Who is truly No. 1 in the Ratings: Blitz, Josh Innes Show, Sean Salisbury, Trump, Obama or UCF?

Written by: Lamont

Trying to understand local sports ratings in Houston is about as convoluted as Donald Trump claiming a bigger inauguration crowd than Barack Obama.

I am sure University of Central Florida (UCF) is also laughing at multiple stations and shows boasting the number one spot.

There has been some confusion in Houston about ratings.  What's perfectly clear, Sports Radio 610 is dead ass last.  Sports Talk 790 and ESPN 975 both are claiming number one.  It's a situation where both are technically correct and the public will never get a definitive answer nor an explanation.

One of the main problems, ESPN's time structure is fragmented, it's not the traditional schedule we are accustomed to locally.   Both stations are claiming time slots when their time slots do not align.  Personally, I would side with 790 because that's more of the norm than 975.

Lets be real, if the Bench are claiming number one based upon 2 hours, then some show could claim number one based upon one hour. Fair is fair, if you are winning your slot then you can say you are one in your slot.

I do not believe 790 is  focused on 97.5, their focus appears to be 610 because it's useless and convoluted trying to compare yourself to a station with different time slots.  Outside of outright domination such as the Blitz, the cross comparison is useless.

Although I said The Blitz is dominating, even that is questionable because they are combining the simulcast of 94.1.  I will give the Blitz credit for trying to explain the nuance in the time slots. Sports Talk 790 do not.

The only way the public is going to know, is if the public receives hourly internal breakdowns.  Yes, they do have the internals.  Until then, we will continue to have dual ones.

As stated earlier, the Sports Radio 610 being dead ass last is more of the story to me.  We are in football season, the Texans have DeShaun Watson.  The anticipation of Watson alone should be enough to garner listeners but its not.  Sports Radio 610 is the Flagship station of the most popular team in Houston and they are last?  That's unheard of.

ESPN 97.5 Signal

Written By: Lamont

I am not breaking news, ESPN 97.5 is winning in the ratings.  But could it be better?

I live outside of Houston proper and I am cheap.   My cheapness is relevant because I refuse to use my data if I don't have to even with a bullshit T Mobile unlimited Data plan.  Without going into detail, T Mobile's unlimited data is unlimited until you exceed 4 Gigs, then it slows to a crawl.

In the mornings, my data is not an issue because I am on the road early and I can catch Josh Innes and Mad Radio.   I am well into my building with a WIFI  connection by the time John and Lance's second segment.  I try to avoid John and Lance's first segment.

My data becomes an issue during knock-off time because I am trying to catch the Blitz.  When I get off, I switch to data because I'll lose the signal in the elevator. I continue listening via data on my commute home via data because the radio signal is spotty.  During my commute home, there's an area with a dead spot where I lose my signal and I'm forced to listen on the radio.  Once I get out of the dead area, I switch back to data.  When I arrive at home, the WIFI automatically connects and I'm good for the rest of the day.

There are a lot of people similar me who listens via stream.   Imagine how much better ESPN 975 ratings would be if all of Houston Metro could get a crisp clean signal? 

If ESPN 975, devote resources to figure out their signal issues, it could get pretty interesting in this local ratings war.

Commonly, Fred Faour likes to say, the ESPN numbers do not include Beaumont.  In the past, I would gloss over but now we have a situation with Josh Innes carrying damn near most of Southern Louisiana all the way to New Orleans so I am not sure that argument holds.  In other words, Josh could say the same.

In closing, I wish ESPN could figure out their signal issue not for their ratings but my data.

PAUL GALLANT AND BRIEN STRAW WINS LATEST RATINGS BOOK

Below are the latest ratings and for a more comprehensive break down, check out David Barron's article in the Houston Chronicle .

Props to Paul Gallant and Brien Straw  for winning the February book.  Helluva job to make hay in the night slot but I can understand.  Brien and Paul are opinionated and have strong opposing points which provides for "good" radio at times.  I included both but really Brien is known to go against the grain.   He can come off arrogant at times but he's not afraid to go against the status quo.

