106.9 Virgin Radio Ottawa continues to fail
The latest Canadian radio ratings are out and things are still not looking good for 106.9 Virgin Radio Ottawa — formerly known as The Bear. As always, radio (and TV ratings) are conducted by BBM Canada. The latest ratings are known as S2 2009 and were taken from March 2, 2009 until April 26, 2009.
It seems that Astral Media’s plan to change an already successful radio station and re-brand it under their newly purchased banner “Virgin Radio” continues to backfire. In a city such as Montreal where Astral also did some re-branding of Mix96, the name change made little difference to Anglo Montrealers who listen because quite frankly, they have no other choice. (Virgin Radio 96 is the only English Top 40 station in town.) They could have called the station “Sumo 96″ and between each song, played the sound of two sumo wrestlers slapping their bellies while saying “we think our listeners are stupid” and Anglo Montrealers would have simply said “Yeah, maybe so. But where else am I going to get my Lady Gaga fix? I’ll just keep listening.”
But in Ottawa, where you do have a choice when it comes to rock-oriented stations, it seems Astral fixed something that didn’t need fixing and it hasn’t worked out too well for them.
The latest numbers show 106.9 Virgin Radio (CKQB-FM) down from 5.0 market share to 4.5 market share. Their Central Reach (Ctrl Reach) drops from 114.5 to 101.4. Further more, you can see that the ratings from last year were higher when CKQB-FM was still known as The Bear.
Posted above are the latest Ottawa area numbers. Click to enlarge.
When I worked in the radio business I was always a little fuzzy on the numbers and how exactly they were calculated, but anyway you slice it, these new numbers are not good. You can see more detailed ratings by visiting the BBM site here and choosing the Ottawa/Gatineau Anglo link on the side of the PDF document.
The way I see it, with egg on their faces, Astral really has only a few options here. They can continue to let the numbers fall and hope that in the summer months, things turn around for them (as occasionally the numbers tend to as more people listen to the radio) or they can lick their wounds, put their tails between their legs and figure out a way to bring back The Bear.
Although I’m sure, as always, the suits at Astral will find a way to put a positive spin on this. Lord know how they will pull that off.
Everything posted on this blog is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of my employer or its clients. © 2008-2009 All material Capital City Chris
i really have not listened to it. i listen to chez all the time here
jobthingy
June 19, 2009 at 8:48 am
From the looks of things, you’re not the only one!
Chris
June 19, 2009 at 9:24 am
My favourite radio station is BobFM, esp the shows by Vinnie in the evening.
Tom
July 4, 2009 at 11:57 am
Don’t read too much into it. The system they use to figure out ratings in unbelievably flawed. I mean, filling out a diary made out of paper with a pen in 2009? Nah, I hear about these new pager type things that get a better read on things. I listen to the TEAM, but I prefer the music virgin/the bear plays than CHEZ’s tired old dinosaur rock any day.
Chris
August 12, 2009 at 2:59 pm