fall 2005 › edmonton ratings archives › edmonton ratings › radio in edmonton › radio

The 2005 Stanley Cup of Edmonton radio ratings has arrived. The all important Fall book defines bragging rights and advertising rates for the next couple of months. Of note is CFCW's best urban rating in recent memory, newcomer Sonic FM's solid sophomore performance and the erosion of audience share among Edmonton's more senior pop/rock stations.

CHED regains its stranglehold at the top of the list with its tenth first-place showing of the last 13 books. The Corus station held a 12.0 share this fall compared to 12.3 in Fall 2004. Adult males placed the station second, tied with CISN, with an 11.6 share. Adult females put CHED fifth on their list with a 6.1. The CHED morning show (Gord Whitehead, Kris Burkholder and Bryan Hall) commanded a 14.1 showing, first place in the market.

CISN held down second place for Corus, delivering an 11.2 that compares well to its Fall 2004 performance of 11.9. Both genders had CISN in second place; women gave the station a 15.1 while men tied CISN with its sister station CHED at 11.6. The morning team of Bruce Bowie, Tracie Gray and Sean Burke were endorsed with a 9.9 share earning it third place.

CFCW is the big newsmaker for Fall 2005. Canada's first 24-hour country station has long had its strength in the rural market but this fall the Newcap station had its best urban showing ever, up from 8.3 a year ago to 9.9. Ratings of seventh among females (5.4) and tenth among males (4.0) suggest the station's biggest draw comes from outside the 25-54 age group. After the death of popular morning man Wes Montgomery, CTV staffer Graham Neil has occupied the booth with Jackie Rae-Greening, earning CFCW a 10.8 and second place in the morning drive slot.

CFMG EZ Rock 104 seems doomed to always finish fourth. This year's 9.5 compares favourably with 2004's 9.7 in a market that saw two new stations added. EZ Rock's strength comes from females who list the station first with a 17.7 (men place it 7th at 5.8). Early-risers give Shane Michaels, Cheryl Brooks and Robin Allen an 8.6 and fifth place in the morning.

CKNG Joe FM with a 7.7 share, while seeming to have improved on its Summer showing, has slipped badly since its Fall 2004 rating of 11.5. Third place with adult females (13.7) and fourth with adult males (9.8), it seems Joe's other age groups have gone elsewhere. Audie Lynds and Gary James in the morning keep sixth place with an 8.2.

CIRK K-Rock at 7.6 maintains its Fall 2004 share but it is down significantly from the past two books when it placed 3rd. K-Rock is the top choice with adult males at 17.6, but females place it 9th with a 4.9. Like Joe, their other audience has drifted. Bill Cowen, Steve Zimmerman and Terry Evans put the station fourth in the morning with an 8.8.

Newcomer Sonic FM shows it is not a flash-in-the-pan, holding down seventh for the second time with a 5.7. Garner Andrews is rated eighth in the morning with a 5.4, with women placing the station in a tie at eleventh (3.9) while men put the station at sixth with a 7.4.

CFBR - The Bear's downward spiral shows no sign of slowing. The station has been on a steady slide since Summer 2002's high water mark of 10.7. Fifth among males (8.5) and thirteenth among females (3.8), the morning team of Paul Brown, Gillian Foote and Yukon Jack places seventh with an 8.2 that's ahead of the station's overall 7.7 share. Program director Ryan Zimmerman told local print media his station's poor showing was due to his audience not returning listening diaries.

Adult-oriented oldies station and poor Corus cousin CHQT has its best showing in two years, with local legend Chuck Chandler equaling the nearly two-generation younger Sonic breakfast show with a 5.4. Women give the station a 5.7 (sixth) while men award it a 3.5 tying it tenth with Team 1260.

CHBN - The Bounce repeats its 10th place showing for its third book. At 4.4 the CHUM station is up from 3.2 of a year ago. Adult gender numbers are 4.0/tenth (female) and 1.4/16th (male). Brad Kelly and Ceara K in the mornings are twelfth overall at 3.2.

CBC Radio One seems to have suffered only slightly from the lockout, but in the re-fractured Edmonton market its share has gone from 5.4 to 4.4 in the past twelve months. CBC seems to do well in Spring books, with 5.6 showings in 2005 and 2004. Men and women place the station 14th with 3.0 and 3.6 shares respectively. Edmonton AM host Ron Wilson earns tenth place with a 5.1.

A station in deep trouble is CKRA - 96X. Falling from fifth place in Fall 2004 at 9.6, the station has lost half its audience to the newcomers leaving it with a 4.2. Newcap brass will no doubt look hard at the mix, starting with B.J. Wilson and Shannon Tyler whose morning show is second last in the commercial radio segment at 4.3. Women place 96X eighth/5.2 while men avoid the station with 15th/1.9 numbers.

Listener supported CKUA's charming Bob Chelmick earns a 2.7 while his station maintains its 3.2 share. Men seem to prefer the station with 9th/4.3 showings while women award it a tie at 11th/3.9.

CBC Radio 2 holds steady at 2.5 with their morning programming gathering a 1.9 share.

CFRN Team 1260 retains its last-place streak of 13 in a row. Morning jocks Bryn Griffiths and Jake Daniels rank tenth with males (3.5) while women don't even register on the ratings card.

Despite a high accummulation of 8.2 in Spring 2005, other stations fell back to their usual 5.5 share of the market.

On December 8th, 2005 Magic 99 signed on. If it catches public imagination prior to the Spring 2006 book (measured in late February) it may have an impact on the growth spurts of Sonic FM and the Bounce -- and it could also nail the coffin closed on careers at several flagging mainstays.

On December 12th, 2005 CKRA 96X switched to a country format, no doubt precipitated by their poor showing in the last few rating periods. Check out the details on the Edmonton Radio News page.

Station	Current Book	Last Book	Owner
630 - CHED	12.0	10.4	Corus Entertainment
103.9 - CISN "CISN Country"	11.2	10.6	Corus Entertainment
790 - CFCW	9.9	6.6	Newcap
104.9 - CFMG "EZ Rock"	9.5	8.7	Standard Radio
92.5 - CKNG "92.5 Joe FM"	7.7	7.0	Corus Entertainment
97.3 - CIRK "K-Rock"	7.6	9.0	Newcap
102.9 - CHDI "Sonic FM"	5.7	5.7	OK Radio Group Ltd.
100.3 - CFBR "The Bear"	5.5	7.8	Standard Radio
880 - CHQT	5.4	3.7	Corus Entertainment
91.7 - CHBN "The Bounce"	4.4	4.8	CHUM Limited
740 - CBC Radio One	4.4	4.2	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
96.3 - CKRA "96X"	4.2	5.5	Newcap
94.9 - CKUA	3.2	3.4	CKUA Radio Network
90.9 - CBC Radio Two	2.5	2.7	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
1260 - CFRN "The Team"	1.5	1.9	Standard Radio
Other, including 580 - CKUA, 680 - Radio Canada, 930 - CJCA, 88.5 - CJSR, 90.1 - Radio-Canada, 96.7 - CFWE, 101.7 - CKER and 105.9 - CJRY "The Shine"	5.5	8.2	-

For more detailed data about the UPPER book, read the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement report (opens as a .pdf).

radio - edmonton ratings archives - fall 2005