As usual, Triple Threat continues to prove a ratings hog.   It's not a show a listen to but they continue to pull the ratings

Hands down one of my favorite shows.  It would be interesting to view Mad Radio's hourly numbers.   It's my theory MAD radio starts off hot but then they slow down ass the show progress and reset topics.  Its a good show, I use to be annoyed by Seth Payne's "anger but now I've notice he overtalks Mike Meltser a shit ton.   It's not a game changer but I think he could allow Mike to get his point before interrupting 

I can't listen to Proper Gentlemen Of Sports consistently anymore.  I listen but not like I want to.  I'm forced to listen to Sports Radio 610 Morning Show.  It's only so many internet viral videos or internet stories I can take.  That said, they are still kicking ass in the mornings.

As far as Sports Radio 610's morning show,   Nick Wright's Ratings Rant when he first got to Houston

The Blitz is currently my favorite and I've been trying to figure why their ratings sag.  I have come to the conclusion, they may be hurting because they have no lead in local show.  I really believe BLITZ is victim to National Programming.  

I have completely dialed out of this show.  I listen every now and then but not like I use to.

JANUARY RATINGS: ND KALU AND GREG KOCH KICKING ASS

JANUARY RATINGS:  ND KALU AND GREG KOCH KICKING ASS

Written By: LM

2.20.2015

The first thing that jumped out, the shows fell in two groups, 4s and below 3s.  There are basically four sports shows ranked above 4 and the rest of the market are sub 3.  Sports Radio 610 and Sports Talk 790 are in a dog fight for supremacy with a combined 4 shows in the top of the food chain.   

The Power Four 

• 790 - In The Trenches
• 610 - Triple Threat
• 790 - Proper Gentlemen
• 610 - Mad Radio

In any given month, either of the four shows can be in first place and the following six are scrapping for crumbs.  

THE BIG ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Why is Matt Thomas, Charlie Pallilo, and Nick Wright/John Lopez "cellar dwelling" ?  Three Shows in prime slots who are affiliated with local popular professional teams.  

CHARLIE PALLILO

For as professional and caller intensive Charlie runs his show, his main problem is his reluctance to embrace Social Media.  Yes, I know there is a shit ton of misreporting and fluff on twitter but it's exposure.  Charlie Pallilo may very well be the last media personality in Houston who has yet to embrace Social Media.  He will continue to receive all of the "smart" accolades but the truth of the matter, he may need to consider changing some things,

MATT THOMAS

Matt Thomas was once one of my favorite personalities but I "out grew" his show.  Strangely, if I am being completely honest,  other shows on his station making a mockery of his show kind of turned me off.  Proper Gentlemen and In The Trenches crack jokes about his show and I love joking around but I also want to learn.   There is absolutely nothing for me to learn from listening to Matt's show. 

David Barron's In Depth Breakdown   

Below are the ratings over the past five months by show

Below are the 4 Month Breakdown of Ratings by Show

LM

Texans no longer means 610 ratings domination BY LM

Texans no longer means 610 ratings domination

Written by: LM

1.12.2015

In the past, there was a belief, Sports Radio 610 dominated the ratings because of the Houston Texans. Honestly, Sports Radio 610 commonly won the monthly ratings book with a few hiccups but football season, 610 widen the gap.  Those days are looking like they are coming to an end.

Below are the December ratings

The first thing that caught my attention, Lance Zierlein/Adam Clanton (Proper Gentlemen of Sports) and Charlie Pallilo were the only two shows that increased over the prior month.

Secondly, Nick Wright and John Lopez (In The Loop) on the lower half of local shows in ratings.  I would think a Drive Time Morning Show for the Texans Flagship station would be dominating in ratings.

Some will try to use the excuse of Holidays as the reason for the the slump.  That could be true but I know in the past, ratings looked much better than they are now in December market-wide.

