruitment. Today’s Numeri release covers the period of May 1st, 2023 to April 28th, 2024.

It is worth mentioning that, in these markets, radio reached 81% of A12+ and 82% of adults 25 to 54 In Quebec, weekly reach is at 84% for A12+ and 88% for A25-54. This spring, 38% o Adults 25 to 54’s listening occurred in their vehicles, flat with Fall 2023. In-home tuning, now at 34% has increased 1 percentage point from the previous fall. Canadians 12+ in the top markets spent a average of 13.3 hours per week listening to radio. Quebecers 12+ spend 15.9 hours per week listening t radio.

Numeris encountered a problem when recruitment calls were labelled as “likely spam” which led to a increase in call avoidance. The result was lower respondent engagement than expected for the Sprin Radio Diary release. As a result, 12 markets include samples from previous releases for Spring 2024.

On a personal note, my very good friend Bob Mackowycz passed away unexpectedly yesterday. Bo was a radio legend and one of the best human beings I have ever known. It was an honour to cal him my friend.

Now, let’s look at 6 sample markets from the latest Numeris release.

Significant changes in radio ownership across Canada have prompted discussions concerning the medium's future. Bell Media has announced the sale of 45 of its radio stations, shockingly declaring “ it’s not a viable business anymore”. The buyers are Vista Radio, Whiteoaks, Durham Radio, My Broadcasting Corp., ZoomerMedia, Arsenal Media, and Maritime Broadcasting. Clearly, there are many believers remaining. Still, with stations struggling to maximize revenue, it seems the good old days are gone.

Conversely, radio remains consistently popular, with an average weekly reach of 84% for A12+. Perhaps reflective of the work-from-home trend, in-home represents 52% of tuning. Out-of-home represents 48% of tuning. We should note that, for Canadians,10% of radio consumption come from AM/FM live radio streaming. Let’s forge on.

The new PPM release from Numeris completes the thirteen-week period covering November 23, 2023-February 25, 2024. Instead of driving to and from work, many are still working from home. In-home represents 54% of tuning while out-of-home represents 46%.

Let’s look at the five PPM markets.

Toronto: Bragging rights at the top of the ratings heap go to CHFI delivering a 15.4 % share for A12+ (up from 12.8 %).  CHFI comes out on top for Females 25-54 with a 15.2% share, followed by BOOM at 12.7 %. and CHUM-FM with 12.4%. For males 25-54 BOOM leads with 10.4 % followed by CHFI with 9.0 %. Q107 is out in front for M18-34 with an 11.9% (up from 10.8%) followed by CHFI at 10.4%. CHFI-FM is waaaay out in front for F18-34 topping the list at 24.9%. 

Across the country, consolidation and station staff cuts continue to be an issue. Numeris has already experienced Diary market cuts as well as staff cuts. Radio seems to be taking a back seat in terms of priorities. In the PPM markets, there is significant discussion concerning sample sizes. As someone who has been around awhile, I can say that the good old days in radio are gone and stations are struggling to maximize revenue. Many radio sales reps have been asked to cover digital and sometimes TV. Still, radio remains consistently popular with an average weekly reach of 85% for A12+. Perhaps reflective of the work-from-home trend, in-home represents 52% of tuning. Out-of-home represents 48% of tuning. We should note that, for Canadians,10% of radio consumption comes from AM/FM live radio streaming. Let’s forge on.

The new PPM release from Numeris completes the 13-week period covering August 28-November 26, 2023. Instead of driving to and from work, many are still working from home. This, in turn, has an effect on the nature of drive times.

Let’s look at the five PPM markets.

Toronto: Bragging rights at the top of the ratings heap go to CBC Radio One delivering a 13.2 % share for A12+ (up from 11.5%) followed by CHFI with 12.8%. boom 97.3 comes out on top with women 25-54, with a 12.1% share followed by CHFI at 11.4%. and CHUM-FM with 10.4%. For men 25-54, CityNews 680 leads with 9.0% followed by boom with 8.4% and Z103.5 at 8.3%. Q107 is out in front for M18-34 with 10.8% (down from 16.4%) followed by boom at 10.4%. CHFI tops the list for F18-34 at 21.5% share, followed by boom with 15.5%.

