Corrected figures applied. The chart above is a copyright of PugetSoundRadio.com.

As the men at Corus Radio’s 730 MOJO Sports Radio remain in their crisis prayer circle at Hooters on Robson, and Corus General Manager Lou del Gobbo recovers from having to fork out $2 million to keep middling sports quasi-‘talent’ Neil McRae in the Corus fold — a rumour is being floated that McRae will host a new noontime sports show on CFMI — there is general rejoicing at Corus that CKNW clobbered JACK-FM in the spring radio ratings, as ’NW emerged once again as Top Dog in the Vancouver market.
No one at Corus has much to say about the miniscule ratings jump by sibling, Rock 101 CFMI. Sister station, suburban rocker 99.3 The Fox is also up a bit in the ratings, to a relatively anemic 4.7, picking up the extra point and a half following the demise of urban rocker, 104.9 X-FM.
Meanwhile, over at Rogers, there’s much gnashing of teeth given the precipitous drop in listenership suffered by winter radio ratings leader, 96.9 JACK-FM. So much for the spike in ratings that was expected following the investiture of Larry and Willy into JACK’s morning slot. Execs at Rogers’ Toronto headquarters have to be asking just how much the firing, last fall, of former PD Pat Cardinal has to do with JACK’s 3-point ratings drop?
For the folks at Rogers, clear is clearly no improvement, as sister station 104.9 clear-fm picked up only one point over their urban rock predecessor, X-FM, landing in the unlucky number 13 spot, overall. Meanwhile, on Rogers’ AM side, News 1130 remains steady (or is that mired?) in 12th spot, with a 3.6 share of the Vancouver radio listening audience.
The dim bulbs at CHUM Radio can’t be all that happy, either. Even though soft rock 103.5 QM/FM spiked a bit in the ratings, AM sister stations 1410 CFUN and Sport Radio – the Team 1040, remain radio ratings basement dwellers. But at least the Team 1040 crushed their MOJO competition.
As for the remaining, also-ran, radio stations on Vancouver’s airwaves: in respect of former new music powerhouse, Z-95.3 (who’s new website sucks), all that the spring radio ratings tell you is that these are early days. Jettisoning their Top 40 format in favour of an urban adult contemporary format hardly seems to have paid off for Z in the short term, but at least the station wasn’t obliterated in the spring ratings, given their mid-book change in format. Sister station 650 CISL — who’s sound is brighter than than it’s ever been — actually lost listenership. The owners at Standard Broadcasting have to be scratching their heads.
94.5 The Beat, which has pretty much switched to a Top 40 format, failed to pick up any of of Z’s old audience. Pattison-owned 600 AM dipped dramatically, while sister station JR-Country spiked a bit.
According to the story that ran on Global-TV last night, Rafe Mair’s Spring 2004 numbers are down approximately 40% from the fall book (a 6.9 share this time out, as opposed to an 11.2 last fall). Many believe this has to do with Rafe’s too frequent vacations; the fact that he doesn’t work the Mondays of long weekends; a 10:30 a.m. sign-off time that is much too early (considering that his competition on CKNW, Bill Good — who, in the important spring ratings period, posted a much-improved 13.6 share — stays on the air until noon); an inadequate vacation replacement in the person of producer Shiral Tobin; and Bob Saye’s shamefully poor ‘lead-in’ morning show. Rafe — who is currently on vacation — won’t like the Spring ratings book. Changes will definitely be in the works at 600 AM.
As of 10 p.m., Puget Sound Radio has corrected the figures on the radio ratings chart (above) to reflect the accurate information supplied by CBC to VanRamblings this morning. As the CBC official averred: “CBC 690 has gained a 13.0 share in the Central Vancouver Area, and 5 a.m. til 1 a.m. CBC Radio One sits at a 7.8 share — up a full point over the autumn book — for fourth place overall in the Vancouver market. In the morning period, the Early Edition is up Spring 2004 over the fall book, at a 13 share, second overall across the Lower Mainland in listenership.” Good news abounds.

Air America Radio signs on, and radically alters the radio landscape

The much-buzzed-about ‘liberal’ radio network, Air America, began its broadcast life this past week, featuring such well-known political activist entertainers as comedian-provacateurs Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, hip-hop icon Chuck D, and activist Robert Kennedy Jr., among its hosts.
Franken, who once wrote a book attacking Rush Limbaugh, will now compete against Limbaugh in the noon to 3 p.m. slot. He’s calling his show ‘The O’Franken Factor’ in a jab at Bill O’Reilly and Fox News, which sought an injunction against his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. And he plans to criticize the president early and often.
“We’re going to take it to Bush,” Franken said. “Bush is going down in November. Then we’re going to take it to the right-wing media and hold them up to scorn and ridicule.”