ON THE HORIZON:

In the future, it will be interesting to monitor how the Rockets being viewed by most of city via Root sports will effect ratings.  For nearly 3 years, a large portion of Houston could not view the Rockets therefore some radio fans dialed out of radio immediately after football season.  I can see the local radio market benefiting from Houston getting to see the Rockets.  However, I think Sports Talk 790 will benefit the most.

FOUR MONTH BREAKDOWN BY SHOW

                   

Lance Zierlein and Adam Clanton

ND Kalu and Greg Koch

Mike Meltser and Seth Payne

Rich Lord, Ted Johnson, and Sean Pendergast

Paul Gallant and Brien Straw

Nick Wright and John Lopez

Charlie Pallilo

Fred Faour and AJ Hoffman

Matt Thomas

JeromeSolomon*/Sean Salsbury and Dave Tepper

LM

THE AUGUST BOOK - HOUSTON SPORTS RADIO RATINGS - LM

AUGUST BOOK | THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE

LM

9.4.2013

Numbers Education
A share means a % of all radio listeners in a  market that are tuned into a station.


Example:  If The Boxx (97.9) is rocking a 7% share that would equate to 7% of the Boxx's market.  I will keep this simple, with population.  Houston is about 4.6 Million strong, 7% of that is 315,000 listeners for the month.   However, do not confuse Metropolitan areas with Radio Signals.  Signals can go far and beyond Metro and I have personally been in Austin Texas and have picked up 790, 97.9 and 610 with ease.

MORNINGS  6-10a

BIG UPS to Nick Wright and John Lopez for recapturing the lead in Houston Sports Talk Radio.  Honestly, I no longer serial listen to In The Loop because I'm checking out the Proper Gentlemen, Sports Talk 790 Morning Show however I still get enough  In The Loop in to know things are pretty much the same.  Over the last couple of months it's been rough in the numbers but as expected they bounced back to regain the lead upon football season's return.  I believe Nick is the leader of In The Loop and moving forward Nick may want to consider talking to John.

Sports Talk 790's Morning Show The Proper Gentlemen are in transition after relieving former Big Show hosts (Matt Jackson and Adam Wexler) of duty.  I'm a little short of saying Adam Clanton and Lance Zierlein will beat In The Loop however I fully expect Adam and Lance to be a force in the mornings.  They have a good thing going on their show.

Mid Mornings 10a -3p

I am really happy for Sports Radio 610's Mad Radio for bouncing back.  It was puzzling to see their numbers sag because I think they are the best show currently on Sports Radio 610.  Mad Ups to Mike Meltser and Seth Payne.  I think they put on a damn good show but I wish Mike had a little more "pop" in his personality however Seth's witty sense of humor and cerebral takes makes the show fun and interesting.

Jerome Solomon and Dave Tepper over at the Rush on 97.5 held steady.  I do not listen to the Rush daily  therefore I don't have an in depth feel about the show.  That said, I think the Rush may suffer in numbers without having a Local Lead In.  I also believe the Rush can layoff the black man/white man radio.  The times I have dialed, I am guaranteed to hear some type of racial joke.  It's not bad but Jerome is too damn opinionated to be reduced to black/white jokes.  I want raw unleashed Jerome on sports.  Not saying that's all they do but every time I listen, that's what I hear.

ND Kalu and Greg Koch (Sports Talk 790 In The Trenches) after being the top show in July witnessed a minor setback.  I have started back listening to In The Trenches on the regular and I'm enjoying it.  I am not sure how much of the schedule change is effecting ND and Greg but I  do know most Twitter fans are not feeling The Jay Mohr Show (National Show 11-2).  What I thought was pretty odd last month, we were praising In The Trench but that time-slot is reported as 10-3 which would have included Matt Thomas and we never recognized him.  

