WTMJ-AM No. 1 overall, thanks to Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers’ run to the World Series may have fallen short, but it sure helped WTMJ-AM (620) score — or at least, helped the station break somebody else’s winning streak.
WTMJ-AM, the Brewers’ flagship radio station, was No. 1 among overall listeners in Nielsen Audio’s ratings book for “October,” a period that actually covered Sept. 13 to Oct. 10.
According to Nielsen data posted by industry newsletter Tom Taylor Now, news-talk-sports WTMJ had a 10.4 share of the overall listening audience in that period — a period that ran through the Brewers’ winning the National League Central title and sweeping the Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series.
That was up from a 7.9 share in the previous monthly ratings scorecard.
Tom Taylor Now noted that WTMJ was No. 1 “in double digits” from 3 p.m. to midnight weekdays and on Saturdays and Sundays — in other words, during Brewers games.
WTMJ’s win ended a 44-rating-period streak at No. 1 for WRIT-FM (95.7). The classic-hits station had a 7.9 share overall, down from 8.6.
Rounding out the top five among overall listeners were classic-rock WKLH-FM (96.5), with a 7.0 share, down from 7.9 the month before; country WMIL-FM (106.1), 6.2, up from 5.6; and news-talk WISN-AM (1130), 6.0, up from 5.6.
WRIT had been No. 1 in the monthly ratings tallies since WMIL, the previous longtime radio-market leader, gained some extra competition courtesy WKTI-FM (94.5), which went from adult-contemporary to country in May 2015.
Those rankings could change again. Last week, WKTI’s new owner, Good Karma Brands, switched the FM station’s format from country to sports, simulcasting programming airing on its Milwaukee-area ESPN affiliate, WAUK-AM (540).
Good Karma completed its purchase of WKTI and WTMJ-AM in a $16 million deal Nov. 1.
WKTI had a 3.4 share of the audience in October, down from a 3.5 share the month before. (Ratings information wasn’t available for WAUK; because Good Karma is not a Nielsen subscriber, ratings numbers for its stations aren’t made public.)
WKTI’s shift to sports could clear the air for WMIL to regain some of its old audience, although it also has some new competition. When WKTI flipped last week, WVTY-FM (92.1), a Racine-based adult-contemporary station that covers southern Milwaukee County, reverted to a country format.