As I previously reported, 56 diary markets were discontinued by Numeris, leaving us with our current 22, reporting central area only. radioCount, using a different methodology, has recently released its October/Fall book surveying 22 different markets. All 22 Numeris markets were measured under continuous measurement, using the Online Radio Diary. radioCount uses individual recruitment, while Numeris uses household recruitment. Today’s Numeris release covers the period of November 7, 2022, to November 5, 2023. It is worth mentioning that, in these markets, radio reached 82% of adults 12+ and 84% of adults 25-54. This fall. 38% of A25-54’s listening occurred in their vehicles, up 4% from Fall 2022. In-home tuning, now at 33%, has decreased by 4 percentage points from the previous fall. Canadians 12+ in the top markets spent an average of 13.4 hours per week listening to the radio.

Quebecers 12+ spend 15.8 hours per week listening to radio.

That said, let’s look at 5 sample markets from the latest Numeris release.

Across the country, consolidation and staff cuts continue to be an issue. In the PPM markets, there is some discussion concerning sample sizes. Sadly, the good old days of radio are gone, and stations are struggling to maximize revenue. Still, radio remains popular, with an average weekly reach of 85% for A12+. Out-of-home represents 49% of tuning. We should note that, for Canadians,10% of radio consumption comes from AM/FM live radio streaming. Let’s forge on.

The new PPM release from Numeris completes the thirteen weeks covering May 29 to August 27, 2023. Instead of driving to and from work, many are still working from home. This, in turn, can affect the nature of drive times.

Let’s look at the five PPM markets.

Toronto: Bragging rights at the top of the ratings heap go to CBC Radio One, delivering an 11.5 % share for A12+ (down from 12.6%) followed by CHFI-FM with 11.0% and Q107 with 10.6%.  CHUM-FM comes out on top for Females 25-54 with a 12.6% share (up from 11.2%) followed by CHFI-FM at 11.2%. For males 25-54, CityNews 680 leads with 9.5%, while Q107 climbs to 9.4%. Q107 is well out in front for M18-34 with a 16.4% (down from 17.6%). CHFI-FM tops the list for F18-34 at 22.1% share followed by BOOM with 10.9%. 

When it comes to radio measurement, we are living in a turbulent time of reassessment.

As mentioned previously, 56 diary markets were dropped by Numeris. 22 of those markets were picked up by radioCount. In the PPM markets, there is some discussion concerning sample sizes.

In all markets, there is an ongoing discussion about recruitment methodologies. It is also worth mentioning that Rawlco has moved to withdraw some stations from Numeris. We don’t quite know where that is going to end up. Still, while the old days may be gone, the radio industry continues to perform relatively well in terms of revenues. Let’s forge on.

The new PPM release from Numeris completes the thirteen-week period covering November 28, 2022, to February 26, 2023.   It is worth noting that while COVID-19 is now having a lesser effect on radio revenues, it is also true that instead of driving to and from work, many are still working from home. This, in turn, alters the nature of drive times.

Let’s look at the five PPM markets.

As I previously reported, 56 diary markets were discontinued by Numeris leaving us with our current 22, reporting central area only. radioCount, using a different methodology has recently released their Fall book surveying 22 different markets. Numeris has transitioned to the exclusive use of online diaries. radioCount uses individual recruitment while Numeris uses household recruitment. All that being said,

let’s take a look at 5 sample markets from the latest Numeris release. This covers the period of Fall, 2021 to Fall, 2022.

In the midst of significant changes in measurement methodology for many of the other markets, PPM in the big five keeps rolling on. The new PPM release from Numeris completes the thirteen-week period covering August 29 to November 27.  The subsiding stages of the COVID-19 pandemic seem to be having a lesser effect. Radio revenues are generally somewhat improved from their Covid low point. It may be worth noting that instead of driving to and from work, many are still working from home. This, in turn alters the nature of drive time.

Let’s look at the five PPM markets.

While there have been significant changes in measurement methodology for many of the other markets, PPM in the big five keeps rolling on. The new PPM release from Numeris completes the thirteen-week period covering February 28 to May 29. Once again, all listening for this period occurred during the subsiding stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. It may be worth noting that instead of driving to and from work, many are working from home. This, in turn alters the nature of drive time.

 Let’s look at the five PPM markets

As you may recall, 56 diary markets were discontinued by Numeris leaving us with our current 22, reporting central area only. Rawlco had reportedly withdrawn from Numeris, but their stations continued to be included once again in this release. radioCount, using a different methodology has recently released their Spring book surveying just 5 markets which utilize continuous measurement. Numeris has transitioned to the exclusive use of online diaries. radioCount uses individual recruitment while Numeris uses household recruitment. All that being said, let’s take a look at 5 sample markets from the latest Numeris release. This covers the period of May 3, 2021 to May 3, 2022.