The Most Listened To Radio Station In NYC IS.......

I grew up listening to New York City Radio! It was the best in the world! My parents would listen to WOR with John Gambling, Lyle Vann, Stan Lomax and guys like that. We kids would listen to the radio gods on WABC - Herb Oscar Anderson, Ron Lundy, DAN INGRAM, Cousin Brucie and the rest. WABC was cool, hip, smooth and most of all it was fun!

This brings us to the present, where the most listened to NYC radio station is WCBS-FM! That's right, not the Hip Hop stations, not the R&B stations, not the News/Talk stations, it's the oldies station! CBS-FM is a hit with all listeners 12+, lumped together! This is quite an accomplishment since they play music that is 20 - 50 years old! Is this a commentary on today's music? Is it a commentary on the solid music of the 60's, 70's & 80's? Is it a little deeper, like longing for the music that we heard during happier times? Personally, I know that I wasn't any happier during those years, but I was younger...and the music made more sense...to me.

What is definitely better, today is the method of measuring a radio audience. Arbitron is the biggest and the most successful radio ratings company. They use a "Portable People Meter" (PPM) which automatically reports audience exposure to inaudible codes embedded in a broadcast signal. The PPM methodology is transitionally replacing Arbitron's older "diary" method which relies on listeners to keep track or remember listening habits. This new system is an improvement...basically because it is accurate!

Arbitron is funded by some of the radio stations that it measures. I always thought that this was a major conflict of interest. Radio stations that subscribed to (and paid hugh sums of money) to Arbitron, always seemed to win in the Arbitron ratings.

Personally, during my radio career, I've been fortunate enough to have my time slot rated #1 within my station's targeted demographic on two separate occasions. One time "my" station subscribed to Arbitron, the other time, not.
You might be smelling sour grapes. That's OK, I smell a rat.