Drive Time 3-7p

Big Ups to Sports Radio 610s J&R Show's Josh Innes and Rich Lord for regaining the lead and being the highest rated show in the market.  Outside of giving them props for winning there's not much I can say because I think the show is boring at times a lot more often than it has been in the past.  Maybe cooler heads will prevail between the two and the energy level will return.

ESPN 97.5 THE BLITZ with Fred Faour and AJ Hoffman held serve at 2.1.  The Blitz is currently one of my favorite shows, I listen everyday and I believe the Blitz has the  potential to be huge.

WRAP IT UP

As I look at the numbers, the one thing that stood out, all Sports Radio 610 shows increased whereas other stations either held steady or decreased.

As much as I didn't totally believe this in the past, but the proof is in the pudding, Sports Radio 610s numbers are greatly effected by the Texans.

Although Sports Radio 610 is winning across the board, their numbers are still down compared to last year.

What he have seen over the summer is Sports Radio 610 listeners either leaving the market or jumping to other stations.

Bottom line, football season, expect all Houston sports talk shows to receive a bump in their numbers however, Sports Radio 610 is reaping the benefits a little earlier.

OUT

6 MONTH RUN AUGUST RUN

LM 

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE : THE AUGUST BOOK - LM

Numbers Education
A share means a % of all the radio listeners in a given market are tuned into that station.


Example:  If The Boxx (97.9) is rocking a 7% share that would equate to 7% of the Boxx's market.  I will keep this simple, with population.  Houston is about 4.5 Mil strong, 7% of that is 315,000 listeners for the month.   However, do not confuse Metropolitan areas with Radio Signals.  Signals can go far and beyond Metro and I have personally been in Austin Texas and have picked up 790, 97.9 and 610 with ease.

Also when looking at the number, they represent the prior Month.  There's a month lag so you are actually looking at July activity.

MORNINGS  6A-10A

Look a here, look a here.  

Let me first begin by congratulating THE BIG SHOW winning.  They damn near jumped a full point.  Is the Big Show just that good or are we witnessing a shift in listening habits?  While the Big Show trends north, we continue to see In the Loop trend south.   I also want to give it up to Sean and John, they also enjoyed a bump.

Funny how things happen,  just yesterday I saw Nick Wright tweet Craig Sheldon
Our competitors incompetence is our secret weapon.


Mid Mornings 10a -3p

There's nothing to really report about this slot with the exception of Mad Radio kicking but and taking names.  Everyone enjoyed an increase but again, pay attention to the rate of change and notice who had the largest bump.  790 enjoyed a .4 bump but even with that MaD is on cruise control.  MaD is too far out in a lead.  

Drive Time 3p-7p

LOL, talk about one of those "Shaking My Head Moments.  Josh and Rich is straight busting ass and there's no way to sugarcoat.  Josh is too gifted in radio to be in sports, Rich use to bitch at first but he's no fool, he took one look at the numbers and now he enjoy talking random non sports topics.  I am laying down the gauntlet, can my boy Josh and Rich bust 6 wide open? MAD UPS to J&R, you guys have maintained 4 + numbers for nearly a year, that shit is no fluke.

I am drawn again to 790 enjoying the largest bump in this day part.  In this particular slot, 790 enjoyed a .8 bump but like MaD, J&R are so far out in a lead, it's almost insignificant but we have seen something is clearly shaking over at 790.


WRAP IT UP

Here's the deal, everyone should see their numbers increase as more fans tune in during football season which makes what I will point out next an anomaly.  

Of all the data presented, In the Loop is the only show that took a hit.  Onset of Football season, Sports Radio 610 should not be falling.  All  jokes aside, Mad Radio is damn near close to surpassing In the Loop.  One month out of a year does not represent a real picture but Gavin see what I see in terms of trends.  I have some thoughts about what's really occurring but I'm keeping it close to the vest.

SALUTE to #TeamFirstPlace
Lance Zierlein
Adam Wexler
Matt Jackson
Mike Meltser
Brad Davies
Josh Innes
Rich Lord

LM aka SIR BLOG ALOT